The Hous in Traditional Astrology
© Sue Ward 2002. All rights rerved
In any article about hou significations it is not enough simply to list them; the foundation needs to be understood first. This paper explains that foundation.
To begin with it needs to be said that whatever we now consider astrology’s purpo to be, in order to u its symbolism properly we have to acknowledge and absorb its tradition. Astrology, as we understand it, forms a part of an ancient desire to understand our univer. It is humanity’s attempt to obtain knowledge of the Will of God, or the Divine Plan. There is, naturally, far more to it than that and the briefest glimp at the Hermetics bears this out. In this arch is implied a desire to find order in, what might otherwi em to be, the chaos of human existence.
香蕉图片卡通This order was constructed from an understanding and experience of life that we em no longer to have and grew out of an holistic philosophy that our current astrological community is trying to recover. That philosophy was entirely bad upon and derived from the knowledge of Divine existence. However cular our age becomes, we would do well not to forget that it is from that single point that astrological symbolism has developed. Astrology is the sacred language of Divination: a way to underst
and the Divine Mind and a way to make connection with that Mind. Since its symbolism is so profound, it ems perilous to meddle with it if we do not understand this fundamental philosophy. Whether or not it is necessary to hold to the principles is another story, but we must be aware them at least.
属相虎From the foregoing and before entering the subject of the hous proper, we need first to look at a common misconception and one that has brought about misunderstanding and confusion. This is the system of the ‘consignification’ of signs with hous. In this we e the first sign of Aries lined up with the 1st hou; the cond sign of Taurus with the 2nd hou and so on around the circle. From this, modern astrology has extrapolated the notion that Mars must, therefore, rule the 1st hou, Venus the 2nd etc. becau tho planets rule tho signs. This caus still further problems when we come to
the signs that have been given one of the new planets as ruler: Scorpio and Pluto, Aquarius and Uranus, and Pisces and Neptune. So, then we have Pluto gaining rulership of the 8th hou and absorbing signification from the 8th, for example, death. From the same error we e the 8th hou associated with xual activity becau Scorpio rules the xual organs and is the eighth sign1. We can e the same occurring with the other two new planets. There is a knot of reasons for this misun
derstanding of the hous, but its explanation does not fall within the scope of this paper. What this paper demonstrates is that the hous obtain their signification from the Sun’s apparent orbit around the Earth, and need to be understood from that point of view. It is also necessary to understand that the Luminaries are central to all structure, signification and rulerships.
Nature Element Aries Hot and dry Fire
Taurus Cold and dry Earth
Gemini Hot and moist Air
Cancer Cold and moist Water
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Leo Hot and dry Fire
Virgo Cold and dry Earth
Libra Hot and moist Air
Scorpio Cold and moist Water
下载速度Sagittarius Hot and dry Fire
Capricorn Cold and dry Earth
Aquarius Hot and moist Air
Pisces Cold and moist Water
1 It is true that in the order of the hous the 8th hou is associated with the xual organs, but that does not mean that the 8th rules xual activity, any more than the 12th hou rules walking becau it is associated with the feet.
The zodiac is a calendrical device ud to measure the Sun’s apparent journey around the heavens. Applied to the northern hemisphere, the Sun’s position in any one of the signs express its “temperature” and thus, the ason. Each sign has its own “nature”: hot and dry, cold and dry, hot and moist, cold and moist; the temperatures, temperaments or humours tally with the natures of the elements. Thus, Fire is hot and dry, Earth is cold and dry, Air is hot and moist, and Water is cold and moist. Added to this we have four groups of three signs each corresponding to the asons, as explained below.
The Sun’s esntial nature is hot and dry, but we know from everyday experience that this changes throughout the year. The zodiacal system explains tho changes through the natures of the signs, so that when the Sun is in Aries, Taurus or Gemini it is springtime and the Sun’s nature becomes hot and moist. This is becau Spring is a time of great fertility and growth, and heat and moisture correspond with that. When the Sun is in Cancer, Leo or Virgo it is summertime and, as we would expect, the Sun’s fundamental nature, hot and dry, is reinforced. Moving on to Autumn, when the Sun is in Libra, Scorpio or Sagittarius, its nature becomes cold and dry – the opposite of the temperature attributed to the Spring – when fertility ceas. In Winter, the Sun is in Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces and assumes a cold and moist nature. (The Moon has its own “asonal” nature through its four phas, expressing similar temperature changes).
