Lecture 1

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MEDIEVAL ASTROLOGY FOUNDATION COURSE

LESSON ONE:SIGN SUBDIVISIONS & RULERSHIPS

(Transcript of audio lecture files: rz-fc-1a.mp3 and rz-fc-1b.mp3)

Welcome t o Lesson O ne of the Rober t Zoller ’s Foundat ionCour se on Medieval Ast rology This lesson is called SignSubdivisions and Ruler ships.

In t his lesson you will be getting to grips wit h the basicpr inciples of the Signs of the Zodiac, the Sign Subdivisionsand Rulerships. Some of what you will learn you may behearing for the first time. This Lesson lays a foundation onwhich you will build in Lesson Three on Delineation. Here itwill be necessary to inform you of concepts and practices thepractical application of which you will see more fully set forthin the later lessons. So don’t be surprised that this Lessonhas a theoretical quality to it. We are establishing theconceptual language of Medieval Astrology.

We have several tables and lists for this lesson and I think itbest for us to begin by going over these first. The informationcontained in these is an important part of the language ofMedieval Astrology. It is necessary that you become fluent init. So do spend a bit of time making yourself familiar withthese tables and lists. You may find it helpful to print them foreasy reference .

Please start with Figure 1

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As you can see this is a list of the Signs of the Zodiac. Itshows the symbols of the Zodiac Signs starting with the firstone, Aries and moving vertically down finishing at the bottomwith the last Sign, Pisces. You will also see that the elementto which each Sign belongs is noted to the right of its namee.g. Aries (fire), Taurus (earth) etc.

Signs of the ZodiacFigure 1

AriesTaurusGeminiCancer

LeoVirgoLibraScorpio

SagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces

Fire

Earth

Air

Water

Fire

Earth

Air

Water

Fire

Earth

Air

Water

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Next is Figure 2 The Planets

This lists the names and the symbols {or glyphs} of theseven planets used in Medieval Astrology. You may noticethat the more “modern planets” Uranus, Neptune and Plutoare omitted. These last three are often used by Modernastrologers but are not used in Medieval Astrology.

SunMoonMercuryVenusMarsJupiterSaturn

Masculine Planets

Feminine Planets

Diurnal Planets

Nocturnal Planets

Benefic Planets

Malefic Planets

(either)

(either)

(depending on circumstance)

(waxing)

(depending on circumstance)

(waning)

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Below the list you will see that the planets have beencategorised. The masculine planets are the Sun, Saturn,Jupiter and Mars. The Feminine planets are the Moon andVenus. While Mercury can be either masculine or femininedepending on particular circumstances.

The diurnal {or day} planets are the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn.The nocturnal {or night) planets are the Moon, Venus andMars. Again, Mercury can be either depending on thecircumstances.

The benefic {“works good effect”} planets are Jupiter, Venusand the Sun. The malefic {“works bad effect”} planets areSaturn and Mars. But you will have noticed that the Moon islisted in both. When the Moon is waxing {increasing in light,as it appears to grow daily larger until it becomes a FullMoon} it is considered benefic. However, when the Moon iswaning {decreasing in light, as it appears to grow dailysmaller until it becomes a New Moon – which is when itcannot be seen at all} then it is considered malefic. Mercurycan be either a benefic or a malefic planet depending on thecircumstances of each case. When dealing with malefic andbenefic planets the question is “ good for what and bad forwhat” and this we will explore later. But for now it is importantthat you understand basics.

It is important you know these categories, as they will beexplained later. Now is perhaps the time to say that theastrological diagram the astrologer reads in MedievalAstrology is termed the horoscope, natal figure, chart, ornatal chart. They are all interchangeable and mean the samething. Medieval Astrologers had additional names for it but Iwill attempt to restrict myself to these usages.

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Figure 3 is a diagram of the Decan Rulerships

This shows the Signs of the Zodiac arranged in a circlesurrounded by 36 decans. A decan is a 10-degree arc of theZodiac. You will notice that there are 3 decans to every oneSign of the Zodiac. Each decan is signified by its planetaryattribution beginning with Mars in the first decan of Aries.We will learn more about these later in this lecture.

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Figure 4 is a table of the Triplicity Rulers

Now, these triplicity rulers are worth a bit of attention at thevery beginning. They are much used in Medieval Astrology.Some of you may already be familiar with the triplicity rulersused by Modern and Renaissance astrologers {namely aplanet that has honour of triplicity in a Sign of the sameelemental nature as the one it rules}. But, in this table for themedieval triplicity rulers you will notice significant differences.

For instance, you have Saturn as being one of the triplicityrulers of the fire Signs and Jupiter as being one of thetriplicity rulers for air Signs. Exactly why this is so is notentirely clear, at present, although there is some indicationthat (at least in the case of Jupiter) the elemental or theprimitive qualities {Jupiter being moist and hot} agree withthe element air {also moist and hot}. You will also notice thatthe triplicity rulers are divided up by diurnal, nocturnal andparticipating rulers. You will recall from above that Diurnalmeans by day and Nocturnal means by night. Participatingmeans operative at all times.

Air

Water

Earth

Fire

Diurnal Nocturnal Participating

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This Triplicity Rulers table tells us that when you have ahoroscope of a native born during the day, you have adiurnal figure and you use the diurnal sequence of triplicityrulers. So, again referring to the table we see that the Sun isthe 1st ruler of the fiery triplicity, the planet Jupiter is in effect2nd or is subordinate to the Sun while Saturn rules at all timesbut is still considered last. So, we can see that the diurnalsequence is diurnal ruler, nocturnal ruler, and participatingruler.

If the native {remember that is merely the name we give theperson who’s horoscope we are looking at} was born at nightyou have a nocturnal figure {horoscope} and the sequence isnocturnal ruler, diurnal ruler, participating ruler.

Later we will see that in delineation {the reading of the natalchart, the learning of the portrait of the native and his worldrevealed by the horoscope} the diurnal and nocturnalsequences will be of some importance and in prediction theywill be very important. We will examine these in depth laterbut for now make yourself familiar with these triplicity rulers.In fact, all the material in Figures 1-4 above must becommitted to memory. You might like to stop here and dothat.

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Now let us turn to Figure 5 Rulerships and Exaltations.

This shows the rulers of the Signs {of the Zodiac} and therulers of the Signs by exaltation. In the inner central circleof the disk you will see the 12 Signs of the Zodiac; in themiddle circle are the planets that rule these Signs and youwill notice that there is a certain symmetry. Again we aredealing with the Medieval rulerships which are different to themodern rulerships.

Inner Circle:Signs

Middle Circle:Rulerships

Outer Circle:Exaltations

Cardinal Signs:

Fixed Signs:

Mutable Signs:

Key

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You will see that the line that divides Capricorn and Aquariusalso divides Leo and Cancer and on the right side of that lineyou have the Sun's half of the circle and on the left half ofthat line you have the Moon's half of the circle. So the Sunrules Leo and the Moon rules Cancer. But apart from that theplanets are passed out to the Signs in exactly the sameorder. So, after the Sun you have Mercury, after the Moonyou have Mercury, after Mercury you have Venus in bothcases, after Venus you have Mars in both cases, after Marsyou have Jupiter in both cases and after Jupiter you haveSaturn in both cases. These rulers of the Signs are extremelyimportant. Actually, all of these subdivisions and rulershipsare important, but the rulers of the Signs are perhaps mostimportant. We will be using them quite a bit.

