How To Choose A House System

zodiac old coolHi, Elsa, I had been using the Placidus House System to learn astrology until I read you use the Equal House System, so I decided to investigate since I thought eliminating those pesky intercepted signs would help me out. So now, I have some planets in new houses that resonate with me but I also have new planets in some houses that I feel were better described in the Placidus System.

How does one choose?

And how would the House System affect reading for clients?”

This can be a touchy subject, but I’m going to just answer the questions honestly.

A person is going to choose a house system based on their experience.  That’s how I did it. I outlined my process here:

Which House System Is Best?

I spent many years discerning which house system to use but I have seen many people become converted in minutes. I’m talking about clients who are flabbergasted with what I glean from their Equal House chart.  Point here, it how you come to choose or change your house system is variable.

Specific to remark about finding some of the new positions resonating with you and others not so much, I feel this means you have no definitive answer. If you want to continue exploring, you need more time and more people; more experience, to come to decision you can trust.

I’d also point out, it’s very hard to see yourself.  I mean, we don’t know what our physical backsides look like, really.  We all have blind spots and parts of our character we’re comfortable with; other parts we tend to deny. This is another reason to look at other people’s charts to try to figure it out.

Regarding consultations, I state in advance that I use Equal houses. But I also state I will use the client’s house system if they want. Most everyone allows me to use my preferred house system. It’s less then than 1% who don’t, and I think this is smart.

It’s smart because I know what I’m doing. And let’s say I paint with oils. Why would you want me to use watercolors?  You’re crippling me.

As for the impact, a lot of my clients use Equal houses anyway.  A good number of those who don’t, become converted because once I get going, it’s pretty compelling.

Others allow me to do it my way but stick with their house system, which I respect. When I got married, I consulted with a Vedic astrologer to choose a date.  I think he did exceptionally well but I never considered changing to Vedic astrology.

Could he have done what he did using Equal houses / western astrology? I doubt it.  You’ve got let a person do what they do.

Ultimately, choose what works for you. If you aren’t sure, keep experimenting until you are sure. I do think this is an important element.  For me personally,  I just had to know… even if it took the better part of ten years!

Good luck!

6 thoughts on “How To Choose A House System”

  1. Personally I use whole sign primarily, and then I pay attention to equal and placidus cusps as possible sensitive points.

    I have a packed Pisces 10th whole sign and 11th placidus. What I’ve noticed is when I was younger I resonated a lot with 11th: very group/friend oriented. As Saturn reached 5th whole (opposite 11th) this started to shift into dissatisfaction with friends/groups and my primary instinct was reworked into a 10th focus which crystallized as Saturn reached its return in my 7th. I am thinking the process of professionalizing will (hopefully) culminate/be cemented now when Saturn enters Pisces/my 10th. It may be a square to natal Saturn/Dsc and Asc, but I believe I have payed Saturn the required attention for it to operate positively dynamically. Time will tell soon enough, though.

    The more I think about it, the more I realize that the pisces placidus 11th focus was a barrier for the pisces 10th whole realization which always was a need I felt calling from underneath. As Saturn hit the last decan of my 5th whole I separated completely from my past groups/friends in order to focus on 10th house career – art – which I was held back from. As Saturn returned into 7th Sag I started a BA in Art, and I finished my MA as it moved through 9th Aqu. Now its moving into 10th.

    I speculate that the various house systems represent psycho-developmental layers of sorts, and it makes sense to me that whole sign is a fundamental core/soul orientation – it always pulled me. Placidus a time/space informed orientation – the friends I ended up with due to geography/time of birthplace. Equal perhaps some sort of in between. But this is mostly intuitive speculation rather than empirically based, even if a little.

  2. Thank you, Elsa, and pisagem. Very educational. Now I want to find hundreds of people that want to talk astrology; I mean, face to face. That actually want to explore what astrology and a chart is. The more I learn about astrology, the more I realize I don’t know squat. lol.

  3. I actually think astrology is quantum and there are many correct answers in interpretation.

    I’ve been working on being less linear to allow for more possibilities in life. As such, I think more than one option is “right” and so I don’t think I need to choose.

    However, I am waiting to see what happens after running my chart with equal houses. I almost always observe what happens in my experience with a transit first and when I have enough experience I get clear on what it’s about for me.

    The new chart means that I’ll have Pluto opposite the fourth house for another eight years and I was hoping for an end to the issues in that part of my chart and in Placidus they end sooner vs eight years more in equal.

    So, we’ll see.

  4. Elsa and a few other astrologers converted me to using equal houses, but still… when Neptune left my placidus first house (that encompasses 25 degrees of aquarius and about the first 15 degrees of pisces) the shift was palpable and enormous. In my experience, both apply in tgeir own way but the whole process is still very mysterious.

  5. I agree. I worked with Placidus, which is the European default, and it is fine, but only when switching to Equal Houses, the penny dropped. I will give you a very simple example. In Placidus, my Mars was in the 10th house, in Equal the Ninth with my Venus. I had a career which required me to work abroad and be a leader to people from another country. Well. Screw that. My Venus wouldn’t have it, she loves the other culture, and my Mars is going to support her.

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