3rd House
Definition
The 3rd house is a cadent house — cadent meaning it falls away from one of the chart's four "corner" houses — sitting below the horizon. It forms a sextile to the Ascendant: a sextile is a friendly 60-degree link. In whole sign houses, where each house is a whole zodiac sign, it is the third sign counted on from your rising sign. It lies between the 2nd house and the 4th house (the IC), in the lower-left quarter of the chart.
In Tradition
Astrologers read the 3rd house as the house of communication, brothers and sisters, short journeys, and the everyday world close around you. Hellenistic astrologers called it the place of the Goddess (thea), and it was the joy of the Moon — the place where the Moon is said to be most at home.
In Practice
In a birth chart, astrologers look to the 3rd house for your style of communication, the flavour of your relationships with siblings, and the character of your local surroundings. The state of the 3rd-house ruler and any planets sitting there describe how you take in and pass on information. In horary astrology — which answers a question from the chart of the moment it was asked — the 3rd house stands for siblings, neighbours, short trips, letters, and messages. Its friendly sextile to the Ascendant gives it a favourable relationship to your life and vitality.
Historical Origin
In Hellenistic astrology the 3rd place was called the Goddess (thea). The Moon has its joy there, and classical astrologers held that the Moon's tie to this house came before — and explained — many of the meanings later given to Mercury and Gemini. The 3rd and 9th places form a pair, linking the Goddess (Moon) with God (Sun).
Further Reading
- Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses
- Deborah Houlding, The Houses: Temples of the Sky
- Steven Forrest, The Inner Sky