In the 3rd outer circle you will find the planets that rule theSigns by exaltation and I would have you notice that youhave five Signs that do not have any exalted rulers. ThoseSigns are Gemini, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Aquarius -they have no exalted rulers. The planets that rule the Signsby exaltation should also be committed to memory.

Figure 6 shows the Essential Dignities.

Now these are very important to know and we will talk aboutthem at length. What I want you to see at the moment is that

5Rulership4Exaltation3Triplicity2Term1Face (or Decan)

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you have five levels of Essential Dignities: Rulership,Exaltation, Triplicity, Term and Face. The rulerships, theexaltations and the triplicities you will already have learnt.Face is synonymous with decan so you know that as well.Term we will talk about a little later.

A number is to the left of each of the Dignities. The numbers5, 4, 3, 2, 1, represent a pointing system that enables you tojudge a planet’s strength in the place it is in or its power insome other place. If a planet is in its own Sign for instance,it has honour of rulership there. It is considered to have 5dignities or “virtues.” When it is in exaltation it has 4. Intriplicity 3, in term 2, in face {or decan} 1. We will be usingthis pointing system later on but I'm including it here rightnow just to let you know it exists and that it enables us to getan idea of the relative strength of the planets.

Here it is necessary to say that you will be frequently hearingthe phrase “a planet having honour” in this Lesson (and veryoften in Medieval Astrological Texts). This phrase can meanthat the planet referred to is in its own Sign (honour ofrulership – e.g. Jupiter in Sagittarius), in the Sign it is exaltedin (honour of exaltation – e.g. Jupiter in Cancer), in a Signwhere it has triplicity (honour of triplicity – e.g. Jupiter inLibra), in one of its terms (honour of term – e.g. Jupiter in 5degrees of Leo), in a decan it rules (honour of decan – e.g.Jupiter in 25 Libra). In such cases the planet “has honour”and is “dignified.” Honour and dignity are synonymous.

The term “honour” is also used in another way: In MedievalAstrology we analyse zodiacal positions (house cusps,planetary positions, the positions of Arabic Parts, etc) byreference to the planets which have “honour” or “dignity” inthat position. Thus, for 11° Pisces, Pisces is the Sign ruledby Jupiter and Jupiter has honour of rulership therein. Piscesis the exaltation of Venus & Venus has honour of exaltationtherein. Pisces is water Sign and Venus, Mars and Moonhave honour of triplicity therein. 11° of Pisces falls in Venus’terms (See below Figure 8), so Venus has honour of termtherein. Finally, 11 degrees of Pisces is in Jupiter’s decan, soJupiter has honour of decan therein.

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When you hear or read “if the planet has honour in…” suchand such a place understand any of the five Dignitiesmentioned: rulership, exaltation, triplicity, term and decan. Inpractice, always consider the planet which rules the Sign asthe most important ruler of the zodiacal place beingexamined. Medieval Astrologers examined all the rulers, butif the beginner in this field relies only upon the ruler of theSign in applying the rules of judgement you will learn in thisfoundation course, you will find that your astrologicaljudgement becomes more accurate and profound.

Figure 7 shows the Essential Debilities.

The Debilities are Detriment, Fall and Peregrine. A planet isin Detriment when it is in a Sign opposite to the Sign it rulese.g. Venus is in Detriment in both Aries and Scorpio becausethese Signs are opposite the Signs that it rules {Taurus andLibra}. A planet is in Fall when it is in a Sign opposite to theSign in which it is exalted e.g. Venus is in Fall in Virgobecause Virgo is opposite Pisces. A planet in Peregrine isactually a kind of watershed between Dignity and Debility. APeregrine is a planet that is in a Sign in which it has noDignity. That means it does not rule that Sign, nor is itexalted in that Sign, nor does it rule the triplicity {or element}of that Sign, nor the decan {or face}. If you are unsure ofthese look back at the earlier figures again. And finally, itdoes not rule the term {which we will get onto shortly}. As

Peregrine- Planet has neither Dignity nor Debility

Detriment- Planet in Sign Opposite to one it rules

Fall- Planet in a sign opposite to the one

it is exalted in.

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well as this the planet is not in detriment or fall – two of theother debilities.

Because Medieval Astrology has five levels of EssentialDignity, you will find Peregrine Planets less frequently than inModern Astrology which recognises only 2 or 3 EssentialDignities. In interpreting the effect of a Peregrine planet anawful lot depends upon the ruler of the Sign in which thePeregrine planet is found. For instance, the Moon in Aries isPeregrine and it is in the Sign of a malefic {Mars ruler ofAries}. Peregrine position is quite different when thePeregrine planet is in a Sign ruled by a benefic: for instancein Pisces where it is in the Sign of the benefic planet Jupiter.

Where a planet has both dignity and debility e.g. Saturn inLeo - where it has both debility of detriment and dignity oftriplicity {by being in a fire Sign}, the higher dignity or debilitywins. The debility of detriment is the negative correlate ofrulership by Sign, and rulership by Sign is higher in thehierarchy of dignities than honour of triplicity, therefore wetake Saturn as more debilitated than dignified.

Figure 8 (next page) shows the table for the Egyptian Terms.The Terms are uneven subdivisions of the 30-degreezodiacal Signs allotted to five visible planets in anasymmetrical manner. You will notice that the terms are notapplied to the Sun or Moon.

The 6 next to Jupiter to the right of the Aries glyph tell us thatJupiter rules the first 6° {0° - 5°59' 59"} of Aries. The 6 that isnext to Venus means that the next 6° of Aries is ruled byVenus, the next division is 8° and is ruled by Mercury, thenext division is 5° long and is ruled by Mars and the nextdivision is 5° which is ruled by Saturn. If you add all thenumbers in any horizontal row across, left to right, youshould find that all rows add to 30, the number of degrees ina Sign. That is how you should read this table.

There are 3 different sets of Terms reported in ancient andmedieval texts. The Egyptian Terms are slightly differentfrom the Chaldean Terms and slightly different from both theEgyptian and Chaldean, are the Ptolemaic Terms. Various

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Key: eg:-

rules next 6˚

rules first 6˚

rules next 8˚

rules next 5˚

rules next 5˚

6 6 8 5 5

=

Figure 8 Egyptian Terms

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astrologers down through history have favoured eitherPtolemy's Terms or the Egyptian Terms. I don't know anywho have actually used the Chaldean Terms. If you want tofind out what the difference is between the Egyptian Terms,the Ptolemaic Terms and the Chaldean Terms look inPtolemy's Tetrabiblos an important work, where youwill find all three Tables laid out. Ptolemy, of course, favourshis own. Ibn Ezra, Masha’allah and a number of theEuropean Christian astrologers who favoured the Egyptianorigin of astrology and the Hermetic tradition, favoured theEgyptian Terms.

So, for the sake of simplicity in this foundation course I amgoing to use the Egyptian Terms only.

The decans {Figure 3 above} are considered a weakessential dignity but they are important nonetheless. Theyfactor into the calculation of the strengths of the planets andthe Egyptians used them in connection with the delineationof the native’s appearance. This is more fully covered in thefull course.

Astrological judgement rests upon understanding how thenatures of the planets are modified by the Signs they are inand the aspects they receive (both together define theZodiacal State of the planet) as well as how these influencesbecome determined towards specific effects by the houses(Local Determination). The planetary powers manifest agreat array of nuances and the key to understanding thesenuances is the Dignities and Debilities.

Now, we can commence the actual lesson.

