House Cusps and Systems:There's More Than One Way to Slice a Chart

House CuspsMany astrologers interpret house cusps veryprecisely. That is, if you have a planet 1 minute of arc(a 60th ofa degree) from the cusp of the ThirdHouse it is still interpreted as if it is in the SecondHouse. Transits and progressions, too, are reportedwhen crossing cusps. I have some questions aboutthis approach for several reasons:

by Jeff Jawer

As originally published at www.StarIQ.com

II ouses are arguably the most contested area ofLbasic astrological practice. While there is almostuniversal agreement as to their importance(considerable) and meaning (environment, where wemeet the energies), there are many differing opinionsabout which system to use and how to use it. Thereare well over a dozen house systems, as well asdisagreement about the significance of house cusps.Few astrologers understand the underlyingsymbolism of the houses because the construction ofmost systems is much more abstract than thecalculation of planets' positions in the Zodiac.

The Placidus system is the most popular one in thewestern world; its success based as much onwidespread publication and distribution of its tablesas its efficacy. It is based on the tri-section of thesemi-diurnal arc, a process that divides the distance/time between the Midheaven and the Ascendant. Infact, most systems use the Midheaven as the cusp ofthe Tenth House and the Ascendant as the cusp of theFirst House. The differences come in the calculationsof the other house cusps, called the intermediatehouses.

"Tri-section ofthe semi-diurnal arc" (division of onequarter of the day into three parts) is not a phrase thatrolls easily off the tongue. It does not paint a picturethat opens the mind to understanding. It is, rather, anarbitrary mathematical system that has become thestandard for the majority of western astrologers. But,without a symbolic understanding of this technique,we are accepting it on faith and by experience. Thenotion that "it works" and is therefore the correctsystem weakens astrology. I accept that "it works" isa valid reason to use a technique, but not to tout it asbetter than those that don't work for you. Eachastrologer is going to resonate with differenttechniques. The magic, then, lies in the practitioner,not in the technique.

1. Different house systems will give different cusppositions2. A 4 minute error in birth time will move cuspsabout one degree3. Ptolemy gave a 5 degree orb to house cusps (withEqual House system)4. Hindu Bhava system reads the middle of a houseits strongest point5. The Gauquelin research suggests an orb to housecusps6. The Huber School recognizes peaks within ahouse, not at the cusp

I once asked astrologer Rob Hand which housesystem most accurately represents what we see in thesky, that is, is most correct astronomically. He toldme that each one is correct within its own system,through its particular lens. Each represents realityaccording to its own rules, perfect in its ownuniverse, but dumb to all the rest.

While Placidus is the most popular house system,such diverse twentieth century astrologers as DaneRudhyar and Charles Jayne used the Campanussystem which has some great logic going for it. Inthis system, the horizon (Ascendant/Descendant axis)is a great circle, like a disk, that we're standing on.The meridian (MC/IC axis) is a vertical circlepassing through the north and south poles. The PrimeVertical is another vertical circle passing through theeast and west points of the horizon. Campanus

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divides the Prime Vertical to produce its cusps. Yet,in practice I didn't like what it did to charts generally(enlarged first and seventh houses), nor what it did tomine, so I set it aside.

Grant Lewi used the Equal house system. Sometwentieth century English astrologers promoted itbecause it did away with the great extremes of housesizes at latitudes far from the equator. It's also foundin many traditional systems. But, since houses aremeasured in equal 30 degree arcs from theAscendant, the Midheaven is excluded from thehouse building equation. I like Rudhyar's idea thatwe must include the Midheaven (vertical axis or"spine" of the chart) because "we don't live lyingdown."

Many of my colleagues and I use the Koch housesystem. My teacher started using it, I liked the bookit first appeared in, and it was written by a tripleVirgo. I took it as an improvement of the Placidussystem, but don't think of it that way anymore. It'sjust part of the way I tune my instrument. Clearly, nosingle system has demonstrated universal superiority.

