Essential Dignities
In Traditional Astrology planets have essential dignity if they are in the sign of their Rulership or Domicile, the sign of their Exaltation, Triplicity, Term, or Face or in specific degrees of other signs where they function well.
A dignified planet is stronger than one lacking in essential dignity.
Essential dignity refers to the relative strength or weakness of a planet or point's zodiac position by sign and degree, or its essence - what the 17th-century astrologer William Lilly called "the strength, fortitude or debility of the Planets [or] significators." In other words, essential dignity seeks to view the strengths of a planet or point as though it were isolated from other factors in the sky of the Natal Chart.
By comparison, Accidental Dignities indicate how much strength a planet or point derives from its position in a natal chart, such as its relation to the other factors in the chart: for example, its proximity to other planets, or to the four Angles of the chart, or to stars, as well as the Aspects (or symmetrical angular connections) it forms with other planets or points in the chart.
For example, the essential dignity of Mars, if located at 27 degrees of Capricorn would take into account the fact that Mars is exalted in Capricorn, and also that it is the "bounds" ruler of the 27th degree of Capricorn and also the face ruler of the 27th degree of Capricorn. This is a considerably dignified Mars.
If that Mars were located in the twelfth house of a natal chart, Mars's accidental dignity would be poor, since it would be located in a weak or malevolent Cadent House. If Mars was also squared to a malevolent planet, such as Saturn, and would be receiving a dexter Square Aspect from malefic Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, this would further hinder Mars's strength and ability to operate benevolently. These accidental dignity factors would tend to weaken a Mars which is otherwise strong in essential dignity.
Traditionally the five essential dignities are:
- Domicile (rulership or house) + Detriment
- Exaltation + Fall
- Triplicity
- Terms (or "Bounds")
- Face (or Decan)
For post-Classical astrologers, such as Guido Bonatti or Lilly, the dignities had a hierarchy. The most important dignity was domicile rulership; slightly less important was exaltation. Triplicity rulerships were still fairly important in medieval astrology, but nowhere near as vital as they were for Hellenistic astrologers such as Ptolemy. Terms or bounds rulerships became very much diminished in importance, and face rulers were almost entirely ignored. Lilly said that the only function face rulers served was to keep a planet from being entirely peregrine; that is, without any essential dignity whatever — which was considered a malefic condition.
However, Hellenistic astrologers had a very different view of the dignities. To earlier astrologers, such as Ptolemy and Vettius Valens, domicile rulership, exaltation, triplicity rulership and bounds rulership were all of equal strength in influence.
Many modern astrologers take little heed of essential dignities, with the exception of domicile rulerships. This is most likely the result of the simplification of astrological technique that occurred when astrology lost popularity beginning in the eighteenth century.
Table of the most commonly used of the traditional essential dignities[1]
| Sign | Domicile | Detriment | Exaltation | Fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Mars | Venus | Sun | Saturn |
| Taurus | Venus | Mars | Moon | None |
| Gemini | Mercury | Jupiter | None | None |
| Cancer | Moon | Saturn | Jupiter | Mars |
| Leo | Sun | Saturn | None | None |
| Virgo | Mercury | Jupiter | Mercury | Venus |
| Libra | Venus | Mars | Saturn | Sun |
| Scorpio | Mars | Venus | None | Moon |
| Sagittarius | Jupiter | Mercury | None | None |
| Capricorn | Saturn | Moon | Mars | Jupiter |
| Aquarius | Saturn | Sun | None | None |
| Pisces | Jupiter | Mercury | Venus | Mercury |
Modern dignities
Many modern astrologers, eschewing the use of the other essential dignities, use the three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto as the modern rulers of Aquarius, Pisces and Scorpio, respectively. The practice derives from the similarity between the nature of the planets with the nature of these signs. This as illustrated by the differences in the two "decans" tables above. It has also included more recently the dwarf planets Ceres and Eris relating them to Virgo and Libra, the same as the signs Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces.