The Zodiac itself represents a twelvefold division {the twelveSigns} of the universal force that we can call the “I Am” whichis represented by the Sun. This twelvefold division provides akind of energy field which is modulated by the planetaryinfluences. The result is Creation {according to the medievaland ancient esoteric teachings}, the coming into being andthe passing away of all embodied things. The inner spiritualforce, the soul or spirit of that which dwells in the physicalform is not created nor destroyed by the planetary motions.

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Only the body {or the embodiment} is created and destroyedby the planetary motions operating within a context of thezodiacal Signs.

Jean-Baptiste Morin, in his Astrologia Gallica (1661) statesthat the entire path of the Sun, that is, the entire ecliptic, iscreative. The question for us is creative of what? For us toanswer that, we have to understand first of all the Signs ofthe Zodiac and how they differentiate the Divine Will. Toachieve this we must firstly look at the natures of the Signsthemselves, which alternate as masculine then femininethroughout the Zodiac. The odd numbered Signs {Aries,Gemini, Leo, Libra, etc} are masculine and the evennumbered Signs are feminine {Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, etc}.

So, you have an active and a reactive pulsing influencecoming from the Signs of the Zodiac themselves. And theycan also be analysed in terms of their Cardinal, Fixed andMutability natures. It is clear that somewhere along the line{probably with the Greeks in the ancient period} the idea wasexpressed that the Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable Signsrepresent modes of activity of matter.

There is an analogous concept in the Hindu tradition with theGunas. The Gunas are qualities in matter and there are saidto be three qualities in matter. The Sattvica which conductsconsciousness. The Rajasica which reflects consciousnessand the Tamasica which absorbs consciousness. Thereseems to be something quite analogous going on with theWestern astrology, particularly in the Arabic and Jewishphilosophical underpinnings of Medieval Astrology. Thistheme goes back to the Neo-Pythagoreans and the Neo-Platonists in the Hellenistic period. They characterise each ofthe Signs of the Zodiac as cardinal, fixed or mutable. Thecardinal Signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Thefixed Signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius and themutable Signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.

So, apart from the masculine/feminine, active/reactivemodulation that goes on through the Zodiac there is also amodal difference between the cardinal, fixed and mutable.The implication is that this is in some way how matter itself

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responds to consciousness {the Divine Will} represented bythe Sun's influence, the Sun's light and the “I Am” influencethat descends from the supernal, even supra heaven, supracelestial worlds down to the physical world. And, as a resultof this kind of activity existing in Heaven, it also exists onEarth and the material things of this Earth.

What the Zodiac is doing and what the astrological system isdoing is modulating matter. It is creating bodies and thenbreaking down bodies and it is going to do this in a largemeasure through the dual influences of themasculine/feminine, active/reactive polarities and also theinfluence of the cardinal/fixed/mutable Signs.

Now, these cardinal/fixed/mutable Signs, these twelve Signsof the Zodiac, are also allotted to the elements. The fourelements, being Fire, Earth, Air and Water giving three Signsin each element. You get Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius in theFire triplicity. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are in the earthytriplicity. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are in the airy triplicityand Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are in the watery triplicity.

The four elements were thought of as being near basic butnot absolutely basic building blocks of matter. They areactually four states of matter. The radiant energycorresponds to the fire Signs. What we would call gascorresponds to the air Signs. The ancients didn't have theword gas, it was invented by the alchemist Van Helmont inthe seventeenth century. The water Signs are liquid stateand the earth signs are solid state.

If you look at any of the Figures above showing the twelveSigns you will notice that each of the Signs is allotted to anelement and is also allotted to one of the modes {cardinal,fixed or mutable}. So, you have Aries which is Cardinal/Fire,Leo which is Fixed/Fire and Sagittarius which is Mutable/Fireand this happens with each of Signs, elements and modes.The important point to grasp here is that you always have tothink in terms of combined influence when examining thehoroscope e.g. the Sign of Aries embodies the influence offire and the masculine {or active} and the quality {or mode} ofbeing cardinal. Taurus on the other hand embodies the

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influence of earth and is feminine {or reactive} and holds thequality {or mode} of being fixed.

When you want to know how a Sign operates, the mode isvery important. It is either centripetal which is the fixedinfluence. It is centrifugal which is the cardinal influence or italternates between both of those which is the mutableinfluence. Notice also that you have two elements, which aretotally masculine, and two elements which are totallyfeminine. That is the fiery and airy elements which are bothmasculine elements and the feminine elements which arewater and earth.

I should also point out that the four elements were originallyarticulated by the Greek philosopher Empedocles in the fifthcentury BC, and became a fixture of Greek philosophy. Assuch, these four elements found their way into medievalphilosophy as defining the characteristics of matter andultimately as being very important also in connection with thetemperaments and with the constitution of man andultimately in medical considerations. Aristotle modifiedEmpedocles’ doctrine. Aristotle held that these elementswere not simple bodies, but that they were themselvescomposed of four primitive qualities {hot, cold, wet and dry}.

By the time we get to the Medieval Astrology there is verylittle doubt that the medieval astrologers in the west andamong the Arabs as well, have identified the four elements ofthe Zodiac {Fire, Earth, Air and Water} with the four elementsof Empedocles, and agree with Aristotle that the fourelements of Empedocles are comprised of four primitivequalities - so that Fire is hot and dry, Air is moist and warm,Water is cold and wet and Earth is cold and dry.

Ptolemy, in fact, makes a great deal about this division, andin the first chapter of his Tetrabiblos asserts that this is thekey to understanding human temperament, human health,events that occur and so on and so forth, as the basis forprediction. This is because, according to Ptolemy, the time ofthe year in which you were born and the nature of the Signsdominant at that time and the planetary influencesdominant at that time {because even the planets are

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characterised according to these four primitive qualities}gives the individual born at a particular time a predominantdisposition. And, this predominant disposition ischaracterised by hot, cold, wet and dry which inclines themtowards producing certain kinds of illnesses and certainkinds of behaviour or characteristics as well. This leads toquite an in-depth discussion of the medical end of things andthe physiognomy which is more fully explored in the fullcourse but for now it is important that you have this basicunderstanding.

Apart from this the Signs of the Zodiac are also ruled byplanets and the planetary rulerships {see Figure 5}, as I saidbefore are very important. A Sign's activity is in very largemeasure determined by the planet which rules that Sign, oris at least understood in the terms of the planet that rulesthat Sign. And, there is a very intimate relationship betweena planet and the Sign it rules, as we will see later on whenwe get into the actual delineation.

The point to keep in mind is that the planet that rules theSign is a kind of extension of the Sign itself. In practice itsposition in another Sign and its position in another house{houses are more fully explained in a following lesson} isgoing to link the affairs of that Sign and the affairs of thathouse to the affairs of the Sign in question. So, for exampleif you have Aries rising {i.e. it is the Ascendant being thecusp of the 1st House} and you have its ruler Mars in the 10th

House, in Capricorn, then the primary motivation signified byAries is going to be expressed through your actions in a veryforthright, aggressive, goal-oriented sort of manner and yourprofessional life is going to be the theatre of expression ofyour primary motivation which is essentially going to be forpower; which brings me to something that must not beoverlooked.

The four elements Fire, Earth, Air and Water represent fourbehavioural characteristics and four modal expressions thatare absolutely imperative to commit to memory. That is thatthe Fire Signs go for freedom of action and power. The AirSigns go for freedom of expression and movement. TheWater Signs need emotional security. The Earth Signs need

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physical security. By physical security we mean money,property and wealth. By emotional security we mean love,knowing that everything is going to be okay and whatever ittakes to produce the subjective experience that everything isgoing to be okay. The feminine elements need and themasculine elements go for.

