Category Archives: Principles

Lots | Introducing the Four Principal Lots

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The Principal Lots

Four lots were considered so important to Vettius Valens that they marked out effective houses in the chart.

The operative and effective signs are the Ascendant, MC, <the XI Place of the> Good Daimon, <the V Place of> Good Fortune, the Lot of Fortune, Daimon, Love, Necessity. Signs of moderate activity are <the IX Place of> the God, <the III Place of> the Goddess, and the other two angles. The rest of the signs are mediocre or bad. (Vettius Valens, Anthologies, Book IV, Ch. 11, Riley trans., 2010, p. 79)

These four lots were also the only ones which he mentions using in the context of his Valens-style profections.

It is also necessary to count from the Lot of Fortune, from Daimon, from Love, and from Necessity, for it is from these points that the critical illnesses, benefactions, and dangers are apprehended. (Vettius Valens, Anthologies, Book IV, Ch. 11, Riley trans., 2010, p. 78)

In this article, we’ll be exploring these 4 lots in depth. In addition to their significance, we’ll also look at predictive usage, including in the context of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

The Most Important Lots to Valens

In Chapter 16 of Book II of The Anthology, Valens gives 9 special topical names to certain places of the chart. These places are largely identified by houses, but 4 lots are used as well. This shows that Valens assigned a particularly special significance to these 4 lots in the chart. Of the many lots used by Valens, only these 4 lots seem to be used on a par with the primary 12 houses in terms of importance.

In Book IV of The Anthology, Valens discussed profections. There are only 4 lots which he profected around the chart (see introductory quote). In fact, Valens sets aside an entire chapter of Book IV, Chapter 25, “The Distributions of the Four Lots”, to provide more details about the significance of the annual profections of just these four lots.

The Polarities of the Four Lots

These lots represent two significant topical polarities in life. First, there is a polarity between the physical and the abstract. There are things which befall us on a physical level, from our bodies to accidents to children. These contrast with that which befalls us on a more abstract level, from our minds to social relations to spirituality. Fortune (also known as the Lot of the Moon) pertains to the physical while Spirit or Daimon (also known as the Lot of the Sun) pertains to the abstract.

Secondly, there is the dynamic polarity, so dear to the philosopher Heraclitus, of Love and Strife. Harmonious constructive alliances bring things together while dissonant destructive divisiveness pulls things apart. The Lot of Love is a place of alliance while the Lot of Necessity is a place of competition and distinction.

Derived from the Lights

These four powerful lots are all derived from the locations of the Lights, the most powerful planets of the chart (the Sun and Moon). The most important lots, Fortune and Spirit, are projections of the distance between the Lights. The other two, Love and Necessity, are projections of the distance between Fortune and Spirit. The importance of these lots reflects the power and importance attributed to the Lights in Hellenistic astrology.

Significance of Fortune and Spirit

This principle of abstraction vs. tangibility is reflected in the common names for the lots of the Lights, Fortune and Spirit. The Ancient Greek term for Fortune, “tuche”, referred to more passive chance happenstance. The term for Spirit, “daemon”, referred to things brought about by spiritual machination.

Matter, Spirit, and the Joys

These same terms pertain to the four houses of the natal chart where the benefics and malefics have their Joys. Diurnal planets have their Joys above the horizon, while nocturnal planets have their Joys below the horizon (Mercury’s Joy straddles the horizon, i.e. the 1st house).

The Joy of the diurnal benefic, Jupiter, is the 11th House, which is called Good Spirit. The Joy of the diurnal malefic, Saturn, is the 12th House, called Bad Spirit. Good Spirit pertains to friendship and other generally beneficial social and mental phenomena. Bad Spirit pertains to betrayal, enmity, and other generally challenging social and mental phenomena.

Opposite those two houses are those of their nocturnal counterparts. The 5th is the Joy of Venus, which is called Good Fortune. The 6th is the Joy of Mars, called Bad Fortune. These nocturnal Joys are more associated with passive physical phenomena. The passive phenomena is pleasant and productive in the case of the 5th (Good Fortune), as it signifies children and pleasure. However, it is challenging in the case of the 6th (Bad Fortune) which signifies illness, accidents, and slavery.

Valens on Spirit and Fortune

Now let’s look at what Valens says about the significance of the Lots of Spirit and Fortune. Consider how they compare with the Spirit and Fortune house meanings.

For the reason mentioned above, the Lot of Fortune and Daimon have great influence on undertakings and their outcomes. The former gives information about matters concerning the body and concerning the work of hands. Daimon and its ruler give information about spiritual and intellectual matters and about the activities of giving and receiving. It will be necessary to examine the places and the signs in which their houserulers are located and to correlate their natures, in order to learn the type of activity and fortune and the quality of activity <to be expected>. (Valens, Anthologies, Book II, Ch. 20, Riley trans., 2010, p. 35)

We find that Valens associates Fortune with the body and physical skill, while Spirit is associated with the mental and spiritual, as well as social exchange. This accords with the significance of the spirit houses (11th and 12th) which associate with social/mental benefits and obstacles, as well as the fortune houses (5th and 6th) which associate with physical/sensual benefits and obstacles.

11th from Fortune

Interestingly, the 11th place from Fortune has a meaning related to being the Good Spirit (11th place) relative to physical happenstance (Fortune). It is called by Valens, “… the Place of Accomplishment, the bestower of property and goods, especially if benefics are in this place or in aspect” (Valens, Anthologies, Book II, Ch. 21, Riley trans., 2010, p. 35). Thus it becomes possible to derive an interpretation in which good social activity relative to physical happenstance means circumstances in life in which tangible gifts are conferred to the native. This allows us to analyze themes that may coincide when this place is active.

Zodiacal Releasing

There is a specific predictive technique involving Fortune and Spirit whih was employed by Valens. Today it is commonly referred to as Zodiacal Releasing. In Zodiacal Releasing, the Lots of Spirit and Fortune are the primary points which are moved around the chart (circumambulated) to establish time lords. These time lords relate specifically to physical/sensual circumstances (releasing from Fortune) or mental/social circumstances (releasing from Spirit). Let’s look at what Valens had to say about the significance of releasing from Fortune and from Spirit.

So, if we are investigating the chronocratorships with respect to bodily existence, such as critical points of illnesses, hemorrhages, falls, injuries, diseases, and whatever effects the body with respect to strength, enjoyment, pleasure, beauty, or love affairs, then we must begin the vital sector with the Lot of Fortune. (Valens, Book IV, Ch. 4, Riley trans., 2010, p. 71-72)

If on the other hand we are investigating employment or rank, then we will begin the chronocratorships with Daimon as the apheta. (Valens, Book IV, Ch. 4, Riley trans., 2010, p. 72)

Spirit and Mental Instability

Similarly, Valens in his delineations of various Spirit configurations of Zodiacal Releasing associates the times when Spirit comes under malefic influence with mental instability and professional overturn. He even takes into account the element of the sign occupied by the released Spirit’s ruler in the natal chart; fire shows nervous breakdown and acting against one’s will, air shows distraction and worry, etc. This shows that, for Valens, Spirit is not just about profession (i.e. social signification) but also about mental life, consistent with his analysis of the two lots in general.

Profecting Spirit and Fortune

When looking at profections of Spirit and Fortune in Book IV, Valens considers that one’s work may change form depending on connections with Fortune and Spirit. One’s work may become more physically involved if more planets become associated with Fortune than Spirit, while more mentally involved when more planets incline toward Spirit.

Fortune and Spirit – Yin and Yang

At this point we have grasped the key polarity of the first pair of principal lots. The active, the ideal, social rank, and the mind are associated with Spirit, the Sun, the diurnal sect, and the houses above the horizon. The passive, the mundane, the tangible, and the physical body are associated with Fortune, the Moon, the nocturnal sect, and the houses below the horizon.

Dalai Lama’s Fortune and Spirit

Now let’s look at Fortune and Spirit in delineation, by turning our attention to the chart of the current Dalai Lama. We want to pay particular attention to the ruler, planets in the place, and planets in the stakes of the place (the 10th, 7th, and 4th places from the place – those that oppose or square the place).

Dalai Lama’s Lot of Fortune – X marks the spot

Fortune in XI Taurus

For the Dalai Lama we find Fortune in the 11th, the place of the Good Spirit. It is in Taurus, ruled by the sect benefic, Venus. The place is empty though it has Jupiter and Venus in its stakes (Jupiter actually scrutinizing the lot). Therefore, there is overall indications of general good health and enjoyable physical circumstances. Additionally, Fortune is closely aspected (i.e. within 3 degrees) by both Lights, Jupiter, and Saturn, connecting it particularly with loftiness, power, and administration. Where Fortune has difficult potential is in the close overcoming sextile from Saturn, the out of sect malefic, in the 9th of travel and religion.

Spirit in III Virgo

Spirit is in the 3rd House, Goddess, the Joy of the Moon, in Virgo. It is ruled by Mercury, and in the bound of Mercury. Spirit is with the Moon and dominated by Mercury (Mercury is in the stake that is in a superior square), while opposed by Saturn. The overall indications for intellectual, professional, and social circumstances are that there is a great deal of communication (Mercury, 3rd), analysis (Mercury), congregation (Moon), and frequent travel (Moon, Mercury, 3rd). The fact that the sect Light is with Spirit and in its Joy suggests particular importance and power associated with the professional and intellectual affairs. Saturn again shows a potential challenge in this area through its opposition.

Profections of Spirit

Remember in the Valens quote above that in Zodiacal Releasing Fortune is used primarily for physical pleasures and ailments while Spirit is used primarily for social/professional peaks and valleys. For the Dalai Lama we are particularly interested in profections to and from Spirit and releasing from Spirit. We know less about health crises and pleasures in his life. Let’s look at Valens-style profections involving Spirit.

The Dalai Lama was recognized at age 2, which is significant as the year in which the Ascendant (self) profected to the 3rd place. The 3rd place is occupied by both Spirit and the sect light (the Moon), showing a very pivotal time for personal prominence. Additionally, at that time, Spirit and the Moon (i.e. 3rd house) profected to Jupiter in the house of Good Fortune (the 5th). Also at that time Fortune profected to the Sun in the 1st House of the self and identity. Therefore, many profections signalling prominence and loftiness of station occur at age 2 when the 14th Dalai Lama was recognized as the incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama.

The Lost Formulas of Love and Necessity

Now let’s look at the other two principal lots, Love and Necessity. There has actually been some confusion as to how to calculate these two lots. The Project Hindsight translation of Valens left out the note in the original Greek in which Valens (2nd century CE) provided instruction in calculating the lots. In fact, the Project Hindsight translation didn’t even mention that note in the original. This has caused many astrologers to assume that the lots of Love and Necessity mentioned by Valens are the same as the Lots of Venus and Mercury which Paulus Alexandrinus (4th century CE) called Love and Necessity.

However, the lots mentioned by Valens are not the ones discussed by Paulus. The calculation of the lots is explicitly given in the text and is included in the original Greek in the critical edition by David Pingree (see pages 191-193 of that edition). The most recent English translation by Mark Riley includes a translation of the note on lot calculation which was lacking in the Project Hindsight translation. In addition, to examining the Greek of the Pingree edition and finding the calculations, I have been assured by Chris Brennan that the Valens calculations are in the original Greek. Valens is the older source.

Different Love and Necessity Lots

The fourth century astrologer Paulus Alexandrinus named seven lots for the planets. These are known as the “Seven Hermetic Lots of the Planets”. Fortune and Spirit were the Lots of the Moon and the Sun. The Lot of Venus is called “Love” by Paulus and that of Mercury is called “Necessity”. However, Paulus referred to different lots with different formulae than the Lots of Love and Necessity discussed by Valens.

The confusion doesn’t end there. The 4th century Roman astrologer Julius Firmicus Maternus also mentioned them but gave the opposite formulae for the lots as Valens. More on that below.

The Valens Formula

Valens gave the formula for Love as from Fortune to Spirit by day (reversed by night), projected from the Ascendant. Necessity is from Spirit to Fortune by day (reversed by night), projected from the Ascendant. One can find the Valens instructions at the bottom of p. 90 of the 2010 Riley translation which was made available for free on Mark Riley’s faculty web site.

Sect and Directionality

This makes sense when we think of Spirit as the Sun Lot and Fortune as the Moon Lot. Movement from the non-sect lot to the sect lot is found in the Valens formula just given for Love. If one is born during the day, then we go from the Moon Lot (Fortune) to the Sun Lot (Spirit), and project that from the Ascendant, as Spirit is the “sect lot”. By night, we go from Spirit to Fortune, and project that from the Ascendant. This is consistent with the rationale discussed above for a lot which shows more ideal circumstances to involve movement from passive to active, from dark to light.

The Maternus Reversal

Maternus gave the opposite formula for Love (see Mathesis, Book VI, Ch. 45, “House of Desires”); from Spirit to Fortune by day. This is inconsistent with the rationale discussed above. It is similar with Necessity, where in Valens (the earlier source) a rationale is evident that is lost in Maternus. In Valens, Necessity is from the sect lot to the non-sect lot, from the more active to the less active, from the light to the dark. Again, Maternus gives the opposite formula and one without sound rationale (see Mathesis, Book VI, Ch. 46, “House of Necessity”).

Finding Love and Necessity

Therefore, to find the Lot of Love in a chart it helps to think of Spirit as the Lot of the Sun and Fortune as the Lot of the Moon. Find the distance from the non-sect lot (Fortune by day, Spirit by night) to the sect lot (Spirit by day, Fortune by night). Project this from the Ascendant in the same direction you measured the distance. To find the Lot of Necessity in the chart, merely take the same distance and project it in the opposite direction from the Ascendant. This is the same as taking the distance from the sect lot to the non-sect lot and projecting it from the Ascendant.

Love = from non-sect lot to sect lot (projected from Asc)

Necessity = from sect lot to non-sect lot (projected from Asc)

Valens on the Meaning of Love and Necessity

Valens, in Book II, Ch. 16, attributed “desire” to the place of Love, and “enemies” to the place of Necessity. Looking at his delineations of their use in time lord techniques we can expand upon these central notions a bit.