| Sign | Affinent Ruler | Detriment | Exaltation | Fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Mars | Eris | Sun | Saturn |
| Taurus | Venus | Pluto | Moon | Uranus |
| Gemini | Mercury | Jupiter | Eris | Ceres |
| Cancer | Moon | Saturn | Jupiter | Mars |
| Leo | Sun | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto |
| Virgo | Ceres | Neptune | Mercury | Venus |
| Libra | Eris | Mars | Saturn | Sun |
| Scorpio' | Pluto | Venus | Uranus | Moon |
| Sagittarius' | Jupiter | Mercury | Ceres | Eris |
| Capricorn | Saturn | Moon | Mars | Jupiter |
| Aquarius | Uranus | Sun | Pluto | Neptune |
| Pisces | Neptune | Ceres | Venus | Mercury |
Most Important Essential Dignities and Debilities[2]
| Planet | Domicile/ Rulership |
Detriment | Exaltation | Fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun 
|
Leo 
|
Aquarius 
|
Aries 
|
Libra 
|
Moon 
|
Cancer 
|
Capricorn 
|
Taurus 
|
Scorpio 
|
Mercury 
|
Gemini 
|
Sagittarius 
|
||
Virgo 
|
Pisces 
|
|||
Venus  |
Taurus |
Scorpio |
Pisces |
Virgo
|
| Libra |
Aries |
|||
Mars  |
Aries |
Libra |
Capricorn |
Cancer
|
| (Scorpio ) |
(Taurus ) |
|||
Jupiter  |
Sagittarius |
Gemini |
Cancer |
Capricorn
|
| (Pisces ) |
(Virgo ) |
|||
Saturn  |
Capricorn |
Cancer |
Libra |
Aries
|
| (Aquarius ) |
(Leo ) |
|||
Uranus  |
Aquarius |
Leo |
Scorpio |
Taurus
|
Neptune  |
Pisces |
Virgo |
Cancer |
Capricorn
|
Pluto  |
Scorpio |
Taurus |
Leo |
Aquarius
|
See also
- Accidental Dignities
- Dwad (Dwadasama or Dodecatemoria)
- History of Astrology
Weblinks
- AstroFox 0.8 Online tool (faulty!) for calculating your Essential and Accidental Dignities, Debilities, Almuten Figuris, Hyleg and Alcochoden
- Wikipedia: Essential dignity
- Ptolemy's table of Essential Dignities (Skyscript)
- The Essential Dignities of the Planets (from William Lilly's Christian Astrology 1647; Christopher Warnock, 2011)
Bibliography
- Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, complete. online (sacred texts; translated by J. Ashmand, 1822)
- Vettius Valens. Anthology. Book III. (translated by Robert Schmidt and edited by Robert Hand, Project Hindsight, Greek Track, Vol. VIII (Golden Hind Press, Berkeley Springs, WV, 1994)
- Late Classical Astrology: Paulus Alexandrinus and Olympiodorus (with the Scholia of later Latin Commentators). (Translated by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum. Archive for the Retrieval of Historical Astrological Texts (ARHAT), 2001
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology, Book 1: An Introduction to Astrology; Book 2: The Resolution of All Manner of Questions, 1647. 2nd ed., 1659. Re-published by Astrology Classics (Bel Air, Maryland), 2004; by Ascella Publications, ed. Deborah Houlding, London, 1999; and [in facsimile of 1647 edition] by Regulus Press, London, 1985
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology, Book 3: An Easie And Plaine Method Teaching How to Judge upon Nativities, 1647. 2nd ed., 1659. Re-published by Astrology Classics (Bel Air, Maryland), 2004; by Ascella Publications, ed. Houlding, London, 2000; and [in facsimile of 1647 edition] by Regulus Press, London, 1985
- Hand, Robert. Horoscope Symbols. Schiffer Publishing (Easton, PA., 1987), ISBN 0-914918-16-8
- Crane, Joseph. Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy. (Wessex Astrologer, Ltd., 2007.) ISBN 1-902405-24-2
- Marion D. March and Joan McEvers, The Only Way to Learn Astrology, 6 volumes (ACS Publications, San Diego, 1982) ISBN 978-1934976067
Notes and References
- ↑ This table of Lilly is perhaps the source referred to most commonly, but the same table will be found in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, Valens' Anthologiae, Guido Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae, and a great many other major textbooks and sources
- ↑ The signs in brackets are those that have been used before the discovery of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (which is in accordance to the Thema mundi). Nowadays these dignities still get used in Horary Astrology and in Electional Astrology, where the three Trans-Saturnians usually are not considered. See also Wikipedia: Thema Mundi
- ↑ Provided by Chris Brennan, 2019. In Christian Astrology by William Lilly, this table can be found on page 115. In Book 2 of Christian Astrology, Lilly exemplifies the usage of a table in Chapter XXVIII, page 178. In the upper half of the table the standard essential dignities and debilities are listed, and in the lower half: accidental dignities and debilities are listed. When a planet is dignified, it will increase in the number of points it has, and when it is debilitated, it will decrease in the number of points it has. A dignified planet can range from a dignified position of 6 points, or a debilitated position of negative 5 points. These points can be added up to either create an extremely dignified planet, a devastatingly debilitated planet, or a neutralized planet.