The Quadrants are: 1st Quadrant, 2nd Quadrant, 3rd Quadrant, 4th Quadrant

The chartwheel is separated and interpreted in various ways. These include:

Quadrants: 1st Quadrant, 2nd Quadrant, 3rd Quadrant, 4th Quadrant

Directions: North, South, East West

Angular Houses: 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th

Succedent Houses: 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th

Cadent Houses: 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th

As the house of friendships, hope and manifestation, the eleventh house talks of your connection to the wider world; it tells us what you wish for and how you can work with others to make those wishes come true. This is where we look to see how sociable you are, as well as how idealistic your goals are. If you want to change the world, that’s an eleventh house matter. If you’d rather stay home and hug the cat, that’s an eleventh house matter too.

This house rules anything which you’re a member of, so that’s clubs, societies, groups, social media communities and informal causes. The sign on the cusp of the eleventh house, and any planets in it, tell us about how you work within those groups – how much you enjoy them, whether you lead them or follow them, how you manifest change through them and where that change is aimed.

The eleventh house also rules freedom and individuality, so this is where we look for evidence of your inner rebel. Your political views are sometimes reflected here, and your humanitarian ideals certainly are. Here we also discover whether you pursue your goals through conventional or unconventional means, and we can find clues about your attitude towards technology and innovation. If you’re a social media expert, a gadget geek or an outright technophobe, it’s the eleventh house which will reveal this in your chart. This house also covers your leadership potential and your ability to inspire others.

The 1st Quadrant includes 1st, 2nd and 3rd houses. It represents the 1st stages of personal development through self, possessions and environment.

We spend so much of our lives working – so the tenth house, which rules careers, status, ambitions and success, is an enormously important area of the chart. The kind of career you’d like is shown by the sign on the cusp of the tenth house and by any planets within it. If you’re stuck in an accountancy job when actually you’ve always wanted to be a zoologist, your tenth house is where this disconnect will show itself.

The energies of the tenth house also reveal what you want others to think about you. This is where your public image lives and where we can see how important status is to you. The amount of time and effort you’re prepared to put into your career is shown here, as is the truth of what really brings you job satisfaction. The tenth house also reveals something about your work-life balance.

The tenth house is known as the house of authority: here we find out how you react to authority figures and indeed how you behave as one. If you always want to kick against convention and the rules, it will show up in your tenth house. If you’re more conservative in your approach to life, that’s here too.

Speaking of authority figures, the tenth house also reveals your relationship with whichever parent was the main breadwinner as you were growing up (the other parent being reflected in the fourth house, the house of home). Following on from that, this house reflects your views on traditional roles in society.

The 2nd Quadrant includes 4th, 5th and 6th houses. It represents the 2nd stages of personal development through the family, children, pets and health.

Your dreams, psychic abilities, spirituality, intuition and imagination – these ethereal concepts are all governed by the twelfth house. It goes much deeper than that, however – this house is also known as the house of sacrifice, because it also illuminates the sacrifices you have had to make in life. The twelfth house also relates to your innermost fears and the things you’ve missed out on because of those fears. The sign on the cusp of the twelfth house reveals your soul level connection to the global consciousness and the divine. Traditionally, however, this house also speaks of prison and confinement, although in the modern era it’s perhaps more likely to reflect situations which cause you loneliness or a sense of isolation.

The challenge of the twelfth house is to embrace its positive, divine energies and to manifest spiritual growth, imagination, love, tenderness and compassion – rather than giving in to its more negative connotations and finding yourself trapped in despair, fear or guilt.

The twelfth house is said to show your past life and to hint at your next; whether or not you believe in reincarnation or karma, there are strong spiritual links here which illuminate psychic or emotional debts you must pay as well as those which are owed to you. The sign on the cusp of the twelfth house reveals something about your spiritual direction, and planets in or transits to this house highlight pain points which result in growth. Through twelfth house energies, you can find great healing via prayer, meditation, mindfulness or stillness.

The 3rd Quadrant includes 7th, 8th and 9th houses. It represents the 3rd stages of personal development through relationships, socialization and intellect.

Your Ascendant, also known as your Rising Sign, is all about first impressions. It is the point in your birth chart that reveals the outward personality, and how the world sees you. It makes an impression on the world that may or may not relate to who you are inside.

Do people ever say that when they first met you, they thought you seemed really shy, outgoing, nervous, grouchy or what have you -- only to find you were really different once they got to know you better?

That’s how a Rising Sign operates: whatever your true, inner personality may be, you project an image of yourself that might be very different from the real you -- and might even hide your true personality from the world.

Your Ascendant is the sign of the Zodiac that was ascending on the eastern horizon when you were born -- hence the term Rising Sign. There’s a new sign on the horizon every two hours or so, so if you want to know your Rising Sign, you have to get really specific about your birth time and birth place.

Your birth date alone won’t cut it; you have to know the exact time of your first breath, in order to get an accurate reading of the face you present to the world. Many people identify strongly with the characteristics of their Ascendant, so it’s very worthwhile to go to the trouble of finding your birth time, so you can find your Rising Sign.

Learn more about the other angles: Ascendant or Rising Sign, Descendant, MC or Midheaven and IC or Imum Coeli

The 4th Quadrant includes 10th, 11th, 12th houses. It represents the 4th stages of personal development through community, friends and human consciousness.