Your Seventh House In Astrology Has All The Tea On Your Relationships

If there’s one topic that earns many a double take in astrology, it’s love. Who will you end up with? What’s your future partner going to be like? Will your current relationship last? For many, these are the questions that pique that initial interest in the cosmos. To find the answers to these inquiries, there’s one place in your birth chart that holds all the tea. Enter: the seventh house.

The seventh house is one of the 12 astrological houses that define different facets of a person’s life. “The houses are pretty much the completion of the triad of planets, signs, and houses, and the houses represent areas of life or topics,” professional astrologer Taryn Bond tells Elite Daily. They help detail a person’s life path and are where certain planetary energies are taking place. For example, everyone has a sun sign, but the energy of the sun is going to illuminate a different area of a person’s life depending on the house it’s sitting in.

Think of the planets as the “what,” signs as the “how,” and houses as the “where.” You know you have X planet sitting in Y zodiac sign, but where is this energy playing out? Look to the house. This added layer of detail is instrumental in understanding your birth chart.

The first six houses in astrology pertain to the personal planes of life, describing topics that are more internal in nature. The last six flip to matters of the “other,” and your dealings with greater subjects outside of yourself. As the house ushering in the latter category, it makes sense that the seventh is known as “the house of the other” in traditional astrology. As much as it pertains to romance and partnership, it also involves close platonic relationships in your life. Here’s everything you need to know about the seventh house, according to astrologers.

How Do You Know Your Seventh House In Astrology?

To reveal what’s going down in your seventh house, you’ll need your birth details handy — and not just the date and place. Time of birth is essential if you want an accurate glimpse into the houses. Once you have the exact time, date, and location, use an online birth chart calculator like Astro-seek.com to reveal your birth chart in all its glory.

While your chart is pretty much decided by your parents and the stars, you do have control over which housing system you use to analyze it. Essentially, there are different formulas used to divvy up the signs into houses. Placidus and Whole Sign are the two methods most often used, and it can get confusing if you don’t keep track of which method generated your chart. Chart calculators are usually pre-set with the Placidus approach, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best option.

It’s a matter of personal preference which one you use, but it may be easier to understand Whole Sign. Placidus is time-based and follows the apparent movement of the sun through the sky. A Placidus circle chart will have 12 uneven wedges denoting the houses through the signs. Because these wedges can take up more or less than an even 30 degrees of the chart, it’s possible for a sign to be completely skipped and for a house to cover multiple signs.

Whole Sign, on the other hand, divides the houses into even 30-degree slices. There’s one sign per house, so each is represented. It’s also a consistent way to look at the houses since the signs will always fall perfectly in line after the ascendant in zodiac order. A Virgo rising (first house) would then have a Libra second house, a Scorpio third house, and so on. For simplicity’s sake, Whole Sign is a bit easier on the noggin, which can be helpful as astrology is decidedly confusing AF.

Ultimately it’s up to you, and neither is right or wrong, although astrologers typically don’t recommend Placidus for those born at extreme latitudes.

What Is The Seventh House In Astrology?

If you’re versed on the first house, or the rising sign, you know it’s the sign ascending on the eastern horizon, representing you. “If the first house is the house of the self, the one right across from it, the opposite, is going to be the house of the other,” explains Hellenistic astrologer Dalanah of the Moon Matters astrology podcast. This is the descendant because it’s the sign that’s setting in the west. With the descendant on the very right side of your circle chart, everything happening from the first up to the seventh house is below this horizon line — these areas aren’t so visible and therefore describe personal affairs.

When you get to the houses above the horizon, you’re exploring areas that are more easily seen. The seventh house emphasizes relations to others because it is literally the transition from the self to the other. It’s also what’s known as an angular house (houses one, four, seven, and 10), which is a certified astrological big deal. “Angular houses hold a lot of weight in the chart,” Dalanah tells Elite Daily. These four houses are what hold your chart together as the high, low, eastern-most, and western-most points. “Any planets there [in an angular house],” she continues, “are going to be a little more bolstered and strong.”

For the seventh house, Dalanah continues, “You're looking at your relationship to the ‘other’ in the world, what it's like, how much emphasis you put on it, or what parts of you are tied to it.” If you have the sun in the seventh house, you might experience your sense of self-identity through others. For those with seventh house moons, the things that dwell in the moon’s domain (emotions) are going to be the parts of them tied to the “other.” When planets are in this house, “you're basically learning about yourself through relationships,” Bond adds. “You're learning about the lessons of these planets.”

The major buzzwords surrounding the seventh house are relationships, partnerships, and marriage. “All of our close relationships fall here,” Bond says. The seventh house is specifically describing your one-on-one relations. “I personally call it the house of partnerships because I think the term ‘relationship’ often pigeonholes the house as just romantic partnerships — which obviously is a huge topic here — but best friends, business partners, even the contracts we sign,” Bond continues, “that's all happening in the seventh house as well.”

When you learn about your seventh house, you can start to understand your personal approach to romantic relationships and what you want out of them. “It's typically the first place I look in a love reading,” Bond says. The seventh house can detail things like what sign you’re most likely to be in a long-term relationship with, how many relationships you’re likely to have, the physical qualities of your partner, how old you date, and how often you date — it’s a big deal for compatibility.

