Solar Houses - A Different Sort of House System

When people think about house systems in astrology, in particular modern western astrology, the focus tends to be on the Ascendant-based systems such as Placidus and Equal House. However, sometimes that doesn't seem to tell the whole story. Other times, one may not even know their birthtimes or all of their birth info, and thus the Ascendant-based systems aren't really all that possible for them. There is another house system concept that exists, and that's that of the solar houses.

What are solar houses? Well, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the Ascendant-based house systems use the rising horizon point as the Ascendant, and the varying houses are in some way related to this. The Solar House concept bases the first house on the sign the sun is in. For example, I have Sun at 0 Vir, 15'38". This makes Virgo my solar 1st house. (My case is a little bit unfair as my sun is in the beginning of a sign). So what does this mean for my other signs? My Mars-Pluto-Venus stellium is in Libra, thus they would belong to the second solar house of money and personal resources.

As far as the size of the house? Each house in the solar house system would be the size of the entire sign, from beginning to end. It'd be like the Whole Sign system as far as Ascendant-based systems go.

I offer my own placements in my natal chart, when put in terms of solar houses. These would fall in line as:
(Note: I will be a bit more harsh with my own chart, and I'm also ignoring most asteroids for this exercise)

Virgo (1st solar house)

• Sun-Saturn conjunction: serious demeanor
• Midheaven - Career and public facing matters figure prominently to my own self-identity
• North Node - Personal growth and advancing my destiny also matters greatly to my own self-identity and self-worth.

Libra (2nd solar house)

• Mars-Pluto-Venus stellium: Great comings and goings of money and personal resources possible, both inbound and outbound. Lately it's been way more outbound. Sometimes simultaneous as in high-paying main job while attempting to pay crushing debt. At best a balance perhaps?

Scorpio (3rd solar house)

• Uranus - rebellious and sudden changes in short term travel, can be secretive and foundation-shaking messages as well.

Sagittarius (4th solar house)

• Ascendant - Home matters important to identity, freedom required at home when it comes to the Sagittarius influence on this.
• Neptune - Home can be a place of great inspiration and insight, or can be a pointer towards potential mental problems and phobias, and possible psychic disturbances or mental illness at worst if not in an optimal state.

Caprisorn (5th solar house)

• Ceres - Home and hearth holds important when it comes to fun, recreation, and short-term relations. Also important for children, though the Capricorn influence on career and public-facing matters figures into this.
• Juno - Loyalty, even in short-term relationships, is found to be very important. Betrayal of this met with incredible disdain.

Aquarius (6th solar house)

• I don't really have anything here.

Pisces (7th solar house)

• I.C. - Long-term relationships tend to involve private and home matters for myself, and are emotionally significant. Apart from a bit of business partnership matters (more like boss-consultant, with me as the consultant), this has proven to be not as fruitful as I would like. Uncertainty despite the Jupiter co-ruling optimism that should be present. This could also point to open enemies in the homestead. I would use the term open adversaries potentially.
• South Node - Long-term partnerships and open enemies/adversaries are prominent on the home front and it is advised I make sure that such relationships do not hold me back from advancing where I need to go.

Aries (8th solar house)

• Eris - Discord when it comes to money/occult matters/sex/death, and it affects the personal identity and drive with the Aries influence. Opposes Libra Mars-Pluto-Venus stellium in Solar 2nd.

Taurus (9th solar house)

• Moon/Chiron conjunction - Spirituality and higher education has had a marked influence in regards to my emotions/intuition, which has had a major effect on both wounding and healing myself.

Gemini (10th solar house)

• Descendant - Long-term partnerships and the pursuit thereof has a marked influence on my public-facing persona and career. Not for the best often enough, sadly in my case (also my Ascendant/Descendant axis squares my Sun/Saturn conjunction.)

Cancer (11th solar house)

• Nessus - Potential to either heal abuse among friends, or at worst obsess and abuse friends. Cancer for 11th solar house makes this likely to either heal or inflict emotional abuse.
• Black Moon Lilith - Unconventional and esoterically-minded friends, as well as women as friends who are strongly independent.
• Jupiter - An expansion in friendships, perhaps larger friends (in many ways, such as larger than life), optimism in friendships likely.

Leo (12th solar house)

• Part of Fortune - Hidden and secret matters, hidden enemies, possible fear of imprisonment or instutitionalization?
• Mercury - Trouble speaking up, despite the drive to do so. Holding tongue, secrets.

