The 12 houses in Vedic astrology and what each one covers
Each house is one area of life. Here is what all twelve cover, how they are grouped and how to read a house that has no planets in it.
Updated
A house is an area of life. Vedic astrology divides life into twelve of them. In Sanskrit a house is called a Bhava. The houses always cover the same areas for everyone. What changes from chart to chart is which sign and which planets fall in each.
What each house covers
| House | Main matters |
|---|---|
| 1st | You: body, health, personality and how you meet the world |
| 2nd | Savings, family, food and speech |
| 3rd | Courage, effort, skills, short journeys and younger siblings |
| 4th | Home, mother, property, vehicles and peace of mind |
| 5th | Intelligence, studies, creativity, romance and children |
| 6th | Daily work, illness, debts, rivals and service |
| 7th | Marriage, business partners and dealings with the public |
| 8th | Sudden change, shared money, hidden matters and length of life |
| 9th | Fortune, faith, teachers, father and long journeys |
| 10th | Career, reputation and standing in society |
| 11th | Income, gains, friends, elder siblings and wishes coming true |
| 12th | Expenses, losses, sleep, faraway places and time spent alone |
How the houses are counted
The 1st house is the sign that was rising when you were born. That sign is your Lagna. The next sign is the 2nd house and so on. This method is called whole sign houses: one house is one full sign.
The groups of houses
Houses are read in groups. Knowing the groups tells you quickly whether a planet is well placed.
Kendra: 1, 4, 7 and 10
These are the four pillars of the chart: self, home, partner and career. Planets here are strong and visible in the life.
Trikona: 1, 5 and 9
The houses of fortune. They show what comes with ease: your nature, your intelligence and your luck. The 9th is counted the luckiest house.
Dusthana: 6, 8 and 12
The testing houses. They bring obstacles, sudden change and loss. They are not simply bad. They also give stamina, depth and the ability to handle a crisis.
Upachaya: 3, 6, 10 and 11
The growing houses. Results here improve with age and effort. Demanding planets such as Saturn and Mars often do well in them.
Dhana: 2 and 11
The money houses. The 2nd is what you keep. The 11th is what comes in.
A house with no planets is not empty
Most charts have several houses with no planets. Nine planets cannot fill twelve houses. An empty house still works. You read it through its lord.
Every house holds a sign and every sign is owned by a planet. That planet is the lord of the house. Find where the lord sits and how strong it is. A strong lord in a good house looks after its own house well, even from a distance.
The same house means different things for different people
Take the 7th house. For someone with Aries rising the 7th house holds Libra and its lord is Venus. For someone with Taurus rising it holds Scorpio and its lord is Mars. The area of life is the same: partnership. The style and the planet in charge are different.
This is why a statement such as "Mars is bad for marriage" is too simple. It depends on which houses Mars owns and where it sits in that one chart.
How to read a house
- Note what the house covers.
- Note the sign in it. That gives the style.
- Note any planets in it. They act directly in that area.
- Find the lord of the house and the house it sits in. That links two areas of life.
- Check which planets look at the house from elsewhere. In Vedic astrology every planet looks at the house opposite it.