Axis of the 1st and 7th Houses

There are twelve houses in a birth chart, which together form six unique axes. The signs of the zodiac in which the axis of the 1st and 7th Houses is located, give us valuable information about the personality.

You have already gathered quite a lot of information about the Houses. For instance, you know that in a birth chart, each one has a starting point situated on any of the 360 degrees of the zodiac, referred to as the cusp of the House. The word “cusp” of Latin origin, simply means point. Thus, a House starts on its cusp, covers a particular zone of the zodiac, and stops on the cusp of the following House.

In the birth chart of our example, the 1st House is located at 7 degrees of the sign of Cancer, whilst the cusp of the 2nd House – corresponding to the end of the 1st House – is situated at 23 degrees of the same sign. Since each House is placed opposite another House across the zodiac, one could say that the twelve Houses of the sky chart form together six opposite pairs and that each pair has its own axis originating from the cusps of the two Houses it links together:

• the axis of the 1st and 7th Houses – whose cusps reveal the position of the ascendant and the descendant,
• the axis of the 2nd and 8th Houses,
• the axis of the 3rd and 9th Houses,
• the axis of the 4th and 10th Houses – whose cusps reveal the position of the IC and the Midheaven,
• the axis of the 5th and 11th Houses,
• the axis of the 6th and 12th Houses.

The Houses are not linked together by these axes to present a more harmonious or simplified birth chart, but because their positions are the result of calculations devised from a complex and coherent system based on our ancestors’ vision and interpretation of the world, from which we still have a lot to learn today.

The 1st House

Its cusp corresponds to the ascendant, whose importance you are now aware of. But you may ask yourself whether the ascendant’s characteristics are the same as those revealed by the 1st House. The answer is yes, more or less: whereas the ascendant and the area covered by the 1st House inside the birth chart both tell us about the seld and the temperament of an individual, the cusp of the 1st House, or ascendant point, provides more specific information about the appearance and the behavior of a person, because it is situated at a precise degree of the zodiac and in a specific decan, whilst the first House covers several degrees and at least two decans.

When you consider the expression of the self – which brings about the development of the individual’s temperament and personality – and the appearance of a person whose birth chart you are studying, you should first concentrate on the cusp of the First House or ascendant, on the degree where it is placed and the decan in which it is located. Then, take into account the area of the zodiac covered by the 1st House. This House may be limited to one sign of the zodiac only. This is the case for the birth chart in our example, with the ascendant being placed at 7 degrees of the sign of Cancer, and the cusp of the 2nd House – indicating the finishing point of the 1st House – being fixed at 23 degrees of the same sign. In this case, to interpret the ascendant, you will take into account:

1. The ascendant in Cancer
2. The 97th degree of the zodiac, that is to say the 7th degree of the sign of Cancer
3. The first decan of Cancer

Then, to interpret the House located within this one sign of the zodiac, take into account this position and of course the ruler of that sign, the Moon. There may be other occasions when the area of the zodiac covered by the 1st House will stretch over one, two, or even three signs.

Let’s take the example of one of the children of the zodiac: the Gemini child (see birth chart opposite), whose ascendant is at 24 degrees of the sign of Leo, whilst the cusp of the 2nd House is found at 15 degrees of the sign of Virgo. In this case, the 1st House covers two signs of the zodiac. Consequently, in order to interpret the ascendant, you should proceed exactly as you did in our first example; but, in order to obtain the information revealed by the 1st House as a whole, you will first have to take into account the information provided by the 1st House in Leo, and then the data provided by the 1st House in Virgo, make a synthesis of the two, then check carefully the respective positions of the Sun, ruling planet of Leo, and Mercury, ruling planet of Virgo, in the birth chart, in order to understand the complexity and true nature of the self of this personality.

The 7th House

To bring out all the information revealed by this House in a birth chart, you should use exactly the same method as you did for the 1st House, bearing in mind that the cusp of the 7th House is the descendant, located at the opposite end of the axis of the two Houses.