Love describes the nature and circumstances which accompany desire and getting together, such that malefics will connect it with scandal or unsavory things and benefics with powerful alliances.

Necessity describes the nature and circumstances which accompany dispute and competition, such that malefics will bring failures and attacks while benefics will bring victory and put power on one’s side.

There is such a nice symmetry or polarity to these concepts, in which one pertains to the attempt to conjoin and the other to the attempt to oppose.

The Four Principal Lots in Action

We briefly looked at Fortune and Spirit in the Dalai Lama’s chart. One thing that is interesting is that the 9th House of God (religion, spirituality, wisdom, higher education) is the place of Love in the Dalai Lama’s chart, and is ruled by Jupiter.

While some information can be gleaned about general baseline trends and themes from delineation of the lots in the natal chart, their true strength is in predictive work, such as profections, releasing, and even transits to the places of the lots.

Solar Eclipse Love

One particularly striking example came to me from a friend of mine who had a very eventful day in which he both started a relationship and was arrested at a protest. It all occurred on the day of the last solar eclipse this year! Born in December 1984, he was 27 when the events transpired. Therefore, the annual profection of the Ascendant was to his 4th place, Gemini. Mercury was the Lord of the Year, and Gemini was the activated sign. Gemini happens to be the location of both the twelfth-part of his Venus (at about 14GEM) and his Lot of Love (at 25GEM). The Lot of Love itself had profected to the 7th of partnership, Virgo, also ruled by Mercury.

On the afternoon of May 20th, 2012, there was a solar eclipse at 0 Gemini, the sign of the annual profection, Love, and the twelfth-part of Venus. Our friend started a relationship with someone that day. Later in the day, he was arrested at a protest.

Besides the solar eclipse itself bringing forth the significations of Gemini in his chart, there were also some interesting transits. For instance, transiting Venus was in Gemini at the time and conjunct, within 3 degrees, his Lot of Love, right on his IC. Mercury, the Lord of the Year, was transiting conjunct transiting Jupiter.

Mercury was also appropriate for the arrest. As transiting Mercury was opposing the native’s 9th house Saturn and squaring the native’s 12th house out-of-sect Mars, all within 3 degrees, at the time of the arrest.

May Transits to Anonymous Chart

Clinton’s Love and Necessity

The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal pertains both to getting together and disputes with enemies, so Love and Necessity are naturally involved.

Love Ruled by 1st House Mars

Bill Clinton was born with the Lot of Love in the 7th of partnership, which may intensify Love’s themes. Unfortunately, Love is ruled by the out-of-sect malefic, Mars, and is opposed by the amorous Mars-Venus conjunction in Clinton’s 1st house. Love is complicated for Clinton as its ruler is both prominent and malefic, though it is with both benefics.

Necessity Ruled by 1st House Jupiter

Clinton has Necessity in his 6th house, Pisces. It is ruled by the sect benefic, Jupiter, which is prominent in Clinton’s first house. Jupiter signifies generally fortunate outcomes and assistance in competitions or disputes. As Jupiter is with Mars (the ruler of Love), and they both are with Venus, there are some interesting connections between Love and Necessity in Clinton’s chart which revolve around his character (1st house) and sexuality (Venus). Clinton’s natal chart is below.

Things Start with Love in Taurus

In late 1995, when Clinton was 49 years old, he started having sexual relations with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. The Lot of Love had profected into the 8th house, Taurus, ruled by Venus and occupied by the Moon, both out of sect. Venus shows the sexuality, and the Moon and the 8th show the personal and private nature of the activity.

The relationship continued into early 1997. After Clinton’s birthday in 1997, things started taking a turn for the worse as Linda Tripp began secretly recording phone calls. The whole thing broke to the media soon after, in January of 1998, when Clinton was 52 years old.

Enter Saturn

The profection of the Ascendant was to the 5th House, Aquarius, ruled by Saturn. The profection of Love was to the 11th House, Leo, ruled by and occupied by the Sun, as well as occupied by Saturn and Mercury. Therefore, there was a particular emphasis on Saturn, which as a baseline is not a bad indications in Clinton’s chart because it is in sect and in the place of Good Spirit, but it does indicate that Saturn is the focal planet for the year (i.e. lord of the year). However, at the solar return we find Saturn, Lord of the Year, in the place of Love and closely conjunct the Lot of Love. It is also opposing Clinton’s 1st house Jupiter.

Clinton – non-precessed solar return at age 52

In January 1998, when the story broke and Clinton made his infamous public denial of sexual relations, transiting Saturn was actually in adherence (applying conjunction within 3 degrees) to Clinton’s natal Lot of Love.

Lot of Necessity and the Impeachment Process

It was in Winter of 1998, when Clinton was 53, that a major battle began. The House voted to issue articles of impeachment over his perjury and obstruction of justice. At Age 53, the Ascendant profected to the 6th house, Pisces, with Jupiter as Lord of the Year. The 6th place is also the place of Necessity in Clinton’s chart. Therefore, the Ascendant had profected to Necessity the year when the articles of impeachment were issued. This signifies some prominent engagement with enemies/adversaries.

Necessity profected to the 11th, Leo, ruled by and occupied by the Sun, but also occupied by Saturn and Mercury. The solar return was rather promising as far as vying with enemies would go, because Jupiter in the return was in the place of Necessity, Pisces, its domicile. At 26 Pisces and moving retrograde, it was actually adhering to the Lot of Necessity at 24 Pisces. Additionally, Necessity’s profection to the 11th was bolstered by the benefic Venus transiting through the place. So while the profection of the Ascendant to Necessity brought a divisive struggle to the forefront, the indications were of victory over enemies. That is exactly what happened when the Senate voted to acquit Clinton of of the impeachment charges issued by the House.

Clinton Age 53 Non-Precessed Solar Return

Two Sides of the 1st House and the 7th House

In this example, we see how the lots of Love and Necessity can provide deeper indications pertaining to human relationships. Fortune and Spirit echo themes of the 1st house of self, but distinguish the tangible (Fortune) and the intangible (Spirit). Similarly, Love and Necessity pertain to 7th house themes of relating. Important friendly and adversarial social interactions can be separately examined. We can study the evolution of these interactions over time with predictive techniques.

Additional work is needed to explore the usage of these very important lots in things like evaluating political contests. They may prove to be quite useful in all areas of astrology, including mundane, electional, and horary. For instance, a great deal of horary questions concern attractive or adversarial human relationships. Fortune, Spirit, Love, and Necessity allow us to dig deeper into the topics of the self and relationships.

A Loose-End: The Lot of Basis

There is one final matter concerning the lots of Love and Necessity which it is appropriate to address here. Valens discussed a Lot of Basis which pertains to personal power and leadership skills. Basis is examined with Fortune and Spirit, and another lot, the Lot of Exaltation. When these lots and their rulers occupy each other’s places it indicates personal power and social mobility.

The Lot of Basis is always either the Lot of Love or the Lot of Necessity. Whichever one of these is under the horizon is Basis. Love and Necessity pertain to human relationships and the houses under the horizon pertain more to physical substance. Therefore, the lot under the horizon may show the type of social interaction (friendly or competitive) with the greatest impact on social standing. With my limited usage of using Basis for examining social mobility, I can only speculate.

Conclusion

Many reader already had a passing familiarity with Fortune and Spirit, but were not familiar with Love and Necessity. You should now have a sense of their usage and the great importance placed on these lots by Valens. I hope you’ve become inspired to start using the four principal lots, and to investigate the use of more lots.

There are actually over dozen lots which were commonly used in Hellenistic astrology by multiple astrologers. The lots have a utility for establishing topics that allows for more fine-tuned topical analysis. We will be exploring more important lots in future articles of this series.

References
Brennan, C. (2010, June 29). The Theoretical Rationale Underlying the Seven Hermetic Lots. Chris Brennan Astrologer. Retrieved July 14, 2012, from http://www.chrisbrennanastrologer.com/Brennan-Theoretical-Rationale.pdf
Valens, V. (2010). Anthologies. (M. Riley, Trans.) (Online PDF.). World Wide Web: Mark Riley. Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/Vettius%20Valens%20entire.pdf

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Transit of Venus 2012 | A Ray of Hope for Gay Marriage in the U.S.A.

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2012 Transit of Venus

Earlier this month, on the 5th of June, there was a Transit of Venus over the Sun. This once in a lifetime event involved being able to observe a comparatively tiny Venus pass in front of the body of the Sun. Millions viewed this rare event, either by using special equipment, or online through NASA’s webcast.

Many people have asked me what I believe the Transit of Venus signifies. My focus is on ancient astrology, so what do ancient texts say about transits of Venus, or any planet, over the surface of the Sun? I’m not aware of ancient astrological commentary on the phenomena. It is a type of “mundane” phenomena though, as in something that seems to have significance for general worldly events, such as political and cultural changes.

Venus Cazimi

It basically seems to be a suped up version of “Cazimi”. Cazimi means a planet is “in the heart of the Sun”. It is when a planet is within a degree from the Sun (later authors made it within 16′ of the Sun). Cazimi was commented upon in ancient astrology.

My Take: Transit of Venus 2012 – Gay Marriage in US

I do actually have some very strong opinions myself about what the Venus Transit means. They tend to differ considerably from what I typically see ascribed to the transit in the astrological community. While my interpretation of the transit as a phenomena is not lifted directly from any ancient source, my interpretation of it is completely based in ancient principles and doctrines of interpretation.

I believe that the Venus Transit of 2012 pertains very strongly to the issue of gay marriage, especially in the U.S., and that it bodes well for major progress in that area in the near future.

Basis of Gay Marriage Interpretation

I base my interpretation of the Venus Transit on 4 main factors:

1. Venus – her natural significations

2. Cazimi – what it means to be empowered with the Sun

3. Venus-Mercury – the combination of these planets in partnership

4. 7th House for U.S. – for this year

Let’s discuss each one of these.

Venus

First, it should not be forgotten that the Transit of Venus is chiefly about Venus. Her main significations pertain to sexuality, love, union, marriage, pleasure, art, aesthetics, music, femininity, liquids, perfumes, and fatty fruits.

It is not uncommon to see predictions that pertain to weird new age spiritual things, financial cycles, wars, etc. based on her transit, as if matters of art, music, pleasure, sex, marriage, and all that other enjoyable stuff is just too marginal for us to find significant. I think this is quite misguided. There is significant importance to changes in the way we perceive and create beauty, make love, trends in music and fashion and art, sensual openness, partnership customs, and so forth. These are integral parts of human culture.

Therefore, when you think of the Venus transit, think of the goddess Venus, and Aphrodite, and that something important is brewing in the world of pleasure, beauty, and partnership.

Heart of the Sun

There is a distinction between a planet being strong when within a degree of the Sun as opposed to being weakened when under the Sun’s beams in Hellenistic astrology. The distinction first subtly appears in Paulus Alexandrinus (4th century CE, in Ch. 14). The distinction is actually lost in the Schmidt translation of Paulus but is correctly maintained in the Greenbaum translation. The distinction is not called “heart of the Sun” or cazimi by Paulus but is merely referred to in the following passage (Ch. 14, Greenbaum trans., 2001, p. 21):

And they become conjunct whenever they happen to be in the same degree as the Sun in the same zōidia, not being away from it by more or less than 59 minutes. And when more than that, the stars become weak and unprofitable in their specific outcomes, whenever any of them may be within 9 degrees distance of the Sun, whether they be in morning or evening rising.

Rhetorius compared the distinction to being in the heart of the Sun ( ~7th century CE, in Ch. 1, Holden trans., 2009, p. 4):

And the stars that are in the heart are said to be those that are conjoined partilely to the Sun, either in the same degree or an adjacent degree.

Early Medieval Cazimi

Medieval Persian and Arabic astrologers drawing on Rhetorius and/or Paulus continued to use the concept of cazimi within one degree. In the Jewish Persian astrologer Sahl’s “Fifty Judgments” (9th century CE) the concept still involved a full degree. It was a distinction of strength versus the weakness of being under the beams. For instance, Sahl thought it good if a malefic were under the beams because it would be weaker in its malefic significations (see Judgments 29 and 39).

16′ Cazimi

However, later in the Perso-Arabic medieval period the concept of cazimi changed from being within a degree of the Sun to being within 16′ of the Sun. Why 16 minutes of a degree? 16 minutes are about one solar radii in arc length as observed from earth. In other words, 16′ is at the body of the Sun by longitude.

Al-Qabisi (10th century CE) even went so far as to say a planet should be within 16′ by both longitude and latitude. This amounts to a planet transiting at the actual body of the Sun as observed from earth. Such a planet is either in front of the Sun (a Transit of the Sun by Mercury or Venus) or behind it (as in the case of Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn). Therefore, an actual Transit of Venus is Venus cazimi in the strictest, later sense, as used by al-Qabisi. We might consider it a more powerful version of the foundational Hellenistic notion of being in the heart of the Sun (within 1 degree).

Venus on the Throne

Early definitions refer to power associated with being in the heart of the Sun. The Sun is the primary symbol of power, leadership, honors, and political office in ancient astrology. Therefore, the notion of greater power only when truly in the Sun’s “inner circle” becomes very naturally extended. In this vein, the famous Jewish scholar, astrologer, and traveling mystic, Abraham Ibn Ezra, in the 12th century likened a planet in cazimi to one sitting on the throne with the king (Book of Wisdom, Ch. 8, #98). While I don’t usually explore astrologers beyond 1,000 CE on this site, Ibn Ezra’s great analogy for cazimi is consistent with both the prior notions of power and natural solar significations.

I view the Venus transit as Venus assuming a role in leadership. She has special consul with the major players, the game changers. It is her time to wield some political power and bring about things she’d like to see.

Homosexuality in Ancient Astrology

I’ve done a lot of research into the ancient astrology of sexual orientation. It surprised me when I got into the Hellenistic and Persian material just how much material there was that pertained to sexual orientation. Some people get weird when discussing such literature, as if it’s taboo to have a symbolic language that might be able to describe various expressions of sexuality, but it’s an important part of the astrological language. The extent of such literature has actually put me in awe at the extent of astrological achievement in the Hellenistic era. Mainly because these are good significations, which when used properly are quite informative, in ways other systems of astrology had never been with this topic.

