Synastry house overlays: The meaning of your planets in houses in synastry
- Julia Topaz
- May 20
- 17 min read
Updated: May 21
When your planets fall into someone else's houses, you don't just touch their personality, you enter a private room in their psyche. This is not about chemistry. This is about impact. You awaken something in the house person. You act like a trigger, a mirror, a teacher, or sometimes a storm! In synastry, we often see the question of "who feels what". The answer is both people in different ways, but the house person feels the energy of the planet person.
Below is a breakdown of what it means when your Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn land in your partner’s houses. These overlays matter. They show where your energy lingers in their life. I chose to keep Neptune/Uranus and Pluto out of the equation because I notice a lot of misconceptions about these. Outer planets are so slow to move, you would most likely have them in the same house as the person you're dating, unless they were a decade older or younger.
1st House overlay in synastry
The planet person impacts how the house person sees themselves. This is raw and identity-level. It can feel like love or intrusion. Chemistry is instant, but the power dynamic can flip quickly.
Sun in 1st house overlay
The house person feels energized and seen by the Sun person. The Sun person represents the kind of identity the house person may secretly aspire to or wrestle with. This can lead to admiration (often), competition (sometimes) or a sense of being deeply understood.
Moon in 1st house overlay
The house person feels emotionally exposed around the Moon person.There is often a sense that the Moon person can read them without words, which can be comforting or overwhelming. This overlay makes the house person feel emotionally recognized, for better or worse.
Mercury in 1st house overlay
The house person finds the Mercury person mentally stimulating and easy to talk to.They may feel that the Mercury person understands their thoughts or helps them articulate themselves.This overlay enhances mutual understanding and mental synergy.
Venus in 1st house overlay
The house person feels attractive and validated by the Venus person’s gaze.They may want to impress them or feel more beautiful in their presence.This creates an aura of sweetness and charm, but it can also lead to idealization.
Mars in 1st house overlay
The house person feels physically charged or even provoked by the Mars person.There is often a strong sexual or competitive energy that is hard to ignore.This overlay can activate confidence but also defensiveness in the house person.
Jupiter in 1st house overlay
The house person feels expanded and inspired in the presence of the Jupiter person.They may start to see themselves in a more generous or optimistic light.This is a buoyant, supportive overlay that often increases confidence.
Saturn in 1st house overlay
The house person feels judged or held to a higher standard by the Saturn person.They may admire their maturity but also feel exposed in their flaws.This overlay can be stabilizing or heavy, depending on how safe the house person feels. The Saturn person can feel commitment to the house person, or they can be rather rejecting of the house person.
2nd House overlay in synastry
Themes of value, security, and possession arise. The planet person can make the house person feel worthy or threatened. There’s often a focus on money, self-esteem, and emotional ownership.
Sun in 2nd house overlay
The house person sees the Sun person as someone who brings attention to their values and resources.They may feel challenged to clarify what really matters to them.The Sun person can help the house person grow materially and feel more secure and worthy.
Moon in 2nd house overlay
The house person feels emotionally attached to the Moon person’s presence and comfort.There may be a desire to build emotional and material security together.This overlay can create dependency or deep emotional investment in stability.
Mercury in 2nd house overlay
The house person finds the Mercury person practical and useful in navigating financial or self-worth matters.They may feel mentally focused when the Mercury person is around.There is often shared dialogue around values, spending, and resource-building.
Venus in 2nd house overlay
The house person finds the Venus person physically and emotionally comforting.They may feel more sensual, safe, and materially generous in their presence.This is often a signature of shared pleasures, beauty, and luxurious habits.
Mars in 2nd house overlay
The house person may feel driven to protect or acquire material possessions when around the Mars person.There can be tension over values or financial priorities.The Mars person may push the house person to take action on their self-worth.
Jupiter in 2nd house overlay
The house person feels uplifted and lucky in the presence of the Jupiter person.This overlay often brings generosity, financial growth, or philosophical alignment on values.There is a strong desire to build abundance together.
Saturn in 2nd house overlay
The house person may feel restricted or pressured to mature financially with the Saturn person.This overlay brings structure, but also fear of not being enough or having enough.If respected, it can create long-term financial stability and disciplined growth.
3rd House overlay in synastry
Connection through words and thought. The planet person influences how the house person speaks, learns, and listens. Chemistry here is mental, flirty, and sometimes restless or superficial.
Sun in 3rd house overlay
The house person feels mentally lit up by the Sun person.The Sun person activates their communication style, curiosity, and voice.There is often a sense that the Sun person encourages the house person to express their thoughts more boldly.
