The 3rd house in your astrology birth chart deals with communication and travel, as well as your immediate family environment, including your siblings.
Your early education is reflected here, your schooling and your attitude toward learning, the experiences you had there, and the memories that you made.
This house also pertains to short-distance travel or places you could go there and back again within a day. The places you went to in your neighborhood, the communities that appealed to you, and your interactions with the people there are also illustrated in this area of your chart.
In addition, how well you get on with your siblings is hinted at with your third astrological house, although to really analyze individual relationships you might want to consider investing in a synastry reading by an astrologer—they’re not just for lovers!
The sign on the cusp that rules this area indicates how you communicate with others, as will any planets in this house.
Traditionally, the ruling sign of this house is Gemini, and the ruling planet of this house is Mercury. It’s a Mutable house and belongs to the element of Air.
What Does the 3rd House Rule?
1. Communication
The 3rd house is named the “house of communication.”
It deals with more than just the words you use, though. It’s every way you communicate and interact with others. It also sheds light on your internal dialogue—the way you speak to yourself. It will determine if it will lead you to success or if you have challenges there.
These are deliberate interactions, whether they’re positive or negative. All of these interchanges are ways that you communicate with your environment and the world around you. It’s part of your early learning, part of becoming who you will grow into being.
2. Travel
Unlike the 9th house, which has to do with long-distance travel and intercultural exchanges, the 3rd house governs short-term travel. Since this house has such a lot to do with your younger years and the influence that they had on you, most of your time will be spent close to home, whatever your home might have been at the time.
Your world was what you could see and observe and how you communicated with it was how you learned. Therefore, your neighborhood and the people in it, your local school and your peers there, and the siblings who were tied to you either by blood or because you slept under the same roof are more consistent teachers than any intermittent longer trips you may have made.
3. Education
The 3rd house is one of the most relevant houses when it comes to your early education. This involves what you learn from your siblings and surroundings as well as the classes you took.
Consider: Did you like or loathe going to school?
This is where you learn to form opinions, where you make judgments on what you like and don’t like, and where your values are established.
The sign and planets in the 3rd house are the foundations for everything you think. Studying them helps you to uncover where you may have blockages that need to be released, as you outgrow habits and judgments that were established in your childhood and teenage years.
4. Family
When you’re young, you’re greatly influenced by your environment, whether that involves your siblings, your home life, the neighborhood where you played, or the people you interacted with.
When you’re a young child, you’re naturally curious. You’ll mimic the speech patterns and actions of those closest to you.
All of this helps to form your character.
You form relationships with siblings in your early life and you’re an influence on them too, whether you realize it or not. You and your siblings can play roles and recreate patterns from childhood even as grown-ups.
As an adult, the 3rd house is a great place to look for feedback on your early years. It can determine what needs to be changed in the here and now to make improvements.
What Sign is Your 3rd House in?
The 3rd house of your birth chart is vital in providing information about your communication style, desire to travel, your experiences with education, and your early interactions with your family.
They have all made you who you are today.
Understanding each of the astrological houses can help you uncover deeper truths about yourself.
Catch up: All About the 2nd House of Wealth in Astrology & read next: All About the 4th House of Home & Family