#equal house system

[callistolivia]

Hi, I have a question about the fact that I have a bit of a unusual thing in my chart. My MC is in fact in the 7th house when I do whole sign. I was born quite near the arctic circle and I know it affects some charts in a strange way. When my MC is in the 7th does that mean my 7th house is more visible and important than say my 10th?

Thank you 🙏🏻

Hi there,

So essentially what you're asking is what is more important, an angle or the sun's zenith? The truth is, both are equally "important" and play a role in interpretation. There's a really interesting article here talking about different house systems and defining the Midheaven. And to pull a quote from this article talking about why we associate this exact 'point' in the chart outside of angles; "The idea behind this precision is that the sky is not something static, but is in permanent motion. As a result, all celestial bodies reach a certain point in their diurnal arc where they attain the highest possible altitude according to their declination. Being the Midheaven, in any of the possible definitions, the place where the stars reach their maximum elevation, it is quite obvious that the ideas associated with the 10th house such as advancement, promotion, profession, vocation, reputation and public image, derive of said elevated condition in the upper part of the celestial vault."

Regarding the angles, to put it very simply the nature and theme of astrology is all about balance and ebb and flow. This is why I use the equal house system for readings and why many others praise the whole sign system. It's best to imagine the birth chart as a colour wheel where the colours blend into each other, they have a direct relationship with each other. The houses are simply an overlay that we use as a guide for interpreting the meaning of a celestial body's position within this painting. The angles are the most definitive overlay because they happen to be the most polarizing. What you'll notice is that your Midheaven, despite being in the 7th house, is still above the horizon and therefore still has this "relationship" with the most southern (Public, top of the chart) half of the birth chart.

Think of it as an extra layer of interpretation. The 7th house is already a house that's in a realm of being "seen," it has to be. The Midheaven being there means there's some self-actualization in that part of your life.

[divisioninwarsaw]

i'm sorry if this has been asked before, but what house system do you use? have you experimented with more than one ? do you have anything that you like/dislike more about certain systems? thank you so much, i love your blog! your celebrity birth chart analysis are so fun to read & accurate af

💖💖💖 That's so sweet. I'm glad y'all enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy making them.

It’s kinda my area of expertise, I love house systems. I’ve experimented with all of them & I have some favourites. But the one I generally use is Placidus.

I HATE “equal houses” & “whole signs”.  Those who use them don’t know what they’re doing & they’re scared of house cusps. It’s understandable for beginners as they don’t know what to do yet. But you shouldn’t be afraid of experimenting with cusp planets. I have few cusp planets & I know exactly which house they belong in. 

Also it seems that those 2 systems are used to avoid interceptions. Interceptions are normal. As long as every house has a ruler, that's all that matters.

[khalipsos]

I personally think it’s better using the Equal house system for calculating charts, and this is an advice that I indicate especially to those that are new to astrology. 

I’ll put it simple: If you’re born in Oslo, you will have probably more interceptions than someone who is born on the Equator with the classic/Placidus system. And to me this concept of astrological imbalance doesn’t sound good. 

The placidus system was calculated wrongly for a lot of centuries, during in which it became a standard system for the Western Astrology. People that are born on the equator have less energetic imbalance in the chart than the people born in Alaska or in South Africa? It’s not right. So after some researches I found that the equal house system is better, especially for interpreting chart, understanding conjunctions and the meaning of the houses. 

With the equal houses the only thing that changes in most of the charts is the placements of the planets, so If it happens that someone has a stellium between the 7th and the 8th house it could be that with this system he/she can see clearly if his or her stellium is in the 7th or in the 8th rather than between the two. Another thing that changes with the equal houses is that we have MC on the cusp of the 9th house, the house of the “philosophical enlightenment/experiences” and to me, the MC fits perfectly this house because it represents who we truly want to be, our aspirations and secret desires, unlike our ambitions, that are represented by the 10th house.

[callistolivia]

Hi! Could you provide more information on the pros of using equal rather than placidus? Thank you

Hi,

I’ve discussed this here and there on this blog before, here’s a recent reblog talking about why I use it.

When googling “Placidus vs Equal,” the first link that comes up is an astrologer discussing going from using equal, to placidus, and then back to using equal throughout her years. I actually share extremely similar views as her in terms of why I use the equal system. She also recommends a book (which I actually just ordered and I’m waiting for in the mail now!)

Here’s the summary of her blog post,

"In Phoebe Wyss’ [Phoebe Wyss’s book; Inside the Cosmic Mind] words:

“Archetypal astrology is an approach to astrological chart interpretation that is based on this cosmological view. The meanings of the chart factors such as zodiac signs, houses, and planets are then seen to derive from the twelve basic categories of meaning associated with the astrological archetypes. These fundamental cosmic principles and their inter-relationships are symbolised in the geometry of the zodiac …” (2)

Wyss’ book — which builds on the recent work of Richard Tarnas, Kieron Le Grice, and other pioneers in the field of archetypal cosmology — has taken me back and regrounded me in the basic geometry of sacred numbers, whose symbolism reflects the core shaping principles or archetypes governing the movement of energy throughout the whole cosmos. The number 12 is one of those sacred numbers.