There are many indicators of homosexuality (and of various sorts of sexual appetites) in the literature. However, please don’t attempt to delineate sexuality based on a few stray indications. Some of the indications can mean many things, not just homosexuality.

Venus-Mercury

This brings us to Venus-Mercury combinations. Venus-Mercury combinations show up in many indicators of homosexuality in ancient astrology. Interestingly, Venus-Mercury also pertains a great deal to theater, eloquent speech, and musical composition. Remember that Mercury signifies commerce, language, and generally complex things with lots of “exchange”. Hermes, the original astrological Mercury, was a god associated with hermaphrodites, and even more combinations of gender roles through his children. Mercury basically complicates through admixture and exchange. Venus with Mercury, brings in sexuality, partnership, and the arts, and thus is a natural and comfortable signifier for hermaphrodites, homosexuals, bisexuals, transvestite, transgender, and so forth. These are but some of the more sexually-oriented significations.

It is interesting how significations can bundle at times when Mercury-Venus is prominent and there are many similar indications with regards to sexuality. For instance, we may have gay and transgender people attracted to the theater, musical composition, aesthetics, and so forth.

They do not always bundle though. I have Venus and Mercury co-present in the same sign and I’m heterosexual. In my chart, one manifestation has been an attraction to the science of music and composition, as well as to poetry.

Ancient Astrologers on Venus-Mercury and Sexuality

In any case, below are some indications about sexuality involving Venus-Mercury in ancient texts.

Dorotheus (1st century CE, Carmen Astrologicum, Book II, Ch. 7 – repeated in Rhetorius and others):

  • Venus in a house of Mercury (i.e. Gemini or Virgo) while Mercury is in a bad place (i.e. the 12th, 6th, 8th, or 2nd) is an indication of homosexuality.
  • Lot of marriage (not Venus but Venus-like) with Mercury (Rhetorius has in a house of Mercury), with Mercury in a masculine (i.e. air or fire) sign in an angle (i.e. in the 1st, 10th, 7th, or 4th house), indicates homosexuality.

Abu’Ali (9th century CE, On the Judgements of Nativities):

  • Venus and Mercury in each other’s domiciles, or Venus and Mercury together in a domicile of Saturn, indicates homosexuality.

Abu Bakr (9th century CE, On Nativities):

  • Mercury and Venus together in the 7th house is an indication of homosexuality.

Umar al-Tabari (9th century CE, Three Books on Nativities):

  • Mercury as the almuten (planet with the most rulership) over many of the marriage points, including Venus, Moon, 7th, and lot of marriage, is an indication of homosexuality.

As you can see one of the indications of Venus-Mercury combinations is homosexuality, and possibly LGBT-ness in a general sense.

Transit of Venus in Gemini with Mercury

The Venus Transit involved Venus in Gemini, a house of Mercury, and with Mercury in that house. Therefore, the cultural and political power wielded by Venus can pertain to poetry, music, artistic theory, but also to more complected forms of sexuality and partnership. The joining of Venus to the Sun was in the bound of Venus as well, which is sort of like her own room in Gemini, thus it echoes back to more prototypical or core Venusian significations, especially of sexuality and partnership.

House of Marriage, For a Little While

Many people contend that the chart of the U.S. has Sagittarius rising. If that were so, then Gemini would be the 7th house of the U.S. chart. As the 7th house of a political state it would have special relevance for marriage and partnership customs as they develop within the legal entity of that state. However, the U.S. chart is a matter of heated debate. Additionally, in the ancient world, the charts of political entities were not the key charts. Rather, the emphasis was on temporary charts for the location that pertained over specific periods of time.

The Key Mundane Charts

The important mundane charts for periods of time that were discussed by Abu Ma’shar and al-Qabisi were of two main types, those of equinoxes/solstices and those of lunations/eclipses. Most of the important charts are those of a Vernal Equinox preceding a great conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn. These great conjunctions occur every 20 years, but certain ones are particularly important, such as the first such conjunction in a new triplicity (i.e. element) which carries significations that apply to major changes over about 240 years. Even more significant is the first such conjunctions in Aries which carries significations that apply to major changes over about 960 years. You can read more about the hierarchy of these charts in my article on that matter.

Vernal Equinox 2012

What is particularly significant to us is that the chart signifying the major U.S. changes for 2012 has Sagittarius rising, and the exact Venus Transit to the center of the Sun from Washington, D.C. has Sagittarius rising. This means that the Venus Transit has a particular relevance for state matters of marriage and partnership this year and that this significance was reinforced at the actual transit.

Transit of Venus from DC

Vernal Equinox 2012 from DC

Given the occurrence of the Venus Transit in the 7th house of the year for the U.S., we are given a clear indication that such events in Gemini take on a particular relevance for marriage in the U.S. Not only the Venus Transit but also the solar eclipse of May 20th, 2012 occurred in the sign of marriage for this year in the U.S.A.

Conclusion

Venus, planet of love, sexuality, partnership, and beauty, has attained some special significance this year in terms of political developments. Influence by Mercury, Venus inclines toward to complected sexuality, including LGBT. The place of her transit this year is one where she has access to the marriage and partnership customs of the country.

On a side note, the Venus Transit took place conjunct the star Rigel, which is a star in the foot of the hunter Orion. It is thought to have significance related to marching. Time to get that pride march together!

References

Paulus Alexandrinus & Olympiodorus. (2001). Late Classical Astrology: Paulus Alexandrinus and Olypiodorus. (D. G. Greenbaum, Trans.). Reston, VA: Arhat.

Rhetorius of Egypt, & Teucer of Babylon. (2009). Rhetorius the Egyptian. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). Tempe, AZ: American Federation of Astrologers.

Featured Image

Featured image is a cropped version of the image Gay Parade by Drpaluga at en.wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia Commons

Excerpt on Pre-Hellenistic Use of Twelfth-Parts

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Twelfth-Parts in Mesopotamia

Some readers may be interested in a brief passage by historian Francesca Rochberg. Twelfth-parts were popular in Hellenistic astrology. However, they are much older than Hellenistic astrology. In the passage, Rochberg discusses the pre-Hellenistic use of twelfth-parts by Babylonian astrologers. Shockingly, Babylonian twelfth-parts date back to at least the 5th century BCE.

In the passage, she notes that the Babylonians were using the twelfth-parts of the zodiac in the context of their omen lore. There is evidence of this from only a couple hundred years of the first evidence of a regularized twelve-sign zodiac (circa 700 BCE). Therefore, this important division of the signs in Hellenistic astrology is Babylonian in origin and almost as old as the zodiac itself.

You can read the entire section on Babylonian twelfth-parts in Google Books by following the link below:

Francesca Rochberg on Babylonian Use of the Twelfth-Parts

More on Rochberg

For more on Rochberg’s work, please check out U.C. Berkeley’s introductory interview:

Interview with Francesca Rochberg

More on Twelfth-Parts

Most of the major Hellenistic astrologers made use of the twelfth-parts. They are a key technique of Hellenistic astrology and a valuable addition to the traditional astrologer’s toolbox. However, astrologers often neglect them today.

Check out my introduction to the twelfth-parts and an article on their use in natal astrology. Please explore this division of the zodiac which is almost as old as the zodiac itself.

Finding Twelfth-Parts in your head or with Morinus

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What are Twelfth-Parts?

Many of the articles on this site feature the use of twelfth-parts. Those unfamiliar with the twelfth-parts should check out the information I’ve provided on them starting with the introductory article on them.  In this article, we look at finding twelfth-part positions in your head and with free software.

If you would like to use free software to find twelfth-parts then please download the Traditional Morinus software program (click to go to download page). It has undergone a number of great updates, including the addition of twelfth-part calculation. Please see the article on the installation of Morinus.

Finding Twelfth-Parts in Your Head

Of course, you can calculate twelfth-parts with pen and paper.  It’s simple and was discussed in the introductory article on the twelfth-parts. However, I’d like to highlight some quick and dirty techniques for finding twelfth-part sign positions. Below are my tips. The numbers that I give are where the twelfth-part sign starts, so always think in 2.5 degree segments. Remember that 10 goes from 10°00′ to 12°30′ of that sign.

0 = Same Sign

This is the easiest one to remember.  If the planet is in the first 2.5 degrees of any sign, from 0°00′ to 2°30′, then its twelfth-part is in the same sign.

10, 20 = Trine, Same Element/Triplicity

If the position is in the 2.5 degrees following degree 10 or 20 in the sign then it is in the same element. It is in one of the signs trine to that one. 10 is the beginning of the first trine, the one following. 20 is the beginning of the second trine, the one prior.  For instance, if the Moon were at 10°30′ Scorpio, then the twelfth-part Moon is in Pisces, the water sign after Scorpio.  If it had been at 22°00′ Scorpio, then the twelfth-part Moon would’ve been in Cancer, the water sign before Scorpio.

15 = Opposite Sign

If a planet were at 15° (up to 17°30′) of some sign, its twelfth-part would be in the opposite sign.  For instance, you see someone has Jupiter at 16°47′ Cancer. Capricorn is opposite Cancer, so you know that the twelfth-part of Jupiter is in Capricorn.

5°, 25° = Sextile

You see Jupiter at 6°33′ Libra in someone’s chart, but where is it’s twelfth-part?  The segment beginning with 5° is the sign that is the sextile after the one occupied. The segment beginning with 25° is the sign that is the sextile before the one occupied.  5 and 25 – easy enough to remember, especially since 25 is 5 squared, and the sextile is of the nature of Venus who makes a five-pointed pentagram figure in her course.  Returning to our example, the twelfth-part of Jupiter must be in the following sextile, Sagittarius.

30′ = 6 degrees of a sign for twelfth-part

Let’s return to our example with Jupiter.  Jupiter is at 6°33′, and we determined its twelfth-part is in Sagittarius.  However, where in Sagittarius? We know that Sagittarius starts at 5° Libra and goes until 7°30′ Libra.  Every half degree after 5° is another 6 degrees of Sagittarius, starting from 0°.  Jupiter is about 1.5 degrees past 5°, which is 3 time half a degree.  Each half a degree is 6 degrees, so 3 times 6 puts Jupiter at about 18 Sagittarius.

For fine-tuning, note that every 5′ of a degree equals 1 degree for twelfth-part positions.

Examples

In order to get you thinking in twelfth-parts and getting acquainted with these rules, let’s work on a few examples.

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain’s Natal Chart

Where is the twelth-part of Kurt Cobain’s Venus, planet of love, artistry, and beauty?  Venus is at about 26.5 degrees Pisces.  25 is the magic number here as it is in that 2.5 degree segment after 25.  In the rules above I specify that 25 is the preceding sextile. Venus is in the 7th, Pisces, so the twelfth-part is two signs back in the 5th, Capricorn.  How many degrees after 25 is 26.5?  1.5 degrees.  Each half degree is equivalent to 6 twelfth-part degrees, so the twelfth-part of Venus is 3*6=18 degrees into Capricorn.  18° Capricorn as the position means that Venus is in her own bound and in her Joy (the 5th place of children, creativity, entertainment, and performance is called the Joy of Venus).

Bill Gates

Bill Gates’ Natal Chart

Where is the twelfth-part of Bill Gates’ Mercury, planet of commerce, scholarship, and technology?  Mercury is a little more than 16.5 degrees into Libra at 16°36′ Libra.  As Mercury is in the 2.5 degree segment after 15, it is 15 that is the magic number here.  15, being half of 30, also puts us halfway around the zodiac from Libra to the sign that is its opposite Aries.  What degree of Aries is Mercury’s twelfth-part?  Mercury is a little more than 1.5 degrees past 15, and 1.5 is equivalent to three 1/2 degree segment.  Again, each 1/2 degree segment equates to 6 degrees, which puts us 18 degrees into Aries.  There is an extra 6′ though, and every 5′ is another degree, so it must be at 19° Aries.  Therefore, the twelfth-part of Bill Gates’ Mercury is in its own bound in Aries, with the sect light, the Moon, in the 10th house of authority, honors, and profession.

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston’s Natal Chart

Where is the twelfth-part of Whitney Houston’s Venus?  The magic number is 10, as it’s in the 2.5 degree segment after 10° Leo.  As mentioned in the rules above, 10 puts is in the next sign of the same element. The next fire sign or first trine is Sagittarius, the 10th house. What degree in Sagittarius?  Venus is at 11°12′ Leo, so it is two 1/2 degree segments plus 12′. Each half degree segment gives 6 degrees, bringing us to 12.  Then every 5′ segment is a degree, and there are two of them in 12′.  This brings us to 14° Sagittarius. Houston’s Venus twelfth-part is in its own bound in the 10th house of authority, honors, and profession.

Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama’s Natal Chart

Where is the twelfth-part of the Dalai Lama’s Jupiter?  The Dalai Lama’s Jupiter is in the 2.5 degree segment after 12.5, so it doesn’t fit exactly with any of our rules.  However, our rules can lead us right there.  12.5 is one segment after 10, and one before 15, so Jupiter is one sign after the first trine and one sign before the opposition.  We can go either way.  If thinking in terms of “10, plus one sign”, then we would find Pisces, which is the next water sign after Scorpio, and we would put Jupiter in the next sign, Aries.  In terms of “15, minus one sign”, then we would find Taurus, the sign opposite Scorpio, and put Jupiter in the one before it, Aries.  In any case the twelfth-part is in Aries.  But what degree of Aries?  Jupiter is at 13°28′ Scorpio, so it is nearly 1° past 12°30′ Scorpio.  Each 30′ equates to 6°, so it is nearly 12° into Aries.  5′ is equivalent to a degree and it is only short by 2′, so it is less than 12°00′ Aries, but by less than a full degree.  This puts the twelfth-part of Jupiter at 11° Aries.  The twelfth-part of the Dalai Lama’s Jupiter is in the Venus bound in the 10th house of authority, honors, and profession.

