The fascinating journey of self-discovery evolves into a dance of partnership at the door of the seventh house
This is the halfway mark of the zodiac wheel, shifting us into the six interpersonal houses (houses 6-12). Once you “know thyself,” life feels even sweeter and richer when shared with others.
In the 7th house, we don’t just seek harmonious unions, we actually commit to them. Contracts are often involved, such as marriage licenses or formal business documents. Since fairness and justice fall into this domain, these partnerships tend to be of the 50/50 variety.
The meaning of the 7th house in astrology
Opposites attract! In the 7th house, we find complementary forces who can pick up where we leave off. While relationships require some common ground, differentiation is what keeps us fascinated for the long term. This house provides clues of the types of people who can pick up where we leave off. This is where we have to get off our a$$es and put in a genuine effort to keep our partnerships flowing. But we can also have a seat since we’re attracting people who can (hopefully) make our lives a little easier. Funny enough, the lower back and booty are ruled by this house!
While relationships remain rose-tinted in the 7th house, they’ve moved past the courtship phase. You’re officially an “us,” and now it’s time to do all the fun stuff you’ve (not-so) secretly been dreaming about like picking out an L-shaped sofa for your love nest, making merch for your two-person cover band or splurging on a neon sign for a shared office space. Life is beautiful in the 7th house, literally. This aesthetic zone wants everything to be visually pleasing and tastefully chosen.
As one of the three “air houses,” along with the 3rd and 11th, communication is a focus of the 7th house. This diplomatic chart zone teaches us the importance of peaceful negotiation. Techniques like Nonviolent Communication and “active listening” live here, allowing us to express our needs while also creating space for other perspectives to exist.
7th House: Committed partnerships, harmony, diplomacy
The 7th house is the third of the four angular houses, along with the 1st, 4th and 10th houses. Like the NSEW points on a compass, these houses start each of the four quadrants of the zodiac wheel, setting us off in clear, new directions. Angular houses are a lot like the cardinal zodiac signs. They give us the courage to initiate—in this case through committing to partnerships with people with complementary skill sets.
Like all four of the angular houses, the 7th house cusp (its beginning edge) has a special name: The Descendant. It sits directly opposite your Ascendant (AC) at the 3 o’clock point on the chart. Since the Descendant provides data about your pairing style, we call it your relationship “rising sign.” It can reveal what you need in a long-term partner and what kind of partnership will make you happy.
The 7th house shares similar qualities to peaceful, romantic and fair-minded Libra, the zodiac’s 7th sign. Here, conflicts are navigated with diplomacy and love—and sometimes avoided out of sheer politeness. But they can’t be sidestepped forever! Everything is a balancing act in the 7th house, since this is the place where opposites attract.
What are the houses in astrology?
The zodiac wheel is a 360-degree circle, divided into 12 segments, or houses. Each house represents a different essential aspect of our lives. In the Movie of You, the houses are like the different sets or stages where the planets (actors) play out their roles (given by the zodiac signs).
You must know your time of birth to accurately determine the houses in your chart. If it wasn’t recorded on your birth certificate, you may have to work with an approximation, as in “My mom says it was sometime right around 4:30.” Or find an astrologer who does rectified charts. This intuitive, investigative reading can suss out what your closest birth time may be.
If you use the Placidus method (which we prefer and recommend), you may notice that the houses of your chart are different sizes. This takes into account the Earth’s tilt. The further from the equator you were born, the more unequal your houses will be in size.
How do you know which planets are in your seventh house?
Each house is like a movie set of your life where different types of action are taking place. When a planet is in that house, it’s like an actor on that set. To find out if you were born with planets in your 7th house, run a free birth chart here on our site. Then, look to see if there are any planet glyphs occupying that segment.
Here’s a handy guide to the planet glyphs for checking out your own chart:
Example using Gwyneth Paltrow’s birth chart
Gwyneth Paltrow has the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus and Pluto in her 7th house
The meaning of the planets in the seventh house
Which planets do you have in the 7th house? Here’s what each planet means in that position.
Peace, love, and harmony! Diplomatic and fair-minded, you uncover win-wins where others only see dead-ends. Although you loathe disagreements, you won’t back down from defending someone’s honor. But until things reach a critical level of discomfort, you avoid unpleasant confrontations. Problems can spiral out of control. Learning the art of conflict negotiation will go a long way.
Read more about the Sun in the 7th house
On your best days, you are calm and centered, so much so that people might mistake your serenity for indifference. Wrong! You simply like to take your time. Every option must be carefully weighed and deliberated. Rushing into decisions gives you major anxiety!
Read more about the Moon in the 7th house
You are naturally diplomatic and gracious. Trying to make everyone happy can stall your ability to form an opinion or make a decision. In your closest relationships, you may avoid conflict altogether, especially if you fear speaking up will interfere with a romantic connection.
Read more about Mercury in the 7th house
With your finely tuned sense of balance, you easily sense when a partnership is out of sync and you’ll quickly adjust. The only pitfall of this gift is that you can be SO focused on creating harmony that you sweep important issues under the rug.
Read more about Venus in the 7th house
Talk about a paradox! Mars is the planet of combat, while the 7th house is all about harmony. Being born with the red planet in this placement can make you a “peaceful warrior.” But it can also be challenging to synthesize those two forces.
Read more about Mars in the 7th house
You pair best with independent, open-minded people who are more interested in co-creating magic than putting rules and labels on your relationship. For you to commit, there must be a sense of epic expansiveness, as if the two of you could grow endlessly together.
