What does the 7th house mean?

Traditionally tied to marriage, open partnership, and contracts. The cusp is the Descendant. Its modern shorthand is relationship; the Hellenistic name recorded for it is "Setting".

Why is the 7th house linked to Libra?

In the natural zodiac the houses are counted from Aries, so the 7th house corresponds to Libra. That correspondence is a teaching device, not a chart fact: in an actual chart the 7th house holds whatever sign the house division puts there, and it will only be Libra when the Ascendant is near the start of Aries. Treating the two as interchangeable is the most common way house delineations go wrong.

Is the 7th house a strong house?

The 7th house is angular. Angular houses begin at the four chart angles (Ascendant, IC, Descendant, MC) and classical sources treat planets there as most able to act. This is a statement about placement strength, not about whether the topic is favourable: a planet in a cadent house still acts, it just acts with less leverage in the classical reading.

Do all house systems agree on where the 7th house starts?

No, and this is the largest source of disagreement between two readings of the same birth data. Whole Sign houses make each house exactly one sign, so the 7th house is the 7th sign from the rising sign. Quadrant systems such as Placidus divide the space between the angles instead, producing houses of unequal size that can shift a planet a whole house either way, and they degrade at high latitudes where some houses collapse. Any chart on this site states which system produced it.

7th house - Relationship

angular · natural sign Libra

Traditional meaning

Traditionally tied to marriage, open partnership, and contracts. The cusp is the Descendant.

Hellenistic name: Setting

Planets in the 7th house

Sign on the 7th house cusp

Other houses

Questions

What does the 7th house mean?: Traditionally tied to marriage, open partnership, and contracts. The cusp is the Descendant. Its modern shorthand is relationship; the Hellenistic name recorded for it is "Setting".
Why is the 7th house linked to Libra?: In the natural zodiac the houses are counted from Aries, so the 7th house corresponds to Libra. That correspondence is a teaching device, not a chart fact: in an actual chart the 7th house holds whatever sign the house division puts there, and it will only be Libra when the Ascendant is near the start of Aries. Treating the two as interchangeable is the most common way house delineations go wrong.
Is the 7th house a strong house?: The 7th house is angular. Angular houses begin at the four chart angles (Ascendant, IC, Descendant, MC) and classical sources treat planets there as most able to act. This is a statement about placement strength, not about whether the topic is favourable: a planet in a cadent house still acts, it just acts with less leverage in the classical reading.
Do all house systems agree on where the 7th house starts?: No, and this is the largest source of disagreement between two readings of the same birth data. Whole Sign houses make each house exactly one sign, so the 7th house is the 7th sign from the rising sign. Quadrant systems such as Placidus divide the space between the angles instead, producing houses of unequal size that can shift a planet a whole house either way, and they degrade at high latitudes where some houses collapse. Any chart on this site states which system produced it.

Reference, not advice

This is cultural and astronomical reference, not personal prediction or advice.

House cusps depend on birth time and birth latitude, and on the house system used. Whole-Sign and Placidus can disagree by 30° or more on intermediate cusps - see methodology.

Last reviewed 2026-05-28.