Moon in 3rd house overlay
The house person feels emotionally attuned to how the Moon person speaks and processes information.There is often non-verbal understanding and a strong emotional rhythm in everyday conversations.The Moon person may evoke childhood memories or familiar communication patterns in the house person.
Mercury in 3rd house overlay
The house person feels mentally seen and intellectually stimulated by the Mercury person.Conversations are usually easy, rapid, and frequent with this overlay.There is often a sense of mental compatibility and shared humor or wordplay.
Venus in 3rd house overlay
The house person experiences the Venus person as pleasant, poetic, or diplomatically skilled.They may admire their taste in words, writing, music, or ideas.This overlay creates a soft, harmonious flow in everyday exchanges and encourages affectionate communication.
Mars in 3rd house overlay
The house person finds the Mars person direct, provocative, or energizing in conversation.This placement can lead to stimulating debates or verbal conflict.It often awakens assertiveness or mental confidence in the house person, sometimes through tension.
Jupiter in 3rd house overlay
The house person feels mentally expansive around the Jupiter person.They may feel like the Jupiter person teaches them or opens their mind to broader perspectives.This overlay supports uplifting communication and intellectual optimism.
Saturn in 3rd house overlay
The house person may feel cautious or restricted in how they communicate around the Saturn person.This can manifest as pressure to be precise, mature, or more serious in their thinking.Over time, the Saturn person can help them develop structure and discipline in learning or writing.
4th House overlay in synastry
This is deep territory. The planet person enters the house person’s emotional basement. Comfort and familiarity can heal or haunt. Unconscious childhood dynamics may resurface.
Sun in 4th house overlay
The house person feels that the Sun person touches something deeply private in them.There is often an emotional pull that feels both warm and unsettling, like being seen inside your childhood home.The Sun person brings life to the house person’s inner world and may challenge their sense of emotional safety.
Moon in 4th house overlay
The house person feels deeply comforted and emotionally safe with the Moon person.This overlay can feel like coming home, stirring memories of family, roots, and attachment.There is potential for healing or re-triggering childhood patterns, depending on emotional maturity.
Mercury in 4th house overlay
The house person feels that the Mercury person understands their inner life and private thoughts.There is often a sense that they can talk about things they never voice to others.This overlay creates a safe space for deep conversations, especially about family, memory, and emotional truth.
Venus in 4th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally soothed and nurtured by the Venus person.There is often a desire to nest, create a home together, or share quiet, intimate moments.The Venus person beautifies the house person’s internal world, bringing peace and emotional safety.
Mars in 4th house overlay
The house person may feel emotionally provoked or stirred up by the Mars person.There can be tension or passion rooted in family dynamics and early conditioning.This overlay often brings unresolved anger or desire to the surface, linked to the past.
Jupiter in 4th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally and spiritually expanded by the Jupiter person.There is often a desire to create a warm, generous home or family together.This overlay brings healing, laughter, and hope to the house person’s private world.
Saturn in 4th house overlay
The house person may feel emotionally blocked or exposed around the Saturn person.This overlay brings long-term commitment potential but also requires emotional labor.The Saturn person often represents the house person’s fear of abandonment, stability, or emotional repression.
5th House overlay in synastry
Sexy, fun, and ego-activating. The planet person stirs desire, creativity, and romantic projection in the house person. Attraction is easy. Drama is likely. Expect sparks and applause.
Sun in 5th house overlay
The house person feels creatively and romantically awakened by the Sun person.There is often a sense of fun, flirtation, and lightheartedness that brings them out of emotional stagnation.The Sun person shines in the house person’s world of passion, self-expression, and joy.
Moon in 5th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally playful and expressive around the Moon person. There is often a childlike chemistry that can feel both emotionally liberating and overwhelming. The Moon person evokes the house person’s desire to love freely, but may also touch on fears of being emotionally vulnerable in romance.
Mercury in 5th house overlay
The house person finds the Mercury person mentally stimulating and witty. Conversations often feel flirtatious, creative, or even performative. This overlay inspires play, storytelling, and a shared joy in language or humor.
Venus in 5th house overlay
The house person sees the Venus person as their muse or romantic ideal. Attraction tends to be mutual and strong, with an emphasis on beauty, pleasure, and charm. This overlay brings a desire for shared creativity, sensuality, and fun.
Mars in 5th house overlay
The house person feels an intense sexual and creative spark around the Mars person. This placement stirs desire, competition, and passion—sometimes dramatically. It brings excitement but can also provoke ego clashes if both people seek the spotlight.