There are two kinds of people in the world, those that havemasculine signs dominant and those who have femininesigns dominant. Those who have masculine signs dominantlive in a world full of opportunities. Those who have femininesigns dominant live in a world full of needs and this shows upin the language that the client uses when s/he comes to theastrologer. The client with the feminine sign rising{Ascendant} and the feminine signs dominant says 'I need todo this, I have to do that, I must do this, I want to do that'.They use the language of need and they use a passivelanguage, 'this happened to me'. Whereas people who havethe masculine signs dominant and a masculine sign risingwill say 'I can do this or I can do that' and they come to theastrologer for entirely different reasons. A Sign becomesdominant in the sense that I am using it here when itcontains three {or more} planets or holds the angles or bothof these.

People with masculine signs dominant consults theastrologer because there are a number of opportunitiesbeing presented to them at a particular time and they want tohear somebody else's opinion as a way of making their owndecision as to what to do. They want to be advised so theycan make a “good” decision. Those with the feminine signsdominant want to be told what to do, they want to enlist andto pay for somebody else's judgement so they know the rightthing to do because they themselves doubt that they havethe capability or the insight necessary to come to the rightconclusion.

This insight into astrology is going to be of considerableimportance to you in a very practical sense once you getinto the business of interpreting horoscopes. It is thesort of thing that has to be said now because it is soterribly important and because it could otherwise be

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very easily overlooked or forgotten.

Let's get back to the rulerships for the moment. You have onyour page of rulerships {Figure 5} a diagram that shows youwhat planet rules which Sign. Leo is ruled by the Sun,Mercury rules Virgo, Venus rules Libra, Mars rules Scorpioand so on and so forth, around the circle. The nature of theSign is, to a very large degree conditioned not only by theelement, not only by the masculine/feminine consideration,not only by the cardinal/fixed/mutable consideration, but alsoby the nature of the planet which rules that Sign.

So the fiery, impetuous nature of Mars characterises andrules the Sign Aries and the Sign Scorpio but in two entirelydifferent ways, because one is a fixed, water, feminine Signand the other is a cardinal, fire, masculine Sign. In Aries,Mars' influence is going to be very forthright, outward, aimed,extroverted. In the fixed, feminine Scorpio it's going to bevery defensive, introspective, very protective and veryreactive. Scorpios don't generally initiate trouble but onceyou get them going, embroiled in a conflict, they cannot letgo.

Now this means that at this point we should say somethingabout the natures of the planets themselves.

The Sun is the giver of life, the author of light and heat. It ishot and dry and it is associated with winning, with success,with recognition, with power, with the expression of the “IAm”, with creativity, with spontaneity, with beauty, it's a verysexual planet as well.

When you find the Sun prominent in a horoscope all of thesecharacteristics are going to be very powerfully noted anddepending upon the condition and dignity or debility of theSun, they are going to be expressed in a very remarkablemanner.

The Sun is also associated with prophecy, Dionysius andApollo are both solar figures. The Sun is very clearlyassociated with the experience of enlightenment, theexperience of the individual consciousness having been

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joined to the supernal “I Am” which is beyond the Zodiac.And the experience of enlightenment of being filled with light,love, life and creativity. In fact, becoming one with the Sunand with the creative power. The keyword for the Sun is Lifeor “I am”

Mercury is the messenger of the Gods. It is also theanalytical faculty in the soul. It is the ruler of scribes,merchants, thieves, bankers and scientists and it isassociated with all of these things as well as with the tonguein the physiognomy and physiology and with the assimilativefaculty both mentally and physically.

The Sun is a diurnal planet and it is a masculine planet aswell. Mercury can be either masculine or feminine, it can beeither diurnal or nocturnal depending on what it is connectedwith. It can be either benefic or malefic. The Sun is a beneficplanet generally speaking. Mercury is so mutable as to takeits benefic/malefic, diurnal/nocturnal qualities from theplanets that it is associated with, by aspect and bydisposition, that is when it is in somebody else's sign.Mercury has to do with the giving of explanations andinterpretations. It is the “go-between.” The keyword forMercury is cunning.

Venus is the Goddess of Love but the keyword for Venus isreally Lust. A lot of people like to make Venus Love, andVenus can be Love, but they overlook the lust and Venus isa very lusty planet. It is often said by modern astrologers,and I think wrongly, that lust is associated with Mars. This islargely because Modern astrology has emphasised theexalted Love of Venus as though it is the natural state inwhich Venus is found in the horoscope. But in fact thecontrary is true. Venus is seldom found in good zodiacalstate and thus it is more inclined toward lust that spiritual orexalted love. Again, this is a complex subject and one whichwill have to addressed in later study.

Venus is a benefic planet and is called a lesser beneficbecause the things that she does are very pleasant, but theyhave to do with the individual. They don't have a very widespread scope to them such as Jupiter's does.

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Mars is more associated with aggression and with zeal andconquest and things of this sort which can be (and often is)done in connection with lust but Mars is not lust. Mars isstrife, wrath, contention, initiative, courage, daring. Mars is amalefic planet. Mars is the lesser malefic, so called becausethe scope of Mars vision is limited in time and space whereasSaturn’s effects are more far reaching.

Jupiter is the greater benefic and Jupiter's influences aremuch greater in scope than Venus. They free us from manylimitations that Venus cannot free us from. Jupiter can becalled wealth, freedom, and abundance.

Saturn is limitations and obstacles, hindrances and thingsof this sort. It rules graveyards. It also rules science. It rulesmathematics, as does Mercury. Saturn rules things that aredone alone, solitary pursuits. As a result it is the planet parexcellence of what is called 'the more secret philosophy' theesoteric philosophy, both Mercury and Saturn are associatedwith magic. Saturn and Mercury are also associated withastrology. Saturn's influence extends over the endings of allthings, over all ruins and old things generally.

The Moon is the principle of change, growth and decay,nurture and nourishment and it modulates matter through itsconstantly changing phases. Through its waxing and waning,by which the light of the Sun is modulated and regulatedupon sublunary matter, more or less, at various times atvarious phases of the Moon's motion. The Moon also linksthe aspects of the planets and transmits them to the Earth ina very powerful sort of manner. (1b) So it is one of the major linksbetween Heaven and Earth. The other two links beingMercury and Venus which also translate light in a mannervery similar to the way the Moon, but not quite as importantlyas the Moon does.

Whereas the Sun is hot and dry, Mercury tends to be dry butit can vary quite a bit depending on what it is associated with.Venus is warm and moist. Jupiter is warm and moist. Mars ishot and dry. Saturn is cold and dry. Moon is warm & moistwhen waxing and cold and moist in its waning phase.

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Now, each of these planets rules a Sign of the Zodiac andthis is when we get into the importance of dignity anddebility. When it is in its own Sign or when it has any of thedignities, it effects what it promises. Therefore, Venus forinstance, in Libra or Taurus usually produces lust. When it isin its own Sign in good zodiacal state {in dignity and wellaspected} it will also produce whatever is promised by thehouse(s) it rules. The dignity and debility is primarily to dowith quality. We will talk about a five-fold level of quality inconcrete detail when we talk about the five levels of rulership{Essential Dignities} in connection with the delineation of ahouse in the horoscope. Right now we are laying thefoundation.

