Hi Eric,
I’ve been reading Virgo, my Sun sign, and Pisces, my rising sign, in the Planet Waves horoscopes. And more recently, with all the talk of what’s happening on the Aries Point, etc. it’s been occurring to me that since my ascendant is 27 Pisces, perhaps I should be taking a closer look at the Aries horoscope, since most of my 1st house is in Aries.
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Pisces always feels really bang on for me, so should I bother with Aries? Or is the rising sign the over-arching influence no matter how late the degree? Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Susan
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Hello Susan,
So let me see if I understand you: you’re Virgo Sun and rising sign in Pisces. And you resonate with my Pisces interpretations. And now you’re wondering if you should read Aries, because Aries is the most of your 1st house; this, because you are late Pisces rising.
The intuitive answer is — read what works for you; there is no ‘should’.
From my standpoint as a horoscope writer, I write for the Sun and the ascendant, recognizing that as Patric Walker said, “It’s all about the houses.” The houses are the environments in which we live and explore the drama of life. In the ancient tradition of whole-sign houses (the oldest house system, and the basis for much of the astrology that we do these days), it did not matter what degree the ascendant came through; Pisces is Pisces, be it degree 1 or degree 30. Pisces is your 1st house, in this old method of working with the horoscope.
But for example, you might find some financial advice if you read Aries, and you might find some information about your siblings and your neighbors if you read Taurus, since those follow the house scheme, by theme.
I hope that helps — and if you have any related questions, drop them into the comment area and I’ll do my best to reply.
Thanks for your reply Eric! I missed it earlier in the week and caught it on a return trip today.
I really like the concept of “whole sign houses” and it helps a great deal to visualize my chart that way when reading the horoscopes and then think more about the degrees when I’m digging into specific transits.
I suggest using whole sign houses exclusively for horoscopes. That is the house system they are done in. The signs are the houses. To do anything else is to mix different concepts and I think it will only confuse matters. I suggest you use your regular house system for your actual transits, not for the kind of divination done with horoscopes.
Thanks for your answer Eric. You said to Susan that she could find (for example) some financial advice reading the horoscope related to the sign of her 2nd house, and my question was how to do this if the 2nd house is not in the following sign because a house is more than 30°. I understand from your answer that there are two separate systems, one based on whole sign houses, and one considering the houses as they are in the natal chart.
I’ll try to read the horoscopes in both ways and see what applies better.
It’s always amazing to me how astrology is made of horbits, numbers and calculations and yet requires a very elastic mind.
Not sure what you mean, what is my opinion. Sun sign horoscopes do not depend on the technical details of the natal chart. They are based on whole sign houses. In many charts, a house can be as wide as 50 degrees and some charts even have houses that are 60+ degrees. That just how it is. However in any case, the size of the house, which usually differs from 30 degrees, is not affected by whole sign houses; that is a separate house system. A good astrologer can read both at the same time, because they know what they are looking for; why they would be using one or the other at any given moment. But this is not settled by theory, the chart would have to be given by example, along with an example of the exact circumstance. In the end, houses systems are like tarot card spreads. One is not right or wrong, but at different times one is more useful than another.
Hi Eric
I’m not sure how to ask a question, so am simply pasting this hopefully into the thread!
If any generous reader has a take on this, I would welcome any commentary, mostly about my strange chart, all kite and grand cross; also resonance with this Aries point event – and a further question about the 12th house.
The upcoming Saturn/Pluto/Uranus event on the Aries point dances with three of the four cardinals. If you add my Venus, at 0.7 Cancer, the missing element is provided. Aha! This Venus, in the transits for late May onward is just smothered in black squares and dumbells. In the Universal-Personal realm, Saturn, Pluto and Uranus (+Jup) require conciliation! Who’s gonna walk in to my life – Robocop?
In my natal chart Venus is very happy as one of two planets at the apex of a kite; at the tail is Jupiter in Sag 4th, the wings Aries Moon/ 8th and Leo Mars/12th. At the top, Venus is conjunct Uranus in Gemini, both in my 10th. The whole thing looks like a crossbow with two arrows. Only Venus is on the Aries point; the other planets are 24-28 degrees.
This is all very auspicious of course, to fulfil a destiny as Maid Marion of the Revolution, but there is another big pattern, nowhere near the Aries point. As well as Mars, I have the generational Saturn conjunct Pluto in Leo in the 12th, both square my Taurus 9th house Sun/conjunct MC and North Node. Chiron Scorpio 3rd on the IC makes a T-square, and, if we believe in these things, Lilith in Aquarius creates a Grand Cross.
To the left of, and also conjunct the MC, is Mercury 10th, in Taurus. He squares Mars in 12th, and hooks into the T-square, opposing Chiron and squaring the Lilith principle.
So there is this remarkable kite, and then this 12th house full of crotchety old malefics, shooting at my Sun/MC/North Node, Chiron complaining to the newspapers from 3rd/IC, and Mercury-Mars growling and snapping about it. (I think this is true!)
My questions – I sense that a planet or significant point falling close to 0 Cancer is going to be picked up like crazy by the T-square. Is there something significant about ‘completing the cross’? What do you feel the impact could be? How to work with it?
And secondly – 12th house – the standard description of ‘hidden, behind the scenes, self undoing, exile, prisons, karma and outcasts’ is so hard to wrap around planets in that house. Imagine 12th house Venus – sounds like a kind of Mata Hari of the Brothels.
How would it be to view this ‘hidden’ quality as meaning ‘not embraced, not integrated’, do you think? That in the 12th lie archetypes we are not fully claiming – for whatever seemingly good reason – we are not ‘integrating’ / embodying e.g. our art, our creativity, our intellectual insight, our capacity for giving, our sense of our own power, our authority, our adventurous nature, our sexual power. Indeed, that would lead to self undoing, that is exile from ourselves, and it may indeed have sprung from karmic seeds, and if we can’t integrate that part of ourselves, then we sure are constrained.
What say ye?
I kinda like the idea of whole sign houses since I too have 27 degrees rising. With Libra as my 1st house instead of 3 degrees of Libra and the rest Scorpio Pluto is in my 1st house where it’s easier to keep track of than hiding in the 12th.
P.S. I also always read the sign where the moon is, and find it quite helpful.
Hello Eric,
what is your opinion if one house is more than 30°? I make an example: my Asc is in late Sag, the 2nd in late Cap, but the 3rd is in Pisces.
Thanks!
P.
Hi Eric – I’ve been reading my sun (Taurus), rising (Leo), and moon signs (Aquarius). Not all seem clearly relevant to me all the time, although the Aquarius is almost always spot on. My chart is also Aquarius overall, so maybe that has something to do with it. Thanks for the great writing,
Joe