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Tom wrote: No because there are no cusps in Whole Sign Houses. In fact Robert Hand pointed out that it might be incorrect to call Whole Signs a house system at all.
But whole sign houses are not a trademark or a brand, they're a house system, so whether Rob Hand says this doesn't necessarily mean its how astrologers in practice use the house system. What I mean by that is that if you imagine that the beginning of the sign is a cusp, or that some other part of the sign is the cusp, then whole sign houses does indeed have cusps. Note that I'm not talking about what Robert Hand or Schmidt claim the older astrologers did, but I'm talking about astrologers today.

Let me give you some examples.
Chris Brennan:
http://horoscopicastrologyblog.com/2007 ... gn-houses/
"As you can see, the ‘cusps’ of the houses in this system are actually the cusps of the signs. So any time a planet transits into a new sign in a person’s chart it is also moving into a new house."
Now this is dated over 10 years ago and of course Chris may have changed his mind. For Chris, in this instance, he clearly imagines the beginning of the sign to act as a kind of cusp, he puts it in italics which suggests he recognises this kind of cusp has being perhaps qualitatively different (my guess), but nevertheless a cusp all the same.

But he reiterates this cusp idea in a subsequent podcast where he claims:
http://theastrologypodcast.com/transcri ... gn-houses/
"there end up being twelve signs and twelve houses and each of the houses begins at the beginning of the sign and the house ends at the end of the sign so the cusps then essentially become…, the cusps of the houses become the cusps of the signs."
So I think we can say that for Chris, there is a cusp to the whole sign houses and it occurs at the beginning of the sign. How Chris uses that of course is up to him, but he has floated the idea of the whole sign houses perhaps solving the Gauquelin sectors, which would suggest that Chris sees the beginning of the sign as the cusp in the sense that it provides a focus or pivot of power or turning which the term cusp implies - he's not just using it as a term to mean boundary in other words.


Next we can look at what Schmidt said in his preface to Ptolemy III:
"In conclusion, if this interpretation has any merit, every degree which is thiny degrees from the Ascendant or a multiple thereof should be regarded as a "cusp" (or turning point) of the whole-sign in which it occurs-albeit not a cusp on one of the extremities of the sign."
So for Schmidt, in this work (he has since changed his views), the whole sign houses do indeed have cusps, they're the equal house boundaries - he has expanded on this view considerably in recent years, but I just want to highlight that although not set to the beginning of the sign, Schmidt sees that WSH has a cusp as well.

You mention Robert Hand, but what he actually states to provide context is:
Robert Hand, Whole Sign Houses, p.24
"What are the “cusps??? of Whole-Sign houses? Are they the beginnings of the signs, or something else? Unfortunately, we do not have definite evidence as to what the practice actually was."
He then goes on to speculate or "read between the lines" (his words), as to what the cusp of the whole sign house may be, set in a chapter/section devoted to the concept of cusps for whole sign houses, and repeats what Schmidt imagines, namely that whole sign houses do have cusps and they're identical to equal signs:
p.25
"This means that the Whole-Sign “cusps??? are the same as the Equal House system cusps."
Therefore when you say "there are no cusps in Whole Sign Houses", that may well be the case for you, but I don't think we can say that generally. Clearly for Chris Brennan, Robert Hand and Robert Schmidt, arguably some of the biggest proponents for whole sign houses, the house system does indeed have a cusp, even if Chris disagrees with the others on where it's placed.
For example Donald Trump's chart has an ASC of 29 Leo 59, an extreme example I admit. That means, using equal houses, that nearly the entire house is occupied by a sign other than the one on the cusp. That's just weird.
Right, that may be 'weird' but weird doesn't make it a problem. The point I tried to make before is that this kind of additional layer of detail could be argued to provide context or some fine tuning to an astrological reading. You see similar examples where people say it's "weird" to have the MC in the 9th or 11th, if you use whole sign or equal houses, but the counter argument run similarly which is that this can provide greater subtlety to the astrological reading and provide additional astrologically meaningful information. The same thing applies.
But to me, whole signs just make more sense overall. I admit they aren't perfect.
That's fair enough, I'm just curious what the problems were that they solve and if they're problems in the sense of some astronomical phenomena problem (such as extreme latitudes), or problems in the sense of not a sense of distaste (like Trump's weird first house etc.)
It means our previous delineations are wrong- much too uncomfortable for most.
That may be true, it may be what's stopping Placidus users to adopt Equal as well, and for that matter what stops Equal and Whole sign users adopting Placidus. But then the other side to that is that just maybe some astrologers are not adopting this house system because for them it really isn't working as well as the house system they were already using. But for that matter, I think a lot of people are using Whole sign houses these days anyway.
Last edited by Paul on Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I think you missed my point especially regarding the cusps. In English the origin of the word "cusp" comes from a Latin word that meant something other than a beginning and in fact had nothing to do with the beginning of anything. That makes it a good reason to believe, they might have had something other than a beginning in mind when they coined that word.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the first English usage of the word "cusp" was in astrology and not used (in English) until the late 16th century. Our assumption that the word cusp was always used in astrology to mean the beginning of a house may not be valid.

