Equal House System
The concept of "equality" is on everyone's mind's these days, so in light of that, I arbitrarily decided that the Houses in astrology should be all equal, forcing astrology to conform to my progressive mono-cultural political views. " HA HA HA! Just kidding, I meant multi-cultural! (I couldn't resist). Equantity is not a real word, by the way...but perhaps it should be, if you know what I'm getting at. An interest in astrology entirely goes the opposite direction from the kind of equality as defined by collectivism, because only one person has your chart and destiny. No ideology has the right to take that away from you. I am about the equality of the individual with the Universe at large, and discourage connection with any mob fundamentalism. From the astrologer's point of view, the interest in the Individual apart from the Crowd is good for business.
Joking aside, there are many reasons why using the Equal House makes a lot more sense to me than other House systems. First, I just like how every house cusp will be the same degree as the degree of the Ascendant, it simplifies things and I enjoy the symmetry, and the thing is...it seems the spirit which informs manifestation feels the same way! In other house systems, such as Placidus, there will be a wide variation of degrees for house cusps, which makes it all quite irregular. I am an artist, and symmetry pleases me. The Equal House system is the oldest and the simplest House system, perhaps in this case nothing has been improved upon, a purist attitude. They got it right the first time.
Although I like how using Equal House simplifies things, there are deeper and more important reasons than being pleased with the regularity and symmetry of equal distribution of degrees on House cusps. Parallel to values of our times, with every house being the same size, there is "equal opportunity". Each house is assigned one sign, no house gets more than one, no sign goes without a house to rule. Most importantly, Equal House is accurate. Placidus, and other House systems....are inaccurate. This is alarming, since Placidus is the standard House system that the majority of astrologers use. If the standard for House delineation is inaccurate, that means that a reading from an astrologer using Placidus, or any of the houses that cause irregular house division...are less accurate than me.
From "The New Compleat Astrologer" by Derek and Julia Parker: "The Placidus system works well for southerly latitudes. The nearer to equator the place of birth, the more equal the Houses in their number of degrees. But as we move into northerly latitudes, an increasing amount of distortion is introduced and in consequence it becomes less accurate".
I was born in a Northern place, and most people I know were born WAY north of the equator, so this excerpt is affirming that the average astrologer is casting inaccurate charts, if determining interpretations by House delineations. I have compared my own chart using Equal and the other house systems, and the other ones describe a very, very different person than me. This doesn't happen with everyone, but in my case...the Equal house chart vs. the others, is accurate vs. pathetic.
"Even for a birth in Scotland, the Houses become distorted in size; and when a Chart is set up for a birth within the Arctic Circle, the system becomes extremely difficult to operate. In general, for certain times of the day it is impossible to erect a Chart for extreme northern latitudes." You go waaay North, it's just ridiculous.
"The Placidean system relies on the time taken for each degree of the ecliptic to rise on its parallel of declination, from the lower meridian to the horizon, and from the horizon to the upper meridian. The arcs made by the movements are trisected, and form the cusps of the Houses. But in Northern latitudes, certain degrees are circumpolar (i.e. never touching the horizon) and planets falling on them cannot appear on the birth chart. Nor can the missing degrees form House cusps. So no complete Chart can be made. Followers of the Equal House system feel it is illogical to use a system with such obvious gaps in it. " That's not exactly the way I look at things, but I felt it's good to include that as evidence of being on the right track.
"Sometimes when the Placidean or other House system is used, planets fall in different Houses than in the Equal House system. The interested reader who wants to experiement might begin by converting his own Chart from Equal to Placidean. Should a planet change House, both its interpretations can be assessed, and he can decide which seems the most accurate and pertinent in his own case." Again, I've done this for mine and various charts, and I keep finding out that Equal house is the most accurate.
One sign on each house, no dual rulerships of houses, no intercepted signs, which are signs that are "missing" from the chart by not touching a House cusp, or "buried" inside of a house. Each of the twelve archetypes are present and operating in the mind of every person, whether or not they are aware of it, Equal House represents that reality. The archetype of 12 from one is at the foundation of everyone, it is inherent to the consciousness that underlies nature. Consider that we have a brain with 12 cranial nerves, mirroring the concept of Sun and 12 houses, disciples, trials, etc. We arise from nature. Intercepted signs=nonsense, and so I do away with any House system that makes that mistake possible.
A misperception of how astrology operates has made it possible for irregular house systems to be taken seriously enough to be used as a standard, when Equal House should be self-evident. More often than should occur, the astrological energies and influences are concieved of as arriving to Earth from "out there". This is simply not true, and this misperception carries with it a lot of implications that mirror the stage of consciousness that we are evolving beyond. We are not being moved and pushed around by distant "gods". The usual perception of how astrology "works" implies that we are passive recipients of our situation, and enables a psychological orientation towards authoritarian paradigms and master/slave dynamics. The irregular House systems reflect a notion of catching energies coming in from "out there", which has bogus implications of being created, rather than being a co-creator that is inherently equal to the stars, as they exist within you.
