Glossary
House: definition
A position in a panoramic spread corresponding to a particular domain of existence.
In tarot, the house is the position of a panoramic spread that corresponds to a particular domain of existence. In the twelve-house spread, each one represents a concrete area of life.
Identity, resources, relationships, work, home, projects, direction, transformation: the twelve houses cover the whole range of a life's domains, inspired by the structure of the astrological houses.
The house provides the reading frame, while the arcanum that falls in it provides its symbolic tone. The same card changes meaning according to the house in which it appears.
Reading a house spread means crossing two pieces of information: the domain of life the house designates and the energy the card brings to that domain, with its resources and its tensions.
The houses dialogue with one another by axes: the first with the seventh, the second with the eighth, the third with the ninth, and so on. Reading those pairs reveals underlying balances and imbalances.
Because of its breadth, the house spread offers a complete panorama of a moment of life; it is best to combine the house-by-house reading with an overall view that grasps the climate of the whole.
Understanding the houses is like having a map of life onto which the cards project their light; with practice, that map lets you read at a glance in which domains the energies of the spread concentrate.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a house in tarot?
- A position of the panoramic spread that corresponds to a domain of life, as in the twelve astrological houses.
- What does the card that falls in a house provide?
- Its symbolic tone: the domain is given by the house and the energy is brought by the arcanum that appears in it.
- Are houses read in isolation?
- Not only: they dialogue by axes (first with seventh, etc.) and should be crossed with an overall view.