Popularity of house systems among astrologers[1]
The Placidus system of houses, also formerly known as the Ptolemaic Method, is a system that can be described as 'Time-proportional House System of Movement'. This is in contrast to the space-based systems that are built on astronomical great circles, rather than on time curves.
It gained popularity in the late Renaissance era, yet the origin of the system has not been clarified to this date. Too many original works in Arabic, that are still waiting for translation, could contain precursors of the Placidus system.[2]
It gained popularity in the late Renaissance era, yet the origin of the system has not been clarified to this date. Too many original works in Arabic, that are still waiting for translation, could contain precursors of the Placidus system.[2]
- 1History
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The following free birth chart tool lists planet signs, house positions, and aspects. This is for the whole sign house system. This system is not for everyone so that if you are uncertain, you might instead go back to the default system for determining houses, which is Placidus (For the default house system, Placidus, return here).
History
Chart of the sky according to Ptolemaic method[3]
Magini
The mathematical foundations for the house system that is most popular today, were first calculated and formulated by the astronomer, mathematician and cartographer Giovanni Magini.[4] The essential idea is that the conditions laid out by Ptolemy for the Primary Directions are also used to formulate and calculate the so-called Placidus House System. The Italian monk and mathmatician Placidus de Titis (1603-1668) is erroneously considered to be the 'Founding Father' of this system. Knappich: 'After Magini another Italian astrologer P. Hilarius Altobelli also made a critique of the then known house systems in his 'Tabulae Regiae divisorum duodecim partium coeli ad mentem Ptolemaei' (1628). In it, he also constructed house tables in the Ptolemaic way, of which the results were similar to that of Placidus.'[5] Knappich further on: 'Therefore Placidus had many forerunners and exponents of the 'Ptolemaic Method' at the time and his contribution was only that he gave this method a completely new philosophical foundation. And also by publishing his Tables of Houses with fully calculated house cusps he ensured a wide dissemination of this method.'[6]
Regiomontanus
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For the learned astrology, Ptolemy was the unimpeachable authority in astronomy. Although Regiomontanus believed he had fulfilled all the conditions put forward by the great Ptolemy, he had come under fire with his house system. It was believed that Regiomantanus was mistaken with his interpretation of Ptolemy. This error resulted in the so-called 'Rational Method' as opposed to the 'Ptolemaic Method', although Regiomontanus never doubted his own conclusions. This dispute between a space-based and a time-based system continues to the present day. Knappich, however, was able to make a convincing case based on recalculations and showed that Ptolemy was really working with semi-arcs and not with great circles, as erroneously assumed by Regiomontanus.[7]
Koch House System
In the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century Erich Kühr and Walter Koch continued this dispute in Germany, a dispute between Regiomontanus and Placidus followers that was recorded in 18th and 19th century England as ultimately in favor of the Ptolemaic method. Knappich remarked on the calculation of Walter Koch's system (Heinz Specht and Friedrich Zanzinger were the actual creators, with whom he was friends), that one had rightly accused the Placidus system and its precursors that the semi-arc above the earth is of a different size as the semi-arc under the horizon and frankly admits that precisely this difference corresponds with the actual movement pattern of the semi-arcs. Knappich: 'It is true that it is an inherent fact that the daytime hours are shorter or longer depending on the time of year (excluding the instance of the equinoxes), but it surely is required of a house system to create a smooth progression where possible – likewise we do not work with the irregular solar day or the true solar time, but with the mean time.'[8] Thus after his extensive mathematical and historical analysis of the development of the houses from antiquity to the present day, Knappich comes to the conclusion that with the house cusps of the Koch House System we are dealing with values that do not correspond with the actual, or real movement patterns of the ecliptic. Like Regiomontanus who once constructed great circles, Koch developed this techique in favor of a mean, imaginary space structure.
Behind this discussion is basically the question what the astrological houses really are by their nature. If the house cusps need to reflect realistically the time patterns of day and night at the respective geographic latitudes, then Placidus would be right. If the houses are regarded as actual spaces, one would rather follow Regiomontanus. It should be noted incidentally that the Koch house system is a mixed construction of both.