Jupiter in 5th house overlay
The house person feels joyfully expanded by the Jupiter person’s presence. This overlay enhances confidence, romance, and shared creative vision. Together, they may feel like anything is possible and fun becomes a spiritual practice.
Saturn in 5th house overlay
The house person may feel blocked or criticized by the Saturn person when trying to express joy. There can be hesitation around romantic risk, vulnerability, or spontaneous pleasure. If both are mature, this can create loyal love and disciplined creativity, but it takes work.
6th House overlay in synastry
Easily overlooked but often karmic. The planet person gets under the house person’s skin through daily life. This house risks imbalance, especially if one person starts over-giving or over-controlling.
Sun in 6th house overlay
The house person feels that the Sun person brings purpose or structure to their everyday life. This can show up as admiration or irritation, especially if the house person resists authority. The Sun person becomes part of the house person’s daily rhythm, health, and service patterns.
Moon in 6th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally attuned to the Moon person in practical, everyday ways. There is often a caretaking dynamic that may feel nurturing or burdensome. The Moon person awakens emotional patterns tied to work, health, or duty.
Mercury in 6th house overlay
The house person feels mentally engaged by the Mercury person in their daily routines. There may be shared discussions around health, productivity, or personal improvement. This overlay can help the house person become more efficient or obsessive, depending on context.
Venus in 6th house overlay
The house person feels more pleasure or harmony in their routines with the Venus person around. There may be small acts of service, affection, or helpfulness that create intimacy. This overlay fosters practical devotion, often through shared work or healing goals. This is a house overlay that can reveal imbalances in give and take. The planet person gives and the house person receives.
Mars in 6th house overlay
The house person feels energized or challenged by the Mars person in the realm of daily responsibilities. There may be conflict around control, effort, or lifestyle habits. This overlay can bring motivation to improve health or work ethic, but power struggles may emerge.
Jupiter in 6th house overlay
The house person feels more optimistic and generous in their daily life when around the Jupiter person. This can inspire new wellness routines, better habits, or a more forgiving attitude toward imperfection. Together, they may focus on service, mentorship, or practical growth.
Saturn in 6th house overlay
The house person may feel pressure to be more disciplined or responsible around the Saturn person. This overlay highlights themes of duty, sacrifice, and limitation in daily life. It can bring lasting support or trigger anxiety about never being good enough.
7th House overlay in synastry
Classic partnership energy. The planet person embodies the house person’s ideal, or their unhealed projections. Deep resonance or serious friction. Feels fated, for better or worse.
Sun in 7th house overlay
The house person sees the Sun person as an ideal partner or someone who embodies qualities they seek in a relationship. There is often a magnetic pull, with the Sun person shining light on the house person’s unconscious projections about love and union. This overlay can feel fated, but it may also stir fear of losing one’s identity within the relationship.
Moon in 7th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally drawn to the Moon person as a source of comfort and understanding in relationships. This connection brings a desire for closeness, safety, and emotional resonance in partnership. It can also awaken dependency patterns or mirror emotional habits the house person tends to bring into romantic bonds.
Mercury in 7th house overlay
The house person sees the Mercury person as a thoughtful, communicative partner. They may feel intellectually matched or feel that their relationship style is being examined or verbalized. This overlay enhances clarity in relational dynamics, but can also lead to overanalyzing emotions.
Venus in 7th house overlay
The house person feels the Venus person embodies their ideal of love, beauty, and partnership. There is a natural flow of affection, appreciation, and romantic compatibility. This overlay supports deep harmony in relationship and often creates strong mutual attraction.
Mars in 7th house overlay
The house person feels magnetized by the Mars person’s passion, but may also feel provoked. This overlay activates desire but can also stir power struggles or resentment when needs clash. It brings intense chemistry, but may challenge the house person’s peace in close partnership.
Jupiter in 7th house overlay
The house person feels optimistic, hopeful, and spiritually aligned with the Jupiter person in relationship. They may feel supported in their growth and expansion through this partnership. This overlay brings generosity and joy to the bond, though it can inflate expectations or avoid conflict.
Saturn in 7th house overlay
The house person feels a serious, binding energy with the Saturn person, often sensing long-term potential. There may be fears of commitment, rejection, or not being enough, stirred by this connection. If both are emotionally mature, this overlay supports loyal, structured, and lasting relationship.
8th House overlay in synastry
Intense, psychological, and magnetizing. The planet person taps into the house person’s wounds, fears, and obsessions. Deep bonding or mutual destruction. Trust is the key battleground.
Sun in 8th house overlay
The house person feels exposed and magnetized by the Sun person in ways that challenge their sense of control. This overlay awakens fears, desires, and psychological transformation in the house person. The Sun person brings light to the house person’s shadows, forcing deep inner reckoning.