“Useful as it is under everyday circumstances to say that the world exists “out there”, independent of us, that view can no longer be upheld. There is a strange sense in which this is a 'participatory' universe"-John Wheeler (Nobel Prize Winning Theoretical Physicist)
The heavens are like a mirror, reflecting what is being projected from human minds...or more accurately, a-causally influencing and happening, corresponding non-locally. Astrology begins within the human Being, is always with the human being, rather than doing things to the human being.The original projection of consciousness extends to a point in time far back in our history and Mystery, the co-arising feedback loop of correspondence between the heavens and the inhabitants of earth is the "how" of why Western Astrology works, even if the signs do not line up with the actual constellations.
"The relation of the unobservable non-spacetime Akasha dimension to the observable spacetime dimension is analagous to the relation of the software of an information system to its behavior. The software determines how the system acts, and these actions are reflected in the display. The computer is active, and the display reflects this activity. Until and unless it is modified, it remains what it is: a set of algorithms that governs the behavior of the system. It is the unchanging logos and not the changing dynamics of the system"-Erwin Laszlo and Anthony Peake
The human mind is derived from and has grown from nature, and a person could say that "nature is God's mind made visible". It is an observable and irrefutable fact that nature reveals a penchant for fractal repetition of mathematical simplicity, rooted in perfection. This means that an irregular and asymmetrical situation is not arising from us to ever deserve an irregular and asymmetrical natal chart. That the Fibonnacci spiral is found everywhere in nature, that the golden ratio is found in the proportions of our bodies, and much more, demonstrates that there is validity to the concept that matter is in-formed by an intelligence which is a mathemagician, beautician and geometrician.
.."Surely, all forms of life, including man, must be understood as 'symptoms' of the earth, the solar system, and the galaxy-in which case we cannot escape the conclusion that the galaxy is intelligent"-Alan Watts
Measurement of irregularity in the world provokes irregularity within, vice versa...a situation born of disconnection. As within, so without. The 13 within us must be represented back to us as harmoniously symmetrical. Any map, such as a natal chart, of our consciousness; a consciousness which is derived from nature, must conform to the principles of nature and be a mirror of nature: there must be precision, symmetry and simplicity. Equal House is the system of house division which is best at mirroring nature.
"According to the new physics, observer and observed are somehow connected, and the inner domain of subjective thought turns out to be intimately conjoined to the external sphere of objective facts"-Leonard Shlain
"...we neither discover an objective reality nor invent a subjective reality; but there is a process of responsive evocation, the world 'calls forth' something in the world"-Ian McGilchrist
There is a vast difference of meaning if astrology begins inside of us, rather than from outside. I understand why many people would want to disregard astrology for the reason of this error of separation consciousness, imagining that astrology saves us from the burden of free will like every other religion. Intelligent people rather prefer to believe they control their destinies, not the "planets". But, that's not the situation. Astrology, the way I do it affirms free will. The energies that guide our lives are not coming from "out there", as if we are puppets of the gods, or something. There are people who simply want astrology to be a means of passing accountability off to parental influences, that wish for instruction "from above", my system is for adults only. The concept of external salvation is false, and that is the biggest reason why astrology has been taboo for thousands of years and is still mocked and derided.
I place the Individual at the center of things. The center is everywhere, the circumference is nowhere. As far as perception goes, The Individual is the center of everything, there are as many Universes as there are minds that can perceive it from a unique angle. Paradoxically, there is an objective truth of it all, a shared truth of one verse, our aggregate Uni-Verse.
To demonstrate the error of Placidus against the Equal House system, I give an example of myself. I am an Aries rising, so Leo should be on my Fifth house, making me a person who would creatively express myself in a masculine way (with Metal, for example). Placidus, in contrast, gives me Cancer on the Fifth, which would result in me being more on the gentle, comforting, sensitive peaceful side of things, I could be into Reggae or something, and helping children make macaroni art.
If I was this Placidus person, I might express myself by illustrating children's books, which is precisely what my Ma wished I would do, and if I had Cancer on the Fifth, I would be significantly interested in my family's approval or disapproval, which I'm not..and I decided to break away when they had a problem with the way I express myself.
This is what a site I found describes a Leo on the Fifth being like:
The Fifth House in Leo
"The masculine, productive energy of Leo has to be used, and the worst thing these individuals can do is try to adapt to opinions of people around them, and end up in a strict routine with no room for their fiery expression." Listen to my music, it's pretty masculine, for sure...an attitude of "this is me not having regard for anyone's expectations of me"
" In general, this position means that the expectations of their father have to be overcome in some way, and a person has to find their own identity to build a strong character and reach personal satisfaction". If I had Cancer on the Fifth house, parental approval or disapproval of the way I express myself would have worked more on me, it didn't. So much for Placidus, it's bullshit.