Understanding the Hemispheres of Your Chart
An image of a tan globe against a black background.
I know many of my followers and the folks I work with generally have at least a little bit of astrology knowledge, what I am often surprised to find, however, is that most of the people who check out this blog or who engage with me on social media tend to have little to no understanding of what I consider to be the building blocks of a firm understanding of astrology which includes polarity, modality, and elements. What I hope to share in this post, is a similarly ignored concept which is that of hemispheric emphasis. I'll be sharing a little bit more about each hemisphere briefly (potentially more in a future class if y'all are interested), as well as what it means to have more emphasis or lack in a specific hemisphere within your chart. If you haven't already, I suggest reading the article about the elemental lack as it helps you recognize which planets have more or less emphasis in the chart.
If you work with me in session, you'll see that I often begin a session, whether it is a natal reading or a predictive reading, by taking a look at and discussing the hemispheric emphasis. Many astrologers, like myself, like to bring attention to the hemispheric patterns within the chart as they can give us a broader look at the overall orientation a client has, along with giving us an idea of what the main lessons will be for the client within this lifetime. Regardless of whether or not a planet is in the 10th house, if a client has all personal planets within the bottom half of the chart, that client will be more inclined to live a life that is about internally exploring and about understanding one's subjective and subconscious reality in life.
Much like each cardinal direction, the hemispheres are divided into North, South, East, and West. In addition, we also can divide into quadrants one, two, three, and four. The quadrants combine two of the directions. So if you are looking at the top half of the chart, that is the North, and bottom is the South. The left is the East, and the right is the West. But houses 1-3 are quadrant 1, houses 4-6 is quadrant 2, houses 7 through 9 is quadrant 3, and the final three houses are quadrant four. Sometimes a client will have an emphasis in one quadrant, but more often than not we see an emphasis in one direction or one half of the chart. Before I dive into exploring each of the hemispheres very briefly, I want to make it clear that in general, we only weigh the planets for this kind of emphasis, and each planet will weigh differently. You can look at the elemental balance article to learn more about how much weight each planet should have, but to put it simply, luminaries weigh the most, personal planets next, then transpersonal, and finally the outers weigh only a tiny amount if we even give them weight at all. The angles are generally not considered unless they are drastic (IC in the 6th house alongside a 5th and 6th stellium, for example).
Now that we've covered how and why we want to assess hemispheric balance, I want to go ahead and give you a brief explanation of each hemisphere.
The top hemisphere, or the South hemisphere, (houses 7-12) all relate to the ways we interact with the world around us. This hemisphere is connected both to our external achievements and the connections we build with others in this lifetime.
The bottom hemisphere, or the North hemisphere, (houses 1-6) is related to our subconscious orientation towards the world. It's connected to how we shape our identity, the way we form values, and how we internally respond to the world around us.
The left hemisphere, or the east hemisphere (houses 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3) connects to output. This is related to what we put out into the world.
The right hemisphere, or the west hemisphere (houses 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) is more connected to receptive energy and deals with how we interact with the world and what we receive from our relationship to it, to people, to places, and to ideas.
A small a-line cottage in a forest at dusk.
First Quadrant
Let's talk about the first quadrant. This refers to houses 1, 2, and 3. This house blends the energy of the North and the Eastern hemispheres. When we see a heavy emphasis in this planet, the individual is someone who more easily accesses agency within themselves. They often have a strongly formed identity and are more easily able to forge their own path. In the shadow, folks with this emphasis can also struggle with being attentive to what others need, and may struggle to engage with others as much as they generally are more focused on their own needs. When we see a lack in this quadrant, folks may feel like they struggle to have a strong grasp on their identity. They may feel as if they don't know who they really are at their core. A lack in this quadrant can also manifest as a struggle to navigate choices they wish to make and feeling stuck needing someone else's guidance.
Second Quadrant
Moving on to the second quadrant. This one includes houses 4, 5, and 6. This house blends the energy of the North and the Western hemispheres. When we see a heavy emphasis in this quadrant, the individual is someone who has a very subconscious orientation towards the world. They often are able to feel grounded, in their body, and secure more easily than most. In the shadow, folks with this emphasis can become hyper fixated on the body or on their inner world. They can be the kind to over-therapize or over-analyze themselves. A lack in this quadrant can make it difficult for a person to be grounded and to care for their physical self. They may also struggle to be alone with their thoughts, or may have difficulties being self-aware.
Third Quadrant
In terms of the third quadrant, this one includes houses 7, 8, and 9. This house blends the energy of the Southern and the Western hemispheres. With a heavy emphasis in this quadrant, an individual engages with the outside world more easily. Typically, folks with this placement are more easily able to engage with the other, they are able to view others' points of view, they may find parts of their identity is more easily formed based on what they interact with around them (cultures, locations, people, practices, etc). In the shadow, folks with a heavy emphasis in this area can prioritize others' needs over their own. They may have difficulty feeling situated in the world and may get a restless energy if they find themselves alone or situated for too long in a single environment. Folks who don't have any planets in this area of their chart have difficulty considered the needs of others or leaving the security of the spaces they are familiar with (physical and not - ideas, locations, people, etc).
Fourth Quadrant
Finally, we have reached the fourth quadrant. This one includes houses 10, 11, and 12 and blends the energy of the Southern and Eastern hemispheres. With this quadrant, we find an emphasis on creation and what we put out into the world. This hemisphere is about purpose and about co-creation. Folks with an emphasis in this quadrant find the need to consistently be "doing." They may feel driven to find the right career, and find the right community early in life. They may also be the kind of person to create new things frequently. In the shadow, this person can have difficulty with finding a sense of purpose outside of career and outside of what they add to the world. They may struggle to feel secure and stable within themselves. Folks who have a lack in this quadrant, may feel that they do not have a strong sense of purpose or they may lack an idea of what they wish to add to the world.
