The Houses in Astrology

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In interpreting an astrological chart, the positions of the planets in the signs and the aspects they make to each other detail the important characteristics of the subject. The system of houses indicates how these characteristics are exhibited in everyday life, as each house concerns a specific area of existence.

While the positions and aspects of the planets depends only on the approximate time for which a chart is constructed, the houses in a chart are dependent upon the exact time and geographical location for which the horoscope is begin prepared. So for the most complete interpretation of a natal horoscope, both the exact time and location (latitude and longitude) of birth must be known. When the time or place of birth is unavailable, a solar chart can be drawn up with the sign the sun is in as the Ascendant. This kind of chart describes the subject in terms of their innate characteristics, whereas a chart drawn using the true houses takes into account the effects of the subject's surroundings on him or her.

The Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and Nadir
There are a number of systems of dividing a chart into houses - such as Equal, Placidus or Koch - but all split the chart into twelve (not usually equal) divisions, with the lines between them called cusps. The sign rising on the eastern horizon at the time and location of the chart is called the Ascendant or First House cusp. The opposite, setting sign is the Descendant or Seventh House cusp. The sign overhead is the Midheaven (MH), MC (medium coeli - 'middle of the sky') or Tenth House cusp. Its opposite sign is the Nadir, IC (imum coeli) or Fourth House cusp. These four house cusps are known as the cardinal or angular cusps, and are the most significant in a horoscope, with the remaining eight cusps dividing each quadrant of the chart into three houses. The houses are numbered in anticlockwise order, starting with the Ascendant.

The signs of the zodiac are defined by the earth's annual orbit of the sun, but the houses are defined by the earth's daily rotation on its axis. This means that the houses are especially useful when considering the role of the outer planets in a chart. These planets - Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - have such long orbits (84, 165 and 248 years respectively) that they remain in each sign for long periods of time (averaging 7, 14 and 20 years respectively). This makes their influence through the signs more generational than personal, whereas their influence through the houses is more specific to the subject, as each planet moves through all of the houses every day.

House Systems
It was mentioned above that there are a number of different house systems, and the one used depends on the preference of the astrologer. The simplest and most compelling is the Equal system, which starts with the Ascendant and divides the chart into twelve houses of equal length.

One of the most commonly used alternatives is Placidus, invented by Placidus de Tito in the 16th century. As with most house systems, Placidus does not work at all when a chart is for extreme northern or southern latitudes, as the Midheaven is related to the highest point the sun will reach in the sky on the day in question. Another common system is the more recent Koch, developed in the 1960s by German astrologer Walter Koch. Other, more rarely used house systems include Campanus, Porphyry and Regiomentanus.

Each house system is different, so the house a planet is in for any given chart depends on the house system used in constructing the chart. Some astrologers favor a single house system, whereas others argue that different systems suit particular purposes, and may use one system for natal charts and another for predictive work.

Like any systematic combination of symbolic meaning, astrology is useful from the purely subjective standpoint of self-exploration, even if there is no knowable or actual correlation between the positions of the stars and events on earth. For those wishing to promote astrology as a largely objective, scientific discipline, the houses really are a major problem. A chart drawn up with one house system is different from one produced with another, and astrologers cannot agree on which house system is the most valid, even for a particular type of chart.

Rising Sign Overlays, Intercepted Signs and the Natural Zodiac
Once the sign of one house cusp has been determined, the rest of the signs and houses match up in the usual zodiac order, giving rise to twelve possible rising sign overlay patterns. So if the Cancer is the Ascendant, then Leo is on the Second House cusp, Virgo on the third, and so on.

As explained above, most house systems do not produce houses of equal size. Signs always occupy 30 degrees, but an individual house may span more or less than this value. Thus a sign may be contained within a house without appearing on either cusp, and such a sign is said to be intercepted. A sign may also be found on both cusps of a house occupying less than 30 degrees.

Whatever the case, at least part of a sign will normally lie in the house that corresponds to its natural overlay pattern. So if Cancer is rising, then Leo will be found somewhere in the Second House, even though it may not be on the house cusp. Bear in mind, though, that at extreme northern or southern latitudes, systems like Placidus do not work at all.

The overlay pattern that occurs when Aries is the Ascendant (so Taurus is on the Second House, etc.) is called the natural zodiac, and it is this pattern that is the key to understanding the attributions of the houses, as each house is fundamentally linked to its associated natural zodiac sign

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