Which House System? – Whole Signs & Hermeticism
I have just read two illuminating books on houses systems. Robert Hand’s “Whole signs – The Oldest House System” and the “History of the Houses” by Robert Powell. Between the two Roberts I think I have found a house system that works and has the weight of history and scientific analysis to back it up.
The whole of modern Western Astrology is based on the tropical zodiac, which we know is purely symbolic and nothing to so with actual star gazing. The AC represents 0 degs Aries, the beginning of the vernal equinox, the start of the pagan year spring. New life, new starts, birth and so on, showing the evolution of the soul through the signs, which are really the months of the year. Read more
The word Zodiac comes from the Greek zõdiakos (animals) kuklo (circle). It refers to the constellations of stars around the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the path that the Sun, Moon and planets take through the stars as viewed from Earth. Astronomers still refer to the zodiac as this path through the stars and constellations. Astrologers refer to the zodiac as the 12 equal Sun signs of celestial longitude. Once upon a time, astronomy and astrology were one, and the shamen, druids, or priests simply divided up this ring of stars into varying numbers of constellations depending upon the culture. For example, in ancient Babylon the circle was divided up into 17 or 18 constellations of varying length. In ancient India, this ring of stars was divided up into 27 or 28 lunar mansions of varying length based on bright stars. 
In a previous post about Mohandas Gandhi