Finding Twelfth-Parts in Morinus

Recently, the developers of the free, open-source, astrology program, Traditional Morinus, added twelfth-part capability to the program. Please read the article on basic installation and chart entry in Morinus.

Settings

Once you have Traditional Morinus installed and ready to go, load one of your charts, or the chart that it comes with. Let’s look at its default chart, that of Morinus (Jean-Baptiste Morin), the prolific 17th century French astrologer and mathematician.  Then go to the Option menu and Appearance I, or hit SHIFT-A (that is, hold Shift and press A). Click the bullet in front of “Dodecatemoria” to turn on the twelfth-parts, which will appear marked along the outer edge of the wheel.

I also recommend adding the terms (bounds) into the wheel, making the wheel black and white, and thickening up the lines for the angles, as shown below.

A couple other things you can do quickly to set your charts like mine include pressing SHIFT+F6 to switch to whole sign houses, and pressing SHIFT+W to have the Node position be the true position (note: I may have still had the Node at mean position in some examples).  Finally, make sure you press SHIFT+U, so that your settings will be saved for the next time you start up the program.

Morinus Twelfth-Parts

Morinus’ Natal Chart with Twelfth-Parts

Look at Morinus! The twelfth-part of Jupiter is right on the Ascendant.  The twelfth-part of Mercury is in its own bound in his 10th.

The Example Charts

Below are the charts that I discussed above, but this time with the twelfth-part placements included.

 

Cobain with Twelfth-Parts

Gates with Twelfth-Parts

Houston with Twelfth-Parts

Dalai Lama with Twelfth-Parts

Have fun and feel free to discuss in the comments!

Featured Image Attribution

Frescoes in the Camera degli Sposi by Andrea Mantegna (1473) (cropped) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

Twelfth-Parts | 3. Dahmer, Turner, and Dignity Revisited

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Introduction

In the previous articles, I discussed the use of the twelfth-parts. These are also known as the dodecatemoria or the duads/dwads. For a review of the twelfth-parts and their use, please see the first and second article  Here and in future posts of the series, I’ll be revisiting analyses from other articles on the site to look at the twelfth-part positions.

A Return to Sign Dignity

In my articles on dignity, I’ve pointed out the folly of using sign-based dignity to evaluate the beneficence or maleficence (i.e. benefit or harm) of a planetary signification. Overall, dignity has been a chart factor that has been far over-emphasized by traditional astrologers. It is to traditional astrologers what “Mercury retrograde” is to modern astrologers – a convenient but inaccurate crutch.

Dignity as a Separate Concept is a Distraction

It is my opinion, dignity as a separate concept is unnecessary. Dignity as a separate concept is a redundancy in most cases when it appears to work . Generally, a planet in its own domicile is made more prominent because its ruler is itself – a type of feedback loop. In that sense, a planet with dignity has a type of strength or prominence.

There are also more specific instances of a benefic or malefic interpretation in which dignity is not really at the heart of the issue. For instance, the Moon in Scorpio is linked with difficulty (especially in a day chart) by the Moon being ruled by a malefic. It is similar with Venus in Scorpio or Aries.

More commonly, the astrologer is overlooking more important factors such as place, sect, and the influence of malefics or benefics when they defer to dignity. Mercury in Pisces is a Mercury linked with benefit (Jupiter). However, if someone with that configuration had a speech impediment, the astrologer would be quick to blame Mercury in fall. Perhaps, they missed that Mercury is in the 6th house and dominated by Saturn.

The Curious Case of Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Turner

The first of the articles on dignity compared the charts of Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Turner. Dahmer had a whopping 4 planets in domicile, with only 2 peregrine and only 1 in fall – a chart with an unusually high amount of dignity. Ted Turner has no planets in domicile or exaltation, 1 planet in fall, 3 planets in “detriment” (for those who use detriment – I don’t), 2 planets peregrine, and only 1 planet with positive dignity – an unusually ill-dignified chart.

I found Dahmer and Turner to be the perfect minimal pair for explaining the trouble with dignity, not just in terms of beneficence and maleficence, but also for strength.  I do use some sign-based significations like domicile, exaltation, fall, triplicity, and bound, for prominence myself. However, I give them less stress than typically given to them. I place more stress on advancing/retreating, being in a stake, stations, phasis, and relationship to the lights (including being in a domicile of a light). I explore strength indications at length in the lessons.

Dignity is Not Beneficence and Not Stature

Obviously, Dahmer’s life was not filled with more joy, goodness, and positive productivity than that of Turner, as might be expected if dignity pertained to beneficence and maleficence.  Similarly, while Manetho, Maternus, and other Hellenistic astrologers suggested that one’s stature and power depend to a great deal on the number of planets in domicile in one’s chart, it is clear that this also cannot be the case. We would expect the lack of dignity in Turner’s chart to suggest he is very much held back. Similarly, we would suggest that Dahmer has immense social mobility.  Therefore, while I believe that being in domicile, exaltation, triplicity, or bound is reinforcing of a planet, it is obvious folly to rely on dignity for beneficence and for evaluating social stature.

Enter Twelfth-Parts

With the above said, it is interesting that the twelfth-parts tend to reveal much more strength and beneficence in Turner’s chart.  The twelfth-parts also reveal additional weakness and maleficence in Dahmer’s chart.

Dahmer’s Twelfth-Parts

Dahmer’s Natal Chart with Twelfth-Parts along Outside of Wheel

In Dahmer’s chart, there are 4 planets in domicile and 1 in fall but 3 twelfth-part planets are in fall (and 1 in “detriment”), with none in domicile or exaltation.

Twelfth-Part Mars in X Ruled by the Moon and Square to Mars

More importantly, the twelfth-part of Mars, occupies the powerful 10th place (Dahmer’s “achievements”), square to its natal position. The square to its natal position increases its malice (see quote in previous article on twelfth-parts that square or oppose their natal positions).

Mars-Moon combinations, such as the one in the natal chart, have significations that relate to bodily violence. The twelfth-part of Mars is in the sign of the Moon and square to the natal Moon-Mars. The twelfth-part of the Moon in Scorpio, a domicile of Mars, in the bound of Saturn (significator of death), and in the 2nd place (one of the dark places). Therefore, the Moon-Mars bodily violence signification is reinforced in many ways.

An Even Darker Character

The Moon is relevant for character, especially in terms of irrational impulses and instincts. Ptolemy identified it with the irrational part of the soul (see Tetrabiblos, Book III, Ch. 13).  The Ascendant and Mercury are also relevant for character delineation and are in the bounds of Jupiter in the natal chart. The Moon, Mercury, and the Ascendant have their twelfth-parts are in bounds of Saturn. The twelfth-part of Mercury is additionally with the twelfth-part of Saturn in the 11th, pertaining to friends and groups.

The ruler of the Ascendant, the twelfth-part of the Ascendant, and the ruler of the twelfth-part of the Ascendant are also relevant to the character.  We find the ruler of the Ascendant, Venus, to be in the 8th pertaining to death, fear, and harm, in the bound of Saturn. The twelfth-part of the Ascendant is in that same place and bound. Additionally, that twelfth-part is also ruled by Venus. Therefore, three important character significators are piled into the bound of Saturn, the planet of death, in the 8th place, the place of death, ruled by Venus, planet of sexuality.

Turner’s Twelfth-Parts

Ted Turner’s Natal Chart with Twelfth-Parts on Outside of Wheel

The 3 planets in “detriment” in Turner’s natal chart are in their own domiciles in the twelfth-parts. Saturn in fall sees its twelfth-part in “detriment”. However, detriment was not a distinct concept in Hellenistic astrology. Therefore, Saturn’s twelfth-part is actually in triplicity and the sign of the sect light. Being in triplicity and in a sign of a light, especially the sect light, is strengthening.

Lighting Up the 10th House

The Sun has its twelfth-part in the 10th with the Moon, in a sign of Mercury and bound of Jupiter. Both twelfth-part lights in the 10th provide an additional indication of power and influence.

Benefics Gracing the Lights

Additionally, the twelfth-part of the sect benefic, Jupiter, falls into the 12th, the place of the Sun, Fortune, and Venus. This links benefits to their significations.  The other benefic, Venus, lands in the 11th, her domicile, the place of the Moon.  Thus both benefic twelfth-parts occupy the places of the lights linking them with fortunate circumstances.

Conclusion

Twelfth-parts give very important additional information about planets and points in the natal chart.  Dignity is often a redundant consideration, but it can play a role in terms of planetary prominence and reinforcement. If you are going to consider dignity as a strength consideration, then be sure to also examine the twelfth-parts.

The ancients stressed how the twelfth-parts are responsible for major modulations in planetary signification within a sign.  In this sense, dignity relating to twelfth-part positions may be even more important than that related to natal positions. More work research is needed in this area.  In any case, the twelfth-parts positions reinforce or contradict significations in the natal chart. It is these reinforcements and contradictions that help us to correctly interpret the chart.

Twelfth-Parts | 2. The Secret Second Chart

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Secret Charts

For, if you want to explain the entire substance of the astrological significations from the efficacy of the dodecatemories and from the terms in which they are found, you will not be mistaken; for the Babylonians attribute the supreme power of [astrological] decrees to the dodecatemories, but Ptolemy to the antiscions, [and] we to both.  (Maternus, Book III, Ch. 9, #14, Holden trans., 2011, p. 170)

So, you thought you just had one astrological chart, but in Hellenistic astrology you have two.  Then again, maybe three. The secret charts are found by examining some projected positions for chart factors.

Twelfth-Parts

The second chart I allude to is the chart of the twelfth-part positions. Twelfth-part positions were noted as a fundamental basic of astrological technique by nearly every Hellenistic astrologer. Their use was urged most strongly by Julius Firmicus Maternus. These are typically marked along the natal chart to keep a reference to natal chart houses.  I explored what the twelfth-parts are and how they are calculated in the introductory article.

Antiscia

The third chart that I alluded to is something that appears to be more idiosyncratic to Maternus. It is the use of antiscia positions as yet another chart body-double.  I explored this use of antiscia by Maternus very briefly near the end of my article on sign symmetry.

Maternus attributes this use of antiscia chart positions as secret positions to Ptolemy, though this is a false attribution. Maternus is the only Hellenistic source I know of that uses this third set of positions.  On the other hand, the dodecatemoria or twelfth-parts are indeed Babylonian in origin, and their use was widespread among Hellenistic astrologers.

Paulean Twelfth-Parts

In the last article, I expressed that Paulus presented an idiosyncratic variety of twelfth-parts in which the position in degrees and minutes are multiplied by 13 rather 12. I was recently confronted by a footnote by James Holden (footnote #2, p. 18, 2009) in his translation of Rhetorius in which he noted that there is evidence in surviving cuneiform tablets that the two different methods of projecting twelfth-parts existed in Babylonian astrology. In other words, according to Holden multiplying by either the more common 12 or the 13 as used by Paulus, then projecting from the beginning of the sign, were both used (Holden cites “Mesopotamian Astrology” by Koch-Westenholz).

If it is in fact the case that the 13-fold variety does also have Babylonian origins, then at least among the Hellenistic astrologers, it was a less popular variant. Manilius, Dorotheus, Ptolemy, Valens, Maternus, Hephaistio, Porphyry, and Rhetorius (as well as later astrologers) employed or expressed preference for the 12-fold variety.

The Importance of the Twelfth-Part Positions

I was originally skeptical about the use of the twelfth-part positions. I didn’t think they represented an important or informative addition to the natal chart positions. I’m sure many readers initially feel the same way.  Therefore, I want to stress that the twelfth-parts were mentioned as a basic of astrological technique by nearly every Hellenistic astrologer. Many of them, including Manilius, Maternus, and Rhetorius, felt it necessary to stress how important they are despite how easy it is to overlook them.

… the genitures differ in a single constellation, because the individual signs vary on account of the distribution of their divisions and modulate their respective powers in the dodecatemories.  (Manilius, Book II, #710-712, Goold trans., 1977, p. 139)

And the method of dodecatemories is a necessity in nativities; and I also put down the astrological significations of these so that some might use them not just as in a secondary work.  (Rhetorius, Ch. 18, Holden trans., 2009, p. 18)

Now I shall show briefly how you may inquire about the dodecatemories, for some think that they can find the entire substance of the nativity from them, and they intimate that whatever is concealed in the delineation can be discovered from the dodecatemories.  (Maternus, Book II, Ch. 17, #1, Holden trans., 2011, p. 59)

Basics of Use

The twelfth-part positions are used just like natal positions. They give additional information and reveal significations that might be missed from looking at the natal chart alone.

Cognition Usage Isn’t Just About Cognition

Even the interpretation of cognition usage (discussed in the last article) is along these lines, though it is for horary or consultation charts.  Masha’allah (in On Hidden Things) discussed multiple signficators for the querent’s thoughts or intentions. One of them was the ruler of the Ascendant. However, Masha’allah expressed that the best significator is the twelfth-part of the Ascendant and its ruler. In other words, the twelfth-part Ascendant and its ruler are used just as the Ascendant and its ruler to give information about the querent and the matter itself.

Hellenistic Astrologers Using Twelfth-Parts as the Secret Chart

Paulus: Twelfth-Parts Also Show Benefic/Malefic Indications

We get a sense of this all-purpose use in Paulus, even though he used the 13-fold ones. In Ch. 22 of his Introduction, he noted that the twelfth-parts of benefics occurring in important places signify very good things for the person. By contrast, twelfth-parts of malefics occuring in such places indicate bad things. Benefics produce fortunate circumstances where they occur, and malefics produce difficulty, and it is the same with the twelfth-parts of each.

Maternus: Delineation of a Planet or Point Includes Delineating its Twelfth-Part

Maternus laid out the use of twelfth-parts in Book II of the Mathesis.  There he instructed us to look at numerous things but stressed the place, the ruler, and the bound ruler of the twelfth-part. We are are also to look at sect and the interactions between planets in ways that he discussed for regular planets (for instance that there is greater harmony between the waxing or full moon and diurnal planets).  All in all, it seems that Maternus wants us to look at twelfth-part positions as on an almost equal footing as natal positions, examining things like place, sign ruler, bound ruler, regards/aspects, and special configurational indications.

