Last week we went over dignity and how it makes a planet powerful or weak. This week we will look at reception, which is being in the dignity of another planet. As you recall, there are five kinds of dignity and two kinds of debility (not counting peregrination). A planet is never entirely in his own dignities (Mars in early Scorpio is the only exception). When Planet A is in the dignities of Planet B, Planet B is said to receive him. If Planet B is also in the dignities of Planet A, they are said to be in mutual reception. Reception is how much one planet likes another. If two planets are in each other's signs, such as Venus in Capricorn and Saturn in Taurus, that is the strongest kind of reception. They love each other. If in each other's exaltation, as with Venus in Libra and Saturn in Pisces, they are infatuated with each other. These two dignities are strong enough to bring things together if otherwise difficult situations present. Triplicity, term, and face are weaker (yeah, he's a nice guy), so you would want two of them to be as strong as either sign or exaltation. There is also reception into debility. Venus in Pisces receives Mercury into his detriment and fall. Venus absolutely abhors Mercury. If Planet A is in the sign of Planet B, and Planet B is in the terms of Planet A, it is called mixed reception. That means A likes B better than B likes A. For some questions, that is okay, for other's it isn't so great. If you have a question about getting a promotion, it is fine; if you have a question about reciprocated love, it probably isn't so great. How is this important to questions? Well, dignity is the power to act, aspect is the opportunity to act, and reception is the desire to act. If you have no desire to act, then all the power and opportunity mean nothing.
Now that we have covered most of the basics, we just have house meanings to cover before we start trying our hand at an actual reading. Each house represents a different aspect of life. We can consider a chart to be a theatrical play. The script is the question. The planets are the actors. The signs are their costumes. So what part do they have? This is determined by the houses. Each house is a different character. The sign on the cusp of the house determines which planet plays that part. If Aquarius is on the cusp of the house in question, Saturn gets that role. If Cancer is on the cusp, Moon gets the role. So now how do we decide which house we want? That is always the biggest question. Let's take a quick look at each house in turn.
The ascendant is always the querent. Always. Lilly used to verify his questions by comparing the sign on the ascendant to the physical appearance of his querent.
Student: They say in missing person cases and you don't know the person, the missing person is the ascendant.
Me: Yes, that is true. But it still also represents the querent, even if the querent has no part in the play. In cases like that we usually don't care about finding the querent, and the querent takes a back seat to the missing person, but he is still there nonetheless. Also, many missing person cases are viewed as event charts, not horaries, so there is no querent. We will touch on event charts later.
The 2nd house is resources, money, wealth. If it is a movable possession, it belongs here.
The 3rd house is siblings, cousins, and neighbors. It is letters and rumors. It is short journeys.
The 4th house is the home, parents, and particularly father. It is the land and anything in the ground. If it is immovable possession, it belongs here.
The 5th house is children, artistic endeavors, and pleasure. It is theaters, parties, etc. It is also ambassadors.
The 6th house is the querent's state of health. It is employees, and animals the size of a dog or smaller.
The 7th house is the spouse, partner, or open enemy. It is also any person to whom you do not have a defined relationship.
The 8th house is debt, death and inheritance. It is not sex. Not even if you are a necrophiliac. Sex belongs in the 5th house of pleasure (no matter how perverse) and children.
The 9th house is religion, churches, higher education, and foreign lands.
The 10th house is occupation and daily activity (whether employed or not), the government (or any authority), and the mother. If asking about the parents as a joint unit, she goes with the father in the 4th.
The 11th house is hopes and wishes, friends, and organizations or groups of people.
The 12th house is imprisonment (not hospitalization, that goes in the 6th of health), self-undoing, witchery, secret enemies, and animals larger than a dog.
Not all questions are about the querent. Sometimes the querent will be wondering if his sister is going to marry the loser she is dating. Sometimes the querent will need to find the notebook of her brother's that she lost. Sometimes he will want to know what is making his dog sick. In these cases, we turn the chart. We take the house that represents that person and make it the new first house and count out the houses accordingly. So if the querent is asking about his sister and her boyfriend, we would look at the 3rd (being the querent's sister) and the 7th of the 3rd, which is the 9th, for her boyfriend. Remember that we start counting with the house in question as 1st. We do not add 7 to 3, that would send us to the wrong house and give us a wrong reading. So the brother's notebook would be the 2nd (possession) of the 3rd (brother), and thus is the 4th. The sickness of the dog is the 6th (illness) of the 6th (dog), and would thus be the 11th.
Q: On the brother's notebook why the 2nd for the notebook?
A: The notebook is a movable possession.
So what house is the querent's wife's father?
Student: 10th
How about the child's toys?
Student: 9th
Me: Why 9th?
Student: 5th from H5
Me: We want the child's toys, not his children. Toys are a movable possession and thus are a second house item. What he does with them could be the 9th.
Student: Pleasure, creativity, etc.
Me: Yes, I realized that. 6th is the correct answer, though.
The friend's garage?
Student: 2nd
How about your aunt's purse?
Student: Aunt on mother or fathers side?
Me: Good question! Both.
Student: 4th, unless you want to get particular.
Me: Why 4th?
Student: Movable possession of a relative.
Me: Good idea. But different relatives have different houses. 3rd house is siblings and cousins. Other relatives have their own houses.
Student 2: 7th
Me: Okay, so 7th is the 2nd of the 3rd of the 4th.
Turning the chart is very helpful to identify the correct house. You just want to be careful how many times you turn it. The querent's cousin's friend's girlfriend's mother could be the 10th of the 7th of the 11th of the 3rd. This gets very complicated, though, and we want to keep it simple. Since the querent personally does not have a relationship to this person, just use the 7th house. If he did have a closer relationship than this, he would most likely have said so, and you would use the appropriate house for that relationship.
Q: As for our children? Are they all 5th house?
A: Some say yes, others say no. I say yes. Some say that you need to differentiate. I think the chart will tell you which child is involved. Some say that you should take the 5th for the oldest, and every third thereafter as your child's siblings, but I say they are still your children. And if you have more than 6 children, then #1 and #7 will be the same. And I do know people with more than 6 children.
Student: Very common here in Colombia.
Me: The only time I would use the 3rd of the 5th is if I am referring to my child's half-sibling on the other side. For example, my ex remarried and had a son. That child is the 3rd (brother) of the 5th (my child), but he is not my child. If you really need to know which child it is, the choice of significator and the sign on the cusp should tell you which one.
Q: Could you simply name him and use the 7th?
A: Naming doesn't matter. Relationships matter. Moira is my child no matter whether I call her "my daughter" or "Moira".
Q: What about step-children that do not live with you? 11th?
A: Yes. They would be your spouse's children, and that is the foundation of your relationship with them.
If a client uses a name, ask what the relationship is so you can choose the proper house. 7th is only for people we do not have a relationship with (or if turning the chart lands us there). So turn the chart only if you have to, otherwise you could find yourself running around in circles. In some rare cases, a person will have multiple relationships with a person, such as someone who is dating their boss. Then you have to look at the context of the question. If they are asking a romantic question, use the 7th. If they are asking a professional question, use the 10th. You will often find that in cases like these, there is a hint of the dual relationship in the chart, for instance the rulers of the two houses might be the same. This is not always the case, but it does often show up. Just remember, if you don't have to turn the chart, don't.
Read chapter VII (pages 50-56).
