We have now learned about the heavens, the signs, aspects and the planets. Now let us look at dignity. There are two types of dignity - essential and accidental. Essential dignity can be thought of as how much potential power a planet has. The more essential dignity, the more potential. Accidental dignity can be thought of as how much opportunity the planet has to use that power. For example, someone with a PhD. would have lots of power, but if he is unemployed, he has no opportunity to use it. Likewise, a high school dropout would have little power, but he might still score an excellent job, like Peter Jennings.
Let�s start with essential dignity. Essential dignity is based on a planet�s position in the zodiac. We went over what signs each planet rules, and that is often considered the strongest kind of dignity. Each planet also is exalted in a sign, and that is usually considered the second strongest dignity. Each triplicity of signs has two rulers, one day and one night. Each sign is divided into 5 unequal terms, each of which is ruled by a true planet. And the last type of dignity is called face, with each sign divided into 3 faces, each consisting of 10 degrees, each being ruled by a planet or luminary. I won't ask you to memorize all the dignities of the planets. It might be a good idea to memorize the sign, exaltation and triplicity rulers, but I still don't know the terms and faces by heart. There is a table of dignities between pages 103 and 104 of CA1. Just as a planet can be strong by dignity, it can also be weak with debility. A planet that is in the sign opposite his own is in detriment, also called exile.
Q: Meaning it is weak?
A: Yes. Very weak.
Q: So fall is the worst?
A: No, detriment is the worst. Fall is just one step above detriment. Detriment is homeless in a foreign country. Fall is homeless in your own country.
Student: That is a great analogy
Me: Not mine, alas. I don't remember where I read it, though.
Student: Another homeless soul
A planet in a sign opposite his sign of exaltation is said to be in fall, not quite as bad as detriment, but certainly a bad place to be. A planet can have mixed dignity, for instance if it is in detriment and triplicity, as with the Moon at night in Capricorn. So maybe our analogy for that would be a high school dropout who got a GED. It doesn�t carry as much weight as a high school diploma or a college degree, but it is better than a dropout without a GED. There is one more state, that of peregrine. It is a planet that is in none of his essential dignities. If he has no dignity, he is peregrine. There has been discussion as to whether or not a planet in fall or detriment can be peregrine. Lilly says yes. He gives the example of Saturn at 9 Aries (which is the sign of his fall) as being peregrine. So the worst off a planet can possibly be is Mercury in most of Pisces, where he is in detriment, fall, and peregrine except for the 6 degrees of his term. The best off any planet can be is Mars in the first 6 degrees of Scorpio, his sign, his triplicity, in his term and face. No planet is exalted in Scorpio, so Mars has exclusive rulership over those first 6 degrees.
Accidental dignity is based on a variety of factors. A table that shows them all is on page 115 of CA1. First, we look at what house of chart a planet is in. The 1st and 10th houses are the best houses, the 12th house is the worst. The others fall in between. Next, we check to see if the planet is retrograde or direct. Direct is preferable. Since Sun and Moon are never retrograde, we will see if they are void of course (making no more aspects before leaving their sign). We will check their speed. For this we need to consult our ephemeris unless our software lists it (Astrolog does not). Check the location of the planet for the day of your chart and the day after. Compare this to the average speed for the planet to determine if it is swift or slow. Some planets prefer being in front of the sun, and others prefer being behind him. If a planet rises before the sun, it is oriental. If it rises after the sun, it is occidental. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars prefer being oriental, the others prefer being occidental. Note that this means everyone wants to be moving farther away from the sun.
Q: Can you give an example?
A: Mars in Aries is oriental to Sun in Cancer. The waxing moon is occidental.
Q: Sun at 22 Pisces, Mars at 23 Pisces is Mars Occidental?
A: Yes.
Planets don�t like being too close to the sun, either, as they are burnt up by him. If a planet is within 17 degrees of the sun, he is under the sun�s beams. This is uncomfortable. If a planet is within 8 degrees of the sun, he is combust. Either way, the planet is outshined by the sun so we cannot see him. Once he gets within 17 minutes of the sun, he becomes cazimi. My personal belief (I don�t know if it is borne out by the ancients) is that once a planet reaches this point, he becomes visible as a shadow across the sun, as with an eclipse. Eclipses only happen when the planet is at 0 degrees latitude, otherwise he is too high or low to be seen, but he would still be cazimi. A planet that is cazimi is very strong. As soon as he is past 17' of the sun again, he leaves cazimi and returns to combustion. The last consideration of accidental dignity or debility is relationships with other planets and stars. A planet that is in partile trine, sextile or conjunction to a benefic is strengthened; a planet that is in a partile square, opposition or conjunction to a malefic is weakened. A planet that is conjunct Spica or Regulus is very fortunate; a planet that is conjunct Algol is very infortunate.
Q: Mars will be conjunct Algol soon?
A: Yes, as he prepares to leave Taurus.
Q: So that is bad for whatever the planet Mars signifies?
A: Yes. Algol has the symbolism of losing one's head, either literally or figuratively, usually the latter.
Q: As in getting angry?
A: Yes, or panicking, or becoming besotted against one's better judgment. It all depends on the question.
The exact degrees of these stars shifts each year. They have shifted roughly 6 degrees since Lilly published his chart. This is due to the precession of the equinox (which I covered in the first class). These three stars are very popular and you should be able to have your software display their exact location for you. We will explore the fixed stars in a future lesson.
Some people like to take all the scores listed in the tables and add them up to assign each planet a number, but it isn�t usually necessary. For most purposes, you can just mentally tick off the strengths and weaknesses and come up with strong, weak, very strong or very weak, instead of 7 points of essential dignity and 14 points accidental dignity. Unless there is a specific reason to know exactly how much dignity a planet has, don�t bother. You must take into account the essential dignity and accidental dignity separately, as they show two different kinds of strength. It is 7 points and 14 points, not 21 points.
Read chapters XVIII (pages 101-105), pages 110-115.
