The Houses

An excerpt from Painless Astrology by Rev. Paul Beyerl

The Committee

Has it ever seemed to you that your life is being run by a committee? This committee is not necessarily well-organized, but one in which control seems, at times, casually passed from one committee member to another. At other times it may seem there are struggles to determine who actually runs the whole show in the first place. Consider all those voices inside your head! This committee attempts to determine the priorities in your life and make your decisions. Each of these members has its own seat at a large, round table (the natal chart). Why is this table round? It enables any committee member to communicate politely (or rudely, depending upon the mood), with any other committee member. This round table comprises The Committee. It is composed of twelve members (the houses) who sometimes get along in a nicely-integrated manner and at other times appear to have taken their lessons from our esteemed political role models!

1. The Chairperson attempts to run the Committee.
2. The Manager is in charge of your day-to-day material resources.
3. The Anchorperson This Committee member sits at the Third House and is in charge of our communication networks.
4. The Home-Maker We all make homes, with a few exceptions, and those who are averse to having a domestic environment with or without others in their lives, are still dealing with the same issues.
5. The Playmate teaches us to serve the needs of the self. The jurisdiction of the Playmate is that of recreation which includes play for both adults and children.
6. The Department of Welfare This committee member has your welfare at heart, including your health and wellbeing. This particular committee member has so many tasks and wears so many hats that it considers itself a “department!”
7. The Consort The Consort holds that seat governing the areas of your life in which you deal with the issue of sharing power and decision-making with another.
8. The Investor wants to make certain that the future will be secure, whether it requires a financial investment for retirement, a house with its mortgage paid off, or good karma for one's next incarnation!
9. The Seeker is fascinated with philosophy and religion even though, for some, the religion may be based upon success in the mundane world.
10. The Achiever would like to be considered a professional. A “profession,” after all, is what we “profess.”
11. The Mixer is concerned with those choices we make about our social life and those people whom we may call friends but who may actually be acquaintances.
12. The Worrier is our Doubting Thomas, never quite certain if we are going to be able to achieve our goals, or if they will somehow keep us from success. The Worrier is one of the more difficult members of the Committee to understand. If you are one who distrusts of the “system,” the Worrier will definitely keep that concern on the Committee's agenda.