The First House: The mark of the first breath.
Imagine stepping into the lobby of a brand new hotel. Is there anyone greeting you at the door? What does the lobby look like? Is it inviting? Welcoming? Is it furnished, and ready, or does it lack completion? On the other hand, does it convey a different image? One of reclusion? Don’t come inside! We are NOT open for business! Stay out!
I like thinking about the first house as the lobby, the first point of entrance, not just metaphorically, but literally, representing you entering this mortal realm by taking your first human breath on this Earth.
The first house is a very important place in astrology, as it contains the ascendant, or as the ancients called it, the “Hour Marker.” It was called the Hour Marker because the ascendant degree marked the point of the Eastern Horizon, which is the exact hour of when you were born. This allows the houses to configure themselves, in the same way the lobby is the first floor that is built in a hotel, setting the pace for the other floors above it. For example, if you’re born with a Leo ascendant, your 5th house will always be in Sagittarius. If you’re a Sagittarius ascendant, your 5th house will always be in Aries. If you’re an Aries ascendant, your 5th house will always be in Leo. And so on.
The houses are containers, an environment in which to hold the planets, providing them with signification, and meaning outside of themselves. The planets make more sense in the houses, in the same way an actor or a character in a movie make more sense when defined through interactions with their surroundings, their environment, and the overall setting going on around them. For example, a judge can’t be a judge without being in a court house, and a cook can’t be a cook without a kitchen. The houses tell us what the planet will be experiencing around them, and what internal reactions the planet will have as a result of their outside environment.
The first house is all about you. The rest of the houses, from 2 to 12, actually deal with other themes regarding you, but not you directly. For example, the 7th house represents other people in your life, your close contacts, and intimate relationships. The 3rd house, your siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The 5th house represents your own children. The 9th house, your travels or professors. This is why the first house takes precedent over all the other houses in a way, because it’s the only house that deals with you entirely, without an adjacent topic helping you define it.
The first house deals with the object of your appearance, your physical reincarnation, and the condition of your body. Having planets in the first house is like having different sets of costumes, or archetypes, that you can change into. For example, Margot Robbie is an actress with Cancer ascendant, and Cancer Mercury, Sun, and Jupiter in the first house. Margot is one of my favourite actresses due to her ability to shape-shift into different characters. Not just by simply being them, but by becoming them; embodying them. She can be the Sun, as portrayed by her depiction of Queen Elizabeth the I in Mary Queen of Scots, as the Sun itself represents kings and kingdoms. She can be Mercury, by bringing to life, into physical form, our favourite mischievous anti-hero, Harley Quinn. She can also become into a version of Jupiter’s endless abundance by turning into Barbie, who like her character, "is everything.” It’s important to note that the version of these characters are influenced by the sign the first house is in, for example Margot’s Cancerian first house is different to someone with a Saturnian, Capricorn first house. Nevertheless, the fact remains that planets in the first house can be more readily accessible to the native. The first house is all about physical embodiment, a topic that connects to the first house’s themes of appearance and reincarnation, and becomes a more natural process the more planets inhabit this area.
People without planets in the first house remind me of Japanese hotels without front-desk staff. You simply pay on a screen, and you’re good to go. This doesn’t mean that those without first house planets can’t be lively, or upbeat, or dazzling. I’ve seen Japanese hotels with self serving front desks be operated by robotic DINOSAURS. They don’t have front desk staff, but man, are they still able to put on a show. What this means, is that there’s a difference between a hotel without a front desk worker, versus a hotel lobby full of attendants ready to grab your bags, hand you a glass of flavored water, and ask you how your flight was.
Using this same analogy, let’s clarify what the first house looks like when there are no planets inhabiting this area. Even hotels ran by robotic dinosaurs have a human manager. Someone is still in charge of the maintenance, and the quality of the robots; someone still pays for the upkeep of the hotel lobby, even if there isn’t a front desk worker stationed at the reception area. This manager of sorts is what we call the chart ruler, or the ascendant ruler. The ruler, or domicile of a house is what we look at in an area where no planets reside. If the manager is well resourced, is responsible, on time, and organized, he is able to fix things that need repairing, keep the lobby clean at all times even though no one actually works there permanently, and continue running the hotel from a distance. This means that if you don’t have any first house placements, and you can still put on an dazzling robotic dinosaur show (or whatever it may be, this is YOUR lobby after all), it’s probably because your ascendant ruler is in good condition, either by sign, or house placement, is well resourced, and can send help from other places in the chart where they reside. Here, your first house is at the mercy of your ascendant ruler, and they play a vital role in the upkeep of your hotel lobby. For more advanced students, check if your ascendant ruler is aspecting the first house by whole sign (square, sextile, trine, or opposition). It’s vital for house rulers to be able to physically see the house they are responsible for, as a way to send aid, and stay in tune with the needs of the houses during their absence.
Having planets in the first house is about being physically seen. Your appearance, who you are, what you look like, what the condition of your body is, all of these themes come at the forefront of your physical experience. This could present itself in its extremes as someone being a famous actor, or as mundane as someone being a great car sales man, or even a professor who stands in front of 100 students and lectures. These are all front-facing roles who deliver a sense of performance, however extreme or mundane the circumstances may be. Embodying a planet is about learning how to carefully balance being that planet itself, like Margot turning into Harley, or Queen Elizabeth the I, or Barbie. There is endless potential in discovering what planetary energy is readily accessible to you, and knowing when to use those sensibilities, at what time, for whatever outcome.
At the end of the day, having first house planets is an experience that doesn’t come without its inherent setbacks. If one becomes too occupied in becoming different things, putting on different costumes, we may forget who we really are deep down when we’re without any of those extra components. One may become too preoccupied with performing for other people. So the first house is not just about learning how to try the costumes on, it’s also knowing when to take them off, retire the costume, and put on your own clothes, whatever your own clothes may look like. It’s knowing that you are yourself without the costumes, but with the costume on, too. Planets in the first house can show you that you can be a multiplicity of things, all at once. Here, in the first house, one can ask themselves the question: who do you want to be today?