The Astrology Houses: The 1st House of Self and Ego

In case you didn’t yet know…

…the houses are where our planets, in their signs, express themselves.

For example: If you have Venus in the 2nd house, you may come across money rather easily and are quite fond of material possessions. You are happier and most comfortable when money is easy to come by.

In a previous post, I explained the meaning of the houses and their use in astrology. If you need a more thorough understanding of the houses, you can find that here. If you’d like to move to a different house, click one below.

2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. 9th. 10th. 11th. 12th.

The first house, however, can be most easily connected to the sign of Aries, which is also the first sign within the zodiac, and it’s ruler, the planet Mars!

This means that this house, sign, and planet have many attributes and qualities that are very similar.

Here’s a list of all the house’s, planet’s, and sign’s correlations.

1. First – Aries – Mars
2. Second – Taurus – Venus
3. Third – Gemini – Mercury
4. Fourth – Cancer – Moon
5. Fifth – Leo – Sun
6. Sixth – Virgo – Mercury
7. Seventh – Libra – Venus
8. Eighth – Scorpio – Pluto
9. Ninth – Sagittarius – Jupiter
10. Tenth – Capricorn – Saturn
11. Eleventh – Aquarius – Uranus
12. Twelfth – Pisces – Neptune

House Cusps

The First house: Often referred to as the house of self, the Aries house, the Mars house, and the house of ego. Many times, you’ll hear people refer to the houses as house CUSPS. Here’s why:

The house can begin anywhere between the top OR the bottom of the sign. It could also be right on the line of two signs!

9/10 times, your rising/ascendant is exactly the same as the sign ruling your first house, but it can be different every now and again.

So What’s the First House Exactly?

When guessing someone’s sign, it would be more appropriate to guess their rising sign!

Whoever you seem to be when you greet your guests or shake hands with a co-worker for the first time depends on the placements and aspects of your first house. Some astrologers refer to the first house as the mask that one wears to guard their true identities underneath. I see the first house as our ego and chosen identity rather than a persona we’re consciously acting out every waking hour. It is how we appear probably without even realizing it. However, I think we may exaggerate our qualities on a conscious level at times.

***The first house is our demeanor, the way we carry ourselves, our natural body language, the beginning of our lives, how we define ourselves, our basic ego and personality, our self-identity, how present ourselves to others, our outward sensitivities, our individual characteristics, and our basic, noticeable qualities.***

No one really sees how ingrained our sun signs are until they have gotten to know us quite well. Because the first house gives us a the base for our appearance, it is not uncommon for someone with the same rising sign as you to also have similar physical features. The first house could easily be remembered as the packaging of the present. It’s the first thing you get to look at before opening the gift; to see what it really contains, past your imagination, and what it’s here for (<<<and that’s the sun sign).

Whatever sign rules your first house, is most likely your RISING sign; which is one of the most important parts of your entire chart, (along with your sun sign and moon sign). Your rising sign/ascendant, is the one that decides how you look and feel physically.

All of these women below are Cancer Rising and so am I! Crazy, huh?

Me, Lakin, in the middle 😉

Myself and all of these lovely ladies are all ruled by the moon. Why? Because our RISING SIGN/ ASCENDANT is in Cancer – which is the sign ruled by the moon! If we were all rising Libra’s, we’d all be ruled by Venus!

With the Moon in the first house, this gives us lighter skin than our siblings- which is usually silvery-olive, dark hair, big, round, often light eyes, wide smiles, a strong jaw, thin arms and legs, a very distinct walking pattern, and will either have a rather short torso or quite wide hips for our slender bodies.

We are also noticeably compassionate, caring, sensitive, protective, intuitive, and crabby!

Signs and Planets in the FIRST House:

Below, look for the sign that rules your first house and/or the planet(s) that falls into the first house.

• Aries/Mars: Confident, energetic, reckless, inconsiderate of others feelings without thought, determined, courageous, aggressive, possessive, athletic, inflexible, competitive, hands-on, the alpha masculine, likes weapons, looks physically strong and powerful, has/will have many scars and burns (one on the face), daring, self-expressive and verbal, hard-working, warrior mentality, highly competitive, and plays many sports throughout life. Facial marks and injuries, reddish skin, very athletic body, and swift, precise movements.
• Taurus/Venus: Resourceful, slow and steady moving, self-indulgent, reserved, needs creative outlet, has a love for the arts and beautiful things, highly enjoys comfort, stubborn and fixed in their ways, resistant to changes, patient, self-reliant, charming, lazy, thick/curvy, craves stability, values material possessions, sensual, finds greatest pleasure in physical senses, jealous, passionate, can be pushy, loyal, and possessive of things and people. Solid, strong body, tendency to gain weight easy, broad shoulders, and wide or thick neck.
• Gemini/Mercury: Bubbly, curious, manipulative, clever, talkative, intelligent, inquisitive, has a strong sense of self (and other self), will argue for days, quirky, adventurous, scientific, intellectual, tends to tell white lies, anxious, high mental energy, needs constant stimulation, quirky, a student forever, jittery and constantly bouncing and buzzing around, nervous energy, life of the party, and needs space and company at different times. Moves very quickly, uses exaggerated hand gestures with speech, and is both athletic and thin.

