house-cusp aspects

madmoiselle

Is it possible for the cusp of one house to be aspected with a planet? If so, what effect would this give?
 

dadsnook2000

What is an aspect . . .

An "astrological aspect" is merely an angular relationship between two points measured and placed on the zodiac. That sounds simple. Since we measure most planets relative to the zodiac circle, and since they are often close to the zodiac plane, this measuring of an aspect or angle works reasonably well.

Or does it? Some planets, such as Pluto, are inclined quite a bit from the zodiac plane, enough so that the planet will often rise over the horizon a half hour earlier or later than its "supposed" zodica degree location.

That being said, lets consider the time you were born. How accurate is that time -- or, if you are doing a chart for someone else, how accurate is their given birth time? On average, for every four minutes of error a different degree could be rising at the Ascendant point. This relates to how much of an "orb" or leeway you are willing to use for an "aspect measurement." If measuring a planet to the Ascendant, and if the aspect is considered a major one, would you allow 8 degrees, 6 degrees, 4 degrees? If the aspect is a minor one, would you allow 3 degrees, 1 degree? Remember, several minutes of error in the birth time used could amplify or diminish the aspect's orb greatly.

With all that now said, lets look at an aspect to a house cusp. What house system are you using? There are several house systems in popular use, and most of these have different ways of mathematically calculating the division process (we are taling about spherical geometry here) to tri-sect the arcs between the major angles. The Placidius system, for example, when you break all of the math down, looks like it tri-sects the semi-arcs in terms of the time it takes for that semi-arc to rise and reach the MC point. Other house systems project their cusps from the MC arc. All of this means that in any one house system, a particular house cusp may be subject to more or less distortion or argument (mathematically) about its calculated placement.

So, how important is that aspect to a house cusp? Everything, it seems, in Astrology has a shaded or considered value. What do you do to minimize them upon your work. Do you maximize potential differences in the combination of practices and processes that you use. Will the results you get in your chart be demonstratable in the next chart you use.

SUMMARY:
I don't want to leave you with more questions and no answers, only to impress upon you that there may not always be a clear answer for a specific case. So, I would keep my use of aspects simple -- conjunctions only! I would limit my aspect orb to one degree for most planets, perhaps 2 or 3 for the Moon. Keep also in mind, that the outer planets often "build up" their influence in a chart over long periods and when something happens it is often due to a "trigger" such as an aspect by the Sun, Moon or Mars, for example. In these cases an aspect to a house cusp can only be an "alert" for you.

Finally, you might consider what I do -- throw out the houses (and signs) and just work with angles and planetary aspects -- they are really dependable. Dave
 

Voron

The angles are VERY powerful. Just this year I got attacked and had a terrible arm-break requiring surgury just as Mars was crossing my Midheaven.

The Angles are (for the most part) mathematically indisputable. It's the cusps of the 2nd/8th, 3rd/9th, 5th/11th, and 6th/12th that people disagree upon. Some astrologers swear by one system, and other astrologers can't get good results with the same system, but another system works for them. There's no right answer. Just like which Tarot deck is the best for a reading, it's all about the preference of the Artist performing the reading. Because interpreting horoscopes is an art, as much as casting them is a science. Because people are different, it seems the universe determined that a different vehicle is necessary to get the divine message across. This extends to the different branches of astrology as well, and why different astrologers get good results with vastly different systems -- tropical, sidereal, uranian, asteroid-based, etc. And you can expand it out to all divinatory systems as well...we each translate in our own way.

In answer to your question, I myself have noticed strong results from using Placidus cusps. Mind you, I haven't had a lot of need of casting charts from the far north -- I might change my mind were that the case. But the placidus cusps are rather strong for me.

I have Chiron in the fifth square to my 3rd/9th, and I definitely feel that ache of the incurable wound with regard to my own creative expression (5th) and the means to communicate it (3rd) in a framework that expresses my beliefs and paradigms (9th). My sun in on the 11th cusp, and besides having a huge number of friends, there's a tension (opposition) between the groups of friends who are more of a social network/organization (11th) and the groups that are more fun to party with (5th). Funny: the couples we party with the most have the most children.

Ultimately, the answer is based on your own personal experience. Start looking at cusp aspects while keeping an objective mind and see if they seem to work for you. Start with tight orbs at first. Look both for patterns that aren't explained by other influences and for obvious connections that are reiterations of recurring themes from the chart.

-V-