Astrology House Systems - Placidus, Porphyry, Campanus, Koch and others - Which Is Best?

by Robert Wilkinson

It seems that which house system we use as astrologers is getting a lot of attention in astrology groups these days. So what are the differences, and why use one system instead of another?

I’ll begin by noting that which house system we use can shift our planets from one house to another. This is important as it involves how we trisect the quadrants of our chart, and whether a planet on a cusp is in one house or another.

I last gave this to you over 2 years ago. This article was originally written over 10 years ago in response to an email saying that over at a well-known astrology chat room an entire comment stream had been bombed due to excessively abusive discourse. That blew my mind, since it makes no sense to get into a row over which house system to use.

"House Systems - They're all in your point of view"

Here's what I was emailed, with the name of the site deleted:

To all members, Within the context of intellectual exploration and learning, debate is an essential element. (This site) encourages productive discourse. When a post or thread sinks to the level of caustic and inimical personal confrontation all focus and value is lost, (this site) and its members denigrated. The “What House system do you use?” thread fell into that category. The thread has been deleted, all good content along with the counterproductive. Verbal abuse of life’s demigods and demons, according to your perspective, is acceptable. Abuse within the ___ community is unacceptable.

Wow. I've seen people get heated about various things, but never about which house system an astrologer uses. At the time, I couldn’t figure out how it happened, and didn’t want to jump into a firefight. These types of situations that rapidly melt down do seem to mirror the general state of affairs in our world, both then and now.

So of course, it led me to offer readers an explanation of what some of this business of different house systems is about. Basically, only the horizon (ascendant-descendant) and meridian (midheaven-nadir) are fixed by what time one is born, and where. How you derive the boundaries (cusps) between houses is entirely based on whether you calculate on the basis of a space-based system, a time-based system, or a space-time based system.

Placidus houses are space-time, Equal houses are space-based, as is Porphyry. There are others that fall into one of the three categories listed in the previous paragraph, such as Campanus, Koch, Regiomontanus, Morinus, Alcabitian, Albategnian, and even those that divide the sphere into 8 sectors instead of 12 as well as those that eliminate all the houses. An extensive article on the merits and demerits of each of these would probably bore most of my readers, so we won't go there.

Though there is no consensus on which system is the best (and it seems that some fans of certain systems are ready to come to blows with each other!), I have always used several systems simultaneously in my work with satisfactory results. I found when I first started studying astrology that some of my planets change houses depending on which system is in use.

For example, I have Saturn in the 3rd house using the Placidus system, whereas it's in the 2nd using Porphyry and Equal. So which is it? Reading the texts, I realized it seemed as though both were correct. How could that be?

Seeing that the manifestations of both were true at one time or another, it led me to the conclusion that none of these house "boundaries" are set in stone. I take the approach that the chart wheel should be seen in terms of zones of overlapping house boundaries, those being the areas where the affairs of the first house and the second house interact, or the second and third, or where the affairs of the 8th and 9th houses overlap, and so on.

Over the years this has worked very satisfactorily for everyone I’ve read for, and helps to resolve certain dilemmas in how different areas of our charts and lives affect each other. In my case, with Saturn in the overlapping zone between the second and third houses, it would seem that I need to use my Saturn function to understand how it affects the areas of values (2nd) and perception (3rd), and where these meet within me.

At times I must deal with a natural Saturn in the 2nd influence; at other times, Saturn in the 3rd. At all times, how these areas meet and interact with each other as expressed through my Saturn filter.

I learn about Saturn from both areas of my life, and find Saturn's influence in both areas, regardless of which house system is in use. You will also find this true in your own charts. When you have a planet that bridges two houses, it is very important in your evolution to link those areas of your life through the planet involved.

Perhaps it would serve astrology (and bring some peace back to the realm!) if we could get over the idea that one system is right and the rest are wrong, since I believe that to be delusional thinking based in linear, exclusionary rationalizations. "Winner-take-all" arguments are the foundation of religious wars by whatever name you call them. I would certainly not want anyone to come to blows or insults over something as ridiculous as a belief that one house system is superior to the rest.

Perhaps this is the biggest advantage to the quadrant system, or the "no house" system. We do not need frets on a guitar neck to hit a note accurately. They are just guide points helping give a reference between the notes on the scale. It's the same with the lines dividing the houses. Anything nearer the horizontal axis is more in the realm of self-not self. Anything near the vertical axis is more in the realm of private-public, or subjective-objective experience.

The relative position of a planet to the meridians is what's important, not whether a planet is "more truly" in one house or another when it's on the cusp. And the idea of insulting someone because they don't agree with a house system is absurd.

(Originally published 12 April 2005)

Copyright © 2005, 2015 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Michelle Young]

I hope, Robert, you'll take time to post this to KISS. One thread could have gone terribly wrong, had members not been so conscious of that possibility. Your handling of this subject is wonderful. Hopefully, all astrology students would take time to read and consider your thoughts on the subject. A million thanks!

[Jo Garceau]

Since I have always read planetary energies in the house in which they appear, I find this interpretation very helpful. With Chiron, Mars and Saturn each at cuspal positions in my natal chart, the nuancing through the use of both signs is significant. And the relationships between the not self/self and private/public are insightful as well. Many thanks!

[Abby Alderson]

I took your advice years ago and I do the same thing although I am now going to think about ways to integrate two house areas in my life. I have Neptune in the 9th when I use equal and it is in the 10th with Placidus.
Yet I have always found the equal house system easier to understand.

I have a question; How come I have gemini in the 3rd and 4th houses when I use The Placidus House System and Sagittarius in the 9th and10th? Why are there two houses with the same sigh? I have never understood that aspect so I just switched to The Equal House System. Thank you for being here now and guiding many souls during this very exciting and chaotic time. Lots of Love - Abigail

[Robert]

Hi Michelle - More coming through the rest of this week.

Hi Jo - Glad this helps. I believe the chart is a fluid thing, pegged to a specific point in time, but the planets have more influences than we suspect. The hemispheric focus helps us get a general sense of how the whole chart is occupied. More articles coming tomorrow and Friday.

ps - As I noted when I reposted that article you sent on my FB personal page, I just found the emails you sent to the classes address. Can you please re-send an email with your chart attached to the laughingcat51 address? If it's a hassle, I'll have to figure out a way to download it here.

Hi Abby - The equal houses exist on their own relative to the Ascendant, though my friend Carl Payne Tobey thought we should consider pegging the houses to the Midheaven, since that doesn't shift with latitude.

You have the same signs on those houses due to where you were born making those houses very narrow in the system you're using. They may or may not have the same signs on those houses if you used a different house system. That also indicates you have intercepted signs in two of your houses, making them very wide. That means among other things that your 3rd and 4th houses are both ruled by your Mercury, and your 9th and 10th houses are ruled by Jupiter. I'll be posting more on this tomorrow and the next day.

[Aleksas]

Thanks so much, Robert, for your great introspection and clarification for all these house systems which are based on time or space (or both) calculations. Time/space as we humans experience it is merely our projection - an illusion. But if we look from perspective of energies we can describe time/space as a Shift of repetitive oscillations, as a sine waves, where the Shift of frequency of oscillations (cycles) determines time/space. And if astrology charts are energy manifestations for our 3D world can we ignore time or space to calculate the chart? So they must be both included into calculations. Otherwise if energies would not shift in frequency, we would not be writing or discussing about anything, since there would be no Existence as we know It :) No time/space. Maybe.. Singularity.

[Robert]

Hi Aleksas - The space and time are fixed by birth, which sets the time sequence of subsequent oscillations. However, we have a slightly fuzzy way of regarding the space we move through to acquire direct experience, and ideally a greater awareness. The oscillations are the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly repetitions through our various quadrants, giving us a sense of those repetitive oscillations and their meaning at each turn of the wheel. By our repetitive patterns we know that we are alive within an ordered system. That's how I originally found astrology.

[caliban]

Would we really find it boring?

[Aleksas]

Thanks Robert.

[ellen]

Thanks Robert,
That is the most helpful thing l have ever read concerning house systems. I have been torn between the two and been fighting with myself intuitively feeling a case for both. That is a lot of wisdom allowing the two to flow. It is so simple and yet it has profound implications.