Houses of Zodiac
Houses of Zodiac
Houses of Zodiac
House (astrology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most horoscopic traditions of astrology systems divide the horoscope into a Astrology
number (usually twelve) of houses whose positions depend on time and
location rather than on date. In Hindu astrological tradition these are known as
Bhāvas. The houses of the horoscope represent different spheres of life,
described in terms of physical surroundings as well as personal life
experiences. In delineation the placement of a planet or zodiac sign in a house
will determine to a large degree the area of life in which it acts, and the goals
and activities on which its drive or impulse will be focused.
Background
History of astrology
Astrology & astronomy
Contents Sidereal vs. Tropical
Traditions
■ 1 Description Babylonian ·Hellenistic
Islamic ·Western
■ 2 The Twelve Houses
Hindu ·Chinese
■ 2.1 Quadrants, Modality and Triplicities More...
■ 3 Systems of House Division Branches
■ 3.1 Early Forms of House Division Natal astrology
■ 3.1.1 Whole sign Electional astrology
■ 3.1.2 Equal House Horary astrology
■ 3.1.3 The MC in Whole Sign & Equal House Systems Mundane astrology
More...
■ 3.2 Quadrant House Systems
Categories
■ 3.2.1 Porphyry
Astrologers
■ 3.2.2 Alchabitius
Organizations
■ 3.2.3 Regiomontanus Astrological texts
■ 3.2.4 Meridian Astrological writers
■ 3.2.5 Placidus Astrology Portal
■ 3.2.6 Campanus
■ 3.2.7 Koch
■ 3.2.8 Topocentric
■ 3.2.9 Neo-Porphyry
■ 3.2.10 Krusinski
■ 4 Rulership
■ 5 Rationale Behind Twelve Houses
■ 6 References
■ 7 External links
Description
The houses are divisions of the ecliptic plane (the path of the
sun across the sky) as seen from the earth at the time and
place of the horoscope in question. They are numbered
counter-clockwise from the position of the eastern horizon
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(the cusp of the first house) at the time of the subject being
charted. Houses one through six are below the horizon,
while houses seven through twelve are above the horizon.
If space in the heavens is the basis for house division, the sky is divided into equal arcs of 30° each.
Here, too, a difference will be made as to whether these divisions are made based on the ecliptic, or on
the celestial equator. Regardless of these different methods, all house divisions in Western astrology
share certain things in common: they will all place the cusp of the first house on the ascendant, the
fourth house at the imum coeli, the seventh at the descendant, and the tenth at the midheaven, which is
the intersection of the ecliptic with the local meridian.[1]
These are their traditional Latin names of the twelve houses, with their translations and other associated
influences. This represents the basic outline of the houses as they are still understood today.
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Many modern astrologers assume that the houses relate to their corresponding signs, i.e. that the first
house has a natural affinity with the first sign, Aries, and so on.
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In quadrant systems houses are classified as Angular, Succedent and Cadent. The houses themselves
are respectively ruled by signs according to the astrological modality: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.
Angular houses are points of initiation and represent action. The signs ruling angular houses are all
Cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. However, the discovery of a document called the
Thema Mundi, or chart of the world, by Project Hindsight, suggests something different. In the chart of
the world, the sign Cancer is on the ascendant, Leo is on the 2nd house, and so on. The Thema Mundi is
the chart that is considered the key to the Helenistic system of astrology, from which much of modern
astrology is derived, though at times inaccurately.
Succedent houses are points of purpose and represent stabilization. The signs ruling Succedent houses
are all Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. And finally, Cadent houses are points of transition and
they represent change and adaptation. Cadent houses are ruled by Mutable Signs: Gemini, Virgo,
Sagittarius and Pisces.
Furthermore, the houses are also grouped together by Triplicity: When one of the four elements (fire,
earth, air, and water) in which the zodiac sign that rules the house is placed. There are three zodiac signs
that fall within one of these four elements, hence their respective moniker, "The Triplicities".
