Equal house — Astrology glossary

Equal house is a house system that divides the chart into twelve segments of exactly thirty degrees each, all measured from the ascendant. The ascendant degree marks the start of the first house, and each subsequent cusp falls thirty degrees later, so a 14-degree Gemini ascendant places the second-house cusp at 14 degrees Cancer, the third at 14 degrees Leo, and so on. Unlike whole sign houses, the cusps need not align with sign boundaries. It matters because, like all house systems, it determines which house a planet falls into, and it keeps house sizes uniform even at extreme latitudes where Placidus breaks down. One consequence is that the midheaven no longer necessarily coincides with the tenth-house cusp, which some astrologers treat as a separate sensitive point.