Of the Dignities rulership is the best. Exaltation is not quiteas good but is very powerful, very dramatic in its action.Triplicity is very good. Term is OK, and decan is all right but itis fairly weak. What you have got here is a hierarchy ofeffectiveness, a hierarchy of efficacy in the planet's ability toproduce its own nature. It helps to use the metaphors thatthe ancients and the medieval astrologers used inunderstanding how these planets work in rulerships andexaltations.

A planet in its own Sign, i.e. which has honour of rulership inits Sign, is like a king on his throne. A planet in exaltation islike a conqueror. A planet in triplicity is among friends. Aplanet in term is honoured. A planet in decan is notfrequently spoken about because it is such a minor affair.

A planet in its own sign is like a king and anything that planetwants to do, it can effect because it is in its own kingdom.Anything it wants to do is simply done, not only is it done, it islaw. It is long lasting. It stands forever. It is not challenged. Itis said that you cannot fight a person whose ruler is inhonour because they win. My teacher, Zoltan Mason, taughtthis.

The planet that is exalted will effect very dramatic results andcan rocket somebody into very high levels of success, but itdoesn't last. Reversals will come along and this is why

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exaltation is not considered to be as beneficial as rulership.

A planet in triplicity is among friends, means that quiteliterally when the ruler of the Ascendant is in honour oftriplicity, the native has a lot of associations. This is evenmore the case when the Moon is connected with manyplanets and the ruler of the Ascendant is swift, direct andalso connected with many planets. Then the native has manyassociations and many friends.

Rulership is best, exaltation is not quite so good, triplicity isgood, but not quite so powerful as either rulership orexaltation, but it can still effect what it promises. Decan isfairly weak, it is almost neither here nor there.

What does this mean with regards to, let's say, Venus?Venus in rulership can produce what it promises because it isin its own Sign. Her quality is going to be very good.Therefore, we are not going to talk about lust so much aswe're going to talk about love. But we are still talking aboutthe intense physical bonding that is associated with Venus.Venus is emotional and physical and binds people together.

When Venus is in good zodiacal state (i.e. in dignity and wellaspected) we can speak about love. When Venus is in poorzodiacal state (i.e. in debility and poorly aspected) we haveto speak about lust and sometimes we have to speak aboutdepravity. When it is in poor zodiacal state it cannot purelyeffect what its nature is, that is to say it cannot successfullyproduce the bonding. It cannot produce a true union, thetying of people together in love. It cannot do that because itsnature is adulterated with the Sign in which it finds itself.Therefore, when we find Venus, for instance, in Aries or inScorpio, Venus wants to love and the person represented bythe Venus wants to love and they want to be bound togetherwith somebody else and they want to bind somebody to themas well. But they don't have time because Venus in a MartianSign doesn't have time to love. She is too hasty, too driven.

Zodiacal State has much to do with the qualitativemodulation of the planetary influences. The debilities aresuch because of the adulteration of the planetary influence

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with a contrary planetary influence, i.e. that of the ruler of theSign a debilitated planet is in. But an important differencebetween Modern Astrology and Medieval Astrology is theemphasis given to aspects. Modern Astrology looks ataspects very early in its delineation process. MedievalAstrology looks first at the positions of the planets in thehouses keeping in mind their natures and Zodiacal State,then their rulerships and local determination. Aspects areviewed primarily from the point of view of judging whether theplanets linked by the aspects {the Ptolemaic aspects -conjunction, opposition, sextile, square and trine}collaborate with each other or compete with each other. Thisis dealt with at length in the full course.

Back to Zodiacal State - The Moon in Capricorn wants to“take care of”, but it has to do that through the Sign in whichit is placed. The Moon in Capricorn is in its detriment {I willexplain detriments more fully below} and so its nature, whichis to care for, to nurture and to regulate the physical world, isforced to operate in an excessively cold and dryenvironment. Therefore it turns to the regulation of affairsaccording to duty, the regulation of affairs of a very concretemanner. So it loses its elasticity. It loses its responsivenessand it becomes very cold, concrete, goal-oriented. All of theMoon's motivations are for caring, but the Moon cannot reallyeffect those motivations because it is forced to operatethrough the Capricornian coldness and as a result becomesdomineering and very much concerned about controlling thefuture. The Moon in Capricorn is scared to death of the futureas the earth Signs generally are.

The Sun in Aquarius wants to rule because the Sun in Leowould have perfect rule because its nature coincides soperfectly with the Sign in which it is placed. But in the signopposite, i.e. in its detriment, its quality has been interferedwith. It can no longer selflessly give as the Sun in Leo cangive. Even though the Sun in Leo is in a fixed Sign and,therefore, centripetal, extraordinarily egocentric and arrogantin its own fashion. Nevertheless it is at the same timeextraordinarily generous because its nature is to give andthere is nothing interfering with its nature.

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This is not the case in Aquarius. The Sun in Aquarius is in acentripetal, air Sign not in a fire Sign. It is not as warm as theSun in Leo. It is operating under denial, restrictions,obstacles, hindrances, all these saturnine qualities that areassociated with the Sign Aquarius and the ruler of the Sign,Saturn. It is alienated, it feels itself cut-off from the source ofits power. According to Ibn Ezra it is the Sign of Satanbecause it is opposed to the sign of authority which is theSun - Leo. In many ways the Aquarian operates towards theLeo in a very satanic fashion, always accusing the Leos ofbeing arrogant and self-centred and things of this sort andalways seeking to be a Leo themselves though never quitegetting there because they're an Aquarian.

The Aquarians have certain abilities that the Leos don't have.They have all the abilities of Air that Leos don't have. Theyhave the acquisition of learning, great shows of knowledgeand things of this sort, but the bottom line is that the Sun inAquarius is in detriment and cannot be as brilliant, generous,selflessly giving of self as the Leo and as a result there arecertain ramifications in this.

On the level of physiology, for instance, the circulatorysystem, there are difficulties because the Sun is restricted inAquarius, Saturn's Sign, and when the Sun (heart) isrestricted, circulation is restricted and the state of mindbecomes restricted, full of doubts, morbid, morose,depressed, melancholy and so on. If you want to improve thestate of mind improve the circulation. This is one of the thingsthe Aquarians have to watch and take care of, the circulation,particularly in the lower extremities like the ankles, which areruled by Aquarius.

So the point is here, what does dignity mean? Dignitymeans that the planet which is in dignity, especially inrulership by Sign (though even in triplicity and exaltation) caneffect what it promises and it always promises its own nature,this is very important to keep in mind. We have to get a veryclear understanding of the planetary natures to begin with.

The planets that are in Essential Dignity effect what theypromise, they can do and do what they promise, unless they

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are interfered with by aspect or some other cause whichwe will talk about (to some degree in Lesson Three and morein the full course). But the bottom line is when they are intheir own signs they effect what they promise, when they arein dignity they effect what they promise. When they are indebility they cannot effect fully what they promise.

The benefic planets {Sun, Jupiter, Venus and the Moon,when it is increasing in light} when they are in poor ZodiacalState cannot effect all the good that they would by theirnature. The same thing can be said for the malefic planets{Mars, Saturn and the Moon, when it is decreasing in light}.Malefic planets cannot effect all the malefic qualities whichthey would effect if they were in good Zodiacal State. WhatMercury does will depend on with whom it is configured.

Now this is a curious thing because a malefic planet such asSaturn in Leo in poor zodiacal state is a nasty planet. Saturnin Leo is a troublemaker and is trying to stir up difficulties. Itwould like to cause greater harm but it cannot effect its fullnature because it is in a solar Sign and therefore it is, as itwere, very upset and waxed wrath so to speak, but it cannotreally effect as much danger and difficulty as it would like to.