Sun in Season Nature
Aries, Taurus, Gemini Spring Hot and moist Cancer, Leo, Virgo Summer Hot and dry Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius Autumn Cold and dry Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces Winter Cold and moist
Consignification derives from an attempt to ek order in the univer and is connected with the instituting of the tropical zodiac. It is applied to the human body, so that Aries associates with the hea
d, as does the 1st hou; Taurus associates with the neck and throat, as does the 2nd hou. This continues through to the 12th
hou, Pisces and the feet. Added to this ordering of the signs and hous are the planets, but in quite the rever order. Saturn is associated with the 1st hou, Jupiter with the 2nd, Mars with the 3rd, the Sun with the 4th, Venus with the 5th, Mercury with the 6th, and
the Moon with the 7th and so on, but excluding the new planets. This
is known as the Chaldean order of the planets referring to distance from the Earth and plainly has little to do with the order of the signs.
Sign Hou Planet Aries 1st hou Saturn
Taurus 2nd hou Jupiter水果释迦图片
Gemini 3rd hou Mars
钓鲫鱼Cancer 4th hou Sun
Leo 5th hou Venus
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Virgo 6th hou Mercury
Libra 7th hou Moon
Scorpio 8th hou Saturn
Sagittarius 9th hou Jupiter
Capricorn 10th hou Mars
清热润燥
Aquarius 11th hou Sun
Pisces 12th hou Venus
To complete this picture, we need to look at another connection of planets to hous, that of the “joys”. Each planet is said to joy in a certain hou (and sign, by the way), Saturn is held to joy in the 12th where it can do most mischief; Jupiter has its joy in the 11th; Mars
has its joy in the 6th; the Sun joys in the 9th; Venus joys in the 5th; Mercury joys in the 1st, and the Moon joys in the 3rd. Again, we can
e little correspondence with the natural order of the signs, for example, Saturn has no special association with Pisces, but joys in
the 12th.
So, there is one argument for saying that the signs and hous correspond, but as with everything in astrological judgement, one argument is not enough. The signs and hous do not correspond in this way, but correspond through the Sun’s apparent path. It is esntial to recogni this: the Sun is reprentative of God, in this n the Sun created, or caud, the hous and the tropical zodiac. The signs do not control the Sun; they describe something of its action and nature.
As with any other academic discipline, it is important that we address derivation and development even when we disagree with it. This is important becau once we remove the incorrect assignments (Mars as the natural ruler of the 1st hou, Venus the
2nd, etc.), we are less likely to choo the wrong significator in any of our chart judgements, whether horary, natal, mundane or election. Examples of incorrect signification would be Venus for money (becau it is said to be the natural ruler of the 2nd hou), Jupiter for foreign matters or long journeys (becau it is said to be the natural ruler of the 9th hou).
Perhaps this is the source of the arguments over which hou rules the mother and which the father: if we allow a feminine sign to rule a hou which is itlf ruled by a feminine planet, the Moon, then we can e immediately where the uncertainty lies. The signs do not, cannot, rule hous, so we do not need to feel uncomfortable about the fact that the 4th hou signifies the father, and the 10th hou the mother. The Moon has no “natural” connection with the 4th any more than Saturn has with the 10th. The significations are incorrect and, clearly, can lead to incorrect judgements or interpretations.
In the first place, an understanding of how the hous are derived will assist us in our efforts to extend their signification and for this I rely on Marcus Manilius2. There is a very nice analogy that helps to improve our grasp of hou fundamentals. It is that of the Sun God who passage through the heavens is recorded in the mythology of a variety of cultures. While it is obvious that the Ascendant is the position of sunri, the midheaven of noon, the descendant of sunt, and the IC of midnight, it might not be so obvious that this is, in fact, the order that the hous follow: a clockwi direction.
2 Marcus Manilius, Astronomica, Trans. F. E. Goold, Loeb.
