The First House is defined by the rising sign or Ascendant. The First House of an astrological horoscope is you. Every twenty-four hours, all 360° of the zodiac (divided into twelve signs of 30° each) rise on the same point in the east where the Sun rises. At the moment of birth, the degree and sign of the zodiac which is rising in the east defines the eastern point of the horizontal line of the horoscope. This is known as the rising sign, referred to as the ascendant because it is ascending into the sky. This is also known as the 'cusp' or your First House, but let's not complicate things at the moment. We'll simply refer to it as the Aacendant.
When we look at a map, we typically place north on the top, leaving east on the right. In astrology, this isn't necessarily so. In ancient times, our ancestors would lay under the stars to study them. Often, the best position to do this would be with the feet pointing south. This places the east on the left. So, to our ancestors, the sun rose on the left (east) and set on the right (west). So, when drawing a modern horoscope, we place east at the left, which places north at the bottom. It may seem a little strange, but it's important for understanding horoscopes and birth charts.
The degree of your ascendant is very important in the understanding of your horoscope. Its importance is only slightly less than that of the sun and the moon. The ascendant symbolizes how we project ourselves into this world. While our sun sign describes how we look out at the world and our moon sign describes our emotional patterns and habits, the ascendant describes how we appear to ourselves.
It is as if we are each a movie projector. The sun is the source of light, but the glass of the bulb is colored by the sign of the zodiac that the sun was in at the moment of birth. The moon acts as a mirror that concentrates the light, colors it again with the sign that the moon was in at birth, and then reflects the concentrated light through the projector's colored lens, the ascendant.
A person looking casually at this projector will see only the picture colored by the ascendant. A deeper look will reveal intricacies that are not readily apparent to most people. Just knowing the characteristics of your ascendant can help you better understand how you interact with the people around you. If your ascendant is very different from your sun sign, it would explain why people seem to think you act so differently from the way you think you're acting.
If you're born close to the time of sunrise, then your ascendant will be the same as your sun sign, leading to a 'double'. You'll be a double Aries, double Pisces, double Capricorn, or whatever. These people are not misunderstood as much, with the exception of Scorpio, who almost always seems to be misunderstood. A 'double' may find that the horoscope in the newspaper will be eerily accurate, since most of these are written for 'doubles'.
The First House of an astrological horoscope is very clearly all about you. Only you were born at the exact moment and place of your birth. Even twins are not born at the same moment and will have slightly different birth charts. So, the sign of your First House is associated with your appearance, especially your head and face. It is also connected to your personality, your outlook on the world, your abilities, and your actions.
In astrology, every house is ruled by a planet and a sign. The house will share many of the qualities of both the planet and the sign. The First House is ruled by the planet Mars and the sign Aries.
Everybody needs a place to live, and the planets, wanderers though they may be, are no exception. when an astrological horoscope is drawn up for the moment of birth, the map of the planets' positions around each personal horoscope is usually depicted in such a way that it resembles a pizza pie divided into twelve slices with ten anchovies on it. The ten anchovies are the planets and each of the twelve slices of the pizza is a house of the horoscope.
Each planet represents a different energy operating in our lives. This energy is operating in a way that is qualified by the sign it occupies, but the houses can pinpoint the area of everyday life in which these energies will have their main focus.
The signs of the zodiac are the universal backdrop against which we perceive the planets and the energies operating in our lives. But it is the houses which make these energies unique and personal. The degree of the zodiac that determines both the horizontal and vertical lines that make up the skeleton of any horoscope, which in turn determine which house of the horoscope each planet lives and, are determined from the exact place and time of each birth.
The horizontal and vertical lines make up the cross of matter often discussed when talking about the planets. The cross represents the earth and the chart represents the energies of the planets in signs operating in the areas of mundane experience that are symbolized by the houses.
It also looks like a telescopic gun sight, and in a way it works very much like one. Remember, the word horoscope means 'to look at the hour' and a birth chart is a personal scope through which we can focus on our unique existence. It can work like a telescope and provide some distance from ourselves, or like a microscope to examine strengths and weaknesses in minute detail.
Understanding the houses of astrology is best done by discussing the houses out of order. Instead of studying the houses of the horoscope in numerical order, you should start with the four houses that are defined by the cross of matter of the chart. This order will make it easier to explain, and easier to understand, the remaining houses, all of which derive their meaning from the first four houses. For this reason, you should begin your study of the astrological houses with the first, seventh, fourth, and tenth houses.
The symbol for the astrological planet of Pluto looks like a combination of the first two letters of the word "Pluto" or the initials of Percival Lowell, the man who predicted Pluto's discovery. It may have been used at first for those very reasons. However, if we apply our understanding of the cross, crescent, and circle, we see that either conscious or divine planning seems to enter into the simple glyph for perhaps the most complex of planets.
