A "house" is essentially a container -- for a person, a family, several families or even a large group with shared interests (think of the term "houses of worship.") In the Bible, a "house" is also a container, but for spiritual things rather than natural things. In various uses a "house" can represent part of the mind, the whole mind, a whole person or even a church. The other nuance to the word "house" is that it is generally used in regards to our affections and desires rather than our thoughts and principles. This makes sense; we tend to engage our thoughts and rationality when we are out in the world doing our work, but when we are inside our houses we are driven most by love for our families and the desire to be good to those we love. So "house" tends to represent the things we want and care about -- which are ultimately the things that define us.

5179. On one occasion I experienced an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach, which told me that spirits of that kind were present. I spoke to them, telling them that it would be better if they went away, because their sphere which created the feeling of anxiety was not compatible with the spheres of the spirits who were residing with me. At that time I talked to them about spheres, to the effect that many spiritual spheres surround a person but that people neither know nor wish to know about the existence of them, for the reason that they deny the existence of everything that is called spiritual, some denying the existence of everything that cannot be actually seen or touched. So I went on to say that certain spheres from the spiritual world surround a person, spheres that are in keeping with the life he leads, and that by means of these he exists in the company of spirits whose affection is similar to his own. Those spheres, I added, were also what gave rise to very many things, the existence of which is denied by the person who attributes everything to natural forces or else is ascribed by him to some rather more hidden natural cause such as chance. For experience leads some people to feel quite convinced that some hidden force is at work which they call chance, though they do not know the origin of that force. The fact that its origin exists in a spiritual sphere and that it is the last and lowest degree of Providence will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described elsewhere, when I shall draw on experience to bear witness to it.