I am fairly new to astrology and very new to Ernst’s work. I am nearly done with the Healing Rahu and Ketu course and am finding it invaluable.
My questions is about the way houses are being calculated. Most of the ways I had seen my chart in the past, my ketu was in the 5th house and rahu in the 11th. In Ernst’s software my ketu is in the 6th house and rahu in the 12th. Someone told me this is because he is calculating using the “whole house” method.
Can anyone point me towards somewhere this is talked about? Or why we can or should use this house calculation over others? It is obviously such an important piece to get right, and something I would like to understand.
Thanks!!
Hi!
As there are many ways to calculate the houses and also few different ways to calculate Rahu & Ketu, there can be difference in their position depending on what chart creator site or program/options you are using. If you are using the Ernst Wilhelm recommendations settings in Kala you should have good calculations for Rahu and Ketu. If you are not sure if you have that you can go to options -> Customize Kala -> Choose Ernst Wilhelm recommendations settings.
Also it can be helpful to understand that there are two things people tend to refer as houses.
1. Houses as signs counted from the Ascendant. So when using the whole sign system it can be said that I.E. the second house is located where the second sign is from the Ascendant.
Ex. Aquarius Rising makes second house in Pisces. So the whole sign of Pisces is looked as the second house.
2. The other thing that can be called houses are the house cusps. These are specific sensitive points of the houses that often manifests in a more concrete way. For each sign counted from the Ascendant there is one house cusp. These can fall in to the same or different sign as the houses counted from the Ascendant depending on how close or far from equator the person is born. Most commonly used house cusps are the Ascendant (1) that is connected to the first house and Mid-Heaven (10) that is connected to 10th house. Campanus house cusps tend to be very accurate in calculation.
In Kala the house cusps should be shown as small blue numbers in the chart. If you don't have these house cusps in the chart already then you need to go to Options -> Chart/Screen options -> click "Show BhavaChalita Cusps in all Vargas"
Both of these ways of looking houses are important in their own way. In the Healing Rahu & Ketu course Ernst gives more focus on the houses as signs counted from the Ascendant.
Hope this helps!
@ipoman Thanks so much! I went back and listened to the building block videos as well and think I have a better handle on this. But really helpful post!!
I don't recall where this is explained exactly, you might try Jyotish building blocks or Horoscope. Also, the settings on your software maybe different from previous systems used.
Technically speaking, the house system that is used in most of Ernst work is the Campanus house system for specific cusps. The sign or the Rasi is the house, but one or more cusps may fall in that house. So Sign or Rasi, and the actual "Cusp" are two different things.
See attached image for clarification. In this chart Ketu, Ve, Me are in Aq the 4th house, but joined by the 3rd cusp. The Sun is in Pisces the 5th house but joined the 4th and 5th cusp. How this is generally interpreted is that there can be influences by both house indications.
I hope this helps. So many nuances that can seem complicated, and why astrology is a lifetime learning.
@ltmoon @blossomb
You're right. It's explained in Jyotish Building Blocks, specifically:
https://astrology-videos.com/components/bhavas/bhava-systems.
This is why it's a good idea to take the courses in the order Ernst recommends ;).
@francesca Thanks for sharing that link, it was good to get a refresher ????
Yes, I am one VERY guilty of jumping in and just consuming courses without notes or following the suggested plan. But learned very quickly that I couldn't short cut studies when it comes to this system.
@ltmoon
No worries. I totally know what you mean! It's so hard not to feel like a kid in the candy shop on this site ???? .
@francesca Thanks Francesca! Yes, I am definitely not doing that at the moment ???? But this is good incentive to go back to the basics next.
@ltmoon Thanks for the reply! That is quite helpful, and I will also go back to the basics and check them out. Much appreciated ????
Dear @blossomb
Please also keep in mind that there are 3 different ways of calculating Rahu/Ketu as well. they differ from several minutes to several degrees. So if Ra/Ke are close to your ascendant degrees, changing the method of calculation will easily change the house.
The recommended "interpolated true node" calculation method in Kala is not in any other software.
@blossomb If you have Kala you can just go with Ernst´s settings and take it from there.
Mattias
here one gets a really deep dive into different house systems and their calculations:
https://theastrologypodcast.com/2021/07/31/house-division-calculations-in-astrology-explained/
christian