Essential Dignity: The Anchor for your Astro Interpretations
Let's dive into Essential Dignity...
What’s poppin? It’s your girl Christydabull, your local Taurus coming with another post for the girls who carry some dignity on them. If you’re new to my content, take some time to read through my work and heavily consider following (or subscribing) to my Substack for more Astrology content. I’m also accepting Anonymous Astrology questions for my column that I will be responding to on the monthly basis, so do keep your eyes out for the scoop. You are able to ask me any astrology question that you want; Spill the tea, or keep it simple, either way, your question will get answered in some sort of fashion. I highly advise you to describe me some scenarios that you want to look into more, in an advice column style, but if you just have astro questions, that is perfectly fine as well. Here is the link to the form and now…Let’s jump into the post now, shall we?
So….you’ve heard of astrological terms such as Domicile, Detriment, Exaltation, and Fall…but you have no idea how to use or apply them? Don’t worry, I’m here to be your guide. There are a lot of smaller concepts within astrology that help the grand scheme of modes to interpret or come up with delineations. I recently took a course on Essential Dignity from Kepler School with Mychal Bryan, and let me tell you, that man opened up my worldview.
Essential Dignity is a concept in astrology that describes the strength or dignity a planet holds to carry out the intended action.
In the wise words of myself, in my student explanation for Essential Dignity: “Essential Dignity and Debility describes the conditions of a planet, whether it is utilizing its utmost power, or failing to exercise its strength, and more so showing its weakness.”
Why do we need to know this information? Well because it will help you understand why specific planets are doing it for you and failing for you. Maybe I shouldn’t say the word fail, but more giving you the blues. If you read my previous post, where I explain the concept of Sect, then this is good because this is crucial for understanding Essential Dignity 101. If you haven’t read that, go back and read that information for me real quick so you don’t get lost when I get into Triplicity because wheeewwwww.
The 5 types of Essential Dignity are Domicile, Exaltation, Triplicity, Term (Bounds) and Face (Decans). The 2 types of Debility are Fall and Detriment, however there is a secret third thing called Peregrine. We’ll get into that type eventually. We’re going to spend time focusing on Dignity first before we move on to Debility.
We know at this point that Essential Dignity is a classification system that shows how much strength the planet has to carry out its duties, whether the planet is comfortable or is falling on its head over and over again. This is important because it shows us how well a planet will express its qualities and how difficult it may be for the planet to exercise or even receive the qualities that the sign is providing.
You will see points next to each dignity/debility. You don’t have to actually add it all together, it’s significant of the strength that dignity/debility operates off. You have to go based off the sign the planet is in. If you’re looking to see what dignity your Saturn in Virgo at 28°23” is, you have to look for Virgo in the chart and examine that row. However, you will understand how to read this by the time you read through the entire post.
Mychal Bryan provided his students a list of aphorisms to adhere to when it comes to interpreting Essential Dignity.I would like to add that these aphorisms are useful for astrological methods of horary and election astrology. Thus, I’m going to provide his aphorisms that he acquired from other astrologers. His aphorisms will be bolded and in quotations. I will also provide my own that you can apply to your own chart, so it doesn’t sound crazy.
Domicile (+5 points)
Domicile is our first dignity. Domicile rulership is where a planet is at its strongest, most comfortable, and can take and receive what it needs from the sign it's in. It’s important to know what planets are in their domicile because it shows us the planet is acting in its best interest. Domicile is the strongest level of dignity, no one is going over that or getting in a higher position than that.
“When a planet is in its domicile, he is like a KING within his castle”
In other words, A planet in its domicile is like an honor student/valedictorian with all the accolades and the set scholarships for his/her future. That person is recognized to have all the capabilities to succeed, has the accessibility to other resources and is able to perform with them, while also having a secured future of success because they are in the best spot to be.
To understand Domicile, you need to know what planets are domicile in a particular sign.
Sun has Domicile Rulership in Leo.
Moon has Domicile Rulership in Cancer.
Mercury has Domicile Rulership in Gemini and Virgo.
Venus has Domicile Rulership in Taurus and Libra.
Mars has Domicile Rulership in Aries and Scorpio.
Jupiter has Domicile Rulership in Sagittarius and Pisces.
Saturn has Domicile Rulership in Capricorn and Aquarius.