Forget for a moment that Pluto is no longer considered a true planet in our solar system. In the glyph for Pluto, the cross of matter has been broken into its component parts (a horizontal and a vertical line), but they remained joined, creating a single right angle instead of four. Pluto has come to be associated with the process of breakdown and decay that an entity, item, or situation goes through at the end of its useful life. This process reduces it to its most component parts and then allows them to once again take form and be reborn, much like the mythical Phoenix. The crescent representing both the intellectual and the emotional halves of the soul remain attached to the cross of matter during this transition, signifying the soul's transcendence of death.
Pluto seems to rule both the 'highest' and the 'lowest' of humanity. The right angle of the glyph reminds us that there is an inherent danger in dealing with the energies of Pluto. Pluto tends to encourage the philosophy that says there is only one absolute right way to think and to act. This energy is not only at the base of what we call our 'conscience' and what some psychoanalysts call our 'super-ego,' but it also gives rise to dictators, underworld crime bosses (remember that in classical mythology, Pluto was Lord of the Underworld), and other megalomaniacs. Many of the 20th centuries most frightening dictators came to power during the time of Pluto's discovery (1930s). This symbolized that the time had come for humanity to confront those remote, larger than life, mesmerizing personalities who gain or attempt to gain absolute power by claiming to know the one 'right' way.
But this striving for an absolute right is really a perversion of the quest for perfection, and perversion is one of Pluto's specialities. Inhuman action are often associated with the astrological energies of Pluto, as striving for perfection is perverted into the imposition of the will of the stronger upon the weaker.
And yet there is a positive side to this tiny but powerful planet. Pluto reminds us to use the material world for what it is meant for. It should be a place to learn the fundamental principles that are the heart of reality, for in doing so, the soul transcends the material world and reaches a union with the spirit. This union is not apparent at first glance, but if we remember the lessons taught by Neptune, we realize that the union of the soul and spirit would, by definition, have to take place beyond time and space.
While the energies of Neptune (inspiration) are too sensitive to exist fully in the material world, Pluto (conscience) succeeds in gaining power for the individual soul by perfectly balancing the three-fold nature of personal experience (mind, body, spirit). But doing so, it overcomes the seemingly vast distance that separates it from the live-giving Sun, the go, and fulfills the ego's purpose.
Pluto rules the eliminative organs, which include the sexual organs. The theme of 'highest' and 'lowest' is at the very heart of what Pluto is to astrologers.
Some of the qualities associated with Pluto include: transformation, power, transcendence, resurrection, purging, regenerating, ruthlessness, mercilessness, absolute, conscience, the super-ego, control, obsession, breakdown, judgement, purifying, power struggles, elimination, death, and rebirth.
The symbol of the astrological planet of Neptune represents the crescent of the individualized soul impaled on the cross of matter. Neptune is closely associated with the messages of ego-denial, selfless love, sacrifice, and a faith in the unseen. Sometimes this inspiring ego-denial for a higher cause becomes perverted by fear into self-destructive, escapist tendencies like suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, and a defeatist attitude.
The true home of the soul is not the material world. Science has yet to pinpoint how and where the mind, emotions, and body interconnect. The soul has its origins beyond the material world, and it is this concept that is represented by the planet Neptune. While Saturn represents what we normally think of as reality, Neptune represents the reality that is beyond our senses. In other words, it represents the true home of the soul, whatever we define that to be.
This other world is beyond time and space. It is the world of intuition, mental telepathy, and ESP (extrasensory perception) of all kinds. Neptune, in classical Roman mythology, was the god of the oceans. When you put your foot into the sea you are connected to all the oceans in the world as well as all the continents. In this way, Neptune represents a constant connection to all that is.
When you are attuned to the subtle vibrations of the world represented by Neptune, you are connected to all there is, all that was, and all that will be. The unenlightened call this mysticism, illusion, or even delusion. But Neptune rules all that cannot be seen, and so much more. It rules oils, essences, gasses, veils, films, and all those things you might consider to be mysterious.
The energies of the planet Neptune can be difficult to use in the material world without perversion. Just when you think you understand, your understanding dissolves and you get distracted by a new wonder or a previously-concealed mystery. Neptune is the planet of distraction. Neptune rules the feet, which are connected to all the other parts of the body (according to the science of reflexology). So, in a sense, Neptune rules the entire body.
Qualities associated with the astrological planet Neptune include: ego-denial, otherworldly qualities, spirituality, inspiration, faith, idealism, fantasy, imagination, dreams and dreamlike states, clouds, confusion, delusion, illusion, deception, weakness, dissolution, sacrifice, surrender, suffering, martyrdom, escape, and addiction.