Moon in 8th house overlay
The house person feels deeply emotionally affected by the Moon person, often in unexplainable ways. This overlay brings emotional entanglement, vulnerability, and shared psychic undercurrents. It can create healing intimacy or emotional volatility depending on both individuals’ capacity for depth.
Mercury in 8th house overlay
The house person feels the Mercury person accesses their inner fears, secrets, and mental obsessions. Conversations may become confessional, intense, or psychologically probing. This overlay promotes deep intellectual intimacy, but can also feel invasive or uncomfortable.
Venus in 8th house overlay
The house person experiences obsessive attraction and longing toward the Venus person. There may be fears of betrayal, loss, or dependency triggered by this bond. This overlay intensifies pleasure and attachment, often merging love with control or surrender.
Mars in 8th house overlay
The house person feels raw, intense sexual and emotional chemistry with the Mars person. This placement brings primal attraction, but also power struggles and emotional volatility. The Mars person penetrates the house person’s defenses and activates transformation through desire or conflict.
Jupiter in 8th house overlay
The house person feels spiritually or psychologically expanded by the Jupiter person. This can bring deep healing, financial generosity, or shared metaphysical exploration. Together, they may explore taboo topics, intimacy, or mutual rebirth in transformative ways.
Saturn in 8th house overlay
The house person feels vulnerable, controlled, or even tested by the Saturn person’s presence. This overlay awakens buried fears about intimacy, trust, and dependency. Over time, it can lead to profound bonding through mutual emotional labor and slow, committed healing.
9th House overlay in synastry
Expansive and inspiring. The planet person shifts the house person’s beliefs, worldviews, and life path. Chemistry is spiritual or intellectual. Sometimes long-distance or culturally layered.
Sun in 9th house overlay
The house person feels intellectually and spiritually expanded by the Sun person. This overlay brings curiosity, inspiration, and a desire to grow through new beliefs or experiences. The Sun person challenges the house person’s worldview and may act as a guide or disruptor of their belief system.
Moon in 9th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally safe exploring philosophical or spiritual ideas with the Moon person. This overlay encourages open-mindedness, but can also trigger emotional conflict if core beliefs clash. The Moon person evokes a sense of emotional freedom or wanderlust in the house person.
Mercury in 9th house overlay
The house person sees the Mercury person as mentally stimulating and expansive. This overlay brings philosophical conversations, shared curiosity, and intellectual adventure. The Mercury person inspires the house person to think beyond limitations and challenge mental habits.
Venus in 9th house overlay
The house person feels drawn to the Venus person’s values, culture, or aesthetics. There is often a romantic idealization tied to travel, education, or spiritual beliefs. This overlay can create long-distance attraction or a love that expands the house person’s horizons.
Mars in 9th house overlay
The house person feels energized and motivated by the Mars person’s beliefs or ambition. This overlay can bring passionate debates or an urge to pursue adventure together. The Mars person may push the house person to take bold risks and explore new territories.
Jupiter in 9th house overlay
The house person feels spiritually uplifted and guided by the Jupiter person. This overlay brings joy, wisdom, and mutual growth through shared ideals and goals. Together, they may pursue education, travel, or meaning-making as a couple.
Saturn in 9th house overlay
The house person may feel judged or limited by the Saturn person’s worldview or beliefs. This overlay tests spiritual or philosophical compatibility over time. If respected, the Saturn person helps the house person ground their ideals and commit to long-term growth.
10th House overlay in synastry
Public and performance-based. The planet person affects how the house person sees success, legacy, and ambition. It can feel like admiration, pressure, or competition. This bond is rarely private and can speak of power-couple dynamics or dynamics that enhance one's social status.
Sun in 10th house overlay
The house person sees the Sun person as someone important, powerful, or public-facing. There may be admiration, envy, or a feeling that the Sun person highlights their ambitions. This overlay can bring status or pressure, depending on how the house person views success.
Moon in 10th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally affected by the Moon person’s opinions of their goals or reputation. This overlay can create a nurturing professional bond or emotional pressure around performance. The Moon person may unconsciously reflect the house person’s parental or authority dynamics.
Mercury in 10th house overlay
The house person feels that the Mercury person understands or critiques their life direction. This placement brings strategic conversations around goals, career, and public image. The Mercury person may become a voice of reason or challenge in the house person’s pursuit of success.
Venus in 10th house overlay
The house person feels admired and supported by the Venus person in their career or public role. There is often a desire to be seen together, build something beautiful, or enhance each other’s image. This overlay can bring professional harmony or romantic partnership with shared ambition.