• Cancer/Moon: Emotions easily read by facial expressions, extreme mood swings, both talkative and silent, sensitive, unassuming, kind, gentle, protective, needy, nurturing, overly-sensitive, sense people and environment through feelings, intuitive- even psychic, insecure, empathetic, comforting, cold and detached, trusts gut more than eyes, reserved, needs security, highly emotionally intelligent, and often hurt when pain wasn’t intended. Silvery-olive skin, dark hair, round-shaped face, wide hips, and thin arms and legs.
• Leo/Sun: Confident, warm, child-like fun, immature, animated, selfish, natural comedian, throws childish fits, generous, highly attractive, successful using creative abilities, popular, will not express doubts of self, optimistic, generous, vain, giving, loves being admired, seeks validation and attention, very honest, self-centered, domineering, knows no boundaries, independent nature, does community work, boastful, heroic, and can easily motivate others. Very thick hair, dramatic way of moving, prominent features, and exaggerated head and shoulders.
• Virgo/Mercury: Purposeful, anxious, productive, highly sensitive to body discomfort, studious, low pain threshold, matter-of-fact, standoffish at first, highly self-critical, never feels as if enough is done, responsible, carries nervous body tension, genius at creating and working systems and organizing, poor digestion due to stress, natural and modest, instinct for what is fair, very helpful, nitpicks, perfectionist, and frequently worries. Fair skin, smooth complexion, clean and well-groomed clothing and hair, heart-shaped face.
• Libra/Venus: Makes presence known, cheery disposition, attracted to finery, thoughtful, advocate for what’s just, charming, highly perceptive, has many connections, people-pleaser, popular, social butterfly, passive-aggressive, agreeable, devil’s advocate, very competitive, self-righteous, intellectual, easy to talk to, involved in many circles, craves deeper relationships, can see the big picture, analytical, and self-compromising for sake of peace. Graceful and feminine movements, shapely body, and fine facial structure.
• Scorpio/Pluto: Strong and intense feelings, secretive, mysterious, sexually driven, obsessive, extremely high highs and low lows, paranoid, passionate, strategically manipulates situations and environments, forever friend, fearless enemy, romantic, pushes all boundaries, unconsciously demanding and strong presence, self-destructive, unstoppable, great force, vengeful, aggressive, and powerful. Muscular, strong body, deep and penetrating eyes, shows little emotion with facial expressions, and has a yellow hue to skin.

• Sagittarius/Jupiter: Adventurous, philosophical, tendency to be overly-optimistic, very curvy body, always on a quest, highly outgoing, lacking commonsense, vivacious, always smiling- even through tears, seeks new experiences, loves to travel, generous, says profound things at random, asks the big questions, gullible, trusts too easily, possesses much spirit, loves having fun, aims to kill, naturally flirty personality, and doesn’t budge. Has a broad smile, round face, is clumsy, and makes exaggerated movements.
• Capricorn/Saturn: Hard-working, serious personality, highly sarcastic, capable but cautious, pessimistic, big concern for material life, structured, trustworthy, disciplined, boring, ambitious, successful after twenties, a born leader, dictator, too critical of others, supportive, never satisfied, high level of endurance, committed to responsibilities, self-loathing, will choose career over health, limited by guilt, and concerned for reputation. Cold and unapproachable stance, sharp, but small features- sometimes birdlike, and is thinner than others.
• Aquarius/Uranus: Highly independent, constant needs for freedom and liberation, adaptable, unpredictable, easily transformed by experiences, dismissive of others, natural social reformer, both extra- and introverted depending on mood, control freak, will disappear at random, always authentic to individual self, trendsetter, high and mighty attitude, unnecessarily defensive, judgmental of those with different opinions, and is very expressive of self. Walks quickly, moves in a careless way, bold facial features, has eccentric fashion sense.
• Pisces/Neptune: Highly receptive, has no boundaries, very gentle, tends to overshare, great listener, understanding, deeply spiritual, super friendly, constant urge to escape reality, malleable, addictive behaviors, tends to cry a lot, overactive imagination, can’t be pinned down, great love for animals, often appears lost, highly artistically inclined, intuition over critical thinking, never pays attention to outer world and falls into danger easily, self-sacrificing, a mystical being. Large eyes, short, long eyelashes, and small hands and feet.

---

From Within the Labyrinth,

-Lakin <3

---

© All rights reserved.