This is further stressed in Book III, when each chapter on a planet ends with Maternus admonishing the reader to also check out the planet’s twelfth-part. Apparently, we are to look at the same factors discussed with reference to the natal planet. In this way we will not miss some important indication that is in the twelfth-parts but not the regular natal chart, as everything should be in one or the other.  Maternus even advised to check the twelfth-part of the Lot of Fortune after discussing Fortune’s delineation  (Book IV, Ch. 4) .  Again, the clear lesson is to delineate the twelfth-part as you’d delineate the planet.

Rhetorius: Twelfth-Part Positions Signify in Configurations Too

But what of the relationship of a twelfth-part to its same natal point, such as the twelfth-part of the Sun to the natal Sun?  Rhetorius treated of this in Ch. 60 of his Compendium.  A twelfth-part trine its natal position increases the beneficence or fortune signified by the planet, but one opposed to its natal position increases the maleficence or difficulty signified by the planet.

Rhetorius also discussed how the twelfth-parts of malefics falling in places can make things more difficult and the twelfth-parts of benefics easier, similar to what Paulus mentioned above.  He put particular stress on the twelfth-part of the Moon in relation to the nature and social standing of the person.  In his delineations of twelfth-parts he particular stressed the influence of the ruler of the twelfth-part. Some delineations also involve regards/aspects from natal planets and even the qualities of the signs, such as human and quadrapedal.  That the twelfth-part delineations of Rhetorius encompassed all these things lends support to the idea that delineation of the twelfth-part is very much like delineation of a natal planet or point.

Delineation Example: Steve Jobs

In the next several posts on twelfth-parts, I’ll be digging back to analyses from older posts on the blog and showing how twelfth-parts add valuable information.  I will kick this off by taking a brief second look at the chart of Steve Jobs for the rest of this post.

In one my first posts, in October 2011, I discussed the natal chart of Steve Jobs and some of the most important general planetary strength considerations, showing that his Mercury is much stronger than one might think from a cursory glance.  Before reading on, I urge the reader to give that post a quick review by visiting it here.  While stations and phasis may not be appropriate to twelfth-parts, the twelfth-parts can tell us additional information about the strength of Mercury.

Steve Jobs’ Natal Chart with Twelfth-Parts on Outer Wheel

In the original analysis I noted that Mercury is probably the strongest planet in the chart in terms of having a generally pervasive influence over the life in a broad way, as it is strongly stationing direct, making an appearance (in phasis), advancing, and ruling the 1st.

Twelfth-Part MC Conjunct nMercury; Twelfth-Part Mercury Strong

Looking at the twelfth-parts we find further indication of the significance of Mercury by the twelfth-part of the MC being conjunct Mercury.  This and the fact that Mercury’s twelfth-part is advancing in the 11th which is a strong and fortunate place. It is in a sign of a light (Cancer, home of the Moon, which is the sect light of the chart), while actually with the twelfth-part of the sect light. These are all additional indications of the strength of Mercury.

Twelfth-Part Mercury Fortunately Conjunct nJupiter

The twelfth-part of Mercury is in the bound of Jupiter (as is the natal Mercury), and is very tightly conjoined to Jupiter, in the place of Jupiter’s Joy, and in the sign of Jupiter’s exaltation. These things all connect Mercury with fortunate and lofty Jupiterian themes, but are not as strongly expressed in the natal chart itself.

Mercury posited in the 11th house from the ASC will make talented persons, indispensable for all activities, and those to whom the conduct of great business affairs is entrusted; but then it denotes greater duties if it was conjoined to Jupiter by a favorable aspect.  (Maternus, Book III,Ch. 3f, #23, Holden trans., 2011, p. 147)

More Twelfth-Parts

The twelfth-part of Venus, the sect benefic, occupying Virgo, a house of Mercury, further emphasizes this fortunate quality of Mercury.  Also note that the twelfth-part of Jupiter falls right onto the Sun in the chart. The twelfth-part of the Sun is in the place of the Sun’s Joy with the twelfth-part Ascendant. The Moon’s twelfth-part is strongly advancing toward the MC. She is also with the lord of the Ascendant and Jupiter (as well as Saturn).  Additionally, the twelfth-part of Fortune is conjunct the Moon, the sect light.

Key Information

As one can see, the twelfth-parts not only help us to get more information out of the chart about the prominence of Mercury, but also showcase fortunate circumstances connected to Mercury. These are important features of this person’s life that are reflected in the chart with the twelfth-parts but would be easy to miss from the natal chart without them. We see many additional indications that the chart is of someone with great social mobility and very fortunate circumstances linked to Mercury.

Conclusion

Twelfth-parts are not a trivial matter. In chart delineation, it is vital to see which indications are repeated in many different ways. Such indications are stronger and more important, allowing us to say something meaningful about the life. The twelfth-parts are a vital and important part of chart delineation. If you’re looking at a chart without the twelfth-parts, you are missing a huge chunk of the information in the chart. Without this important information, you can rest assured that you will reach the wrong conclusions. Similar indications of something in the chart may be repeated without your knowledge while other indications you might think are important may be contradicted by the twelfth-parts. If you’re serious about accurately reading a natal chart add the twelfth-parts to your chart readings today.

References
Manilius, M. (1977). Astronomica. (G. P. Goold, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library.
Maternus, J. F. (2011). Mathesis. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). American Federation of Astrologers.
Rhetorius of Egypt, & Teucer of Babylon. (2009). Rhetorius the Egyptian. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). Tempe, AZ: American Federation of Astrologers.

Twelfth-Parts | 1. Introducing the Dodecatemory of the Signs

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Twelfth-Parts

There is a secret key to the zodiac. Inside every zodiacal sign there are another twelve-signs. This division of the zodiac dates back to Babylonian times and was a key element of Hellenistic and early medieval astrology, but is extremely neglected today. Key elements of natal delineation and timing have been lost due to ignorance regarding this important feature of the zodiac. In this article, I explore the origins and use of twelfth-parts.

Pray examine now a matter trivial in appearance, yet one of great moment, which does not permit description of itself save by a Greek word.  I speak of the dodecatemories, of which the name proclaims the principle.  The signs each consist of thirty degrees, and every total is further divided by twice six; the calculation therefore shows that in each division there are two and a half degrees.    (Manilius, Book 2, 693-700, Goold trans., 1977, p. 137)

Who Used the Twelfth-Parts?

Hellenistic Astrologers

In addition to Manilius, the twelfth-parts were used by almost every Hellenistic astrologer. Early Hellenistic astrologers who used twelfth-parts include Dorotheus of Sidon (1st Century CE) in Book I, Ch. 8 and other sections of Carmen, Ptolemy (2nd Century CE) in Book I, Ch. 22 of the Tetrabiblos, and Vettius Valens (2nd Century CE) in multiple sections of his Anthology. Julius Firmicus Maternus (4th Century CE) strongly advocated the use of twelfth-parts in Book II, Ch. 17, and many other sections of his Mathesis. Additionally, Porphyry of Tyre (3rd Century CE) in Ch. 39 of his Introduction to the Tetrabiblos used twelfth-parts, as did Hephaistio of Thebes (5th Century CE) in Book I, Ch. 18 and in Book III of his Apotelesmatics. Rhetorius (7th century) also used twelfth-parts in Ch. 18 of his Compendium.

Early Medieval Astrologers

The twelfth-parts continued to be a basic component of astrological technique as practiced by later Perso-Arabic astrologers of the early medieval period, including Sahl, Masha’allah, Abu Ma’shar, al-Qabisi, Abraham Ibn Ezra, and more.

Abu Ma’shar made extensive use of twelfth-parts in his predictive methods. He made over 20 mentions of twelfth-parts in his work on predictive natal astrology, On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities. Ma’shar advocated their use in nearly all predictive techniques. He explicitly advocated their use in solar returns (see Book I, Ch. 5-6; see Book II, Ch. 3 in relation to the profected Ascendant), lunar returns (see Book II, Ch. 1), primary directions (see Book III, Ch. 1), and transits (see Book V, Ch. 9). The twelfth-parts are key not only to natal delineation but also to predictive astrology.

Pre-Hellenistic Use

However, the use of the twelfth-parts predates Hellenistic astrology.  The twelfth-parts. like the twelve-sign zodiac itself, have their origins with the Babylonians, who used them in omen lore at least as far back as the 5th century BCE. Therefore, the twelfth-part divisions of the zodiacal signs are nearly as old as the regularized twelve-sign zodiac itself.

What are the Twelfth-Parts?

The twelfth-parts appear in the earliest strains of Hellenistic astrology. They are also known as dodecatemory/dodekatemoria,  duodena/duodecimae, or dwad/dwadashama. As the 1st Century astrologer, Manilius, explained in the opening quote, the twelfth-parts are divisions of each astrological sign into 12 equal parts. Each of the twelve parts are assigned a zodiacal sign beginning with the greater sign itself.

Finding Twelfth-Parts

Some authors, including Manilius, give two ways to calculate these, both leading to the same result. One way is to think of the first 2.5° as belonging to the sign itself, the second to the next sign, and so on until you get to the last 2.5° which belongs to the sign preceding the greater sign.  For instance, if Mercury were found at 28° Scorpio, then it would be in the last 2.5° of the sign, and thus its twelfth-part would be Libra.

A second method is used for greater accuracy. We take the degrees and minutes of the position within the sign and multiply it by 12, then add that many degrees to the beginning of the sign the planet is in.  For instance, with Mercury at exactly 28°00′ Scorpio, we would take 28 and multiply it by 12, yielding 336, then we would add this to the beginning of the sign Scorpio, so 30 would bring us to Sagittarius, 60 to Capricorn, 90 to Aquarius, and so on until we get to Libra with 6 degrees left over; the twelfth-part of Mercury would therefore be 6°00′ Libra in this case.

Chart Calculation of Twelfth-Parts

The FREE, open-source, traditional astrology program, Morinus, has twelfth-part calculation built-in. Some of the developers of the program have been very kind to me and gave given me the chance to check out the functionality before it was implemented.  It is great to have a program that can lay out the twelfth-part positions quickly and visually, because as we’ll see, these positions are informative and early astrologers placed importance on them.

Morinus Chart Appearance Options

In order to pull up twelfth-parts in Traditional Morinus, after installation using the instructions I’ve provided, first pull up a chart. Then hold Shift and press A, or click on Option from the top navigation menu and click Appearance I. Select Dodecatemoria from the In Chart options and click OK. The chart will then have the twelfth-part positions apparent around the outside.

Bruce Lee’s Natal Chart with Twelfth-PartsVariations

Some Variations

Manilius Division

Manilius asserted that the twelfth-parts are further divided into 5 segments of half a degree each, assigned to the five non-luminary planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury (see Manilius, Astronomica, Book 2, 738-748).  However, Manilius didn’t specify the order that the planets are assigned to these subdivisions, and no other early astrologers addressed these divisions.  Typically, the Chaldean order, either from slowest to swiftest (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury) or the reverse (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) is suggested.  While the first one of these orders is certainly the most logical, supported by the use of such order in many other types of zodiacal division from decan to monomoiria, we can’t be sure. I don’t recommend the use of these subdivisions in practice.

Paulean Thirteenth-Parts?

It is also worth noting that Paulus Alexandrinus (4th Century CE) provided an idiosyncratic type of twelfth-parts. The twelfth-part explanation in Paulus is most likely in error, as he multiplies the position by 13, rather than by 12.  He gives a paragraph explaining his justification for multiplying by 13 rather than 12, but there isn’t much logical sense in the explanation in my opinion. Paulus seemed to imply that multiplication by 13 was necessary to allow the 12th parts to come back to the sign that the planet is in. This is hardly a noteworthy argument, as the first 2.5° of the sign already fall to that same sign in the standard system.

Commentary on Paulus

In the commentary on Paulus by Olympiodorus the Younger (6th Century CE), he found it necessary to explain the more typical form of twelfth-part first to preface the discussion. He then explained the idiosyncratic Paulean form. As far as I know, this idiosyncratic form of twelfth-part isban innovation of Paulus and was used by Paulus only, so I will not pursue it further here.

And we say: the ancient Egyptians used to call it the 12th part, since the number is found in the position of each star multiplied by 12.  However Paulus, having come later and examined the matter closely, [said] that the multiplication by 12 is never returned to the same zoidion where the star is, where we seek the dodekatemorion — but often the dodekatemorion of the star happens to fall in the same zoidion where the star is.   (Olympiodorus, Commentary on Paulus Alexandrinus, Ch. 21, Greenbaum trans., 2001, p. 102)

How were Twelfth-Parts Used?

The twelfth-parts produce a secondary zodiacal position for each planet and point in the chart. It is as if each point is projected into an additional hidden zodiacal position.

There are four main ways in which the twelfth-parts were used in Hellenistic astrology: 1. The twelfth-part of the Moon gave indications regarding the physical sex of the person; 2. The twelfth-part of the Sun gave indications about the Ascendant when it was unknown; 3. The twelfth-part of the Ascendant revealed thoughts/intentions; 4. Twelfth-part positions gave additional information about planetary significations that are on par with the natal positions of the planet.

I will briefly explore three of these four uses; for sex, finding the Ascendant, and interpretation of cognition.  However, I want to make it clear to the reader, that the last use is by far the most fruitful and important.

Sex of a Person from the Natal Chart

Both Dorotheus (Book I, Ch. 8 of Carmen) and Valens (Book IX, Ch. 8 of Anthology) used the sex of the sign of the twelfth-part of the Moon for delineation of the native’s sex.

Dorotheus

For Dorotheus, the basic idea is that if the Moon’s twelfth-part is in a male sign (i.e. a Fire or Air sign) then the native is male, but if in a female sign (i.e. an Earth or Water sign) then the native is female.  However, there are some exceptions that can override this indication of the sex of the sign of the twelfth-part of the Moon.