The Fire Triplicity The Earth Triplicity The Air Triplicity The Water Triplicity
1st House (Aries) 2nd House (Taurus) 3rd House (Gemini) 4th House (Cancer)
5th House (Leo) 6th House (Virgo) 7th House (Libra) 8th House (Scorpio)
9th House (Sagittarius) 10th House (Capricorn) 11th House (Aquarius) 12th House (Pisces)
In old astrological writings (e.g. William Lilly), house could also be used as a synonym for domicile or
rulership, as in the sentence "The Moon has its house in Cancer" meaning that Cancer is ruled by the
Moon. It may be helpful to think of a ruling planet, in this case the Moon, as the "owner of the 4th
House", and the sign, e.g.Cancer, as the CEO or landlord who runs the house. In an individual
horoscope, whatever sign occupies any given house can be thought of as the house's tenant. [See section
heading Rulership below.]
In Indian astrology, the twelve houses are called Bhava and have meanings very similar to their Western
counterparts.
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Goals for a house system include ease of computation; agreement with the "quadrant" concept
(ascendant on the first house cusp, nadir on the fourth, descendant on the seventh, and midheaven on the
tenth); defined and meaningful behaviour in the polar regions; acceptable handling of heavenly bodies of
high latitude (a distinct problem from high-latitude locations on the Earth's surface); and symbolic value.
It is impossible for any system to satisfy all the criteria completely, so each one represents a different
compromise. The extremely popular Placidus and Koch systems, in particular, can generate undefined
results in the polar circles. Research and debate on the merits of different house systems is ongoing.
The earliest forms of house division were those that link with, or run parallel to, the signs of the zodiac
along the ecliptic. Proponents of the equal house system claim that it is more accurate and less distorting
in higher latitudes (especially above 60 degrees) than the Placidean and other quadrant house systems.[3]
Whole sign
In the whole sign house system, sometimes referred to as the 'Sign-House system', the houses are 30°
each. The ascendant designates the rising sign, and the first house begins at zero degrees of the zodiac
sign in which the ascendant falls, regardless of how early or late in that sign the ascendant is. The next
sign after the ascending sign then becomes the 2nd house, the sign after that the 3rd house, and so on. In
other words, each house is wholly filled by one sign. This was the main system used in the Hellenistic
tradition of astrology, and is also used in Indian astrology, as well as in some early traditions of
Medieval astrology. It is thought to be the oldest system of house division.[4]
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The Whole Sign system may have been developed in the Hellenistic tradition of astrology sometime
around the 1st or 2nd century BCE, and from there it may have passed to the Indian and early Medieval
traditions of astrology; though the line of thought which states that it was transmitted to India from
Western locales is hotly contested. At some point in the Medieval period, probably around the 10th
century, whole sign houses fell into disuse in the western tradition, and by the 20th century the system
was completely unknown in the western astrological community, although was continually used in India
all the way into the present time. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s the system was rediscovered and
reintroduced into western astrology. The distinction between equal houses and whole sign houses lies in
the fact that in whole sign houses the cusp of the 1st house is the beginning of the sign that contains the
ascendant, while in equal houses the degree of the ascendant is itself the cusp of the 1st house.
Equal House
In the equal house system the ecliptic is also divided into twelve divisions of 30 degrees, although the
houses are measured out in 30 degree increments starting from the degree of the ascendant. It begins
with the ascendant, which acts as the 'cusp' or starting point of the 1st house, then the second house
begins exactly 30 degrees later in zodiacal order, then the third house begins exactly 30 degrees later in
zodiacal order from the 2nd house, and so on.
In the whole sign and equal house systems the Medium Coeli (Midheaven), the highest point in the
chart, does not act as the cusp or starting point of the 10th house. Instead the MC moves around the top
half of the chart, and can land anywhere in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, depending on the latitude.
The MC retains its commonly agreed significations, but it doesn't act as the starting point of the
10th house, therefore in Equal house it adds extra definition and meaning to MC and the cusps
involved, but always MC is same in interpretations as other house systems.
This is also the more common criticism of the whole sign and equal house method as it concerns the
location of the Medium Coeli (Midheaven), the highest point in the chart. In the equal house system, the
ascendant/descendant and midheaven/nadir axes can vary from being perpendicular to each other (from
approx. +-5 deg at most at equator to approx. +-15 degrees at Alexandria to +-90 degrees at polar circle).
