The Houses

Houses are divisions of space created by the daily rotation of Earth on its axis. Originally, the usage of the word house and sign were synonymous. Later, houses became a method for counting the number of signs from the Rising sign, the sign on the Ascendant, to the planetary sign positions. Today, there are many house systems, all starting from the Ascendant and following the path of the ecliptic.

The most commonly used house systems in the West divide the space surrounding the Earth using the horizon and Midheaven to create four quadrants, just like the four seasons. Each of these quadrants can then be trisected to create 12 sections called houses. It is thought that these 12 houses correspond in meaning to the 12 signs of the ecliptic.

Western astrology is founded upon two cycles: 1) the annual cycle, with its four seasons and 12 signs, and 2) the daily cycle, with its four phases and 12 houses. These cycles mirror each other: Spring and morning, Summer and afternoon, Autumn and evening, Winter and sleep.

The Sun and planets travel through the four cardinal points of the zodiac just as they travel through the four axis points of our sky:

The Spring Equinox corresponds with the Eastern horizon (sunrise).

The Summer Solstice corresponds with the Midheaven (high noon).

The Autumn Equinox corresponds with the Western horizon (sunset).

The Winter Solstice corresponds with the Imum Coeli (midnight).

The houses are ordered in the same direction as the ecliptic, but in the opposite order from which the planets move through the sky. If the daily and annual cycles are mirror images of each other, why don’t the houses follow the same path as the Sun?

The Sun travels from the Ascendant to the Midheaven to the Descendant to the Imum Coeli each day. Should not the houses be numbered in the order of this path? How is it that the 12th house, which represents all things hidden, is where planets rise and display themselves at the beginning of each day? Should this space not be the first house? Also, why doesn't the Midheaven start the 4th house if the Summer Solstice is the start of the 4th sign, Cancer? Are they not both the pinnacle of the Sun's daily and annual cycles?

The answer to this question lies in the fact that astrology is person-centered and Earth- based, not heliocentric and Sun-based. Just as the direction of the zodiac signs is based on the annual movement of the Earth through the solar system, the direction of the houses is based upon the daily rotation of the Earth. The Eastern horizon spins through the signs in the same direction as the ecliptic, not backwards.