"My father's house has many mansions." The birth chart is divided into twelve sectors commonly known as the twelve astrological houses. Maybe you own your home or at least have an arrangement with the bank and various government agencies. Perhaps you don't even have your own apartment. However, if you have a horoscope, you have twelve houses and they allow the astrologer to pinpoint activities. Astrology works like a movie. The Sun, Moon and Planets describe character actors and their playing methods. The Signs of the Zodiac are styles to be played. The degree of arc between the Planets shows the relationships between the actors. The astrological houses describe the various stages we go through with their settings and props. Put another way, the Planets are who, the Signs of the Zodiac are how, the aspects are why and the houses are where. The twelve houses correspond to the numbers one through twelve, the twelve signs of the Zodiac as well as many other twelve-fold things. For more information see AdZe MiXXe's 12 Letter Astrological Alphabet.

TOUR OF THE ASTROLOGICAL HOUSES HISTORY OF HOUSE SYSTEMS by Doug Kellogg

Subjective World including personal appearance, temperament and disposition. Corresponds with Aries and Mars.

Financial World including resources, liquid assets, earnings, values, money and possessions. Corresponds with Taurus and Venus.

Everyday World including connections, neighborhood, siblings, short trips, papers and learning. Corresponds with Gemini and Mercury.

Domestic World including home base, environment, real estate, old age, father and roots. Corresponds with Cancer and the Moon.

Creative World including fun, romance, talents, speculation, children, love given and self-esteem. Corresponds with Leo and the Sun.

Work World including services, food, health, employees, small animals, jobs, routines and rituals. Corresponds with Virgo and Chiron.

World of Relationships including marriage & business partners, equals, significant others and competition. Corresponds with Libra and Venus.

Taboo World including merging experiences, sex, death, taxes, insurance, legacy, other peoples money, shared resources and self-mastery. Corresponds with Scorpio and Pluto.

Academic World including philosophy, religion, international people, places & things travel, education and world view. Corresponds with Sagittarius and Jupiter.

Career World including reputation, profession, boss, career, mother, ambitions and status. Corresponds with Capricorn and Saturn.

World of Associations including friends, hopes, wishes, love received, partner's children and causes. Corresponds with Aquarius and Uranus.

World of Paradox including hidden strengths and weaknesses, secrets, the occult, visions and need for oneness. Corresponds with Pisces and Neptune.

The Equal House system is the oldest still in use, dating from the first century BC. In this system, each house is exactly 30 degrees, starting with the Ascendant as the cusp of the first house. In most cases, this means that the Midheaven will not be the cusp of the tenth house, but will be a separate point. The cusp of the tenth house, also called the nonagesimal, is exactly 90 degrees away from the Ascendant, as measured along the ecliptic -- the course of the sun. Many astrologers in the United Kingdom and India use this house system, partly because astrological schools in those countries have promoted this system.

The Porphyry House system dates from the third century AD. Unlike the Equal House system, the Porphyry system has the Midheaven the same as the tenth house cusp. The remaining houses are determined by trisecting each quadrant in thirds. This system is now becoming popular in India.

The Placidus House system is one of the most complex. It was developed in the 17th Century by an Italian monk. For much of the 20th Century the only available book of house division was the Dalton's Tables of Houses, which supposedly used the Placidus system, so this became the only method of house division with which most astrologers were familiar. The mathematics of calculating this system are complicated, so Dalton made some simplifications of this system that meant that people using his tables were not using the real Placidus system. This is considered a time-based system, based on trisections of arcs.

The Campanus House system dates from the 13th Century, and was popularized in the 20th Century by Dane Rudyhar. It is based on the division of the celestial sphere into 12 segments much like the sections of an orange. Where these 12 segment divisions cross the ecliptic the house cusps are drawn. This system is considered to make much sense from a three dimensional perspective, but the houses thus constructed can be extremely wide or narrow in comparison to the houses in other systems.

The Meridian House system uses the Midheaven as the tenth house cusp, but the Ascendant is not the first house cusp. Rather, another sensitive point called the Equatorial Ascendant or East Point is the first house cusp. This system is popular with Uranian astrologers; it is based on even divisions of the celestial equator projected onto the ecliptic.

The Topocentric House system was derived empirically in the 1960's from the timing of events. The methods of calculating are rather complex, but it tends to give house cusps similar to Placidus. Many mathematically-oriented astrologers swear by this system.

The Koch or Birthplace House system was first published in 1971. It is also based on trisection of arcs, and is said to be time-based. Some practitioners claim that the intermediate cusps in this system are powerful points that respond to transits and progressions. This system is popular with technical astrologers.