thanks curtis,

i quickly read the article. it seems to me the confusion around which house system to use - and i am really simplifying here - is based on whether one wants to make a hybrid system incorporating the 2 axis (ascendant and midheaven) - most house systems - or they want to put the emphasis on the ascendant whole sign house and equal house. if you put the emphasis on the ascendant degree - the sign is a part of that too.. any square or opposition to the ascendant - is also a square or opposition by sign to the sign on the ascendant. using the specific degree gives a lot more info and suggests to me why aspects to this degree are so important. one could make a house system off the midheaven too, but it isn't practiced generally and it doesn't tell us near as much as the ascendant tells us.. this is an example of a derivative house system. although we don't think of whole sign as a 'derivative' house system, in a sense it is.. it is all derived from the ascendant which has been given (some would say) an undue influence over a particular read of the chart.. many people like placidus as it has a astronomical basis that is sound and attractive too based on the length of time it takes for a planet to move from the ascendant to the midheaven and etc - all as i understand it. i suppose it depends on what wants to get from a chart, but maybe this is too confusing for someone just starting out in astrology and wanting things explained in a more matter of fact black and white context..

going back to the original post - 15 degrees above the ascendant is different then right on the ascendant degree, even if it is in the same sign. i don't know that anyone would read them the same as they are clearly different, but the main consideration for me is a planet having an affinity for the sign on the ascendant which in this example it would.. it might be less influential then if it was right in the degree of the ascendant, or much closer, but i think it would express itself much easier then if it was 15 or more degrees above the ascendant and in the 12th sign to the ascendant sign.. i suppose i am stressing the importance of the particular degree and as a consequence - any degree or aspect relationships that might form as a result of a recognition of using the 360 degrees, as opposed to just 12 signs.. i suppose these are just a few different ways of looking at the same thing, as opposed to being only able to look at something one way and thinking the other ways can't also give important info..