Outers aren’t included in this concept for a few reasons:
1. When the ancients came up with their schemes, they could not physically see the outers in the sky. They did not know they existed (although I believe there were moments they caught a whiff of Uranus).
2. There are no SET dignities for the Outers because of this. Yeah, there are implications of where they may best fit, but it’s not official and no framework has been developed yet.
In conclusion, Domicile supports the planet’s nature and has its ability to express/receive within that nature.
Exaltation (+4 points)
Now we move on to the illustrious exaltation scheme. Exaltation is the second strongest essential dignity.
When a planet is in its exaltation, “it is like a proud and haughty man, assuming more of himself than is his rightful due”
In other words, a planet in its exaltation is like the class Salutatorian, still distinguished, still an honor student and high in their class; however, they aren’t at the top of the class, they are second best. They have the capabilities and receive praise from the school, but they are not the Valedictorian. They do not hold the throne of being the top of the class, but they are nearly as good.
Our exaltations are:
Sun has exaltation rulership in Aries
Moon has exaltation rulership in Taurus
Mercury has exaltation rulership in Virgo
Venus has exaltation rulership in Pisces
Mars has exaltation rulership in Capricorn
Jupiter has exaltation rulership in Cancer
Saturn has exaltation rulership in Libra
The exaltation of a planet gives it the ability to perform, and acts in a well manner, but is not in its highest seat. It is operating from the conditions of being familiar with this, I can execute these steps, but I do not live here to have complete control over these steps.
Even if we use home as our example, we can think of exaltation as being your aunt or cousin visiting your house for the weekend. They are taken care of and honored, but they do not live in the house or control the dynamic of the house you live in.
Triplicity (+3 points)
As we move on to Triplicity, I have notes to add when it comes to Triplicity rulership.
Remember how I talked about Sect in my last post? Well, you need to know Sect in order to understand Triplicity rulership.
Triplicity is our average essential dignity.
“A planet in its triplicity is like a man meanly (poorly) endued with the goods of this world”
Mychal’s descriptions come from other ancient astrologers who classified this system of essential dignity. It starts to sound a little funny when we get to Triplicity and onward because it’s almost easy to forget we are talking about an essential dignity.
Triplicity is doing “So-So”, otherwise known as average. That planet is fine, it has the skills it needs to get by, but it is not flying freely like a planet in its domicile. It’s getting by because it knows how to, but it’s not as highly distinguished as an honor student is.
We can also think about this as a student who isn’t an honor student but in regular classes. They aren’t at the top of their class, but they aren’t at the bottom of their class either. They are just right behind the honor students and do what they have to do to pass their class, without getting the distinguished titles that their peers may receive.
Now I know, I showed you this picture and you’re like “Christy, what does this even mean? This is where Sect comes into play.
You need to know if you have a Day chart or a Night chart when it comes to triplicities. Triplicities are broken down into 4 groups of the elements.
Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) have triplicity rulers that include the Sun by Day, Jupiter by Night, and Saturn via Participating ruler.
If you have a day chart, when checking to see if one of your planets has triplicity, you are looking for the Sun or Saturn. The Sun is the Day planet while Saturn is the participating lord regardless if the chart is a Day chart or not.
For example: If you are a Sagittarius Sun in a Day chart, you would look at the fire Triplicity and see that the Sun is your Triplicity ruler since it is a day chart.
I know you guys see the Night rulers as well, don’t worry it involves the same planets, the day ruler and night ruler just switch so that you can see which planet you are looking for to determine if you have triplicity or not.
It is a little confusing at first, but it’s not as hard as it seems I promise.
Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) look to Venus by day, Moon by Night, and Mars is the participating ruler regardless.
Let me give you some more examples:
I have a night chart. My moon is in Virgo. Instead of looking toward Venus, which would be the day triplicity ruler, I’m looking to the Moon because it is my night ruler. Thus, my Virgo moon has triplicity because it is my night chart triplicity ruler.
This is interesting because how I would interpret this for myself is that Virgo Moon gives me the ability to function and think logically about situations, but doesn’t give me the ability to decipher between what’s logical and non-factual. Everything is logical in my mind, which causes overthinking about simple issues. We can see the “So-So” qualities because there’s some confidence, but insecurities can also be present.
