Astrological Houses
The twelve houses of the horoscope divide the chart not by sign but by area of life. A sign answers the question "how," a house answers "where": in which area of life it will show up.
Table of Houses
| House | Area of Life |
|---|---|
| 1st | self, appearance, first impression |
| 2nd | personal money, possessions, values |
| 3rd | communication, siblings, short trips |
| 4th | home, family, roots |
| 5th | creativity, children, pleasure |
| 6th | work, routine, health |
| 7th | marriage, partnership, open enemies |
| 8th | other people's money, crises, transformation |
| 9th | education, faith, foreign lands |
| 10th | career, status, reputation |
| 11th | friends, communities, plans |
| 12th | solitude, the hidden, the subconscious |
The Four Angles of the Chart
The cusps of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses are called the angles and are considered the most powerful points of the chart.
- Ascendant (ASC): the cusp of the first house, the eastern horizon. Outward expression.
- IC: the cusp of the fourth, the lowest point. Roots and home.
- Descendant (DSC): the cusp of the seventh, the western horizon. Partnership.
- MC: the cusp of the tenth, the highest point. Career and reputation.
A planet near an angle is considered especially significant in astrology.
House Systems and Why There Are So Many
There are more than a dozen ways to divide a chart into houses: Placidus, Koch, Equal, Campanus, Regiomontanus, Whole Sign. They produce different boundaries, and the same planet can end up in different houses depending on the system chosen.
This is a well-known internal problem of astrology that astrologers themselves discuss openly: there is no single solution, and schools stick to different systems out of tradition.
At high latitudes (north of roughly 66 degrees), the popular Placidus system stops working altogether: the houses become degenerate. For Murmansk or Norilsk, astrologers are forced to use a different system.
What You Need to Calculate the Houses
An exact birth time and the coordinates of the birthplace. Without the time, the houses can't be built: they make a full rotation every day.
If the time is unknown, you're left with the planets' signs and the aspects between them, roughly half of the analysis.