Astrological House
An astrological house is one of the twelve divisions of the local sphere around the observer, which splits the natal chart into sectors of experience. Each house governs an area of life: identity, resources, communication, home, and so on.
Origin and etymology
The system of twelve houses was codified by the Hellenistic astrologers of Alexandria in the 1st century BCE, notably in the writings of Manilius (Astronomica, c. 10 CE) and then Vettius Valens. The Greek term topos or oikos was translated into Latin as domus, the source of the French maison. Several calculation methods, or house systems, were invented over the centuries: Porphyry in the 3rd century, Alcabitius in the 10th, Regiomontanus in the 15th, Placidus in the 17th century. The Whole Sign system, inherited from Hellenistic astrology, has been revived by Robert Hand and Robert Schmidt since the 1990s.
Evolution and tradition
The twelve houses are assigned to fairly stable traditional domains since Antiquity. House I: self, body, appearance. House II: resources, values. House III: communication, siblings. House IV: home, roots. House V: creativity, pleasure. House VI: work, health. House VII: partnerships. House VIII: transformations, inheritances. House IX: travel, studies. House X: career, status. House XI: friendships, collective projects. House XII: retreat, the unconscious. The Placidus system, used predominantly in 20th-century France, divides the houses by time. Whole Sign assigns one entire sign to each house.
Practical use
Identifying which house each planet of a natal chart falls in is one of an astrologer's first exercises. A planet in house VII invests in partnerships; in house X, in career. The house of the Sun indicates the domain where the person seeks to shine; that of the Moon, the terrain of their sensitivity. On Tarotoui, the Placidus system is used by default for the natal chart, with the option to display other house systems. Transits across house cusps often mark pivots in the affected domain.
Going further
The choice of house system remains a technical debate among astrologers, without universal consensus. Under Placidus, some houses at extreme latitudes become unusable. Whole Sign has the advantage of depending only on the rising sign. Note also that houses require a precise birth time: without it, house division is impossible.