The Moment of BirthIf birth times are not reliable, how can you pin aninterpretation on the precise position of a housecusp? I was present at the births of my two daughtersand saw that birth was much more of a process than asingle event (moment). There's the onset of labor, thehead coming out, the body coming out, first breathand cutting the cord. First breath is the most commonand logical measure. My daughters had first peeps-small sounds less dramatic than the classical lusty crywe imagine to trumpet the moment of birth.Additionally, the cords were not cut for some timeafter that first breath, further muddying the waterswith respect to the separation from mother andbeginning of independent life.

Charles Jayne's extensive work with rectification ledhim to conclude that the effective moment of birthfor chart calculation purposes didn't necessarilycoincide with the first breath (or any specificphysical event). The chart that worked, according toJayne, might actually precede or follow the birth.Vladimir Bogdanov is another astrologer who arguesthat birth may not be a moment, but a series ofevents.

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Intercepted SignsAnother issue to consider is that of intercepted signs.I've always been bothered by their use in chartinterpretation. First, there are so many questionsabout houses that it seems pretty shaky to base aninterpretation on a principle so poorly understood.Second, the notion that a planet's energy is inhibitedby the tri-section of the semi-diurnal arc is quite astretch. Third, they tend to be interpreted negativelyand distance the client from the planet's energy.

Planets are real, the seasons (signs) are real,aspects are real, but houses are a based on manydifferent and often obscure formulae. Diminishingthe power of a planet (a strong principle) by anintercepted sign (a weak principle) is neither logicalnor constructive.

I understand that individuals claim to see theinfluences of interceptions, but anything important inthe personality is likely to manifest itself severalways in the birth chart. Quite a few years ago when Ispoke out against the importance of interceptions,someone responded by saying that her Aries Sun wasintercepted and that she certainly wasn't a veryaggressive Aries. I asked if Neptune was opposed herAries Sun. It was! In other words a solid principle(aspects) explained the condition very well.

Cusps May Not Be Finite PointsNow, if cusps are not absolute points, but shifts in theenergetic wave, how can we interpret them. I like touse orbs of about 5 degrees with house cusps. This isin recognition of the uncertainty due to the reasonsmentioned above, as well as an appreciation forprocess. What is the meaning of the Second Housebecoming the Third? Rather than having a rigidboundary between self-worth and possessions(Second House) and observation and communication(Third) I prefer to consider how two becomes three.When are we sufficiently rooted in our sense of self-worth to begin taking notice of our surroundings?What is the relationship between what we have andhow we see?

This seems to be a more sophisticated approach tolooking at houses. The purpose is not to cloud theissues, but to see the many shades of gray betweenblack and white. It is to remind us that cycles have nobeginning or end and that life is about movement.

This kind of approach also trains the astrologer to stay open-minded. It encourages movement ofthe mind,rather than rigid rules.

Our techniques affect our interpretations. The attitude that we bring to astrology will determine a great deal ofwhat we get out of astrology. Ifwe seek absolute answers within absolute systems we may be rewarded withoccasional insights, but will also be punished with severely limited choices and perceptions. An appreciationfor nuance-a desire to see process, rather than product-works like life, something alive and dynamic, evenif it is a bit uncertain at times.

Postscript:The use of Whole Sign Houses has grown considerably since this article was written in 1999. I appreciate itssimplicity and how it avoids some ofthe complications of unequal house systems such as interceptions andextreme latitude distortions. However, recently I've been thinking that the perfect symmetry ofthe tropicalzodiac doesn't reflect the lack of symmetry in human experience. Therefore, the "distortions" of unequalhouses represent this subjective quality that is missing in equal house systems.

Biography:

Jeff Jawer is the CEO of StarIQ.com. He presents Planet Pulse, a daily audio and videoforecast, with Rick Levine on StarIQ.com and Tarot.com. Jeff has a B.A. in "The Historyand Science of Astrology" from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is a co-founder of AFAN and UAC. He writes Calendar column for The Mountain Astrologer andteaches astrology internationally. Jeff can be reached at jjawer@stariq.com