The astrological houses – an intuitive introduction

Clairvision Virtual Astrologer offers a number of options for house systems. Some systems are more based on simple observation of the sky while others are reliant on complex mathematical calculations. Which to choose?

The best possible introduction to the topic of the houses is the following exercise:

Spend a few hours stargazing – you will need at least four or five hours, and a landscape that allows you to see the whole celestial sphere.

Locate the part of the sky where constellations are rising, the part where they are setting, and tune in.

When a constellation is just rising (say one or two hours after it has appeared), it conveys a certain energy to your consciousness. Tune into the same constellation a few hours later, when it has risen in the sky, and you will receive a different impression. Keep on observing various constellations as they rise, culminate and set, and compare how their energy feels. The more you can use your third eye and your heart, the more meaningful the exercise will be.

If planets happen to be visible at the time, apply the same observation method to them. How does their strength vary from one station in the sky to the other?

Something you will notice in particular is that when planets are rising (in the first hour or so after they cross the cusp of the Ascendant and enter the 12th house) they have a special strength. This is the basis for an important principle of Clairvision astrology: 'planet in the 12th, transcended planet'. This motto implies that a planet in the 12th house, especially when close to the Ascendant, can be endowed with a particularly strong momentum of astrological influence. The principle is not absolute, but when it applies it can be extremely significant.

In this manual are discussed some of the main house systems – not the interpretation of planets in houses. (For an interpretation, open a chart drawing in Clairvision Virtual Astrologer and click on any planet to see a pop-up of its significance and symbolism. Here, we will take a few glimpses at the astronomical foundations on which they are established. In particular the purpose will be to discern which are the major systems and why.

However, it should be clear that it is not possible to understand what houses really are without going into some relatively involved trigonometrical calculations, which we shall not endeavour to do here.

To go further on this topic, see the books indicated in the bibliography.