Essential dignity, in the context of an astrological horoscope or natal chart, refers to the relative “strength” or “weakness” of a planet based on its zodiac sign and specific degree. This strength or weakness is referred to as the planet’s essence—what the 17th-century astrologer William Lilly called "the strength, fortitude or debility of the Planets [or] significators."

Background
Since most astrology centers around the unique energies of each planet, and their various effects on Earth, essential dignity is simply an extra tool for gauging any potential “pros” or ”cons” of a planet in a given horoscope chart. A specific planet may be more ”effective” in a horoscope based on the time of day or night the chart was cast, or an individual’s personal birth time, or simply what sign the planet is in. For example, the Sun is traditionally the ruler of Leo. The opposite sign of Leo is Aquarius. Thus, someone with the Sun in Aquarius will be said to have a “weakened” or “debilitated” Sun, or that their Sun is in detriment. The Sun’s effects for this person will not be as pronounced or felt as intensely. This is, of course, dependent on other factors unique to the individual, but the Sun and Leo represent the self, vitality, showmanship, loyalty and respect. Aquarius and its planetary ruler, Saturn, both represent necessary tasks, group success, detailed facts, and potentially difficult (but often needed) scenarios. In the Northern Hemisphere, Leo and the Sun are indicative of high summer. Aquarius, in January, is a zodiac sign of midwinter. The Sun in winter is lower in the sky, and thus weaker than in summer. However, not every planet in a horoscope will have an elevated or debilitated status; some planetary placements are purely “neutral”, so the perceived effects will be less noticeable or intense.

By comparison, accidental dignity indicates 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, to find the essential dignity of Mars at 27° of Capricorn, one would first take into account the fact that the planet is already in a dignified position—Mars is said to be exalted in the sign of 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 the same horoscope featured an Aquarius first house—making Capricorn the twelfth house—Mars at 27° Capricorn would be placed in the twelfth house; Mars's accidental dignity would be poor, since it would be located in a weak or malevolent cadent house. The twelfth house symbolizes rest, respite, dreams, and fantasy, as well as deep sleep and escapism. These themes are contrary to the motivated, spirited, and determined energies of Mars as a planet, and of Capricorn as a sign. If Mars, in this horoscope, were to also be 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.

Traditional dignities 
Traditionally the five essential dignities are:
Sign vs detriment
Exaltation vs fall
Triplicity
Terms (or "bounds")
Face (or "decan")

For post-Classical astrologers, such as Bonatti or Lilly, the dignities had a hierarchy.  The most important dignity was sign 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, sign 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 sign rulerships (see article on ruling planets.)  This is most likely the result of the simplification of astrological technique that occurred when astrology lost popularity beginning in the eighteenth century (see History of astrology.)

Commonly used dignities
The most commonly used of the traditional essential dignities are listed in the table below.

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.

Decanate dignities

Bounds 
In astrology, the bounds or terms are a subdivision of the zodiac into five unequal regions that are assigned to each of the five traditional planets. No subdivisions are assigned to the luminaries. The bounds may be traced back to as early as the middle of the first century on papyrus horoscopes. While the logic behind the creation of the bounds and interpretations of the earliest horoscopes they are featured on are unknown, they are now an important element of traditional astrology, being used as a form of essential dignity and being implemented in different concepts and techniques such as reception, primary directions, and length of life techniques.

Types of bounds

Egyptian 
The Egyptian bounds are one of the most commonly used models to organize the subdivisions of the zodiac, especially during the Hellenistic period. Astrologers such as Valens, Firmicus, and Paulus used this model. Despite being named “Egyptian,” these systems of bounds appear to have originated in ancient Babylonia.

Ptolemaic 
The Ptolemaic bounds are another model to organize the subdivisions of the zodiac that was favored by scholar Claudius Ptolemy. Ptolemy acknowledged that the Egyptian bounds were the most commonly accepted but claimed they did not “preserve the consistency either of the order or of the individual quantity.” He then suggests the Chaldean as an alternate model for organizing the bounds. Ptolemy did not create this model; rather, he came across it in an ancient manuscript and adopted it for his own use, claiming “we have come upon an ancient manuscript, much damaged, which contains a natural and consistent explanation of their order and number, and at the same time the degrees reported in the aforesaid nativities and the numbers given in the summations were found to agree with the tabulation of the ancients.” This model seems to have gained more popularization during the middle ages and astrologers such as Lilly used this model.

