Looking the sky from Earth reverses all directions to their opposite points. Think of yourself as laying on the ground, with your head pointing North, and looking up at the night sky. Stretch your arms out so they are perpendicular to your body. Your left hand is now pointing to the East, your feet to the South, and your right hand to the West. The directions now look like the picture to the left.
Houses run counter clockwise starting with the East point.
Think of a clock and the positions of the hour indicators. The 9 o'clock position would be the Eastern point or the 1st house of the chart. The 3rd house begins at the 7 o'clock position, the 4th house at the 6 'oclock position, and so forth around the clock for each of the remaining houses. The 1st house cusp is known as the Ascendent. Each house cusp in the chart will have a zodiac sign and degree of that sign associated with it which are determined via astrological calculations.