The houses of the horoscope are shown in the chart wheel as "pie" shaped divisions.
The 12 houses in a chart are determined by the exact clock time of birth. The houses
represent a more physical plane area of of life, whereas the sign describes an approach.
For example: the 7th house is marriage and partners.
The sign Libra acts diplomatically and seeks fairness and justice.
There are at least a dozen or more house systems used by astrologers according to
personal preference. Given below are explanations for the most popular of these.
The following paragraphs are condensed explanations of the various house systems
offered at Sky View Zone.
Equal House System:
A simple, yet highly effective system, this was the method that the ancients
used
before the various unequal houses systems developed. Any table of houses may
be
used because once the ascendant degree is discovered, the divisions of the chart
wheel
are equally divided with the same degree as the ascendant on each house cusp.
The signs
on the cusps then follow in order around t he wheel beginning with the rising
sign. There
are no intercepted signs in equal houses and therefore each sign is represented
on a particular
house cusp. The Equal house system does not create very large or small houses
that become
even more pronounced the higher the northern or southern latitudes used to calculate
the chart.
Placidus House System:
Developed by Placidus (c.1688) and long popular for it's intrinsic value, the
Placidus house system
came into wide favor because for a long time the Placidean Tables of Houses
was most easily obtainable.
Placidus is an unequal house system. Depending on the latitude used, a Placidus
chart may have
entire signs contained in a house, known as intercepted signs. As with most
unequal systems,
charts drawn for higher latitudes often have houses that are either very small
or very large, with
houses being more "equal" in size, the closer to the equator the latitude
for the chart is.
Koch House System:
A house system developed by Dr. Walter Koch that is considered by many unequal
house
advocates to generate the most accurate house cusps, especially for forecast
timing using
planet transits to the natal chart. First presented in 1964, Koch is one of
the newest house
systems quickly gaining favor with astrologers. The same intercepted signs and
unequal divisions
occur as with most unequal house systems. The difference between the various
house systems is
mainly the actual degree and minute on the house cusps according to the Tables
of Houses
used to generate the calculations.
Sun-on-the-Ascendant:
This house system is used when the time of birth is unknown. Rather than just
creating
a natural chart beginning with Aries on the Ascendant which is basically a futile
exercise
chart-wise, the Sun-on-the-ascendant method simply uses the individual's Sun
sign and
degree as the chart starting point; in other words the cusp of the first house.
The rest of
the planets are then placed into the resulting houses as usual. The information
derived,
is about 65% to 70% accurate with respect to the individual's life experience
as far as the
planet in house interpretations. All other planet in sign and the aspects interpretations
remain the same as a regular chart reading as far as accuracy. The exact Moon
sign and
house placement is most at risk for being "off" when the birth time
is entirely unknown,
because the Moon is by far the fastest moving factor and it's quite possible
that it may have
changed signs at some point on the date on birth. It is definitely better to
use this system for
unknown birth times with an awareness of the drawbacks, rather than create a
false chart using
one of the above house systems. The chart is then read mostly with an emphasis
on the
characteristics of the Sun, since the Sun is considered to be such a major chart
factor,
especially in western astrology.
Reports with unknown birth times are shorter because
there are no planet in house, ascendant,
midheaven, Moon interpretations or house rulership interpretations.