Mars in 10th house overlay
The house person feels challenged or activated by the Mars person in the area of goals and status. There may be admiration of drive or tension around control and direction. The Mars person motivates the house person but may also trigger power struggles around success.
Jupiter in 10th house overlay
The house person feels encouraged and uplifted by the Jupiter person’s belief in their potential. This overlay brings expansion in career, reputation, and leadership through mutual support. The Jupiter person helps the house person dream bigger and move toward long-term vision.
Saturn in 10th house overlay
The house person feels serious pressure or accountability around the Saturn person. This overlay brings long-term potential but demands maturity and responsibility in public life. The Saturn person may act as a mentor, critic, or stabilizer in the house person’s ambitions.
11th House overlay in synastry
Friendly, liberating, and future-facing. The planet person activates the house person’s dreams, social goals, and desire to belong. Romantic spark may be slower to ignite but built on real affinity.
Sun in 11th house overlay
The house person feels inspired and energized by the Sun person’s ideals and vision. This overlay creates a strong friendship foundation with mutual respect for individuality and freedom. The Sun person may become central in the house person’s social life or larger life goals.
Moon in 11th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally connected to the Moon person through shared ideals and dreams. This overlay fosters a deep friendship and intuitive emotional understanding of each other's hopes. The Moon person nurtures the house person's desire to belong to something bigger than themselves.
Mercury in 11th house overlay
The house person finds the Mercury person intellectually aligned with their long-term goals. Conversations often revolve around dreams, social ideas, and collective change. This overlay supports innovation, brainstorming, and mutual encouragement around big visions.
Venus in 11th house overlay
The house person feels affection for the Venus person that blends romance and friendship. There is often shared aesthetic or social pleasure, with harmony in group settings or community roles. This overlay brings ease, connection, and a love that values freedom and equality.
Mars in 11th house overlay
The house person feels motivated or occasionally challenged by the Mars person’s ideals and assertiveness. This overlay may activate shared social activism or competition within a friend group. The Mars person pushes the house person to act on their dreams or refine their vision.
Jupiter in 11th house overlay
The house person feels blessed, supported, and expanded by the Jupiter person’s optimism. This overlay fosters faith in big dreams and can bring shared social success or teaching roles. Together, they may work to uplift others or grow a community built on shared values.
Saturn in 11th house overlay
The house person may feel limited or tested by the Saturn person in relation to their dreams or social roles. This overlay asks whether the connection can endure the pressure of reality, time, and public perception. If respected, it can lead to shared long-term goals and building something meaningful within a group or cause.
12th House overlay in synastry
Mysterious, karmic, and emotionally slippery. The planet person touches parts of the house person that are hidden. Even from themselves. This bond can feel dreamlike or destabilizing. There can be illusions and secrets.
Sun in 12th house overlay
The house person feels an unconscious, often spiritual pull toward the Sun person. There is mystery here. the Sun person activates parts of the psyche that the house person may not fully understand. This overlay can lead to soul-deep intimacy or projection, depending on how self-aware both people are.
Moon in 12th house overlay
The house person feels emotionally stirred in hidden, vulnerable ways by the Moon person. This overlay awakens buried feelings, childhood wounds, or spiritual longings. The Moon person may feel both comforting and confusing to the house person, like a dream that never quite ends.
Mercury in 12th house overlay
The house person feels that the Mercury person accesses hidden thoughts or speaks in symbols they almost recognize. This overlay brings a psychic style of communication that is deeply intuitive or prone to misunderstanding. The Mercury person may help the house person voice things they never had words for before.
Venus in 12th house overlay
The house person feels a hidden tenderness or unspoken love toward the Venus person. This overlay can feel like a secret romance, even when it’s out in the open. There is often a karmic quality to the bond that evokes longing, sacrifice, or spiritual love.
Mars in 12th house overlay
The house person may feel both drawn to and disturbed by the Mars person’s desire or assertiveness. This overlay can trigger unconscious fears, suppressed anger, or deep sexual longing. When conscious, it brings healing through surrender, but when unconscious, it may lead to confusion or sabotage.
Jupiter in 12th house overlay
The house person feels spiritually expanded and quietly uplifted by the Jupiter person. There is often a feeling of divine timing, mutual compassion, or growth through inner worlds. This overlay supports forgiveness, imagination, and faith in something bigger than logic.
Saturn in 12th house overlay
The house person may feel karmically bound to the Saturn person, as if unfinished business has returned. This overlay often brings fear of abandonment, spiritual tests, or silent endurance. If worked through consciously, it offers profound emotional depth and shared spiritual resilience.
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