But let’s say I had a Virgo Mars instead…does that count? Yes, because Mars is the participating Triplicity ruler. My faux Virgo Mars would have triplicity rulership due to that fact.
Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) look to Saturn by Day, Mercury by night, and Jupiter as a participating ruler.
Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) look to Venus by Day, Mars by Night, and Moon as a participating ruler.
I know that was a lot of information, and it can still be slightly confusing, but just take your time reading this or listening to the audio. Look at the pictures too because they will help you!!
Term/Bounds (+2 points)
We are now getting into the weakly essentially dignified category. When it comes to weak essential dignities, it just means that these categories are not the strongest for a planet to be and are just adding a slight bit of flavor to the equation. It is not enough to make a strong impact on a chart, but it’s not a debility either.
There are different types of Terms (bounds) however, we are utilizing Egyptian terms, just in case you guys look for this on an astrology website such as astro.com.
A planet that has term is “as if that planet is wearing clothing that allows it to look more like itself.”
Let’s say a student is a C average student, but occasionally gets a B on a test in order to maintain their grade to pass. This is what a Term is in my eyes.
Another tough section but not as tough if we slow it down a bit.
To determine if your planet has term (or in the bounds of…) then you need to know what degree of the planet you’re looking at. There is a number next to the planets, which indicates the degree it ends at.
However, this is the tricky part. The degree does not actually end at the number that is listed.
Let’s say you have Jupiter in Scorpio at 14 degrees. You might think that the planet is in its own term of Jupiter, when in actuality it’s in Venus’s terms, or bounds.
For that planet to actually be in Jupiter’s terms, it has to be at 13° and 59” (the “ = minutes) for it to be in its own term.
If we look at all of Scorpio’s bounds, then we know it starts at 0° in the Mars term, but that term ends at 5°59”. Pay attention to your degree numbers!
To reference my own chart again, I have a Gemini Venus at 14°56”. I would look at the Gemini Section of the chart to see if it has term.
The terms for Gemini are: Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Mars.
The Venus term for Gemini starts at 14°00” and ends at 20°59”. Venus, therefore is in its own term because it’s in-between those degrees.
I’ll just say I love, love until it gets too real.
A planet that has term knows the rules, but they ain’t the one doing the winning or taking control of the board.
Terms honestly frustrates astrologers just because if you look at the chart, there is no set pattern for them. With the other dignities, there is a scheme and a mix that you can construct or logically see that there’s a method to it. However, with terms, they just exist. They’re uneven, and every time I try to look for a pattern I get frustrated.
Decan/Face (+1 point)
Whew, we are almost done with the ESSENTIAL Dignities portion of this post.
“A planet that is only essentially dignified by face is like a man on his last gasp”
We’ve been using students as an example to explain the dignities, so that’s continue that pattern.
Usually, a D is still a passing grade, depending on what the school system allows to flow as a passing grade. This is the student who is not putting in enough effort to flourish, but they’re putting in the bare minimum to keep going. Just barely escaping the failing grade.
We have gone through all of the essential dignities at this point to where we are now at the last and weakest form of Essential Dignity. On the chart, we look for the word Decan or Face.
Now, the difference between Term and Decan is that Decan actually has a known and recognizable pattern and is equal in division.
All decans go by 10°, so the 1st Decan goes up to 9°59”, the 2nd Decan goes from 10°00”-19°59”, and the 3rd goes from 20°00”-29°59”. That is as simple as it gets.
There also is a pattern that starts with Mars, and it goes in chaldean order until you get to Mars again, then the pattern picks back up.
We have finally gotten through the Dignities themselves, but we still have 3 more classifications to talk about.
Fall (-4 points)
Fall is an essential debility that causes the planet stress.
When a planet is in its fall, it indicates worry, distress, and hardship.
To me, a fallen planet gives a lot of mental worries and that planet feels almost scared to perform. It literally sees the doom of falling off a cliff and acts in that manner, which is not always productive for the native.
This could be described as a student who has testing anxiety or even has a fear of academics. They just need the tools to succeed, but are stuck in their head about the fear of failing. Now, even domicile/exaltation states can experience anxiety; however, Fall is paralyzing to the point that they cannot act to their fullest capabilities. It’s almost like a self fulfilling prophecy.
