House
HellenisticRenaissance & early modernModern WesternEditorial synthesisTraditional doctrine
Definition
One of twelve divisions of a birth chart, anchored to the local horizon at the moment of the chart, which traditions associate with areas of life. Several competing house-division systems exist, such as Whole Sign and Placidus.
Also called: Places (Hellenistic topoi) · Bhava (Jyotisha)
In more depth
Houses appear with Hellenistic horoscopic astrology: the chart is oriented by the Ascendant, and the twelve places (Greek topoi) are counted from it. Early practice commonly used whole zodiac signs as houses; later traditions developed quadrant-based mathematical divisions, of which Placidus became the most widespread in modern Western practice.[1][2]
Early modern manuals such as Lilly's Christian Astrology teach house-by-house significations in detail. Because different systems draw different house boundaries from the same birth data, the chosen house system is a required, visible parameter; the systems are competing astrological methodologies, and Astro Gazer never blends them silently.[3]
References
Numbered citations in the text link to the records below; each record links to the full source registry.
- Chris Brennan. Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Amor Fati Publications. 2017. Modern practitioner interpretation View source record
- Nicholas Campion. A History of Western Astrology, Volume I: The Ancient and Classical Worlds. Continuum. 2009. Historical scholarship View source record
- William Lilly. Christian Astrology, Modestly Treated of in Three Books. T. Brudenell for J. Partridge & H. Blunden, London. 1647. Historical primary source View source record