Read more about Jupiter in the 7th house
Your innate generosity is matched by a keen sense of justice. From fair pay to fair play, you need to review every detail and make sure that everything is on the level. But then what? Your reactions to perceived slights can disturb the very peace you work so hard to keep.
Read more about Saturn in the 7th house
Your ideal mate is a “best friend with benefits” who fascinates you endlessly and challenges you to think outside the box…all while connecting to you at the levels of mind, body and spirit. The real hurdle to cross? Your not-so-obvious fear of commitment.
Read more about Uranus in the 7th house
You’re hopelessly devoted to love. No matter how many times your heart breaks or your expectations get crushed, you won’t stop believing that your soulmate (or twin flame!) is out there, waiting to be discovered. Relationships ARE the path to healing for you.
Read more about Neptune in the 7th house
A firm privacy policy is essential for you to feel safe opening up. At times you can take this to extremes, disappearing into the couple bubble or creating a secret world with your mate. You must be careful not to neglect other connections once you’ve found your “missing puzzle piece.”
Read more about Pluto in the 7th house
What do the planets mean in the houses?
First and foremost, there is no “right answer” to this question. In fact, you could speculate on at least ten ways a planet is influencing a house at any given moment. This impact will also evolve over time.
To get you started on reflecting, below are some key words for each planet.
- Sun: Self-expression, ego, creativity, vitality, leadership, passion, what excites you
- Moon: Needs, desires, intuition, what comforts you
- Ascendant/Rising: The first impression you make, initial instincts, appearance, attractions
- Mercury: Communication, curiosity, thought processes, what you like to talk and learn about
- Venus: Romance, seduction, fashion sense, what brings you pleasure, what you’ll spend money on
- Mars: Instincts, turn-ons, lust, drive, motivation, pursuits, what you’ll fight for (and about)
- Jupiter: Luck, inspiration, adventure, risk-taking, travel style, expansion, what you like learning about
- Saturn: Time and karma, caution, challenges and struggles, boundaries, what you learn the hard way
- Uranus: Innovation, originality, idealism, where you’re a rebel and a revolutionary
- Neptune: Dreams, the subconscious, fantasy, glamor, addiction, healing, boundless imagination
- Pluto: Secrets, wealth transformation, evolution, the unconscious, power (struggles)
- North Node: Destiny, soul evolution, dharma, the new “language” you are learning to speak
How does each planet influence my seventh house?
If you were born with any planet in your 7th house, it will influence the following areas of life:
- Relationships
- Equality
- Balance
- Justice
- Negotiation
- Diplomacy
- Contracts
- Aesthetics/Beauty
When a planet is transiting (orbiting) through your 7th house, these subjects will likely arise.
These areas of life are thoroughly described in the 7th place planet links above.
Another example using Gwyneth Paltrow’s birth chart
Gwyneth Paltrow’s 7th House has a lot of action! With the attention-getting Sun and messenger Mercury here, the star’s high-profile unions have with luminaries like Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Chris Martin have been paparazzi obsessions. Yet with feisty Mars, unpredictable Uranus and intensifier Pluto in this zone, her relationships have been both turbulent and entwined, beginning with passion and ending suddenly at times.
Planets in the Zodiac Signs
There’s one more layer to this! The zodiac sign that the planet is in directs the role that it plays in your life. For example, if motivational Mars was Lady Gaga (the “actor”), Mars in dreamy, artistic Pisces would cast her— far from the shallow—as Ally in A Star Is Born. Mars in calculating, status-hungry Capricorn could turn her into Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci.
Or in the case of Gwyneth Paltrow, motivator Mars is in Virgo, the sign of wellness—and the health of relationships has been a broadly explored subject by the star, including her streaming series Love, Sex and GOOP. Her iconoclastic stellium of the Sun, Mercury, Uranus and Pluto fall in fair-minded Libra. No wonder it was Paltrow who popularized the term “conscious uncoupling” when divorcing Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Keywords for the zodiac signs that appear in your chart
- Aries: independence, assertiveness, gutsiness, self-direction, novelty, trailblazing
- Taurus: stability, tenacity, values and ethics, routines, material comfort, sensuality, luxury, tradition
- Gemini: communication, curiosity, dynamic duos, variety, mobility, ingenuity
- Cancer: nurturing, sensitivity, emotions, home, family, roots, children, security
- Leo: passion, romance, self-expression, courage, loyalty, charisma, childlike spirit
- Virgo: wellness, efficiency, service, systems, organization, common sense, innocence, cleanliness
- Libra: commitment, partnership, equality, balance, mutuality, fairness, give and take
- Scorpio: intimacy, sex, secrecy, power, control, intensity, depth, obsessiveness, wealth, joint ventures
- Sagittarius: adventure, travel, expansion, wisdom, entrepreneurship, cross-cultural relationships
- Capricorn: ambition, structure, goals, long-term plans, achievements, prestige, status, time
- Aquarius: teamwork, originality, social justice, the future, technology, community, society, ideals
- Pisces: healing, dreams, fantasy, intuition, artistic ability, mystery, psychic abilities, compassion
What if my 7th house is empty, has no planets in it?
Empty houses still play a role—and we think of them like blank canvases where you might even have a little more freedom to say what goes. In some ways, this might even be a relief!
But no house will ever stay empty for long. The moon transits (orbits) through all 12 houses in the span of a month. The Sun visits each throughout one year. When a planet transits through a house, it lights it up with its energy. That area of your life will feel the influence!
For example, if liberated Uranus is transiting your 7th house, you may decide to “do relationships” by your own rules, exploring separate residences or open marriage, for example. With Pluto moving through your 7th house, you may “marry rich” or come into wealth through a partnership.