The exception are as follows: 1. Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are in signs of the opposite sex, 2. the Light of the opposite sex (i.e. Sun is masculine and Moon is feminine) is in the Ascendant in a sign of its same sex, 3. planets of the opposite sex occupy the 1st and the 7th, 4. both Lights are in signs of the opposite sex and a planet of the opposite sex rules the Ascendant (example given is of both Lights in masculine signs and Jupiter ruling the Ascendant, this overriding a feminine twelfth-part of the Moon to indicate a male child).

Valens

For Valens, the sex of the sign of the twelfth-part of the Moon and the sex of the sign occupied by that sign’s ruler give strong indications for sex of the child.

Results

This method is poor for predicting sex.  For instance, Kurt Cobain has Sun, Moon, and Ascendant all in feminine signs, which would override the fact that the twelfth-part of the Moon in his chart is in Sagittarius, a masculine sign.  Additionally, the ruler of the twelfth-part of the Moon is Jupiter, which is also in a feminine sign.

Cobain’s Natal Chart

One might argue that perhaps Dorotheus was incorrect and the twelfth-part of the Moon should be given the primary consideration in this endeavor. However, examine the chart of Traci Lords. Her Ascendant is in a masculine sign, Sun and Moon in feminine signs. The twelfth-part of the Moon is in a masculine sign, and its ruler, Saturn, is also in a masculine sign, so if they were given primary consideration we’d judge her to be a man.

Traci Lords’ Natal Chart

Junk Technique

In conclusion, we cannot rely upon the twelfth-part of the Moon methods of Dorotheus or Valens to guess the sex of a person by the birth chart. Perhaps Dorotheus and Valens have given us leads for the eventual development of a technique for guessing the sex of an individual from the chart that involves use of twelfth-parts. So far we don’t have a reliable technique for such a determination.

Twelfth-Parts for Finding the Ascendant

Another one of the more spurious uses of the twelfth-parts is to rectify the sign of an individual’s Ascendant when it is unknown.  It is Valens that discussed this use of twelfth-part of the Sun in Book I, Ch. 4 and Book IX, Ch. 7 of his Anthology.  It is only one method among many rectification methods discussed by Valens.

The method involves first knowing if the person was born by day or night and knowing the Sun’s position accurately enough to be able to find the sign of its twelfth-part. The Ascendant for a day birth will either be the sign opposite the sign of the Sun’s twelfth-part, or one trine to that sign, with preference given to the “left” trine (i.e. the one that is 120° after the sign of the twelfth-part of the Sun). If it is a night birth, then it will be one of the signs opposite to these, again with the same preference.

Example

For example, if someone was born with the twelfth-part of the Sun in Taurus, then for a day birth the most likely Ascendant would be Virgo, but could also be Scorpio or Capricorn. If a night birth then the most likely Ascendant would be Pisces, but could also be Taurus or Cancer.

Results

I’m a day birth with the twelfth-part of the Sun in Taurus, and my Ascendant is none of the three relevant signs, nor any of the three signs for night births.  A technique that narrows the Ascending sign to one-fourth of the signs of the chart, but still doesn’t give you an accurate indication is not a very valuable technique.

Interpretation of Cognition

One of the more fascinating niche uses of twelfth-parts is in the interpretation of cognition. This use was common for consultation charts, and later in medieval horary astrology. The technique originates with unknown Indian astrologers and Hephastio of Thebes. Importantly, it was adoped by Masha’allah.  The basic idea is that the twelfth-part of the Ascendant gives indications about the thoughts and intentions of a native or a querent (the one asking the astrologer to divine the answer to a question). The native is really concerned about matters pertaining to the house represented by the twelfth-part of the Ascendant. The qualities and conditions of that place such as the quality of the sign, its domicile lord, and occupants of the sign are all relevant to the native’s true concerns.

The Search of the Heart

Dr. Benjamin Dykes explored this use of twelfth-parts in considerable depth in his translation of, and commentary on, Hermann of Carinthia’s “The Search of the Heart”.  I highly recommend this work of Dr. Dykes for those interested in delving into this use of twelfth-parts in greater depth. Dykes explores the technique in his introduction, translates a work which uses the technique, and provides commentary on that work. Additionally, he includes appendices with further discussion and translations, including a table of the entire 144 significations given by Hephastio for each twelfth-part of the Ascendant.

Horary Astrology

The primary use of this technique in medieval astrology was to anticipate a client’s area of concern. This usage appears to have started in Indian and/or Hellenistic use of consultation charts. This use of consultation charts preceded, and likely lead to, the development of horary astrology.

Masha’allah in On Hidden Things (from the Works of Sahl and Masha’allah translated by Dykes in 2008) suggested that the twelfth-part of the Ascendant provides the best indications regarding a querent’s intention in an horary reading. If a planet is in that place then you look to that place as signifying the person’s intention. If the place is empty then you look to the place of its ruler.

Masha’allah: Twelfth-Part Ascendant and its Ruler

In an example given by Masha’allah (the same example was given by Hermann of Carinthia centuries later but attributed to the Indians), the Ascendant was the 12th degree of Aries, which has its twelfth-part in Leo. As the Ascendant was in Aries, Leo was the 5th place from the Ascendant.  Leo was empty in the horary chart and the Sun was in Libra, the 7th. Masha’allah surmised that the question involved the 5th in the condition of the 7th or the 5th seeking the 7th. The indication was that of a child seeking a woman (or seeking the querent’s wife).

Masha’allah said that if the Sun had been in the 6th then it would’ve suggested a question about a sick child, and so forth.  As you can see the stress in this technique is primarily on the significations of the place/house. One can combine the significations of the place with its ruler, in the sense of the place being fulfilled by or meeting the condition of the ruler’s place. This is one of a few different techniques given by Masha’allah and later authors for interpreting the intentions of a querent.

Chart Projections

Used with natal charts the technique puts an interesting twist on the idea of personal focus and fulfillment.  The ruler of the Ascendant shows a particular pull towards a certain place in the natal chart. Consider its accompanying themes and significations. Similarly, the twelfth-part of the Ascendant and its ruler may reveal a personal emphasis for the individual.

In the next article on twelfth-parts, I’ll explore their use in natal delineation in more depth. I’ll draw heavily on Maternus, who found in twelfth-parts the secret to more accurate delineation. I highly recommend the use of the twelfth-parts of all chart factors. I also recommend their use in predictive astrology as advocated by Abu Ma’shar. However, let’s start by looking at twelfth-part of the Ascendant.

Hitler’s Twelfth-Part Ascendant

Hitler had the twelfth-part of the Ascendant in Leo with the greater malefic Saturn, in the bound of Mercury. It is in the networking and popularity-oriented 11th House (house of friends), in the sign of leadership, Leo. Its ruler, the Sun, was in the 8th, pertaining to death and harm. The twelfth-part of Hitler’s Sun is also in the 8th, and its ruler too is in the 8th. This gives interesting additional valuable information that we can add to our knowledge that his Ascendant lord (Venus) and the sect light of his chart (the Sun) are in the 8th of his natal chart.

Using the Masha’allah-style of place combination, we might suggest that he has some intention to achieve a Saturnine standing in groups through death, fear, and destruction. I also think that Leo and the solar element both contribute meaning here, as does the bound of Mercury.

Hitler’s Natal Chart

Dahmer’s Twelfth-Part Ascendant

Looking at Jeffrey Dahmer’s chart, we find the twelfth-part of the Ascendant in the 8th of death. It is also in the bound of Saturn. It is conjunct Venus, the lord of the Ascendant, which is also the ruler of the twelfth-part. They are both in the same bound of Saturn in the 8th.  Therefore, the personal intentions and focus on Saturnine-Venusian, death, fear, and destruction themes are very pronounced.

Dahmer’s Natal Chart

Explore Twelth-Parts

Start playing around with twelfth-parts in natal, horary, mundane, and electional charts. For electional astrology, putting the twelfth-part of the Moon in strong and good places is recommended by Sahl and others. Experiment, and if you have any revelations, feel free to share them in the comments.

References
Dorotheus of Sidon. (2005). Carmen Astrologicum. (D. Pingree, Trans.). Abingdon, MD: Astrology Center of America.
Manilius, M. (1977). Astronomica. (G. P. Goold, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library.
Paulus Alexandrinus & Olympiodorus. (2001). Late Classical Astrology: Paulus Alexandrinus and Olypiodorus. (D. G. Greenbaum, Trans.). Reston, VA: Arhat.
Image Attribution
Featured image of Dodecahedron Aventicum (cropped) by Woudloper [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Astrological Sign Classifications | 4. Lustful Signs

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Introduction

Scorpio often gets a bad rap in modern astrology for being particularly sexually intense.  To be fair, connections between Venus as sexuality and Mars as passion and energy-overload could pertain to lust in ancient astrology.  Therefore, a case might be made for an augmented sex drive associated with Venus in a sign of Mars (such as Scorpio).  However, it is worth noting that in Hellenistic astrology there was a particular set of signs identified as being more lustful than others, and Scorpio was typically not one of them.  In this article, I’ll be briefly discussing which signs these were and how they were used to indicate “wanton” or “excessive” sexual behavior.

The Lustful Signs

Dorotheus (1st century CE)

Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, and Pisces comprise the early list of lustful signs given by Dorotheus (1st century CE).

“If Venus is in one of the signs of desire, which abound in lust (they are Aries, Capricorn, Pisces, and Taurus), and Venus is under the [Sun’s] rays with Saturn or Mars, then this indicates [something] like what I told you of the act of scandals; [it indicates] similarly if you find Venus in what I named for you of the signs of desire and one of the two malefics, Saturn and Mars, is overcoming it [Venus] from quartile.” (Dorotheus, Book II,. Ch. 7, #5, Pingree trans., 2005, p. 206)

For Dorotheus it was the position of Venus in one of these signs which was significant. Scandal was indicated when this was the case and she was either dominated by a malefic (right side square) or with a malefic and under the beams. The basic idea is to be mindful of whether Venus is maltreated by malefics while in one of these lustful signs. If so, then the afflictions pertaining to the malefic influence are more likely to pertain to unrestrained sexuality.

Valens (2nd century CE)

Vetius Valens noted that “lurking” signs and degrees can indicate perversity when pertaining to Venus-Saturn aspects. However, only Capricorn was described as lurking by Valens. He also never explained how a set of degrees could be lurking. My own interpretive suggestion would be to consider the lustful signs as noted by Dorotheus, as well as the lustful twelfth-parts of the signs.

“If these stars [Venus and Saturn] are in “lurking” signs or degrees, men enjoy impure passions and unnatural pleasures.” (Valens, Book II, Ch. 17P, Riley trans., 2010, p. 33)

Ptolemy (2nd century CE)

Ptolemy did not give a list of lustful signs, but did note incest as a possible indication for Venus being in the same sign of Mars when that sign was Capricorn or Pisces. Mercury in the same sign additionally indicated notoriety.

“Therefore Venus, with Mars, produces merely amorous dispositions, but if Mercury is present, notoriety also; in the common and familiar signs, Capricorn and Pisces, unions with brethren or kindred.” (Ptolemy, Book IV, Ch. 5, Robbins trans., 1940, p. 401)

Firmicus Maternus (4th century CE)

Maternus noted Aries as a lustful but his descriptions for most of the other signs are missing in the surviving manuscripts. He did, however, often associate Aries and Capricorn with excesses of lust (and sometimes homosexuality). He associated, Aries, Capricorn, and Taurus with sexual vices in at least one passage (Book VII, Ch. XXV, #20). Most of his material on sexuality is in Book VII, Ch. XXV, but there are also stray mentions of degrees, terms, and other zodiacal divisions associated with lust and perversion in the relevant sections.

Hephaistio of Thebes (5th century CE)

Hephaistio did not provide a list of lustful signs. However, in his descriptions of the signs he characterized only Leo as licentious.

Rhetorius (6th-7th century CE)

Leo is added to the list of Rhetorius (perhaps from Hephaistio), as well as Libra noted to a lesser extent.

“The lecherous signs are Aries, Taurus, Leo, Capricorn in part, and Pisces; and Libra because the [constellation of the] Goat rises with it.” (Rhetorius, Ch. 76, Holden trans., 2009, p. 125)

However, in another section, speaking only of the placement of Venus, he associates the domiciles of Saturn and Mars with lechery generally when the malefics aspect Venus.

“Venus in Capricorn or Pisces or Scorpio or Taurus aspected by Saturn or Mars makes lechers, especially [if she is] under the sunbeams. Venus in the domicile of Saturn or Mars [and] aspected by them makes lechers.” (Rhetorius, Ch. 66, Holden trans., 2009, p. 121)

Note that the early Hellenistic astrologers stressed Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, and Pisces. Therefore, we should be somewhat cautious with Rhetorius whose two lists combine to 8 signs taking up two-thirds of the zodiac.

Lustful Decans
Venus in Decans

Rhetorius also associated the following decans with lechery, particularly if Venus were placed in one, and she were out of sect or otherwise afflicted (Ch. 68): 1st of Aries; 2nd of Gemini, 1st of Leo; 3rd of Leo; 1st of Libra; 1st of Scorpio; 3rd of Sagittarius; 1st or 2nd of Capricorn; 3rd of Aquarius; 3rd of Pisces. These are the Mars decan of Aries, Mars decan of Gemini, Saturn and Mars decans of Leo, Moon decan of Libra, Mars decan of Scorpio, Saturn decan of Sagittarius, Jupiter and Mars decans of Capricorn, Moon decan of Aquarius, and Mars decan of Pisces.

Venus and Malefics

Note that the placement of Venus in any martial decan is associated with lust for Rhetorius. Additionally, Rhetorius is one of the first Hellenistic authors who clearly associated a planet in the sign opposite its domicile (i.e. its detriment) with a corrupting influence on the planet. Similarly, he associated Scorpio with excessive lust at one point (see above). Therefore, Rhetorius seemed to connect both Venus in dignity (her domiciles and exaltation) and in detriment (Aries and Scorpio) with excessive lust. He also associated her position in a sign of Saturn with such.

Rhetorius may have had an internal logic for stressing that dignity or malefic influence can lead to excess. Perhaps in dignity Venus can be amplified to excess, given other indications. Similarly, in the house of a malefic she may be corrupted by the influence of the malefic, provided reinforcement from similar configurations. In any case, it is clear that connections with malefics, particularly Venus-Mars connections, and sign dignity are both significant for Rhetorius.