Technique
Division of the sky in the Placidus system
Each point on the ecliptic (the zodiac) traces out in the sky a so-called diurnal arc of its own – from its rising in the east to its setting in the west. It is determined for each degree of the zodiac, at a specific time and at its respective location, how much of its daily arc it has already travelled: the particular point, which has covered half of its path (i.e. which is crossing the meridian) is the Midheaven. The degree, which has at that moment completed a sixth of its path defines the cusp of house 12, another, which has completed two sixths, the cusp of house 11, etc.[9] (See illustration on the right)
Assessment
In the house system that is currently most widely used, there are problems with the calculation for latitudes beyond the arctic circle (see below).
The idea that Placidus pursued with the development of this house system, {is} based on the philosophical idea that life is basically motion and that it unfolds in stages. Therefore he saw it as necessary not just to divide the space around the birthplace geometrically (like Regiomontanus or Campanus), but to divide the motion of the heavens themselves.[9]
The idea that Placidus pursued with the development of this house system, {is} based on the philosophical idea that life is basically motion and that it unfolds in stages. Therefore he saw it as necessary not just to divide the space around the birthplace geometrically (like Regiomontanus or Campanus), but to divide the motion of the heavens themselves.[9]
Problems
Although it is said that the method of house division according to Placidus does not work beyond the arctic circle, this is actually not entirely true:[10]
The house postition of each point in the sky is defined in such a way, that its diurnal arc and its nocturnal arc are divided in six equal parts. The twelve sections that are obtained in this way are the twelve houses for this particular point. The question is how one treats the circumpolar parts of the sky, therefore all those stars that never rise or set on a particular geographic latitude. Psiphon for mac download. This question does not only arise in geographic latitudes beyond the arctic circle, but in principle all over the globe, except exactly on the equator. However, the issue is exacerbated in the polar regions, since planets and parts of the zodiac can become circumpolar aswell, i.e. where they don't rise and set anymore. These are those areas of the zodiac where the Sun is placed when it is also shining at midnight or when it remains below the horizon, even at noon.
A solution to this problem was proposed in 1930 by Otto Ludwig.[11] When a circumpolar point is located in the visible sky, it is given a diurnal semi-arc of 180°. If, on the other hand, it is located below the horizon, it receives a diurnal semi-arc of 0°. This boils down to the situation that the endpoints of the house boundaries are connected to the celestial north pole by meridians, starting from the circle of the circumpolar sky. In this way each point in the sky (except the poles themselves) has a well-defined house position for every geographic latitude and at all times. Admittedly, the boundary lines of the houses acquire strange angles in this way. This solution is now propagated by Michael Wackford.[12]
Rüdiger Plantiko, on the other hand, criticizes this. The above mentioned angles bother him and he considers the choice of meridians, which complete the unfinished boundary lines, being 'arbitrary'.[13] So if one follows Plantiko, not all points on the celestial sphere have a house position according to Placidus.
If you want to calculate ecliptic house cusps in polar areas, as they are known in astrology, strange phenomena occur. Since the boundary lines of the houses do not lie on great circles, but curve and (if you follow Ludwig and Wackford) also form angles, under certain circumstances they can intersect the ecliptic at several points. In our example horoscope the line of the 12th house crosses the ecliptic a total of four times, so that the ecliptic meanders several times between the 11th and 12th houses – after which it abruptly enters the 7th house. The other house boundary lines, on the other hand, do not cross the ecliptic a single time.
These phenomena cannot be avoided. But it does not necessarily mean that the method of Placidus fails beyond the arctic circle. Peter Neubäcker has pointed out that one must abandon the idea that each horoscope should have precisely twelve house cusps.[14] Placidus house cusps for polar horoscopes may be represented as follows instead, for example:
Chart of a person born near the North Pole (Northern Norway)
Born 26 Jan. 1971 at 10:45 in Vadsø, Norway, 29e46, 70n05, house cusps according to Placidus: 1,MC cap 28°54'57', 12,Asc aqu 01°10'45', 11 aqu 01°16'57', 12 ari 05°41p10', 11 tau 28°07'46', 12 gem 03°05'39', 7,IC can 28°54'57' 6,Dsc leo 01°10'45', 5 leo 01°16'57', 6 lib 05°41'10', 5 sco 28°07'46', 6 sag 03°05'39' (see illustration on the left).
