One of the most common questions I get is a variation on the following:
I’m an Aries Rising and Leo is on my 6th house, but you said that if I’m a Leo Sun this New Moon will be in my 1st house,
Or
I’m a Virgo Sun, but I have no idea what time I was born, so how do I know what house the New Moon is in for me
Each month, when I do the posts for New and Full Moons, and, indeed, when I do the posts for the Sun (or other planets) changing signs, I usually say something like:
If you don’t have any idea about your birth time, or can’t be faffed working it out, you can follow the solar guide. As an example for the Sagittarius New Moon:
- If your Sun or Ascendant is in Sagittarius, this New Moon will be in your 1st house.
- If your Sun or Ascendant is in Capricorn, this New Moon will be in your 12th house.
- If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aquarius, this New Moon will be in your 11th house.
and so on…
What I’m doing here is using Solar or Sun Sign Astrology.
Ok, let’s backtrack a little.
When you cast a chart on astro.com, the calculation will probably default to Placidus – arguably the most commonly used method of house division. There are, however, others – and most astrologers will be able to tell you the reasons why they use the one they use. We won’t get into it now, suffice to say that most house systems do require you to know the exact time and place of your birth in order to determine both the way in which the houses will be divided and which sign and degree is on the Ascendant.
If you want to know more about these, there are plenty of articles available – I’ll pop a few links at the end of this post for you.
Sun sign astrologers, however, use the solar sign or solar house system. In this method, each house is equivalent to an entire sign, with the sign that the Sun is in placed on the Ascendant. I use this method when I’m writing horoscopes for publications.
In this way, regardless of what time you were born, if your sun is in Pisces, Pisces will be on your 1st house, Aries on your 2nd, and so forth. If your sun is in Scorpio, using solar houses, Scorpio will be your 1st house, Sagittarius will be on your 2nd and Capricorn on your 3rd.
Unfortunately, sun sign astrology is often (I think unfairly) dismissed as being “popular” astrology or “media” astrology – labels which attack its legitimacy in much the way as the fiction genre I write – chick lit or popular women’s fiction – is seen as being not as meaningful as other genres.
Solar Astrology is, however, incredibly useful – and not just if you don’t happen to know what time you were born.
I’ve been experimenting with whole sign houses for the last couple of years, and I’ve pretty much made the switch. I find that it really works – especially when looking at transits.
With whole signs, whatever sign the Ascendant is in, the first house starts at 0 deg of that sign, with the next house starting at 0 deg of that sign…and so on.
The actual Ascendant will be a point within the 1st house, and the Midheaven (instead of being on the cusp of the 10th) will be a point somewhere within the 9th or 10th (usually) house.
Why do I like whole signs? Mostly for its simplicity. Each house encompasses a whole sign and there are no intercepted signs. It especially feels right when I look at transits, ingresses, and lunations. But, as I said, that’s my personal opinion.
Some links you could be interested in…
Something by Aquamoonlight about different house systems
A great article in Mountain Astrologer
As I mentioned earlier, I’m now using (mostly) whole signs – even though I was taught in placidus and really thought I was too lazy to make a change. Go figure.