I understand the language of astrology, but looking at the visual of a chart and the aspects/lines is not my strong suit... so astro.com has been a nice option for me, just to have everything right there in data form.
However, the new and full moons remind me that their information is wrongly computed since I use the Equal house system. The angles of my chart are at 11 degrees so tomorrow's new moon is in my 12th but the horoscope says my 11th, among other inaccurate transits (according to my house system usage).
I wrote astro.com to express that I wish the horoscopes had the option of switching to Equal system instead of Placidus since it feels obsolete...
The person that wrote me back said they adamantly disagreed and that if "anything was outdated it is the Equal house system."
haha, well he or she stood is entitled to their opinion ..
so with that said, what's yours? and why do you use the house system you do...
Dear BellaDonna -- I saw this topic and I burst out laughing. If you want to get a whole group of people all in an uproar, go to any astro conference and toss this subject out for discussion. They can just get all wound up. It is actually kinda funny to watch. I went over to astro.com, if you go to the extended chart selection and use the option for zodiac & houses, a straight up equal house system or equal house system with defined MC is listed for use. BTW, even though it has been many years since she made her transition, Linda Goodman (author of Sun Signs, the first astro book to become a NY Times best seller) employed the equal house system. Since you like the equal house system, have you ever done any work with the whole sign system. Over the last couple of years, that system has been gaining a lot of traction.
Generally, I use Koch house system. While Placidus is used by many astrologers, over the years the math wizards seem to find questionable outcomes with the calculations. I am not saying wrong, but ideas and opinions get tossed out......the things that make you go ....hmmmm. Koch just seems to come across as a lot clearer to me especially in dealing with the Moon, Mars and Saturn. For a few years, I was doing a tremendous amount of work for people who were born in Singapore and Malaysia. And some work for individuals born in the Nordic countries. Extreme latitude situations. Singapore is only three degrees north of the equator. Using Koch or Placidus, the house sizes were just too extremely distributed. So for those situations, I would switch to Equal house system. The information showed the more diverse side of the personality -- more well rounded.
Years back, many years back, astrologer Rob Hand was asked which house system he thought was the most accurate and best to use. And all these years later, I still remember his answer: All house systems have validity if used on a consistent basis.
This has always been a good topic for discussion.
I know just enough about astrology to get me into trouble, and I use Placidus. When I use other house systems, my chart just doesn’t make as much sense. For example, using the Equal Houses system, I lose my 8th house Pluto (it ends up in the 9th), which doesn’t resonate with me at all.
My chart makes the most sense with Placidus. Not all areas of life are equally important for everyone. I’ve really truly only studied my own chart in depth though and am an intermediate student at most. It’s not a hill I’m willing to die on in other words lol. I say- do what works.
That being said, there is an option on astro.com for all kinds of things including house systems. You can decrease orbs, do synastry charts, progressions, add fixed stars and asteroids- all kinds of awesome stuff. It’s under extended chart selections, right below chart drawing.
Honestly, most people in the US start with Placidus as it’s Astro. coms default chart system and has been that way for years. So since people start with it, and learn about themselves using it, it’s difficult to become unidentified with it as we become attached to our identities.
So it takes an adaptable, changeable (mutable) type of person to abandon a system easily . It’s not impossible for a fixed person to change, but let’s just say they would have to have a very, very strong convincing argument in order to comfortably do that.
I have a Pisces Mercury aspecting a Sag Uranus and Jupiter. I switched after years of learning with Placidus. It wasn’t a hard decision at all. I just figured if a system doesn’t work for everyone on the planet then it’s a flawed system. I have a Libra third house and 7th house Mercury (using the Equal house system) Equal works well for me. I like things to be balanced so that’s part of it.
I use Equal after an extensive, years long study of this. I'm talking about ten years of reading charts, side by side.
I've written about it a few times. There is also a lot of discussion here on the topic. You can find these threads via the site search.
https://elsaelsa.com/astrology/which-house-system-is-best/
Good luck!