The same thing can be said for Mars in Libra. Mars in Libra isin its detriment {in the Sign opposite the one it rules} and itcannot effect its nature, which is to cut off heads, because itis always being forced to consider the other side of the issue.It is always being forced to operate in a Libran sort ofmanner which is to say in a very harmonious, polite,considerate, just fashion. Mars in Aries doesn't bother withbeing just, it does the job and it does it as quickly andeffectively as possible.

As a matter of fact, when you want a head cut off, you wantjust the right person’s head cut off. You don't wanteverybody's head cut off. You don't want a postal officescene where somebody walks into the room with anautomatic weapon and shoots everybody in the room. Youwant one guy in the room shot. When Mars is in its own Sign{Aries or Scorpio} or in its exaltation {Capricorn} it just getsthe one person that it is supposed to get. But when Mars is

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forced into another Sign where it has no honour of any kindthen you are likely to have the shotgun approach whichcauses more problems than it actually solves. And this is theproblem with planets which are in poor Zodiacal State, theycause more problems than they solve, they do not effectwhat they promise as effectively as they ought to and theycause problems as a result of it because they are sloppy intheir action.

It is very important to understand the different effects thedignities and debilities have on a planet. For instance,Saturn in Aquarius is in honour of rulership. The effect of thisdignity is that Saturn will effect the acquisition of learning andplumbing the depths of secret knowledge very well. When it'sin Leo, it is in debility {detriment} and it cannot do the job aseffectively because it leaves things undone. It doesn't attendto detail, as it ought to, thus it is not entirely effective.

A planet is in its fall {debility} when it is opposite itsexaltation. So Saturn is exalted in Libra and it is in its fallwhen it is in Aries. Aries, a Martian Sign is a Sign which isalmost, if not entirely, hostile to the nature of Saturn. A hotand dry Sign as opposed to a cold and dry planet and thisinterferes greatly with Saturn's ability to produce what itpromises.

Now, all of this is modified considerably by the subdivision ofthe Sign in which the planet finds itself. The more dignities aplanet has, the stronger it is. If the planet is in its own Sign,let's say Mercury is in 6 degrees of Virgo, it would havehonour of rulership (by Sign), be exalted and in its own term.It would therefore be stronger than in another part of Virgo,say anywhere from 7 degrees to 29°59’59” Virgo where itwould be only dignified by Sign and exaltation. Look forthose positions in which a planet gets as many dignities aspossible. Then under those circumstances, it is like a slotmachine with all the cherries lining up and you hit thejackpot. This of course, is very rare.

What happens more frequently is that it's in some degree ofhonour and some degree of dishonour {e.g. Saturn in Leohas both the debility of detriment and honour of triplicity} The

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most important is the honour by Sign and the honour byexaltation or triplicity. The minor divisions {term and decan}of the Signs are more useful for fine-tuning. In the full coursefurther divisions are employed such as the Novenaria andDuodecimae.

The terms, it should be pointed out, played a pretty big rolein books such as the Liber Hermetis which makesdelineations on the relative social status of the native andhis/her family. This is done on the basis of the planet thatrules the term that the Sun finds itself in, or the planet thatrules the term that the Moon finds itself in.

When the Sun finds itself in the term of a benefic, then it issaid that the native preserves the father's patrimony. Thefather was of noble birth and of a good family and so on andthe native will continue these traits and everybody will livehappily ever after. But if the Sun finds itself in a term ruled bya malefic planet, then the father's family was base, they wereslaves, the son is a slave of slaves, he loses whatever littlemoney the family had collected and lives a mean and baselife. Of course, this kind of delineation is dependent to a verylarge degree upon the nature of the society that existed inHellenistic Egypt, but it looks from all appearances as thoughwe are moving in pretty much the same direction ourselvesright now. So that's not something that I would have youthrow out, just now.

A good deal of what we're talking about is going to becomemuch clearer when we actually start using examples, andwe're not going to be doing much of that in this lessonbecause there is a lot of new material to go over first. I wantto emphasise certain ideas that I think that you need toknow, such as the dignities which should all be committed tomemory. I also want to emphasise the idea that the dignityof rulership by sign is extraordinarily important and thatthe relationship between a planet and its Sign is going tobe one of the major keys by which we elicit concrete,practical information from the horoscope.

The application of much of what we have been discussing isgoing to become much clearer when we discuss house

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delineation in Lesson 3. For now you need to know that theplanets act in the signs and their combined influence isspecified towards particular areas of life by the astrologicalhouses of which there are 12. Their Primary Meanings aregiven below. They also have derived meanings which we willtouch on in the third lesson of this foundation course anddiscuss more fully in the full course.

The first house signifies Life, Body and that inner power orvirtue which we recognise as the native’s skill, talent or wit.The second house is money. The third house is siblings.The fourth house is family. The fifth house is children. Thesixth house is servants. The seventh house is otherpeople; partners, especially the spouse. The eighth house isdeath. The ninth house is God. The tenth house isprofession. The eleventh house is friends. The twelfthhouse is illness.

One of the key slogans or sayings in Medieval Astrology isthat "the good or bad signified by a house emanates from theruler of the house". When we talk about the delineation of thehouses, we'll be using some examples to show exactly whatwe mean by this. But here, I want to get the idea clearlyexpressed that most of the time you are going to find asituation where the planet rules a given Sign but is not in thatSign. It is in some other Sign. As a result it is going to fall inanother house of the horoscope.

For instance, you could have Aries on the 10th House {i.e.rules the cusp of the house} and you could have the Mars{the ruler of the 10th} in the 7th House which is ruled byCapricorn in which case we apply the rule:“ The good or bad signified by a house emanates fromthe ruler of the house”.

The 10th House affects the native's profession. The 7th Houseaffects partnership {in the wider sense including allcontractual relationships like a marriage partner or abusiness partner}. Because the ruler {Mars} of the Sign{Aries} in which the 10th House falls, is in the 7th House thatmeans that these two houses are connected. Partnership {7th

House} and Profession {10th House} will be very dramatically

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and very effectively tied together because they areconnected by Mars. That is the base from which we start.Now we apply the rule “The good or bad signified by a houseemanates from the ruler of the house”.

The houses will be characterised as “good” or “bad” inLesson three. For now you should know that the 10th Houseis a good house and has to do with profession. Thusapplying the first part of the rule “The good or bad signifiedby the house…” we see that it is a good thing that issignified by the 10th House. Now, the second part of the ruleis applied “… emanates from the ruler of the house”.

What is the ruler of the Sign that the house is in? Mars.Yes, but not just Mars but where is Mars? In the 7th House,so it is Mars in the 7th. The 7th House being the house ofpartnerships. So applying the whole rule to this context. Theprofession will emanate from Mars or put a little more clearlyMars will produce the profession. Or clearer still apartnership will produce the profession. The partnership willsecure the profession.

Of-course, we have to now take into account all of what youhave learnt previous to this. This leads immediately to theconsideration of Mars. The first thing that should strike you isthat Mars is exalted in Capricorn. The second EssentialDignity. Does this mean that Mars bodes well for thepartnership and thus the profession? If you said NO, thenyou are correct. Recall the nature of Mars – aggression, zeal,conquest. In the context of a partnership this could spellmuch strife and contention which will sap the productiveharmony that a partnership needs to prosper. The conclusionyou should be drawing is that Mars isn’t too good forpartnerships.

