Here's Why Empty Houses In Your Birth Chart Aren't As Bad As You May Think
Every single person has them.
Interpreting your birth chart is a complex process. In addition to understanding your sun, moon, and rising signs, you must also understand the 12 sectors your chart is divided into, which are referred to as houses. The houses in astrology are the places that each of the planets move through, and each house governs over a few specific topics in your life. When I first began learning astrology, the houses definitely took me the longest to figure out, and understanding what empty houses means in astrology was one of my biggest obstacles.
Since there are 12 houses and only 10 planets, everyone is bound to have at least one empty house — and it’s nothing to be concerned about. It simply means that the empty house in question in your birth chart is an area of your life that may not be as significant to you as the houses with planets. This house may require additional steps in order to fully understand its meaning in your chart (and, of course, your life), but there’s a quick and easy way to uncover it.
When looking at any birth chart, you may often find that many of the planets are in the same house. This is because Mercury can never be more than one sign away from the sun, and Venus can never be more than two signs away. Because of this, these two planets usually end up in the same house as the sun, leaving more of the houses empty. When a house in a birth chart is empty, you’ll simply look to the ruler of that house to fully understand how that house’s significations manifest in your life.
Understanding An Empty House In Your Birth Chart Through Its Ruler
Just like every zodiac sign, every house also has a ruler. For example: If you’re a Sagittarius rising, that means that your first house of self is automatically governed by Sagittarius. (First house = rising sign.) If that house is empty, that doesn’t mean that you have no sense of self. An empty first house simply means that you’d look to the ruler, which in a Sagittarius rising’s case would be Jupiter. Let’s say that Jupiter’s in the fourth house in a Sagittarius rising’s chart. This would tie the first house of self matters into fourth house matters, which include home, family, and private life. For an in-depth understanding of the first house’s ruler, you’d also look to the sign that Jupiter resides in the fourth house.
The first house operates like all the rest; they each have a ruler. When searching for a house’s ruler, I recommend using traditional planetary ruler-ships instead of modern planets like Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, since they very seldom change signs. For example, use Mars for your Scorpio-ruled house, Saturn for your Aquarius-ruled house, and Jupiter for your Pisces-ruled house to understand their meanings. If you notice that your seventh house of relationships and partnerships is in your 10th house of career and public image, that points to you possibly meeting a partner through your career or simply having career and romantic matters tied together in some way. Interpreting house rulers in this way makes it easy to understand that life, much like astrology, blends together. More often than not, the topics of life tie into one another, and the houses operate the same way.