As a result, equal houses counted from the ascendant cannot in general place the midheaven on the tenth
house cusp, where many feel it would be symbolically desirable. Since this point is associated with
ambition, career, and public image, the argument is that the Midheaven, therefore, must be the cusp of
the similar tenth house. It has also been linked by extension with Capricorn (the tenth sign of the
zodiac). Because the Whole Sign and Equal House system do take the Midheaven into account, but
relies on the location of the Ascendant, it can be found anywhere between the 8th and 11th houses.[5]
Quadrant house systems divide the houses so that they agree with the "quadrant" concept (ascendant on
the first house cusp, nadir on the fourth, descendant on the seventh, and midheaven on the tenth).
Porphyry
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Each quadrant of the ecliptic is divided into three equal parts between the four angles. This is the oldest
system of quadrant style house division. Although it is attributed to Porphyry of Tyros, this system was
first described by the 2nd century astrologer Vettius Valens, in the 3rd book of his astrological
compendium known as The Anthology.
Alchabitius
The predecessor system to the Placidus, which largely replaced the Porphyry. The difference with
Placidus is that the time that it takes the ascendant to reach the meridian is divided equally into three
parts. The Alchabitius house system was very popular in Europe before the introduction of the
Regiomontanus system. Alchabitius (or Alcabitius ), was a 10th century Arabian astrologer (died 967).
Regiomontanus
The celestial equator is divided into twelve, and these divisions are projected on to the ecliptic along
great circles that take in the north and south points on the horizon. Named after the German astronomer
and astrologer Johann Müller of Königsberg. The Regiomontanus system was later largely replaced by
the Placidus system.
Meridian
Similar to Regiomontanus, except that the east point is taken as the ascendant.
Placidus
This is the most commonly used house system in modern Western astrology. The paths drawn for each
degree of the ecliptic to move from the nadir to the horizon, and from the horizon to the midheaven, are
trisected to determine the cusps of houses 2, 3, 11, and 12. The cusps of houses 8, 9, 5 and 6 are opposite
these. The Placidus system is sometimes not defined beyond polar circles (latitudes greater than 66°N or
66°S), because certain degrees are circumpolar (never touch the horizon), and planets falling in them
cannot be assigned to houses without extending the system. This is the result of his weaknesses of the
Placidean system according to its critics, which often cite the exceptional house proportions in the
[6]
higher latitudes.
Named for 17th century astrologer Placidus de Titis, it is thought the Placidus system was first
mentioned about 13th century in Arab literature, but the first confirmed publication was in 1602 by
Giovanni Antonii Magini (1555–1617) in his book "Tabulae Primi Mobilis, quas Directionem Vulgo
Dicunt". The first documented usage is from Czech, 1627.[7] Later it was popularized by Catholic
Church as an argument for Ptolemy's geocentric theory of the Solar System, in the campaign against the
heliocentric theory. Placidus, a professor of mathematics, was named as its author to give it credibility to
his contemporaries. Placidus remains the most popular system among English-speaking astrologers
Campanus
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The prime vertical (the great circle taking in the zenith and east point on the horizon) is divided into
twelve, and these divisions are projected on to the ecliptic along great circles that take in the north and
south points on the horizon. It is attributed to Campanus of Novara but the method is known to have
been used before his time.[8]
Koch
A rather more complicated version of the Placidus system, built on equal increments of Right Ascension
for each quadrant. The Koch system was developed by the German astrologer Walter Koch (1895–1970)
and is defined only for latitudes between 66°N and 66°S. This system is popular among research
astrologers in the U.S. and among German speakers, but in Central Europe lost some popularity to the
Krusiński house system.
Topocentric
This is a recent system, invented in Argentina, that its creators claim has been determined empirically,
i.e. by observing events in people's lives and assessing the geometry of a house system that would fit.
The house cusps are always within a degree of those given in the Placidus system. The geometry is
somewhat complicated and the reader is referred to this site for an explanation
(http://www.levante.org/domification/topocentre1.html) and this (http://astrowisdom.net/articles/new-
topocentric-house-system.htm) one too. The topocentric system can also be described as an
approximation algorithm for the Placidus system.
Topocentric houses are also called Polich-Page, after the names of the house system creators, Wendel
Polich and A. Page Nelson.
