HOUSES IN VEDIC ASTROLOGY (PART-1)

Introduction

In n astrological chart, houses act like the containers for the planets and zodiac signs. Therefore, the houses are as important as the planets and zodiac signs and form the base of any prediction.

In Vedic astrology; just like the zodiac signs (Rashis), each house has a span of 30° and there are 12 houses in total.

The ascendant or, rising sign (The zodiac sign that rises from the eastern horizon at the time of birth) plays a vital role in case of determining houses and their span.

For example -: If at the time of birth of the native, the zodiac sign “Cancer” is present in the eastern horizon at 7°00’ then, it is become the mid-point of the 1^st house and native is said to have “Cancer” ascendant.

In this way, the sign “Leo” takes the mid-point of 2^nd house, “Virgo” takes the mid-point of 3^rd house and so on as shown in the below table (fig-1) -:

fig-1 : Houses for Cancer ascendant people

Similarly, for “Virgo” ascendant people, the mid-point of 2^nd house becomes “Libra”, 3^rd house becomes “Scorpio” and so on as shown in the below table (fig-2) -:

fig-2 : Houses for Virgo ascendant people

We can take any zodiac sign as the ascendant and the succeeding zodiac signs will take the mid-point of next houses, i.e., from 2^nd house to 12^th house.

The Natural Zodiac Belt

In the natural zodiac, each zodiac sign is a house in itself and thus “Aries” owns the 1^st house, “Taurus” owns the 2^nd house and so on.

The below table (fig-3) shows the 12 signs and houses of the natural zodiac -: 

fig-3 : The houses and rashis in the natural zodiac belt

Span of a house

A house in an astrological chart has a span of 30° with the longitude of the ascendant as the mid-point of the house.

Thus, in order to get the full span of a house we have to add/subtract 15° on the either side of the mid-point longitude.

For example -: 

Suppose, a native is born when the sign “Scorpio” is present at 5°00’ in the eastern horizon. Then, the mid-point of any house is 5°00’.

For 1^st house,

The mid-point = 5°00’ Scorpio

To get the span of 1^st house, let us add/subtract 15° from the mid-point. So,

Subtracting 15°, we get the starting point of 1^st house at 20°00’ Libra (Because, the previous sign of “Scorpio” is “Libra”).

Again,

Adding 15°, we get the ending point of the 1^st house at 20°00’ Scorpio.

Therefore, the 1^st house ranges from 20° Libra to 20° Scorpio.

In the same way; for the 2^nd house -:

The mid-point = 5°00’ Sagittarius

The Starting point = 20°00’ Scorpio

The Ending point = 20°00’ Sagittarius

In the below table (fig-4), we can see the range of all the 12 houses for this native -:

fig-4 : The span of houses for Scorpio ascendant (Long. = 5 deg. ) people

Lord of the house

Just like the zodiac signs, the houses also have planets as their respective lords and the lord of any house is same as the lord of the zodiac sign occupying the mid-point of that house.

So, if we take the above example of “Scorpio” ascendant person then, the lords of his houses are as follows (fig-5) -:

Fig-5 : Lords of the houses for Scorpio ascendant people

House Systems in Astrology

There are many house systems in astrology but, broadly we can divide it in three categories as -: 

1. Linear house system 
2. Non-linear house system 
3. Whole sign house system

Linear House System-:

In the above discussion we have used this “Linear house system” method for determining houses.

In this system , the mid-point of the houses are exactly apart by 30° and hence, the value of the ascendant longitude becomes the mid-point of the 1^st house and mid-point of other houses, as well.

So, if we take the ascendant longitude as our “Reference point (Ref.)” then,

Mid-point of the 1^st house = Ref.

Mid-point of the 2^nd house = Ref. + 30°

Mid-point of the 3^rd house = Ref. + 60° and so on, as shown in the below table (fig-6)-:

fig-6 : Formula to find out the mid-point of any house by taking ascendant longitude as "Ref."

In this way, if someone has “Gemini” ascendant with ascendant longitude 8°00’ then,

Mid-point of the 1^st house = 8°00’ Gemini

Mid-point of the 2^nd house = 8°00’ Cancer

Mid-point of the 3^rd house = 8°00’ Leo and so on as described initially in this post for “Cancer” and “Virgo” ascendants.

To find the total 30° span of a house, we need to add/subtract 15° on the either side of the mid-point as we have discussed above under the sub-heading of “Span of a house”.

Non-linear house system-:

In a “Non-linear house system”, the mid-point of the houses is not apart by exactly 30°. Here, the net span of the 12 houses is always 360° as in all other cases.

There are many sub-systems under this “Non-linear house system” that varies from one another by the calculation method for finding the total span of a house (start-point, mid-point & end-point of a house).

Different types of “Non-linear house system” are as follows -:

1. Placidus house system or, Ptolemaic house system. 
2. Porphyry house system or, Sripathi house system. 
3. Koch house system or, Birthplace house system. 
4. Campanus house system. 
5. Regiomontanus house system. 
6. Equal house system. 
7. Equal (MC) house system. 
8. Equal houses (Based on Nakshatra padas) system. 
9. SSS (Sri Surya Siddhanta) house system. 
10. Meridian (Zariel) house system or, Axial rotation house system. 
11. Vehlow house system. 
12. Alcabitius house system. 
13. Krusinski-Pisa-Goelzer house system. 
14. Horizon house system. 
15. Morinus house system. 
16. Polich-Page house system or, Topocentric house system. 
17. APC house system. 
18. Pullen SD (Neo-Porphyry) house system. 
19. Pullen SR house system. 
20. Carter (Poli-equatorial) house system. 
21. Sunshine house system. 
22. Solar house system. 
23. Gauquelin sectors house system

In some of the sub-systems; the span of a house is always 30° even though the mid-point of one house is not exactly apart by 30°. This can be called as “Equal house systems” but, there are other sub-systems, in which the span of each house may differ while the total span of all the 12 houses remains 360°. This can be called as “Unequal house systems”.

Whole sign house system-:

This can be called as the easiest form of house system. Here, the longitude of the ascendant doesn’t really matters because, in this system, each zodiac sign (Rashi) is considered as a house.

So, if a native has “Taurus” ascendant then, irrespective of the longitude of the ascendant, the 1^st house (from 0°-30°) is considered to be occupied by “Taurus” and similarly, the 2^nd house by “Gemini”, 3^rd house by “Cancer” and so on as in the case of the "Natural zodiac".

Like other systems, the net span of all the 12 houses/rashis is 360° and this is the only house system in which we don’t find any difference between a rashi and a house.

Well, we have already taken this system into consideration while discussing “The natural zodiac belt” where, “Aries” is the 1^st house, “Taurus” is the 2^nd house and so on.

In our next post, we will discuss about the most correct house system that need to be followed in Vedic astrology.

Read the next post here -: Part-2

If you want to study Vedic astrology in a systematic manner then Click here

Thank you

ASTRO X

(Powered by Quantum X)

In the below image; we have given our contact details. So, if you want consultation  from us then you can just contact us here-:

Contact details 

(you can send us Whatsapp message on the given contact number for consultation purpose)

All other details like our address, fee structures, different services, mode of transaction etc. will be provided to you if you are interested in getting consultation from us.

Make your connection strong with us

Like & follow our Facebook page-: Astro X - Facebook

Join our astrology discussion group on Facebook here-: Astro X discussion group