Uses in practice

Essential dignity 
The bounds are used to determine the essential dignity of a planet, which refers to a planet's ability to express their significations. Some astrologers believe that different forms of essential dignity hold different “weight.” A planet in its own domicile is said to have +5, exaltation +4, triplicity +3, bounds +2, and decans +1. Some Arabic texts that may reflect the traditions put more importance on domicile and exaltation as forms of essential dignity over the bounds but put less emphasis on the terms, which might explain the origins of how each form came to be weighted. It does not appear that astrological literature from antiquity, however, has a ranking system of the different types of essential dignities; in fact, some astrologers believed that a planet in its own bound is just as powerful as being in its own domicile- Firmicus, for example, states “for when a planet is found in its own terms, it is just as if located in its own sign.”

Delineation 
Delineations in the astrological context refer to the interpretation of charts. There are many things to evaluate when making a delineation, the bounds being one of them. Interpreting the bounds are made on a chart-by-chart basis and are contingent on many factors such as the sign and house it occupies, sect, aspects, etc. There are other factors to be examined as mentioned by astrologers throughout the tradition, including whether the bound lord is a benefic or malefic. Rhetorius gives some general guidelines for interpreting this claiming: “whenever one of the stars is found in the domicile of a benefic and in the terms of a benefic having significance for the nativity, it benefits the [native’s] fortune; and if it is found in the domicile of a benefic but in the terms of a malefic, it reduces the good of the fortune; but if it chances to be in the domicile of a malefic and in the terms of a malefic, it hurts and darkens his luck.” In addition to evaluating whether or not the bound lord is benefic or malefic, some astrologers have also provided their own delineations for each subdivision of the zodiac in the 12 signs. For example, Valens claims “The first 6° of Aries, those of Zeus, are temperate, robust, abundant in seed, benefic."

See also 
Dwadasama

Notes

Citations

Works cited

Further reading 

Technical factors of Western astrology
본질적 위계(本質的 位階, essential dignity)는 점성술 분야에서 사용되는 행성의 신화적 특징으로, 황도대에서 행성이나 가상점이 위치한 별자리와 도수에 의해서 그것의 강약과 본질이 결정된다. 17세기의 출중한 점성가 윌리엄 릴리는 본질적 위계를 "행성 (또는) 운명점의 강함과 용기 그리고 약함 등"으로 분류했다. 다른 한편으로는, 본질적 위계는 마치 출생 천궁도의 하늘에서 다른 요소들로부터 분리된 것처럼, 행성이나 가상점의 강약에 대한 판단만을 추구한다.

이것에 비해 우발적 위계(偶發的 位階, accidental dignity)는 출생 천궁도에서 행성이나 가상점이 다른 요소들과의 관계에서 비롯된 힘이 어느 정도인가를 나타낸다. 차트에서 다른 행성이나 모서리 혹은 항성과 근접해 있거나, 다른 행성이나 가상점과 각을 맺고 있는 (또는 모서리를 기준으로 대칭을 이루는) 행성을 그러한 예로 들 수 있다.

예를 들면, 화성이 염소자리 27도에 위치해 있다면, 그것의 본질적 위계는 염소자리에서 고양됨과 염소자리 의 27도의 텀의 주인으로 그리고 염소자리 27도의 페이스의 주인으로 고려될 수 있다. 그것이 적지 않게 위계가 부여된 화성이다.

만일 출생 천궁도에서 화성이 열두번째 하우스에 위치해 있다면, 그것이 약하거나 악의 있는 마침의 하우스에 있다고 해석 되어, 화성의 우발적 위계는 매우 빈약해 진다. 게다가, 화성이 염소자리의 주인인 토성 같은 악의성 행성과 우측 사분위각을 이룬다면, 화성의 힘과 능력은 방해를 받아 오히려 호의적으로 작용할 것이다. 이러한 우발적 위계의 요소들이 본질적 위계에서 만큼은 강한 화성을 화성을 약하게 만드는 경향이 있다.