But what of its exaltation? How does this affect theoverall picture?

Mars in Capricorn puts off some of its evil because it'sextraordinarily well placed being exalted. Of course, being

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exalted, it is very efficient in accomplishing whatever evil it isdetermined towards, so it becomes important to see justwhat such a planet is doing.

Recalling what you have already learnt you will see that Marsin exaltation enhances its nature. So we must bear that inmind as we build up the picture according to the rules younow know. Mars is in Capricorn. Capricorn is an earth Sign, itis also feminine. What affect will that have on themasculine nocturnal malefic Mars? Capricorn is also acardinal Sign so this must be gauged in this picture we arebuilding. If you cannot build up this picture yourself just yet,you should go over the first part of this lecture again.

The effect of the cardinal influence will be centrifugal. Anoutward flow of energy. Exterior action which will reflect inMars as ambition and self-confidence. In themselves not toobad for a partnership upon which a profession is basedexcept Mars being in exalted form may go a little further.There will probably be an eagerness to command, to takecontrol, at times the centrifugal tendency manifesting in alove for independence and initiative that may have Marsstreaking ahead of the partner and causing serious strain onthe partnership. How serious this stress is will depend onother factors to be found in the chart.

Add to this the earthy perseverance of the feminine earthand Mars finds itself having to cope with a tense inertia.There will be restraint imposed on Mars which will causesome frustration. Keep in mind here, it is Mars we arejudging, not the native. We are seeking to know what thenative’s profession will be like. The “frustration” alluded to isa subjective characterisation of the Mars in Capricorn - ourattempt to understand the power shaping the native’sobjective life. The frustration mentioned need not be thesubjective experience of the native. As Mars in the exampleis in the 7th house, it might characterise the partner’s state. Inany case, such frustration will not last long because theMars/Capricorn partner, signified by the impatient Mars andthe Cardinal Capricorn will act quickly, successfully anddecisively to realise his/her goal.

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In a nutshell Mars will impose itself and attempt to subjugateothers e.g. running roughshod over the opposition.

The implication of having Mars in the 7th House is that thenative's partner is a very Martian individual. We might betalking about a professional partnership here, which wouldbe easier to handle than a personal partnership, like amarriage, with such a Mars in Capricorn in the 7th house.Also implied is that the native has a very successful careeras a result of his association with this very Martian person.Conceivably, one would go into business with someone whohas a high position in the military or something along thoselines. So, the good or bad signified by a house emanatesfrom the ruler of the house.

Let's do it one more time. Let's say we have Taurus on the2nd House cusp and we have Venus in the 4th House. Thenthe financial strength of the native is tied to inheritance, sothe family money comes into the picture in some manner. Sohe gets his money from inheritance or he gets his moneyfrom the family or from the profession/actions of the partner,but this last reading depends upon what are called “derivedhouses.” We will talk about derived houses in the fullMedieval Astrology Course.

There is another important relationship between the planetand the Sign that it rules. This is called the TemporalRelationship. It operates at the same time as theEmanation Relationship which we have just examined.Just as the Emanation Relationship applies to all signs (andthrough the signs to the houses) and their rulers, so theTemporal Relationship applies to all signs/houses and theirrulers.

The Temporal Relationship is when a Sign determines howthe affair in question will start or the beginning and the planetwhich rules that Sign determines the outcome of the affair.As an illustration, taking the example we viewed abovewhere the cusp of the 10th House is in Aries and the ruler ofAries {Mars} is in Capricorn in the 7th House. We arelooking at the 10th House so the affair in question is theprofession or general activity of the native. Aries is on the

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cusp of the 10th so it is the Sign which determines how theprofession or general activity will begin. Mars rules the Signso Mars is the planet which will determine how affairsconcerning the profession etc will turn out.

To discover this the effect of the feminine earth cardinal Signof Capricorn on Mars must be explored to see how they areable to manifest. So, the Sign Aries imbues the professionwith a good amount of energy and vigour. Cardinal fireexpressing itself in professional affairs with untrammelledconfidence. Enthusiastic drive, perhaps (depending on otherfactors in the chart which are more fully explored in the fullcourse) the profession may be pioneering in some manner oreven idealistic. But how it progresses and where it ultimatelyleads is very much in the hands of Mars in the 7th house.The one thing that you can be sure of is that there will be anamount of friction in the partnership.

The Temporal Relationship between a planet and the Signthat it rules which is temporal {i.e. that the Sign representsthe beginning of the affair and the planet rules what comesout of it in time, how the affair evolves, the outcome or theoutlet as it were. So, in the case where you've got Aries onthe 10th House cusp and the ruler of the 10th {Mars} is in the7th House, one could say that the profession or the native'sactions (which are 10th House) leads to Mars in Capricorn ina very 7th house kind of experience. So it leads to frictionand because Mars is in a feminine sign, in Capricorn, thisfriction comes to the native. This friction is something thatcomes to the native because of Mars being in a femininesign. If Mars were in a masculine sign the native wouldinitiate contentious behaviour with others.

Now this is an important point that I don't want to miss withregards to masculine and feminine signs. The generalreading of masculine and feminine signs is that a planet in amasculine sign represents something that the native does tosomebody else or to himself, but the native actively does theact. A planet in a feminine sign represents something thatsomebody else does to the native.

Therefore, let's say we have Saturn in Leo in the 7th House.

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The native rejects other people. Saturn is a very negativeinfluence, very restrictive. In a masculine Sign it is rejecting.It's rejecting whom? It's rejecting other people because itsaction is corresponding to the house in which it is placed andas it is in the 7th House, it rejects other people.

Saturn in Cancer in the 7th House is afraid. Saturn in afeminine Sign in the 7th House is fear of rejection by othersand in fact, there's a reason for it being afraid of beingrejected by others. This is because the native has at somepoint been rejected and will be rejected frequently by otherpeople (to some degree). People learn to deal with thesethings in various ways, some of them well, some of them not.But the basic fact is that a malefic planet in the 7th Houseproduces problems of some sort always according to itsnature and according to what its connected to throughrulership. This always raises the question, “Is the nativeacting or acted upon?” and a central part of the key toanswering that question is the polarity of the Sign in whichthe planet finds itself, whether it's a masculine Sign or afeminine Sign.

Judging success in astrology is one of the things that anastrologer has to do. Very frequently, people come toastrologers wanting to know about their marriages, thepossibility of marriage, and their relationships generally. Theywant to know whether their marriage, profession, finances,etc will succeed. What to do? The various houses of thehoroscope represent the different areas of life that we arecalled upon to judge. We have to understand the entirehoroscope, of course, in order to properly judge anyparticular area of life. But, assuming that we know what thehoroscope as a whole has to say, if we find malefics in the7th house, what does this mean with regard to partnership.Generally speaking, it means problems with regards torelationship. The question is problems for whom (the nativeor the partner?) and how bad are the problems, can they beworked with or are they such that they preclude thesuccessful outcome of the affairs of the house?

There are circumstances where things vary quite a bit. If the

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malefic planet, for instance, is Saturn and it is in the 7thhouse and it is in a Sign where it has dignity, it will notpreclude the affairs of the 7th house, it will produce theaffairs of the 7th house. Remember that planets can do oneof three things; they can either produce something, they candeny it or they can destroy it once it's been produced. Amalefic planet in honour, especially in its own Sign, in the 7thhouse, will produce the affairs of the 7th house, i.e. it willproduce a partnership, but they will produce it withhindrances, obstacles, delays, loss and the like. Saturn willhold it together through duty.