Neo-Porphyry
The Neo-Porphyry system of house division is similar to Porphyry houses except that instead of each
quadrant being divided into three equal sized houses, the middle house in each quadrant is compressed
or expanded based on the whether the quadrant covers less than or greater than 90 degrees. In other
words, houses are smooth around the zodiac with the difference in quadrant sizes being spread in a
continuous sinusoidal manner from expanded to compressed houses. Neo-Porphyry houses were
invented and first published by Walter Pullen in his astrology program Astrolog in 1994.
Krusinski
A recently published (1995) house system, based on a great circle passing through the ascendant and
zenith. This circle is divided into 12 equal parts (1st cusp is ascendent, 10th cusp is zenith), then the
resulting points are projected to the ecliptic through meridian circles.
The house tables for this system were published in 1995 in Poland. This house system is also known
under the name Amphora in the Czech Republic, after it was proposed there by Milan Píša after the
study of Manilius's "Astronomica" under this name ("Konstelace č. 22" in: "AMPHORA - nový systém
astrologických domů" (1997) and in the booklet "Amphora - algoritmy nového systému domů" (1998)).
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Rulership
In Hellenistic, Vedic, Medieval and Renaissance astrology each house is ruled by the planet that rules
the sign on its cusp. For example, if a person has the sign Aries on the cusp of their 7th house, then the
planet Mars is said to "rule" their 7th house. This means that when a planet is allotted a house, its nature
comes to have some bearing on that specific topic in the person's life, and that planet is said to be very
important for events specifically pertaining to that topic. The placement of this planet in the chart will
have at least as much influence on the chart as the planets within the house. In traditional Western &
Hindu astrology, each sign is ruled by one of the 7 visible planets (note that in astrology, the Sun and
Moon are considered planets, which literally means wanderers, i.e. wandering stars, as opposed to the
fixed stars of the constellations).
In addition, some modern astrologers who follow the X=Y=Z or Planet=Sign=House doctrine, which
was first taught by Alan Leo in the early part of the 20th century, believe that certain houses are also
"ruled" by, or have an affinity with, the planet which rules the corresponding zodiacal sign. For instance,
Mars is ruler of the 1st house because Aries is the first sign, Mercury rules or has an affinity with the 3rd
house because Gemini is the 3rd sign, etc.
This highly oversimplified concept is sometimes referred to as "natural rulership", as opposed to the
former which is sometimes called "accidental rulership." It is problematic when we consider that
Neptune is not a planet that rules any sign under the ancient rules, because it was not known to the
ancients.
The theory of "natural rulership" of a house is also challenged by a document from the Hellenistic era
called the Thema Mundi, a teaching chart the name of which translates to the chart of the world. This
chart has Cancer in the ascendant, which suggests that the astrologers from whom we inherit most of our
astrological knowledge were proposing that the 1st house is associated with the sign Cancer. Astrologer
Eric Francis has described this as the "90-degree shift issue."
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References
1. ^ Nicholas DeVore, Encyclopedia of Astrology (1948, Philosophical Library), sub. tit. "Houses"
2. ^ Derek and Julia Parker, "The New Compleat Astrologer", p12, Crescent Books, New York, 1990
3. ^ Derek and Julia Parker, Ibid, p175, 1990
4. ^ James Holden, Ancient House Division, Journal of Research of the American Federation of Astrologers 1
(1982), pgs. 19-28. Also see Rob Hand, Whole Sign Houses: The Oldest House System, ARHAT
Publications, 2000.
5. ^ Jeff Mayo, Teach Yourself Astrology , p76, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1979
6. ^ Astrodatabank FAQ n.5 (http://www.astrodatabank.com/AstrologyFAQ.htm#EqualHouse)
7. ^ http://www.radio.cz/en/article/97520
8. ^ North, John David (1986). "The eastern origins of the Campanus (Prime Vertical) method. Evidence from
al-Bīrūnī". Horoscopes and history. The Warburg Institute, University of London. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-
0854810680.
External links
■ RGCSA (http://www.astrology-research.net/rgcsa.htm) -- The Research Group for the Critical
Study of Astrology
■ NCGR (http://www.geocosmic.org/) -- National Council for Geocosmic Research
■ The Oktotopos Question (http://www.snowcrest.net/sunrise/aoctobj.htm)
■ Study Astrological Houses (http://horoscope.xaapa.com/the-astrological-houses/)
■ Modern View of Houses in Astrology (http://astrologywork.com/horoscope-houses/)
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