Personal transits note as of this article's original writing date (7/16/2019): OUCH. Major ouch as I write this article as Saturn retrograde is squaring this stellium from my actual Capricorn second house (Placidus), so personal resources are VERY pertinent right now, especially as I also have Pluto transiting second Placidus house. As you can see, combining an Ascendant-based house system with solar houses can paint a fuller picture, and in my own case it is not a pretty one at the moment.

So what about the Ascendant itself if it's known? Hmm... I'd have to say that the Ascendant compared to the solar houses would take on an element of the theme of the solar house it's in. My rising is Sagittarius, so it would be in my solar 4th house. Home affairs have always impacted me pretty heavily, and there's been a theme of uncertainty and nebulousness in my life regarding home as my Neptune is also in Sagittarius (and interestingly enough my I.C. point, or Placidus 4th house cusp, is in Pisces, also ruled by Neptune).

The best way to reconcile both Ascendant-based and Sun-based, I believe, would be to blend the two. Priority to the Ascendant-based in my opinion, but the Sun-based is also important enough that it cannot be dismissed. Once you get the hang of using both Ascendant-based and Sun-based, you can get a bigger picture and perhaps a greater understanding of what influences you fall under based on the temporal snapshot of your moment of birth.

For those who do not know their rising sign, the solar house method also allows you a more concrete insight as to the workings of the individual and the influences, even if the full picture isn't known. So in a way one can get a fuller understanding, even without the birthtime.

A listing of what signs would constitute which solar houses for each sun sign follows. Aries will be the most straightforward of the lot, as the houses follow the order of signs.

Aries

1. Aries
2. Taurus
3. Gemini
4. Cancer
5. Leo
6. Virgo
7. Libra
8. Scorpio
9. Sagittarius
10. Capricorn
11. Aquarius
12. Pisces

Taurus

1. Taurus
2. Gemini
3. Cancer
4. Leo
5. Virgo
6. Libra
7. Scorpio
8. Sagittarius
9. Capricorn
10. Aquarius
11. Pisces
12. Aries

Gemini

1. Gemini
2. Cancer
3. Leo
4. Virgo
5. Libra
6. Scorpio
7. Sagittarius
8. Capricorn
9. Aquarius
10. Pisces
11. Aries
12. Taurus

Cancer

1. Cancer
2. Leo
3. Virgo
4. Libra
5. Scorpio
6. Sagittarius
7. Capricorn
8. Aquarius
9. Pisces
10. Aries
11. Taurus
12. Gemini

Leo

1. Leo
2. Virgo
3. Libra
4. Scorpio
5. Sagittarius
6. Capricorn
7. Aquarius
8. Pisces
9. Aries
10. Taurus
11. Gemini
12. Cancer

Virgo

1. Virgo
2. Libra
3. Scorpio
4. Sagittarius
5. Capricorn
6. Aquarius
7. Pisces
8. Aries
9. Taurus
10. Gemini
11. Cancer
12. Leo

Libra

1. Libra
2. Scorpio
3. Sagittarius
4. Capricorn
5. Aquarius
6. Pisces
7. Aries
8. Taurus
9. Gemini
10. Cancer
11. Leo
12. Virgo

Scorpio

1. Scorpio
2. Sagittarius
3. Capricorn
4. Aquarius
5. Pisces
6. Aries
7. Taurus
8. Gemini
9. Cancer
10. Leo
11. Virgo
12. Libra

Sagittarius

1. Sagittarius
2. Capricorn
3. Aquarius
4. Pisces
5. Aries
6. Taurus
7. Gemini
8. Cancer
9. Leo
10. Virgo
11. Libra
12. Scorpio

Capricorn

1. Capricorn
2. Aquarius
3. Pisces
4. Aries
5. Taurus
6. Gemini
7. Cancer
8. Leo
9. Virgo
10. Libra
11. Scorpio
12. Sagittarius

Aquarius

1. Aquarius
2. Pisces
3. Aries
4. Taurus
5. Gemini
6. Cancer
7. Leo
8. Virgo
9. Libra
10. Scorpio
11. Sagittarius
12. Capricorn

Pisces

1. Pisces
2. Aries
3. Taurus
4. Gemini
5. Cancer
6. Leo
7. Virgo
8. Libra
9. Scorpio
10. Sagittarius
11. Capricorn
12. Aquarius