Other Decan Placements

The Ascendant in the 3rd decan (Venus) of Aries, 1st (Moon) or 3rd (Jupiter)  of Libra, or 1st decan (Jupiter) of Capricorn were also said to pertain to excessive lust.

Other planets in specific decans were also associated with excessive lust for Rhetorius. The Sun in the 3rd decan of Aries, any decan of Libra, 1st decan of Scorpio, or 1st or 3rd of Pisces was said to make lechers or effeminates. The Moon in the 3rd decan of Aries, 3rd of Leo, 3rd of Capricorn, 3rd of Libra, 3rd of Aquarius, or 1st decan of Pisces was said to signify the same. For Saturn it was the 3rd decan of Aries, 1st and 3rd of Libra, and 1st and 3rd of Capricorn. Jupiter’s lecherous decans are the 3rd decan of Aries, 1st and 3rd of Libra, and 1st and 3rd of Capricorn. For Mars they are they 3rd decan of Aries and 1st and 3rd of Libra. Mercury’s are the 1st decan of Libra and 1st decan of Capricorn.

In conclusion, the 3rd decan of Aries (the Venus decan), 1st and 3rd (Moon and Jupiter) decans of Libra, and 1st and 3rd (Jupiter and Sun) decans of Capricorn are those most frequently associated with excessive lust.

Lustful Degrees

Rhetorius associated some specific degrees with excessive lust. This pertained primarily to the placement of the Ascendant in them but he also advised to check the Descendant, Venus, Moon, Lot of Fortune, Lot of Marriage, and Lot of Love in this respect. I will give the ordinal degrees, so the 13th degree is equivalent to 12°. Aries: 13th, 14th, 22nd, 24th, 27th, 28th, and 30th. Taurus: 13th-18th. Leo: 25th-30th. Capricorn: 11th and 12th. Rhetorius also noted that the final degrees of each fire sign are effeminizing.

Venus in Dignity

As we can see from the information above, the main signs of lust in Hellenistic astrology were Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, and Pisces, with the sometimes addition of Leo and Libra. It is interesting that the domiciles and exaltation of Venus comprise 3 of the 6 signs noted in Hellenistic astrology, and 2 of the 4 noted in the early authors.

The Dorothean list of 4 signs, which are the ones echoed in the other early authors, seem to have an internal logic. Excessive lust is indicated when Venus is very reinforced by being in one of her own house or exaltation of her own sect (Taurus and Pisces, both nocturnal) or is in one of the houses of the malefics that is of the contrary sect to that malefic (Saturn’s nocturnal home or Mars’ diurnal home). The additions of Leo and Libra may have to do with the more public and showy nature of Leo and the cardinal Venusian nature of the day home of Venus.

Into the Middle Ages

Compare the list given by al-Qabisi (10th century CE).

“And certain ones are said to be very wanton: Aries, Taurus, Leo, and Capricorn.”  (al-Qabisi, Introduction to Astrology, Book I, Ch. 24, Dykes trans., 2010, p. 64)

The Perso-Arabic astrologers appear to have been heavily influenced by Dorotheus and Rhetorius and this list is something of a hybrid of the two. It is interesting that this list includes Leo, like that of Rhetorius, but drops Pisces and doesn’t mention Libra, one of the signs noted by Rhetorius.

Perhaps Pisces was not noted because it is the exaltation of Venus, and Libra was not noted because it was not mentioned by Dorotheus and is also a place of dignity for Venus. Taurus is mentioned and is another domicile of Venus and was included. However,  many Hellenistic astrologers separately mentioned Taurus in this regard (at least Dorotheus, Maternus, and Rhetorius) so an exclusion on the basis of “dignity” would not be so easy for al-Qabisi due to its break with tradition.

Dignity Do No Wrong

Interestingly, Bonatti (12th century CE) noted the lustful signs as Aries, Leo, Libra, and Capricorn, which again drops two of the most significant lustful signs (Taurus and Pisces) that also happen to be places Venus is dignified. Why Bonatti still then included Libra is unclear. In any case, the medieval pruning of the list of lustful signs always appears to be motivated by dignity considerations.

Here, we again see the gradual evolution of the interpretation of sign dignity from a sense of reinforcement of the natural signification (sex, in this case) to a sense of significations becoming “dignified”. Something similar happened with associations of Mercury in his own domiciles as well (see my article on Mercury in domicile as an indication of mental instability).

Usage

Warning

First, it should be noted that many ancient authors delineate sexuality and discuss wanton sexuality without any reference to this set of signs.  Even in those authors that use these signs, they are discussed among many other indicators.  In short, you cannot delineate the extent of a person’s lust or how wanton their sexual behavior is from placements in these signs alone.  Be aware of this and please do not attempt the delineation of sexual concerns casually and without extensive experience, testing, and refining of the techniques for doing so.

Venus

The placement of Venus in one of these signs is particularly important and was stressed by Dorotheus. In his approach she would indicate scandal in such signs if she were also under the beams and with or dominated by malefics. In this we see a more lustful Venus + hidden + strongly influenced toward difficulties = sexual scandal.

Personal Points and their Rulers

Rhetorius gave two different lists of such signs but did not delineate their use at that place in his work.  In preceding chapters pertaining to lechery he seemed most interested in placements of the Ascendant and Venus though (in certain degrees and decans respectively). In Chapter 116 on “Lechery”, Rhetorius did use the lecherous signs explicitly in his example.  He directed us to look at placement in such signs of the ruler of the Ascendant, ruler of the Lot of Fortune (Lot of the Moon), and ruler of the Lot of Daemon/Spirit (Lot of the Sun). Apparently, the occurrence of all three in lecherous signs indicated that the subject of the chapter was a lecherous person.

This pertains to the rulers of the most personal point (the Ascendant) and the most personal Lots (those of the Lights). Therefore, we get the sense that Rhetorius found it important when the person (personal points) is directed (rulers) toward signs indicative of lustful behavior.

Relationship Significators

Umar al-Tabari (8th Century CE) also examined the signs abounding in lust (Three Books on Nativities, II, Ch. 5).  Like other authors he stressed Venus and personal significators. Additionally, (like Maternus) he looked at points pertaining to relationships. Umar al-Tabari had a sort of “winner” technique for this. One was to examine if many of the following are in lustful signs: Venus, the Sun, Lot of Marriage (Saturn to Venus from Asc for men, Venus to Saturn from Asc for women), many personal significators, and Lord of the 7th. If so, then the person was said to be excessively sexual or perverse.

Conclusion

The lustful signs are an interesting and controversial classification of the signs. Hellenistic astrologers tended to delineate sexual vices and afflictions as pertaining more to specific configurations with the malefics. However, the lustful signs could be said to exacerbate the indications or at least focus them more specifically to excessive sexuality.

As sex is an important aspect of the human experience, all ages have associated the signs with varying degrees of sexuality. Looking at the traditional astrologers and their more loaded vocabulary of lechery, perversion, and sodomy easily courts controversy. However, look up modern delineations of Venus through the signs and you will find sexual types perhaps with more sensitive wording.

The Evolving Face of Dignity

In the early list of lustful signs found in Dorotheus, and echoed by other Hellenistic astrologers, we find an interesting stress on a domicile and exaltation of Venus when it comes to sexual excess. Today, a time when many traditional astrologers associate dignity with “do no wrong” it is not uncommon for astrologers to instead associate ill-dignified Venus with such things. Therefore, the lustful signs also remind us that moderation was a virtue for the ancients, detriment was lacking from the vocabulary of the early Hellenistic astrologers, and a planet was not so constrained in its own places.

References

Dorotheus of Sidon. (2005). Carmen Astrologicum. (D. Pingree, Trans.). Abingdon, MD: Astrology Center of America.

Dykes, Benjamin, trans. and ed., Introductions to Traditional Astrology: Abu Ma’shar & al-Qabisi (Minneapolis, MN: The Cazimi Press, 2010).

Ptolemy, C. (1940). Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. (F. E. Robbins, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ptolemy/Tetrabiblos/home.html

Rhetorius of Egypt, & Teucer of Babylon. (2009). Rhetorius the Egyptian. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). Tempe, AZ: American Federation of Astrologers.

Valens, V. (2010). Anthologies. (M. Riley, Trans.) (Online PDF.). World Wide Web: Mark Riley. Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/Vettius%20Valens%20entire.pdf

Image Attribution

Featured image is Leda and the Swan (detail), Roman copy of late Hadrianic age from an attic original of mid-1st century BC, Venice Museo Archeologico, Italy. Photo by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Updates

Feb. 2019: This article was extensively updated in early February 2019 with the addition of quotes from ancient texts, some additional analysis, and a new featured image.

Astrological Sign Classifications | 3. Sign Symmetry | Commanding, Obeying, Hearing, Antiscia, etc.

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Symmetry and Sympathy

In this article, we’ll look at some unique symmetry-based relationships between the signs of the zodiac.  These relationships pertain to antiscia, as well as the related concept of contra-antiscia.  Antiscia are degrees symmetrical about the solstitial points. In other words, they are degrees that are equidistant from 0 Cancer and 0 Capricorn, such as 10 Sagittarius and 20 Capricorn or 13 Scorpio and 17 Aquarius. Contra-antiscia are degrees symmetrical about the equinoctial points, 0 Aries and 0 Libra, such as 5 Taurus and 25 Aquarius.

Perhaps antiscia are like reflections or shadows and contra-antiscia are like echoes. We’ll see these types of metaphors arise in some of the sign relationships based on them. Antiscia and contra-antiscia illuminate an early and fascinating connection between symmetry and sympathy in ancient astrology.

Ancient Antiscia

The degree-based concept of antiscia was used extensively by Julius Firmicus Maternus (4th century CE; see Book II, Ch. 30 of Mathesis).  Other Hellenistic astrologers didn’t use antiscia by degree, except perhaps Valens. Valens mentioned degrees antiskios (shadow or antiscia) in Book III, Ch. 5 (7K) and Book VI, Ch. 8 as making aspects more powerful. However, he did not define them.

Hellenistic astrologers didn’t use contra-antiscia by degree. However, sign relationships related to antiscia and contra-antiscia are found in many Hellenistic texts, including Manilius (1st century CE) and Ptolemy (2nd century CE). Furthermore, later, in the Persian period, al-Qabisi (10th century) considered degrees of either antiscia or contra-antiscia as degrees of similar power (see his Introduction to the Science of Astrology).

The origins of antiscia and contra-antiscia reveal a consideration for symmetry about axes, possibly dating back to pre-Hellenistic sources. This consideration of “power in symmetry” was drawn on heavily in the modern Uranian and Cosmobiology approaches to astrology.

While many astrologers today are aware of antiscia and contra-antiscia, they are often unfamiliar with the whole sign relationships that formed the foundation for those concepts.  Mention of these sign relationships is prevalent in Hellenistic and Persian material. We will explore these sign-based relationships and their uses. First, we will explore the other more common ways in which affinity between planets arises.

Regard

In Hellenistic astrology signs could be connected by various types of affinities. The best known of these is referred to as “regard”, using a visual metaphor. Planets that regard each other “see” each other. Regard occurs by what we call “whole sign aspects”. Signs in whole sign aspects are those which are situated such that one sign starts 60 degrees (sextile), 90 degrees (square), 120 degrees (trine), or 180 degrees (opposition) away from another.  Planets in such signs regard each other. Planets that don’t regard each other are said to be in aversion or disjunct.

Copresence

Similarly, planets in the same sign (i.e. the same house) are said to be co-present in that house, as if cohabitating in the same abode. The planets are co-present even if they are in opposite ends of the sign. Planets that are co-present strongly influence each other’s significations. According to Serapio, the planets in earlier degrees are more influential (i.e. have “superiority”) upon those in later degrees of the same sign.

Meaning of Regard

Certain regards are more harmonious and others less so. Planets that don’t regard each other are said to be in “aversion” as they lack a direct line of sight influence. Therefore, regard helps to define which planets interact with which and the nature of the relationship. The planet regarding from the right side (i.e. earlier to rise and set) is more influential in the relationship, called superior. The square relationship is forceful, oppositions are obstructing, co-presence is powerful, trines are generously friendly, and sextiles are cooperative.  See the lesson on configurations for the basis of the meanings of these aspects.

Regard in Synastry

Regards show how planets modulate the nature of other planets and connect with matters associated with other planets. However, they can also show interaction between planets across people’s charts, in what is called synastry.  For instance, for Ptolemy and Masha’allah it was important that the Sun and Moon in the charts of marriage partners regard each other harmoniously. They also advised that a malefic in one person’s chart should not be co-present with the Lights or Venus in another’s chart for a strong harmonious relationship. See the article on the basics of relationship synastry for more on this use of regard.

Other Affinities

Signs that are disjunct but having sympathy for each other are all the equal-rising signs, and those having equal power, and those of like zone. For example, equal-rising are Aries and Pisces, Gemini and Capricorn, Cancer and Sagittarius, Virgo and Libra; of equal power are Gemini and Cancer, Virgo and Aries, Libra and Pisces, Sagittarius and Capricorn; of like zone are Taurus with Libra, Aries with Scorpio.  (Rhetorius, Ch. 16, Holden trans., 2009, p. 16-17)

There are other sign relationships in Hellenistic astrology that also show affinity.  The most important of these are of two types: 1. Signs ruled by the same planet, 2. Signs symmetrical about the cardinal points. The first type is the signs that are the domicile of one planet, such as Aries and Scorpio as they are ruled by Mars or Taurus and Libra ruled by Venus. The second type is related to the antiscia and contra-antiscia notions previously discussed.

These sign relationships can be confusing because the same terminology is sometimes used for different relationships.  For instance, signs ruled by the same planet are sometimes called those “agreeing in the journey” or “agreeing in the belt”. However, signs symmetrical about the equinoctial axis are also sometimes called “agreeing in the journey”.

