Western Astrology Houses & Angles Intermediate

Placidus House System

The Placidus house system is the most popular Western astrology house division method, calculating houses based on time rather than space.

What is Placidus House System?

Developed in the 17th century, the Placidus system divides houses based on the time it takes for each degree of the ecliptic to rise from the horizon to the midheaven. This creates unequal house sizes that vary with latitude. Placidus works well for most locations, but at some extreme latitudes the cusp frame can become unavailable or unusable because some degrees do not rise normally. TriAstra keeps Placidus as the default and uses Porphyry only when the Placidus cusps cannot be used for the specific birth location and time.

How TriAstra Uses Placidus House System

TriAstra uses Placidus as the default house system for Western charts. If the Placidus cusps are unavailable or unusable for the birth location and time, TriAstra falls back to Porphyry to keep house calculations stable. Whole Sign fields may appear for Hellenistic derived themes, but they do not replace the Western Placidus default.

What Placidus House System Means for You

The house system affects which houses your planets occupy. Placidus is the most widely used system, making it easier to compare your chart with popular astrology resources.

Discover Your Placidus House System

Understanding Placidus House System is just the beginning. See how it manifests in your unique birth chart with TriAstra's triple-system analysis.

Calculate My Chart Free