From that symbolic, geometric perspective, dividing the inner space of the horoscope symbolically into 12 equal parts seems more appropriate than using any other house system, including Placidus, whose devising arises purely from measurements limited by the view from planet Earth in relation to the solar system in our tiny corner of space/time. " - Anna Whitaker

The sacred geometry she mentions is also discussed in great depth in Robert Zoller’s book, The Arabic Parts in Astrology: A Lost Key to Prediction. I highly recommend this book even if you aren’t interesting in learning Arabic Parts.

I think the equal house system is the best of both worlds. It’s like the whole signs system and placidus combined in some ways. It’s a system that honours the fundamentals of balance in astrology.

Another website mentions using the Whole Sign system introduces the concept of a “floating” MC. Similarly, the Equal House system has the same concept. The whole idea of this concept is that the MC “degree” can actually fall into a different house (9th, 11th, 12th, etc.) and may provide additional information on the midheaven. 

Using the equal house system also eliminated interceptions. I think interceptions are kind of silly and an odd scapegoat for explaining the inability to express in a certain way. Everyone has all 12 signs within them and the inability or perception of inability to express a certain way shouldn’t be mistaken as an interception. The chart has other ways of demonstrating/explaining this. 

[seagull-astrology]

Havelock Ellis & the Equal vs Whole House System

Havelock Ellis & the Equal vs Whole House System

Using the Equal House Havelock-Ellis-in-Equal-FormatDownload The Equal House house and whole House systems are the oldest astrological house systems in astrology.  The Equal House is based on the Ecliptic, and some astrologers actually call it the Ecliptic system  It has several features: All the houses are equally spaced, meaning that each house is exactly thirty degrees wide, so it very easy…

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[blossomandglow]

If you are following the Saturn posts

and your Saturn placement doesn't quite fit, try changing your house calculation to equal houses. If your Saturn is on a cusp and almost in the NEXT house, read for both houses. Signs DON'T blend on the cusp, but houses sometimes do, only moving forward, though.

I hope that makes sense.

By the way, Saturn is an important means of rectifying a chart, and must be checked when determining accuracy of birth time data. It is easier to rectify someone else's chart, as most people lack objectivity about personal obstacles and blindspots in life for themselves. For instance, it is common to be "blind" to planets in the 12th house, project the issues of the 8th house on to others, and downplay or avoid the importance of 4th house issues.

When determining birth time consider where the subject's greatest difficulty in life was experienced and put Saturn in that house. Chiron represents the greatest pain, and you should be able to narrow that down to a couple of house possibilities. Check the resulting ascendant for physical presentation and the midheaven for career and reputation and adjust as necessary.

[asteria-writing]

I’ve been told to start learning astrology seriously and stop dabbling like a little shit (lol).

So yesterday I sat down and took notes for about five minutes, then read the line “this book uses the Koch system for houses”. Of course I’m curious and about the other systems...

Five hours (5) later I’ve read multiple papers and posts and threads- I dissolved into tears at least once. Compared and contrasted my chart and family charts in the different systems. Tried to convince myself I didn’t need to choose one yet- or at all even. Laughed at myself because that’s a lie (I’m not that kind of person). Compared more. Ended up choosing the Equal House System. Then took a nap for two (2) hours.

All in all very productive day /s/ ... got an entire half a page of notes (five minutes worth) to show for it.

[moonconjunctmars]

my placidus vs. equal vs. porphyry houses

placidus

sun in 12th moon in 7th mercury in 12th venus in 12th mars in 7th jupiter in 11th saturn in 1st uranus in 11th neptune in 11th pluto in 8th north node in 7th lilith in 6th chiron in 7th

a lot of empty houses, but pretty balanced with three planets each in 11th, 12th and 7th.

equal

sun in 12th moon in 7th mercury in 11th venus in 11th mars in 7th jupiter in 11th saturn in 1st uranus in 11th neptune in 11th  pluto in 9th north node in 7th  lilith in 6th chiron in 8th

undeniable/terrifying five-planet 11th house stellium!

i got this comparison from here.

i first saw my chart with porphyry houses, which tend to be closer to the more common equal houses, and even though this stellium fucks me over so much, i identify with it enough to make it my url. i’ve seen a lot of criticism of placidus and when i search people say to go with what feels right, so i’m definitely feeling this out at the moment. ask box is open if you have input?

in porphyry, as well:

porphyry

sun in 12th moon in 7th mercury in 11th venus in 11th mars in 7th jupiter in 11th saturn in 1st uranus in 11th neptune in 11th pluto in 9th north node in 7th lilith in 5th chiron in 8th