House 7: meaning and how to read it

House 7 begins at the Descendant, the degree of the zodiac setting on the western horizon as you were born. It is the house of the other person: committed partners, close one-to-one relationships, and also open opponents and clear agreements. It describes what you meet in others, and often what you look for. The one thing to remember is that House 7 is about relationships between two people, and it mirrors House 1, so what you find in it is often a part of yourself seen in someone else.

In modern psychological astrology the seventh house is the place of the mirror. It shows the qualities you seek, admire or resist in other people one-to-one. These often carry traits you have not yet owned in yourself, which is why House 7 is read as the other half of the 1-7 axis. Planets here show how you approach commitment: eagerly, carefully, as an equal, as a protector or as a student.

The sign gives the tone of what you look for in a partner and of the partnerships you build, while a planet inside the house tells you which part of you tends to show up through other people. Projection is the main modern theme: you may meet in your partners a quality you value but have not developed, or one you dislike and disown. Because this house also covers open conflict and agreements, it describes how you negotiate, compromise and hold a boundary with one other person. Read it as a question about how you relate, not a portrait of the person you will meet.

• You know the qualities you value in a close partner or collaborator.
• Planets here can give a talent for cooperation, negotiation and fairness.
• One-to-one settings may bring out the best in you.
• Seeing yourself in others can teach you a great deal.

• You may give up your own preferences to keep the peace.
• Qualities you disown in yourself can show up as disappointment in others.
• A pattern in partners can repeat until you notice what draws you.
• Waiting for someone else to complete you can delay your own decisions.

Find the Descendant on the right side of the chart wheel; it is exactly opposite the Ascendant and starts House 7. Note its sign, which colours what you look for in partners and the way you meet them. List the planets inside the house and the planet that rules the cusp sign, and give a look to Venus, the natural ruler. Always read House 7 beside House 1: your own approach against what the relationship asks of you. Planets here describe relating and qualities in others, not a particular person.