An example might be, where a woman marries a man with aserious disease . She will feel that it's her duty to take care ofhim and she stays with him for years and years, even thoughshe can't enjoy the full effects of a satisfactory and normalmarriage because of the limitations upon the partner. Muchbetter is it to have Benefics in the 7th House, in goodZodiacal State in which case the naturally good nature of the7th House and the inter-relationship between the partners isassured.

So you have to consider that success depends upon twothings, it depends upon quality and quantity. The quality isthe Zodiacal State of the planets involved. If that Saturn werein Leo, in the 7th House, you could effectively predictdifficulties in an existing relationship, if one existed and theultimate destruction of the relationship, because the badcondition of Saturn in the 7th House. However, Saturn in the7th House, in Leo, is not so bad as to outright deny arelationship, because it's in poor Zodiacal State. It's morelikely, that it'll destroy it once it has been produced. If it werein Leo and adversely aspected by Mars it could prohibit amarriage altogether. If it were in Capricorn with Capricorn onthe cusp of the 7th, then Saturn would be ruler of the 7th in the7th and could be expected to produce a Saturnianpartnership.

Quantity has to do with the power of the planet and thehouse in which you find the planet itself determines that.Angular planets {planets positioned in the 1st, 4th, 7th & 10th

houses} always produce what they promise to some degree.

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But remember when we speak of Promise we are not simplytalking about what is promised by their nature {eg Jupiterpromises freedom or wealth by its nature} but also by theirzodiacal state. You will recall that the Zodiacal State isdetermined by the Essential Dignities and also the debilities,which we have investigated. In addition to this the planetaryaspects have a baring on the Zodiacal State and these areexplored in greater detail in the full course.

In this foundation course you are learning the basics whichwill go some way toward allowing you to address those bigquestions in astrology which of-course to most of us are thebig questions of our everyday lives. What will happen? Youshould be able to gauge the quality of this. When will ithappen? How long will it last for?

So, what I hope you’ve taken from this lesson is that therulership of the Signs by the planets happens in five ways.These we call the Essential Dignities: rulership by sign,exaltation, triplicity, term and face {or decan}. You shouldalso have learnt to see when a planet is peregrine or in fall orin detriment. If you are unsure of any of these then you mustgo back through this lecture until you are because these arethe basic building blocks that you will need to be asuccessful astrologer. You should also be aware that thereare other subdivisions of the Signs which we do not have thetime to investigate in this foundation course but which youwill need to learn if you are to master this subject. Two ofthose more fully explained in the full course are theNovenaria Signorum and the Duodecimae Signorum.

Rulership by Sign is the most important thing that you shouldtake away from this lecture. It is used to see the connectionsexisting in the chart. It is also used for delineating success orfailure and the methods used. Dignity versus debility is alsoimportant as it relates to success or failure and tells us howand in what quality a planet is working. Remember, thesematters constitute the language of Medieval Astrology andyou will come to use them constantly in judging a chart.

As we finish let us now consolidate what we have learnt by

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applying it to your personal horoscope. If you have a copy ofyour horoscope then examine it starting with the EssentialDignities and list those planets that are in their own Sign, anythat are in exaltation, rulers of the triplicity {here don’t forgetto get the order correct – if you were born during daylightthen it is the diurnal order, if at night then the nocturnalorder}, any rulers of the terms and finally the rulers of thedecans {or face}. Then apply the rest of the rules – decidewhich planets are in debility.

Also make sure you look at both the Ascendant (cusp of the1st House) and the Midheaven (MC). So, first of all you willhave noted if your horoscope is diurnal or nocturnal, i.e. if theSun is in the 12th, 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th or 7th houses, then itis diurnal. If it is in the houses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, it isnocturnal. You want to then make a list of the triplicity rulersof the Ascendant and the Midheaven, and that will bedepending on the elemental nature of the Signs in eachcase.

If you have a diurnal figure with a Fire Sign rising, thetriplicity rulers are going to be the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn. Ina nocturnal figure the order is Jupiter, Sun, Saturn. If youhave an air Sign on the Midheaven, the triplicity rulers of theMidheaven are going to be Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter indiurnal figures. In nocturnal figures: Mercury, Saturn, andJupiter. Likewise for the Water and Earth signs.

Count up the planets you have in masculine Signs and howmany planets you have in feminine Signs. Notice theAscendant in particular, the Ascendant's Sign, masculine orfeminine, the element that it's in, the decan the degree of theAscendant is in. Make up a complete list and analyse yourhoroscope thoroughly as a way of becoming familiar with thetables and charts of the Figures.

Note the house in which the ruler of the Ascendant isplaced. This is going to relate to the following lessons veryclosely. Also note the house in which the ruler of the 10thhouse is placed. Pay careful attention to the Sign, term,decan and house they are in. Note any degrees of dignityand debility they are in. Pay very close attention to all these

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things because this is the kind of stuff upon which thepractical, concrete delineation of the horoscope depends.

This brings us to the end of this lesson. Please revise anypoints that you are unsure of and then proceed to the Test.

Good luck.

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MEDIEVAL ASTROLOGY FOUNDATION COURSE

LESSON ONE TEST:SIGN SUBDIVISIONS & RULERSHIPS

Please answer the following questions. When doing so youshould not refer to the above text nor the diagrams, tables orlists accompanying it.

Before attempting the test you should at least, be able toaccurately recall from memory all the information containedin the diagrams, tables and charts and be able to summarisethe essential points from the text.

Questions:

1. What are the 5 levels of Dignity in Medieval Astrology?2. What planet rules Aries?3. What planet is exalted in Aries?4. What Sign is the Moon exalted in?5. What planet rules Sagittarius?6. What planet is exalted in Sagittarius?7. Name the triplicity rulers of Fire for a diurnal

horoscope.8. Name the triplicity rulers of Earth in a nocturnal

horoscope.9. Name the Water Signs.10. What are the Terms? Describe.11. Name the cardinal Signs?12. The Ascendant of a diurnal natal horoscope is 16

degrees of Gemini. What planet rules the Sign ofGemini? What planet is exalted in the Sign Gemini?Name the triplicity rulers of the Ascendant? Name theruler of the Egyptian term for the Ascendant? Namethe ruler of the decan of the Ascendant?

13. Complete the following sentence, “The good or badsignified by a house…”

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ANSWERS

1. The 5 levels of Dignity, known as the EssentialDignities are: rulership, exaltation, triplicity, term andface. If you answered decan instead of face that isacceptable.

2. Mars

3. The Sun

4. Taurus

5. Jupiter

6. No planet is exalted in Sagittarius

7. Sun, Jupiter and Saturn.

8. Moon, Venus and Mars. [Special note: for a nocturnalhoroscope (the native was born a night) the firsttriplicity ruler of earth starts with the nocturnal ruler,then the diurnal ruler, then the participating ruler. In adiurnal horoscope (native born during the day) youstart with Venus, then the Moon and Mars].

9. Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.

10. The Egyptian terms are subdivisions of the 30 degreesof each zodiacal Sign, allotted to the 5 visible planets.

11. Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn.

12. Mercury rules the Sign.No planet is exalted in Gemini.The triplicity rulers are: Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter.16° Gemini falls within the term ruled by Venus.Mars is the decan (or face) ruler.

13. “….emanates from the ruler of the house.”

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If you got 11 or more answers correct you have done welland should now go onto LESSON TWO. If you got less than10 answers correct you should thoroughly revise the LessonOne before proceeding.