💬 Quick note before we dive in: Have a question about your specific chart? Ask MAX directly — head back to your Oracle chat and hit enter there. This support window is for account and technical help 😊

MAX uses the Whole Sign house system by default. It's the oldest house system in Western astrology, favored in traditional practice for its clarity — so if you've had a chart done in Placidus, you'll know a planet near a house boundary may show in a neighboring house. That's completely normal, and nothing is wrong with your chart ✨

There are nearly 150 house systems. Whole Sign and Placidus are the most widely used in Western astrology — there's not a "right" or "wrong" one. Whole Sign is favored for its traditional and Hellenistic approach, the way of ancient astrologers. Placidus is the most common modern system, offering a time-and-location based technique.

Both draw the house boundaries differently. Whole Sign divides your 12 houses by entire zodiac sign — simple, clean, straightforward — and a planet changes houses when it changes signs. Placidus calculates the size of your 12 houses based on the Earth's rotation, favored for its deeper focus on your immediate, current environment. In Placidus, planets change houses, not signs. Planets sitting near a house boundary/cusp are the ones most likely to shift between systems — that's expected, not an error.

For example, in Jimmy's Whole Sign chart, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Moon and Mercury stay in the same sign as his natal chart, but drift into the next house over in Placidus — still the same sign. Since Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and his Moon are late degree (26–29°), they're more likely to shift houses in Placidus. His Mercury at 17° shifts to the next house because the size of the houses changes.

Here's the key part: your planetary positions, aspects, and transit timing are calculated from the Swiss Ephemeris, precise to the arc-second — and they're identical in every house system. When MAX tells you Saturn is conjunct your Moon on a certain date, that's real and exact regardless of which house system you prefer. The house system only changes which life area a transit is described through — the transit itself, and its timing, never move.

Your forecasts are accurate based on your chart; the house framing is simply a matter of interpretive preference.

Curious how a specific transit lands in your chart? That's exactly what MAX is built for — ask it directly in your Oracle chat.

Additional house systems, including Placidus, are available with Oracle Unlimited. Once enabled, MAX reads your chart through your preferred system. To explore it, see your Personal Portal inside MAX.

Email [email protected] and let us know how we can help!