Whole Sign Houses

Definition

Whole sign houses is a way of dividing a chart into its twelve houses in which each house is simply one whole zodiac sign. The sign holding the Ascendant degree becomes the 1st house, the next sign the 2nd, and so on around the wheel. Every house is exactly 30 degrees, and because the method needs nothing more than which sign is rising, it works the same way at every latitude on Earth.

In Tradition

Many modern traditional astrologers regard whole sign houses as the original Hellenistic house system. That view is debated, though — some scholars argue the earliest idea was about dividing the local sky around you, rather than simply equating each house with a sign.

In Practice

Working with whole sign houses, astrologers assign each house its topics — its area of life — by which sign a planet sits in, counted from the rising sign. The Midheaven degree can land in a house other than the 10th; when it does, it is treated as a sensitive point within whichever house holds it. Whole sign houses are the standard in Hellenistic and traditional practice, and have drawn renewed scholarly interest in recent decades.

Historical Origin

Attested in multiple Hellenistic sources. Brennan cites Valens, Ptolemy, Dorotheus, and Firmicus. Houlding questions whether it was the original system, noting that Manilius suggests the earliest idea was sphere-based — drawn from dividing the local sky.

Etymology

Origin: English/Latin/Greek. Meaning: Whole (Old English hal, "entire") + sign (Latin signum) + houses (Latin domus). In Greek, houses were topoi (places) and signs zoidia (little animals)..

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Etymology

Further Reading