I
feu
Vita
house of the Subject
« I exist »
Becoming aware of one's difference, of one's identity.
The querent, their life, temperament, personality, character, aptitudes and values, beginnings, birth.
Reference
The twelve houses
A whole life fits into twelve cells. The twelve houses cover every domain of existence, and it is the house that decides what a figure means.
Once the sixteen figures are drawn, they must be given a place. That place is called a house, and there are twelve of them, set around the square of the world in an order that has never varied. Each covers a domain of existence. Together they leave nothing outside. Whatever is happening to you today, it belongs to one of these twelve cells.
A figure without a house says nothing. It is the house that gives the figure its ground, its reach and its term. The same figure of loss announces an expense in the second house, a falling-out in the third, a bereavement in the eighth, and the disappearance of an obstacle in the twelfth. One is never read without the other.
The four families
The houses answer one another in fours. Each group of three belongs to an element, and half a chart is read from the meeting between the element of a house and that of the figure occupying it. When the two agree, the house lets the figure act. When they conflict, the figure acts against the ground, and what it produces is paid for more dearly.
Fire
What springs forward: identity, creation, meaning.
Earth
What holds: goods, work, one’s place in the world.
Air
What connects: those close by, agreements, support.
Water
What carries from below: roots, moultings, trials.
The twelve
II
terre
Lucrum
house of Possessions
« I have »
Turning one's gains to account: to possess.
Gains, profits, the potential of energy, substance, foundations, expenditure, acquisitions, sales, wealth, movable property.
III
air
Fratres
house of Kindred
« I communicate »
Exploring one's surroundings: to know.
Those close at hand, the neighbourhood, brothers and sisters, neighbours, collateral relatives, short journeys, early studies, moves of house.
IV
eau
Genitor
house of the Father
« I feel »
Establishing one's ground, one's stability: to found.
The father, paternal heredity, roots, the home, patrimony, the dwelling, immovable property, the final outcome, traditions, rootedness in the community.
V
feu
Filii
house of Children
« I express myself »
Bringing forth one's richness, one's vitality: to create.
Children, pleasures, luck, love affairs, pregnancy for a woman, teaching, creativity, the quality of one's writing, outward expression, eroticism.
VI
terre
Valetudo
house of Servitude
« I refine myself »
Serving and being useful: to improve.
Daily obligations, illness, work as toil, health, subordinates, crises, the struggles of life.
VII
air
Uxor
house of Adversaries
« We join together »
Opening to the other and accepting them in their difference: to share.
The spouse, the partner, enemies, trade, contracts, lawsuits, discussions, associations, legalised unions.
VIII
eau
Mors
house of Death
« We are transformed »
Renewing oneself through the collective: to regenerate one's self-image.
Death, serious illness, fears, sadness, inheritances, the risks of childbirth, transmutations, life – death – rebirth, occultism.
IX
feu
Peregrinatio
house of Religion
« We awaken »
Exploring other dimensions: to deepen one's understanding.
Spirituality, religious and philosophical ideals, long journeys, morality, metaphysics, one's view of the world, foreign lands, the meaning of existence.
X
terre
Regnum
house of Honours
« We are fulfilled »
Fulfilling one's individual destiny within the collective work: to complete.
Titles, rewards, ambitions, social rank, profession, achievements, power, vocation, the mother and maternal ancestors, the sense of authority.
XI
air
Amici
house of Friends
« We become more than ourselves »
Giving voice to collective and fraternal ideals: to transcend.
Friends, providential help, hopes, aspirations, humanism, politics, great causes, service to the community.
XII
eau
Inimici
house of Afflictions
« We reinvent ourselves »
Dying symbolically and making a fresh start: to renounce.
Physical and moral trials, hidden enemies, incurable illness, accidents, surgery, inward withdrawal, isolation, retreat, esotericism.
The house of the question
Every reading begins with the choice of a house. Before the numbers are even thrown, one must know where the answer will be read. A question of contract is read in the seventh, a question of money in the second, a question of health in the sixth, a question of inheritance in the eighth. This choice is not a formality. Asking the question in the wrong place produces an answer perfectly coherent with a question nobody asked.
That is why I give the first conversation over to framing the question rather than to answering it. The clarity of the answer depends entirely on the rightness of the question, and experience shows that the question one thinks one is asking is almost never the question one has come to ask.
Derived houses
Tradition allows an operation that popular presentations pass over in silence and which multiplies the reach of a chart. Any house may become the first house of a second chart. If the third house designates the brother, then the second house counted from the third — that is, the fourth — designates that brother’s goods. In this way one questions the situation of a third party without ever needing their presence or their consent to throw the numbers.
It is a powerful tool and must be handled with restraint. I resort to it when the question demands it, and I say so when I do.
Going further
See the reference on the sixteen figures, the presentation of the method.