The planets are fallen in these signs:
Sun has it’s fall in Libra
Moon has it’s fall in Scorpio
Mercury has it’s fall in Pisces
Venus has it’s fall in Virgo
Mars has it’s fall in Cancer
Jupiter has it’s fall in Capricorn
Saturn has it’s fall in Aries
(Helpful hint to memorize this: If you refer to the exaltation scheme, where a planet exalts, the opposite sign to that planet will be its fall. For example, Aries exalts the Sun, but Libra (its opposite/sister sign) is the fall of the Sun).
Detriment (- 5 points)
Detriment is the worst place for a planet to be.
“A planet in his house of detriment is like a person fighting with himself”
What a planet naturally desires (Domicile) is now corrupted through Detriment. It’s not that the planet doesn’t desire to act as it should, it’s that the planet is fighting itself or given conditions that make expressing a planetary topic to it’s best ability. We could say that Venus always wants to express Venusian topics, such as love and sex, however it’s constantly facing difficulties that prevent it from that smooth flow. It doesn’t mean that if you have a Venus in its detriment that you can’t ever experience love and happiness, it just means that it might be hard to take the easy route to get those themes to play out. There will be troubles that come about, it will prove to be difficult to maintain because of the circumstances that the planet has to go through.
Detriment is the student that refuses to do the work, may have to go to summer school or detention because of the disruptions they can cause for themselves and others. It’s the little rebel child
The planets are detriment in these signs:
Sun’s detriment is in Aquarius
Moon’s detriment is in Capricorn
Mercury’s detriment is in Sagittarius/Pisces
Venus’s detriment is in Aries/Scorpio
Mars’ detriment is in Taurus/Libra
Jupiter’s detriment is in Gemini/Virgo
Saturn’s detriment is in Cancer/Leo
Peregrine (0 points)
If you have gone through the chart and realize that your planet doesn’t have any of the essential dignities or debilities to under it’s name, then that planet is peregrine.
A planet in a place where it has no dominion is like a person who is not in his own country
When a planet is peregrine, it is essentially lost and does not have a direction. If you are not in your own country and do not understand the language that is being spoken, can’t read the words of the land, and have no means of communicating with its citizens… that would feel a bit scary right? That planet then has no direction or someone to look for to give it the help it may want.
This is a student who would need a tutor or is a foreign exchange student who has to adapt to the language that they don’t speak. They are on their own and need to seek help and encouragement from themselves until they are able to adapt to their surroundings.
I broke down essential dignity for you guys and I really hope this all made some sense for you guys. If you want, I can make a video about essential dignity in action and put it on the google drive for you guys to get a visual and auditory understanding of the concept.
Let me highlight a few things before I close out this post.
Essential Dignity allows you to understand how the planet is functioning, whether it’s with complete ease or with various obstacles in the way. Knowing how the planets dance is important for you when you look at your own birth chart, and start to break down what that planet is actually doing for you in your own chart.
A minor dignity, which would be Triplicity, Terms/Bounds and Decan/Face do not cancel out a debility. The point system will show you that. If you have a natal Jupiter in Gemini, that planet is detriment, but it is going to have Triplicity automatically, and it can possibly receive Term or Decan at a certain degree. That is not enough to overcome the debilitation. The points would still equal out to a negative number, thus the Debility still rules.
How you should use this system is to see what planets in your chart has some form of dignity or debility. For it to have dignity/debility, it needs to be in its own planet’s domicile, exaltation, triplicity, terms, or decan. For example, if you want to see if a planet like Venus in your chart has term, then it needs to fall in the terms of Venus based off the sign that it’s in.
Peregrine planets literally have 0 dignity or debility. You will not find a planet in it’s domicile/exaltation, even in it’s own triplicity/terms/decan nor will you find it fallen or detriment. It’s literally houseless, so do not get confused if you do not find a planet to be peregrine. It still carries the meaning I described earlier.
If there are any questions, PLEASE ask me in the comments and I will get back to you guys because I want to help you guys understand this concept as much as I do. Do not be shy about it either, if you don’t get it, I’ll ensure that you do. I want my astro enthusiasts to learn how to utilize the birth chart in multiple ways.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN LOVES <3
Christydabull is signing out. Mwah
cant wait for the one on triplicity cause you know it STILL has me confused 😳. looking forward to finish listening to this post cause i love this concept! It really “makes or brakes” the placements! Thank you for covering this pookie 🫶