Like-Engirding Signs

I’ll prefer “agreeing in the belt” (referring to the zodiac) and “like-engirding” as the terms for signs with the same domicile ruler. “Like zone” is another term sometimes used. These signs have an affinity with each other because the same planet manages the affairs of both houses. Both houses work together through that planet. For instance, Aries and Scorpio don’t regard each other but Mars has responsibility for both places. Therefore, planets in those places are affiliated through the working of Mars.

Relationships from Cardinal Points

The other type of affinity is based on symmetry about the cardinal axes or cardinal signs. The cardinal signs are defined as starting with an equinox or a solstice. These are important points in the Sun-Earth relationship. The rising times of the signs and the length of day are functions of this relationship.

There are two axes, that of the solstitial points (0° Cancer and 0° Capricorn) and that of the equinoctial points (0° Aries and 0° Libra). Degrees of the zodiac equidistant relative to the solstitial axis represent days of equal length. Signs of the zodiac equidistant relative to the equinoctial axis are those which rise at the same rate (i.e. have the same ascensional time).

Four Symmetries?

One of the more confusing things about the Hellenistic symmetrical sign relationships is that four, rather than two, sign relationships are discussed. Many authors discuss signs of equal ascension (contra-antiscia) as sympathetic (Paulus Alexandrinus, Rhetorius) and some talk of those of equal power  (antiscia) as sympathetic also or at least highly significant (Rhetorius, Maternus on antiscia in Book II, Ch. 30). However, Paulus, Porphyry, Rhetorius, and others also discusses signs that are equidistant from entire cardinal signs. Let’s look briefly at these relationships about whole signs before turning to the more interesting matter of relationships about the cardinal axes.

Signs equidistant from the solstitial signs (Cancer/Capricorn) are Gemini-Leo, Taurus-Virgo, Aries-Libra, Pisces-Scorpio, and Aquarius-Sagittarius. Similarly, signs equidistant from the equinoctial signs (Aries/Libra) are Pisces-Taurus, Aquarius-Gemini, Capricorn-Cancer, Sagittarius-Leo, and Scorpio-Virgo.  These additional relationships are sometimes labeled with the terminology “signs that command and obey”, “signs that hear each other”, “signs that see each other”, and other such attributions. Additionally, these attributions are sometimes mixed up being assigned to one set of signs in one author and another in a different one.

Outdated Remnants

These relationships about the entire cardinal signs appear to originate in an earlier age when the sidereal zodiac was used. For instance, in his footnote on Porphyry, Ch.31, James Holden remarked that the pairs of obeying signs (equidistant from the solstitial signs) “are based on the scheme of the early Alexandrian astrologers, which in effect puts the equinoxes and solstices at 15 degrees of the cardinal signs” (Holden, 2009, p. 25, Footnote 2).

In ancient times the sidereal zodiac was defined with reference to the vernal equinox but it indicated the middle of Aries (15°) for at least some astrologers. The two competing Babylonian standards were for the equinox/solstice to mark out 8° or 10° of the cardinal sign. However, Hipparchus (3rd century BCE) noted that some astronomers (he cited Eudoxus) put the spring equinox at 15° Aries. With the equinoxes and solstices at the 15th degree of each cardinal sign,the signs on either side of that cardinal sign would be those equally rising (from equinox) or of equal daylight (from solstice). Therefore, the symmetry has always been based on the equinoctial and solstitial points. It was never meant to be based on the cardinal signs themselves.

In other words, these two additional relationships are remnants from when the sidereal zodiac was used for this tropical relationship. Making the full cardinal signs themselves the basis of the relationship misses the original symmetry about the cardinal points. For this matter, I dismiss the pairings of signs across entire cardinal signs as erroneous.

1st Century BCE Criticism of Use of Whole Cardinal Sign

Geminos (1st century BCE) mentioned the connected signs in his material on aspects. He noted that astrologers of his day tended to use the whole solstitial sign as the axis of symmetry. Interestingly, he strongly and thoroughly criticized the approach as being in error. Geminos noted that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) held that the spring equinox was at 8° Aries. However, Geminos was one of the first of the Greek astronomers to insist on a fully tropical zodiac, in which the spring equinox marks out 0° Aries. Given a tropical zodiac, the symmetrical sign relationships which had always been tropical in nature, would begin from the signs adjacent to the points of the equinox/solstice.

But it happens that such an account is completely erroneous. For solstices do not occur in the whole of Cancer; rather, there is one certain point, perceivable through reason, at which the Sun makes its turning; for the solstices take place in a moment’s time. The whole twelfth-part of Cancer is situated in the same way as Gemini, and each of them is equally far from the summer solstitial point. For this reason, the lengths of the days are equal in Gemini and Cancer, and on the sundials, the curves desribed by the gnomons [when the Sun is] in Cancer and in Gemini are equally distant from the tropic {…} There are, then, in truth, 6 syzygies {antiscia signs}: Gemini with Cancer, Taurus with Leo, Aries with Virgo, Pisces with Libra, Aquarius with Scorpio, Capricorn with Sagittarius. {…}” (Geminos, Ch. II, #33-44, Evans & Berggren trans., 2006, p. 134-136 – curly bracketed text is mine)

Equal Ascensions vs. Equal Power

The two symmetrical sign relationships that we are left with are those signs which are symmetrical about the solstitial points, which we might call antiscia signs, and those symmetrical about the equinoctial points which we might call contra-antiscia signs. Hellenistic astrologers typically gave these relationships different labels, though Firmicus Maternus used the label “antiscion”. Contra-antiscia signs are those of equal ascensional times, sometimes call “equipollent”. The antiscia signs may be called those of “equal power” as the Sun’s position in them marks times of similar length of day.

Hearing and Contra-Antiscia

Hearing signs and commanding/obeying signs are the same thing. They pertain to what we might call the contra-antiscia signs or signs of equal ascension.  This echoes the language of Valens about listening signs and that of Manilius about how one sign hears the other.  As this was originally conceptualized as pertaining to the equinoctial points, I think that astrologers should equate these notions with the signs of equal ascension (contra-antiscia).

Just as with regard there is a sense in which one of the signs is more influential. In this case, the sign of greater light (the spring or summer sign) is the more influential on in the relationship. The pairs are noted below, with the first one of each pair being commanding or more influential (at least in the northern hemisphere).

Commanding-Obeying

Aries-Pisces

Taurus-Aquarius

Gemini-Capricorn

Cancer-Sagittarius

Leo-Scorpio

Virgo-Libra

“[…] because they ascend in equal periods of time and are on equal parallels. Of these the ones in the summer hemisphere are called “commanding” and those in the winter hemisphere “obedient”, because the sun makes the day longer than the night when he is in the summer hemisphere, and shorter in the winter. (Ptolemy, Book II, Ch. 14, Robbins trans., 1940, p. 76-77)

Medieval Developments

It is important to note that by the Persian early medieval period, the concepts of hearing and command/obey were being separated. Command/obey became associated with the antiscia signs instead (see the introductory texts by Abu Ma’shar and al-Qabisi),  These labels appear to have been in error as the concepts of command/obey and hearing signs overlap in the earlier Hellenistic material.

Interpretation

Paulus noted that the when signs are in aversion, then they can still be in sympathy if they are in signs of equal ascension or they are in like-engirding signs (signs with the same ruler).  This sympathy is important because without it planets in aversion tend to signify disconnect from each other. In synastry, connections between planets is crucial. Sympathy by contra-antiscia (i.e. signs of equal ascension) is one type of connection.

Rhetorius noted that squares between signs equal ascension (e.g. Scorpio and Leo or Aquarius and Taurus) have more sympathy with each other.  Both Paulus and Rhetorius also noted that the commanding and obeying signs “hear” one another. In this they are suitable for signifying matters of hearing news, rumors, or announcements from each other.

Masha’allah used commanding/obeying signs in judging friendship through synastry. He appears to have associated commanding/obeying signs with antiscia rather than contra-antiscia. However, the fact that he is drawing from an older source and uses commanding/obeying between planets (especially the Moon) is suggestive. It is yet another suggestion that hearing sign configurations play a beneficial role in relationship synastry.

Equal Power and Antiscia

The antiscia signs are those equidistant from the solstitial points. They were often conceptualized as “seeing” or “beholding” signs.  They are also signs of equal power. This can be confusing given the visual metaphor behind regard. However, there is certainly a visual metaphor being used again here.

This relationship also has a sense of one sign being more influential.  In this case, the more dominant influence comes from the signs that are increasing in light (Capricorn thru Gemini). Paulus noted that those signs see the ones decreasing in light (Cancer thru Sagittarius) which in turn perceive the other. For instance, Taurus sees Virgo while Virgo perceives or is aware of Taurus. Therefore, I suggest that we may conceptualize this relationship as one of awareness of each other, or mutual interest.

Seeing-Perceiving with Equal Power

Capricorn-Sagittarius

Aquarius-Scorpio

Pisces-Libra

Aries-Virgo

Taurus-Leo

Gemini-Cancer

Again they say that the parts which are equally removed from the same tropical sign, whichever it may be, are of equal power, because when the sun comes into either of them the days are equal to the days, the nights to the nights, and the lengths of their own hours are the same. These also are said to “behold” one another both for the reasons stated and because each of the pair rises from the same part of the horizon and sets in the same part. (Ptolemy, Book II, Ch. 14, Robbins trans., 1940, p. 77)

Interpretation

Paulus did not mention these signs as ones that can alleviate aversion. However, Paulus did mention that these signs create sympathy, harmony, and friendship, between partners, family members, and others. This suggests that these were used in synastry as contributing harmony to the relationship. As with the contra-antiscia signs (and like-engirding ones), Rhetorius noted that squares between signs in this relationship (Leo and Taurus or Scorpio and Aquarius) are sympathetic.

Tracking the Terminological History

In the tables below, I summarize the terms used in different centuries by different astrologers for these symmetrical relationships. I also address whether the entire cardinal sign or the point of the equinox/solstice was used.

For solstitial symmetry, Geminos referred to connected signs (translated as syzygy). The most common terms were signs that see each other, have equal power, or shadow each other (Greek “antiskios” from which we get antiscia).

Terminological Variation for Solstitial Symmetry

The most common terms for equinoctial symmetry are hearing signs and equally rising signs.

Terminological Variation for Equinoctial Symmetry

Antiscia by Degree

This sense of equal power between antiscia is taken to the extreme in Book II, Ch. 30 of the Mathesis of Julius Firmicus Maternus.  Maternus maintained that each planet and point in the chart sent an antiscion into the degree symmetrical across the solstitial axis.  For instance, Gemini and Cancer are antiscia, and the specific antiscion of 5 Cancer is 25 Gemini. Maternus may have gotten the idea for antiscia from Valens who noted degrees antiskios (shadow) each other (Book III, Ch. 5P/7K).

Maternus treats the antiscion of each planet as a body double of the planet. One is to delineate it by sign, house, and regards to other planets as well as to other planetary antiscia. In this sense, he viewed the antiscion of a planet or point as being another degree in which that planet or point has power. This is consistent with the notion of “equal power” across antiscia. Keeping with the visual metaphor of antiscia, we can call this antiscion of a planet its reflection or shadow.

Maternus actually advocated the use of two main hidden charts in addition to the natal chart. For more information on the other hidden chart, see the series of articles on twelfth-parts.

Conclusion

It is easy to understand how the hearing and seeing signs got mixed up in later traditional astrology. Both involve sympathetic sign relations that make aversions and squares more sympathetic.  However, the hearing signs uniquely relate to an auditory sense while the seeing signs connect to a visual one and a sense of equal power.

It is unclear whether the use of degree-based antiscia originated with Maternus, or earlier (Valens or his sources). Additionally, I am curious as to the origins of degree-based use of contra-antiscia.  If you the reader are aware of this origin, please share it in the comments section.

References

Geminos (2006). Introduction to the Phenomena. (J. Evans & J. L. Berggren, Trans.). Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.

Porphyry, & Serapio. (2009). Porphyry the Philosopher. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). Tempe, AZ: American Federation of Astrologers.

Ptolemy, C. (1940). Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. (F. E. Robbins, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ptolemy/Tetrabiblos/home.html

Rhetorius of Egypt, & Teucer of Babylon. (2009). Rhetorius the Egyptian. (J. H. Holden, Trans.). Tempe, AZ: American Federation of Astrologers.

Featured image is Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse (1903) which is in the public domain.

Update

Note that this article was significantly updated in November, 2018 with the addition of new tables as well as material from Geminos.

The Bounds | Tables and Origins

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The Bounds

The bounds are a system of dividing each zodiacal sign into 5 unequal regions. The regions are called bounds or terms. Each of the five bounds of a sign is ruled by one of the five planets beside the Sun and Moon (i.e. the non-Lights).

Egyptian Bounds

There was some variation found in the ancient literature, in which bounds were of different lengths or ruled by different planets. For instance, check out the different table of bounds at Altair astrology.  However, the so-called Egyptian bounds are independently attested in many ancient sources. Additionally, the Egyptian bounds have been found in early horoscopes recovered by archaeologist. The Egyptian bounds are also the system that I use in my own practice.

Using Bounds

The bound ruler of a planet or point, such as the Ascendant, has an influence over the nature of that planet or point. The bound is link between the two.  You can think of signs as the houses of the planets, and the bounds as their rooms. Additionally, the bounds are key to certain predictive techniques in Hellenistic and Persian astrology. For instance, the bound ruler of the directed Ascendant was an important time lord (the distributor).

You can find a great set of charts of the various systems of bounds on the Altair Astrology site.  When I’m online and want to look up the Egyptian bounds that’s where I go, as it’s a clear presentation.

Egyptian Bounds are Babylonian Bounds

Based on recent evidence, it has been proposed that the Egyptian bounds are actually of Babylonian origin (follow link for paper). The proposal is based on the discovery of two cuneiform tablets in which the bounds of the signs were recorded.  These tablets may date back to the 4th or 5th century BCE.  The paper provides some great technical and historic background on the bounds and their variation in ancient literature.

Featured Image

Featured image of Fresco with Zodiac Signs in Rocca Abbaziale (Subiaco, Italy) by Livioandronico2013 [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons