by Robert Wilkinson
In our third part of this series on house systems we’re going to dive into something very common in birth charts. Today we look at how intercepted signs work and how this impacts a planet in a sign that's intercepted.
This continues our three day discussion about the differences in house systems, why cusps are zones rather than points, and what it means when the house cusps in charts change depending on which system we use. One system may yield an entirely different set of signs on two or more cusps. (For those new to astrology, a cusp is the edge of where one house ends and the next one begins.)
To recap some key points, often charts won’t show a change in the sign on the cusp of a given house regardless of which House division system one uses. However, the farther north or south you go from the equator, the wider the variance in the size of the quadrants (and therefore the houses), leading to what are called “intercepted” signs. This is when you have the end of a sign on the cusp, the entire next sign inside the house, and the sign after that on the next house cusp.
We all have all the signs in our chart somewhere, and if the cusps involve the very early or very late degrees of a sign, it’s likely at least two houses will have different signs on their cusps if we look at the “cuspal zone” created by using two or more house systems. And as I noted, some charts could have three possible signs on its cusp if a person is born in extreme North or South latitude.
So What’s An “Intercepted” Sign?
Whenever we find the same sign on two consecutive houses, such as 2 Virgo on the second house cusp and 28 Virgo on the third house cusp, with the opposite signs also on two consecutive houses (in this case, 2 Pisces on the eighth house cusp and 28 Pisces on the ninth house cusp using the Placidus House system), we will find “intercepted” signs in another pair of houses. Here different house division system may yield different signs that are “intercepted,” as well as different houses where a sign is intercepted.
This is a common but little understood phenomenon. Almost everyone born above certain latitudes has intercepted signs, while those born closer to the equator almost never have them. So let's have a look into what these can indicate in a chart.
Generally speaking, as per the above example, the concept of interception involves two houses having the same sign on the cusp, the two opposite houses also having the opposite sign on those two houses, while denying two other signs occupancy of a house cusp.
Whether this occurs or not depends entirely on what house system we use. It can never happen when we use Equal Houses, since that puts the natural sequence of signs on successive houses beginning with the Ascendant.
As an aside, my old friend and Master Astrologer Carl Payne Tobey held the opinion we should also examine charts using Equal Houses starting from the Midheaven degree, since that doesn't change according to latitude. This would certainly produce different results from an Ascendant based system (except near the equator, when the houses are pretty much equal house anyway, regardless of what system we use).
An Example of Multiple Cusp Rulerships Creating Intercepted Signs
We’ll use my own chart as an example, since I have multiple cusp rulerships and an intercepted planet. We’ll begin by calculating it using different house systems. When calculated using the Placidus House system, I have 11 Leo on the Ascendant, 2 Virgo on the 2nd and 28 Virgo on the 3rd, 30 Libra on the Nadir (IC), 6 Sag on the 5th and 11 Capricorn on the 6th cusp. Obviously the signs opposite to these go on the opposite house cusps. So where are Taurus and Scorpio?
They are "intercepted" in the 10th and 4th houses respectively. The cusp of my MC is 30 Aries, while the cusp of my 11th is 6 Gemini making my 10th house 36 degrees wide. That means I begin the house at the end of Aries, and it's wide enough to encompass all of Taurus and a fifth of Gemini. The same with the 4th, but with opposite signs.
My 2nd house, on the other hand, is only 26 degrees wide, as is my 8th. Planets move through my 2nd and 8th houses quickly, but stay longer in my 4th and 10th, since those houses are wider. Again, this is all about how space or time are "bent" by which house system you use to calculate charts.
However, when using the Porphyry House division system (my favorite) my cusps change significantly. I'll always have 11 Leo as an Ascendant and 30 Aries as a Midheaven (MC), but using Porphyry I have 7 Virgo on the 2nd, 4 Libra on the 3rd, 4 Sag on the 5th, and 7 Cap on the 6th, with opposite signs on opposite houses. Thus you can see the rulers of my 3rd and 9th houses change when I change house division systems, also moving my Saturn from the 3rd (Placidus) to the 2nd (Porphyry). However, Taurus and Scorpio remain intercepted in the 4th and 10th in both these systems.
The Koch system is closer to the Porphyry cusps, though it expands my 4th and 10th while narrowing my 6th and 12th houses. Campanus also is close to the Porphyry cusps, and expands my 1st and 7th while narrowing my 4th and 10th.
Regiomontanus, on the other hand, is closer to the Placidus cusps (Virgo on the 3rd) and widens my 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 10th houses while it narrows my 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 12th houses. In all systems other than the Equal House system, Taurus and Scorpio remain intercepted. Using multiple systems makes it clear that cusps are zones of overlapping influence rather than hard lines fixed in space-time. If any of this is confusing, reading the previous articles on houses may help some of this make sense.
Re-Imaging Our Concept Of House Rulership
So what does all this mean? When two houses share the same sign, they are both ruled by the same planet. When a sign is intercepted, it means the previous sign is the cusp ruler, but the intercepted sign exerts a very powerful influence, since all signs get their due in our life experience. We all have all the signs somewhere, and exactly where is why some of us have similar or different approaches to our life affairs (the houses).
As you can see, whatever houses share a ruler is determined by which system we use. In our example, using Equal, Placidus, and Porphyry together, we see that the cusp between my 2nd and 3rd houses is anywhere from 28 Virgo to 11 Libra. This is the "commons" where my values meet my attitudes, where my resources and how I use them contacts my environment and close relations. It also means that both Mercury and Venus play a co-equal part in the affairs of that house.
There are other correlations as well, such as the border between my 8th and 9th being between 28 Pisces and 11 Aries, thus bringing dual rulerships of Jupiter and Mars, The “cuspal zone” where the eighth house meets the ninth is where my desires meet my truth and future, or where my shared values and resources meet my ethics and philosophy. Any time a planet moves through these zones that planetary principle activates the shared "zone of influence" and I get new insights and activities about what is common to those different houses through that planetary lens.
Interpreting Intercepted Signs and Planets
Just because a sign is on 2 houses doesn't make it "more powerful," and the intercepted sign "less powerful." More obvious and less obvious might be a better way to approach this phenomenon. Of course, just because something is not obvious or is hidden in some way doesn’t mean it’s less powerful.
Ultimately, it all involves "narrower" and "wider" spans of experience in our different life affairs. The same sign on two adjacent houses implies a harmonic linkage, but also shows a narrow range of influence, since the same sign on two houses always indicates a house that's less than 30 degree wide. An intercepted sign always indicates a wider house than most of the others, thus opening that span within us to a wider range of experience. Not necessarily stronger, but more diverse.
In our example, I have Libra, Scorpio, and early Sagittarius all in my fourth house, and Aries, Taurus, and early Gemini in my tenth. That means any planetary transit through that house it would have a long stay and a wide range of experience. If the IC is our “root” and family or origin, I have had Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius experiences related to my fourth house experiences this life. And while I may appear very “Mercury conjunct the Midheaven in Aries” to the world, my Venus intercepted in Taurus is still a very powerful presence in my public affairs.
Remember, the planets always express their nature and qualities. While the signs on our cusps show our general inclination of approach in those life areas, those areas only express through events when a planet occupies that sign, or when a hot spot is set off by a progression, transit, eclipse point, a planetary station, a major planet conjunction point, a Solar Return emphasis, or other such indicators.
Planets in an intercepted sign are still powerful Lights “doing their department of labor.” The fact that we have a different sign on the cusp than the sign a planet is in does not make a planet in the intercepted sign "weak." Intercepted is not weak - no planet is "weak."
The sign on a house cusp shows our general approach to those house affairs, and is governed by the planet(s) ruling the sign(s) on the cusp. A planet in an intercepted sign shows that planetary influence works independently of the ruler of the cusp. That intercepted planet is still very strong, and will show its influence every time something makes an aspect to it. It may work as a background influence, or a non-obvious influence, but it will still show itself.
For example, my Venus in Taurus in the 10th is intercepted, but no one would ever think it was not a powerful influence in my life! Apart from the non-stop aspects made to it, it is powerful as an elevated planet, secure in its own sign rulership, and exercising rulership over the third and fourth houses in my chart. It’s just not as obvious as my Mercury conjunct the Midheaven in Aries, but still very strong and secure in its own realm!
The same is true for my intercepted Scorpio in the fourth! That area has been activated every time I’ve been put through harrowing events and my several brushes with death, including my NDE when I stopped breathing and left my body. Though I have the end of Libra on my fourth house cusp, the intercepted Scorpio energies have been front and center since I was born with each transit through that sign or making hard aspects generating voids in that sign.
On A Final Note
By looking at our house cusps to see which ones share rulers, we can understand why there may be movement in both areas of our lives during a given time. By looking at house the transiting rulers of our houses and when they change signs and move from one house to the next, we can see our evolving approach to the different areas of our lives. This involves all the traditional rulers of the signs, the “Sacred Seven” which govern our personal and interpersonal affairs of the world.
The outer Invisible Quartet of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and TransPluto work out transpersonally and collectively, and so represent “forces beyond our control” in the houses they’re transiting in our chart. It’s why unless we are a global force majeure, we'll usually understand more about our life affairs by looking at Saturn as ruler of Cap and Aquarius, Jupiter as ruler of Sag and Pisces, and Mars as ruler of Aries and Scorpio. This even applies to world rulers and major players. They too are subject to the traditional rulerships, even though their decisions may work out as Uranian, Neptunian, or Plutonian energies in the world.
Applied to my intercepted signs, though I don’t have Taurus or Scorpio on a house cusp, Venus and Mars still exert their influences on those parts of my life. It may be that Mars, ruling Scorpio, does deep (if somewhat hidden) work on my intercepted fourth house Scorpio through its transit experiences, and of course other transits impact my natal Mars. While the Aries rulerships of the ninth and tenth houses may be more obvious (due to Mars ruling both houses instead of only one), my submerged and intercepted Scorpio is still a powerful force in my approach to fourth house matters. And yes, I’ve learned that in life, sooner or later we must all “walk on.”
So if you have an intercepted planet, take heart! It’s not weak, and occupies its own place in your personal and interpersonal constellation of inner and outer Lights. Your intercepted signs are not weak, and in fact, may be a stronger force in your life than you suspect, since that’s how interceptions work. They are concealed, not gone or weak. Interceptions are a very powerful influence even though those signs aren't on a cusp. All our sign responses are powerful in their own ways and times. Interceptions are part of our rich variety of experiences in those life areas.
Here are the previous articles in this series:
Astrology Class – Interpreting Planets On A House Cusp
Which House System Is The Best?
© Copyright 2021 Robert Wilkinson
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