전통적으로 다섯 가지의 본질적 위계가 있다.:

 거주지(주인지위 또는 집) + 손상
 고양 + 쇠퇴
 삼궁
 육분각(텀 또는 바운드)
 십분각(페이스 또는 테칸)

보나티와 릴리와 같은 중세 점성가들에게 있어서, 위계는 계급이었다. 가장 중요한 위계는 거주지의 주인지위였고, 보다 약간 덜 중요한 것은 고양이었다. 중세 점성술에서는 삼궁의 주인지위 역시 상당히 중요하지만, 클라우디오스 프톨레마이오스와 같은 헬레니즘 점성가들에게는 전혀 그렇지 않다. 텀 또는 바운드라고도 불리는 육분각에 대한 주인지위는 중요성이 매우 많이 감소되었고, 테칸이나 '페이스라고도 불리는 십분각에 대한 주인지위는 거의 전적으로 무시된다.(릴리는 육분각의 주인으로 역할하는 유일한 기능은 어떠한 이로운 본질적 위계도 갖추지 못하여 유해한 상황이라고 여겨지는 완전한 유랑 상태로부터 행성을 보호하는 것이라고 했다.)

그러나, 헬레니즘 점성가들은 위계에 대해 중세 점성가들과는 매우 다른 견해를 갖고 있다. 프톨레마이오스와 베티우스 발렌스와 같은 초기의 점성가들은 거주지의 주인지위와 고양, 삼궁의 주인지위 그리고 육분각의 주인지위가 효력에 있어서 모두 동등한 세기를 갖는다고 보았다.

많은 현대 점성가들은 본질적 위계에 있어서 거주지의 주인지위만 제외하고 나머지는 약간만을 유의한다. 그러함은 18세기에 인기를 잃었을 때 나타난 점성술 기법의 단순화의 결과일 가능성이 가장 높다.(점성술의 역사 참조.)

가장 일반적으로 사용되는 전통적인 본질적 위계표

십분각 
점성술에서, 테칸은 별자리의 10도씩 분할한 구간이며, 그러므로 십분각이라 칭해도 무방하다. 고대의 점성가들은 황도대 별자리에 대한 완전한 해석을 위하여, 각각의 별자리를 거의 열흘에 해당하는 기간씩으로 분할했다. 그러한 분할은 데칸이나 데칸테스라고 알려져 있으며, 행성의 본질적 위계와 혼합되거나 그것을 증감시키는 보조적인 효과로 작용하며 개인의 특징 변화를 담당한다. 36개의 데칸은 360일이므로 1년의 365일에서 5일(때때로 6일)이 남기 때문에, 그러한 열흘씩의 구간은 다소 임의적이다.

고대의 서양 점성술의 개념에 근거한다면, 십분각과 그것들의 주인들은 다음과 같이 할당될 수 있다.

현대 위계 
다른 본질적 위계의 사용을 꺼려하는 많은 현대 점성가들은 세 개의 가시외 행성인 천왕성과 해왕성 그리고 명왕성을 각각 물병자리와 물고기자리 그리고 전갈자리의 현대 주인으로 사용한다. 그러한 실천은 그 행성들의 본성과 그 별자리들의 본성 사이의 유사성에서부터 비롯되었다.

같이 보기 
 육분각
 십분각
 다와다삼사

각주

참고 문헌 

Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, tr. J. Ashmand, 1822, complete. 
Vettius Valens. The Anthology. Book III. [translated by Robert Schmidt and edited by Robert Hand.] Project Hindsight, Greek Track, Vol. VIII (The 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. D. 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. D. Houlding, London, 2000; and [in facsimile of 1647 edition] by Regulus Press, London, 1985.
Hand, Robert. Horoscope Symbols. Schiffer Publishing (Easton, PA., 1987), .
Crane, Joseph. Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy. (The Wessex Astrologer, Ltd., 2007.) .
Marion D. March and Joan McEvers, The Only Way to Learn Astrology, 6 volumes. (ACS Publications, San Diego, 1982.)
Understanding Planetary Dignity and Debility , by Deborah Houlding; Skyscript.

점성술