For example, if you have Aries (the baby of the zodiac) in your seventh house, you could literally date someone with Aries placements, or just tend to date younger. As Aries is the first sign, these people might put an emphasis on having one partner or finding “the one.” They’d have an Aries approach to relationships where they’re quick to fall in love and put a lot of energy into it. “They might be that serial monogamist person,” Bond says. “They're going to want something passionate ... maybe intense, maybe a little bit all-consuming.” Reminder: This could also describe a best friend or business partner.

To delineate the seventh house more holistically, you’d also want to take a look at the placement of your seventh house ruler. “The descendant ruler is how your partnership or your partner is going to go about being in the world,” Bond says. For example, if you have Gemini in the seventh house, you’d also check out your Mercury placement because it’s Gemini’s planetary ruler. Say you have Mercury in Leo in the ninth house — your partner could have Leo placements or traits. The ninth house would suggest you meet this person abroad or in school, or things like spirituality, higher education, travel, publication, or language could be central to your relationship.

There are further hints to be found if you have planets in the seventh house. Take that seventh house moon again — maybe you attract moony people (ahem, Cancers). Or if you have Saturn in your seventh house, this could indicate Aquarians, Capricorns, or even just older partners.

What if someone else has planets in your seventh house? Marriage material, baby — well, according to you, that is. “When someone has planets in your seventh house,” Bond explains of seventh house synastry, “I think of it as an ‘I want what you’ve got’ kind of energy ... You might feel yourself very drawn towards this person, and your approach to relationships may be something they harmonize with without a second thought.”

Which Sign Rules The Seventh House?

Depending on who you ask, each sign is energetically linked to its respective house in zodiac order. If you look at it this way, the seventh house would be tied to the seventh sign: Libra. But where does the “if” come from?

In short, it depends on the branch of astrology. If you look at it from a traditional Hellenistic point of view, the houses aren’t married to the signs. But in other schools of thought, like Vedic astrology, this is common practice. “Learning the houses through elements and signs is a good way to learn, but it's a very ‘yes, but’ kind of thing,” Bond explains, “because the signs and houses are very different, so it's important to know that going in ... but there's a natural harmony between the zodiac signs and houses.”

If you already have your zodiac signs down, but aren’t familiar with the houses, Bond says it can be helpful to think about the linked energies as a starting point. But know that there is more to the houses than merely what the zodiac sign is about.

However, if you look at it through a Vedic lens, the connection between sign and house runs a little deeper and actually grants more meaning to the houses. According to Camila R. Quintero, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist and professional Vedic astrologer, each house also correlates to one of the four Hindu goals of life, which are each represented by an element. “The third goal of life would be Kama,” she tells Elite Daily, noting that Kama is the fulfillment of desires through willpower. “It's our third, seventh, and 11th [houses]. The third [goal of life] is represented by all the air signs ... The seventh is related back to Libra, which deals with partnerships and balance.”

Another theme that runs between both Libra and the seventh house is reflection. “Libra genuinely functions as a mirror,” astrologer Indigo Witt tells Elite Daily. Both the sign and the house have the energy of taking someone’s personality or feelings and reflecting it right back to them. Again, the seventh house is where you experience life through someone else, and if you’re not careful, this is where you can lose yourself in the other person.

Transits To The Seventh House

To gauge what and when something is popping off in romance or close partnerships for you, transits to the seventh house are your bread and butter. When there’s a planet spending time in the sign in your seventh house, it’s lighting up this house’s themes and can drive action to these areas.

“A planet transiting the seventh house brings focus to the love life,” Bond says, “but the focus can be totally different depending on the function of the planet.” For example, a seventh house transit involving the moon will carry a different tone than one with Saturn. Even then, there is nuance because each planet bears a wealth of meanings.

“If you are already in a relationship, obviously you would look at your relationship or your partnerships,” Dalanah adds. “If you have a business partnership, you'd look at that as well. And [the transit] could speak to what's going to happen there.” For example, if Jupiter is passing through, “that's going to bring a lot of luck and prosperity. Maybe you go on a big trip or you guys are just feeling super happy and jovial during that time,” she continues.

If you have Mars there, you could be butting heads with your partner, but you could also have a re-ignition of passion. “Lots of different things can happen. It all depends on what you have there natally and also what your life is like,” Dalanah clarifies.

Because this house has everything to do with, well, not you, transits here can actually point to happenings to your partner. “Very, very often,” Bond says, “a seventh house transit will manifest as a big change in your partner's life.” This is especially common in marriages, she adds. That Jupiter transit to your seventh house could even result in your spouse getting a promotion, or something lucky happening to them.

The seventh house is one of the most intriguing houses to look into. Come on, who isn’t at least a teaspoon interested in what the stars have to say about their romantic affairs? And as a house of the angular variety, it will command your attention at one point or another, so you might as well get familiar.

Experts:

Taryn Bond, professional tropical astrologer practicing synthesis of evolutionary, modern, traditional, and intuitive techniques rooted in a humanistic, soul-based astrological approach

Dalanah, professional Hellenistic astrologer and host of Moon Matters astrology podcast

Camila R. Quintero, LCSW, licensed psychotherapist and professional Vedic astrologer

Indigo Selah-Jael Witt, astrologer and Tiktok content creator focusing on interpreting the stars, spirituality, and pop culture