The MC is slightly below the horizon. The zodiac runs from there, first through the 1st, then entering the 12th, returning into the 11th, moving back and forward again until it reaches the IC and there it immediately enters the 7th house. The houses 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 are never crossed by the zodiac.[15]
If one follows Plantiko and does not allow for the amendments in house construction by Ludwig, then the following Placidus house cusps appear: 0,MC cap 28°54'57', 1 aqu 01°06'30”, 12,Asc aqu 01°10'45', 11 aqu 01°16'57', 12 ari 05°41p10', 11 tau 28°07'46', 0 tau 28°53’31', 0,IC can 28°54'57', 7 leo 1°06'30”, 6,Dsc leo 01°10'45', 5 leo 01°16'57', 6 lib 05°41'10', 5 sco 28°07'46', 0 sco 28°53’31'.[16]
These solutions are geometrically correct. Their practical value is limited, however, by the fact that the planets due to their ecliptic latitude very often do not have the precise house position suggested by the house cusps.
Ruud van der Putten has calculated Placidus house tables for the geographic latitudes 60°-89°N (Ludwig method).
How Placidus House Cusps Are Calculated And True Placidus House Positions Are Determined(Video Cochrane, 2014)
Weblinks
- Astrodienst Tables of Houses for all systems and all latitudes (Koch and Treindl, 2018)
- The Polar Horoscope (Michael Wackford 2001/ 2007; Skyscript)
- How Placidus House Cusps Are Calculated and True Placidus House Positions Are Determined (Video Cochrane, 2014)
Notes and References
- ↑Survey of the American journal The Mountain Astrologer on Facebook, June 2011. Äqual = Equal, Ganzzeichen = Whole Signs
- ↑Likewise the secondary progressions have been attributed to Placidus for a long time, although they originate from Arabic astrology according to current knowlegde
- ↑'Thema caeli Secundum Ptolemaicam rationem'. Radix of Magini, born 14 June 1555 (jul.) at 18:58 in Padua (published 1604). The house cusps are consistent with the later house tables of Placidus. 1st House 21°28' Sag, 2nd House 29°40' Cap, 3rd House 12°53' Pis, 10th House 17°54' Lib, 11th House 13°22' Sco, 12th House 3°24' Sag
- ↑Knappich, Wilhelm, Entwicklung der Horoskoptechnik von Altertum bis Gegenwart, 1978, page 39 (Development of Horoscope Technique from Antiquity to the Present.)
- ↑ibid., page 40
- ↑ibid., page 41
- ↑ibid.
- ↑ibid.
- ↑ 9.09.1Glossar astrologischer Häusersysteme (Chrisopher Weidner: Glossary of astrological house systems, in the online journal Sternwelten
- ↑The following text is a quote from an unpublished article by Dieter Koch
- ↑Otto Ludwig, 'Ein Beitrag zum Häuserproblem' (A contribution to the house problem), in Zenit I (6-7), 1930
- ↑Mike Wackford, Placido and the Semi-Arc method of House Division (2006). An extensive series of articles on this subject was published in the British astrological journal Correlation, vols. 19-23, 2001-2005
- ↑Rüdiger Plantiko, houses.pdf: On Dividing the Sky (2004), p. 28, footnote 26
- ↑Peter Neubäcker, Die astrologischen Häuser nördlich des Polarkreises, in: Meridian 2/ 98, p. 43
- ↑The calculation was done with the Online software of Astrodienst
- ↑The 'house cusps' indicated by '0' are located at the beginning of an ecliptic zone, and are not defined in the house positions
Placidus Astrology software, free download
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