Customer Reviews

The House Connection: How to Read the Houses in an Astrological Chart

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When modern astrology books deal with houses, they're often treated as a different kind of sign--they give an interpretation for what, for example, Venus in the 6th House means, just like they give an interpretation for Venus in Scorpio. The problem with this approach is that houses represent areas of life, and inevitably--since there are 10 "planets" and 12 houses--you're going to have at least two and most likely more than two houses empty. Does that mean that those areas of life are going to be empty? If your 6th and 10th Houses are empty, will you never have a job?

Karen Hamaker-Zondag, one of the most insightful astrologers I've read, addresses this problem by using a different (I believe older) technique. She looks not at planets in houses, but to the planet that rules each house. (This is the planet associated with the sign at the beginning of each house--if your 3rd House starts in Pisces, then Neptune, which rules Pisces, is your 3rd House ruler.)

Since every house has a ruler, there's something to be said about every house. Mostly Hamaker-Zondag interprets the house ruler in terms of the house that it's in--so if the ruler of your 10th House is in your 5th House, your 10th House activities will be motivated by 5th House matters--you might want to advance in your career in order to express yourself.

While I think this is an interesting technique, I wish there was more about house rulers in this book. It doesn't really talk much about the particular planet that rules a house--what does it mean to have Uranus ruling your 7th House, as opposed to say Saturn?--or what sign the house ruler is in. It does cover a lot of ground that isn't found elsewhere, but as a subhead, "How to Read the Houses in an Astrological Chart" somewhat oversells this book.

This book does not contain as much information on house rulership as I would like. There's very little discussion about each sign on the cusp of each house in a chart. Also, if you're looking for a light or entertaining read you may want to look elsewhere.

Still, I'm very glad that I purchased this. Zondag has some interesting techniques for chart interpretation that I haven't seen elsewhere. I will definitely grow in a few areas as an astrologer because of this book.