Cadent House

The Cadent Houses

The cadent houses are the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses.

Etymology

The Latin verb cadere means "to fall" and Hellenistic astrologers saw these houses as falling away from the angles. The Latin term was originally derived from the Greek word apoklima (ἀπόκλιμα), which means “slope” or “decline”.

Astronomy

The cadent houses are ones in which the planets precede the angular houses in the diurnal rotation, and thus they are declining or falling away from the horoscope Angles..

Interpretation

The angular houses are thought to be the ones in which the planets are goaded into action, and thus the planets are more active and efficacious there, whereas the succeedent houses are rising up towards the angles, and thus the planets are becoming more active and powerful there. Since planets in the cadent houses are declining away from the angles, their power is seen as weakened or waning.

Although cadent houses were supposedly weaker and even misfortunate, this really applies only to the sixth and twelfth houses in traditional astrology.
Modern astrologers are less inclined to see any houses as misfortunate.

The cadent modality of a house is similar to an element's mutable Quality.

See also

• Angular House
• Succedent House

Weblinks

• Cadent (Chris Brennan's The Astrology Dictionary)