The Greeks used the zodiac to determine the places - not the ecliptic or the equator or time. That came later. We have to have a word that describes the mathematically determined "lines." (I'm sure you're aware they're actually circles) that divide the quadrants. That word is "cusp" and it seems to have come from the Latin "cuspis." That probably wasn't a mistake. The cusp was the most sensitive point in a house. Prior to that development, the sign was the place or area of life of the native. There was no "five-degree rule" or discussion about where to look for wealth or children or the spouse. There was no, "well if we use this system Jupiter is the ruler but if we use that system Saturn rules the house. They used the zodiac not math to determine the areas of life under discussion and in so doing producing a "clean," logical system

As for Hand: I mentioned his name not as an appeal to authority, but rather as giving credit for what I wanted to say. I didn't create the idea. Here is the quote to which I was referring.

Actually to understand this properly one has to know that it is not that the sign were used as houses so much as there were no houses at all, merely the signs of the zodiac used as we would use houses, with no separate twelve-fold division of the chart at all.
Italics in the original

We use the phrase "Whole Sign Houses" as a semantic convenience. It's easier for all of us to do that to get the idea across. In whole signs Donald Trump's wealth is revealed by the sign Virgo and it's ruler Mercury - period. There cannot be a planet in Libra ruled by Venus in the 2nd house that also plays a role in that area of life. That is as simple and neat as it can be.

The beginning of the sign is the beginning of the "house." There is no "sensitive point" or cusp. There are no planets in subsequent signs occupying that "house" ruling a different house or houses and having a different dispositor. There is enough clutter in astrology as it is.

If Trump's chart is weird it is a problem. I have a tough time looking at a chart where the merest sliver of a house cusp determines the ruler of the house. That problem is overcome to an extent with other quadrant systems because all of the houses in his chart aren't like that - only with the equal system does that become an issue.

I am not claiming that Whole Signs are right and everything else is wrong. In fact I said that sometimes quadrant systems will show us things that whole signs might miss and vice versa. But I do think there are some misunderstandings about whole signs and that Hand must have thought so too since the quote above comes from the first page of his booklet.

Rumen Kolev hit upon something and I wonder if his idea shouldn't be applied to house systems, although I admit I'm not sure how to precisely work it out. There are, as you know a myriad of systems of calculating primary directions and they can produce significantly different "hit" dates. Kolev looks at a chart and calculates the various methods (using his program I'm sure) and determines the one that fits the known events best and then uses that one and that key for subsequent predictions. I have no idea how to do this for someone who is very young. Perhaps the same is true for house systems. Maybe this one works better for one native and that one works best for another native. Or maybe Valens had it right and we use more than one and use them for different purposes.

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Tom I did understand your point.
Tom wrote:That makes it a good reason to believe, they might have had something other than a beginning in mind when they coined that word.
I don't disagree. I am not implying the cusp is the beginning anywhere, in fact I've explicitly stated the contrary when I say "What I mean by that is that if you imagine that the beginning of the sign is a cusp, or that some other part of the sign is the cusp, then whole sign houses does indeed have cusps." - I recognise cusp to be a centre of power or signification or a peak of that power or signification, which is often, but not necessarily, related to the beginning of the house.

My point was that whilst you may not have whole sign cusps, other astrologers, Robert Schmidt, Robert Hand and Chris Brennan included, all think otherwise, and they all refer to cusps with whole sign houses.
The Greeks used the zodiac to determine the places - not the ecliptic or the equator or time. That came later.
We don't really know what the Greeks were doing, it's too broad a term. What we can say for sure is that they used the ecliptic to determine places, but we cannot rule out other divisions. For example the houses may have originated from egyptian decans which focused on transits of planets by diurnal rotation over the four angles and inferring from a spatial division, a division of time. This suggests that from early on it was recognised that time and spatial divisions are simply two sides of the same coin - you can measure time by measuring space. I dont' mean this in some futuristic Einstein notion, but simply that when this or that space is rising, it's this or that time.
Prior to that development, the sign was the place or area of life of the native. There was no "five-degree rule" or discussion about where to look for wealth or children or the spouse.
We don't know anything about what was there before though. I speculate that the five degree rule stems from the decan system somehow, whereby the decan was the equivalent of a house with particular meaning associated with it, and imagined conceptually as centred, which means that five degrees before and after a point could be imagined as a decan for simplicity, but that, like this statement, is just speculation.

You say they used the zodiac and not math, but we again don't really know everythign that they did. We know they had access to rising times of the zodiac, and for all we know someone used those as a kind of house system. All we 100% know they used is equal houses and porphyry houses, everything else is either inferred or speculative, including whole sign houses. Nowhere do they mention calculating houses that way, instead they refer to houses sometimes as signs, so this is an example of inferring. But later authors examining the texts inferred otherwise, such as Placido inferring Ptolemy used placidus houses. Holden infers he used Equal. Brennan infers he used whole.

Too often we're left guessing.
As for Hand: I mentioned his name not as an appeal to authority, but rather as giving credit for what I wanted to say. I didn't create the idea. Here is the quote to which I was referring.
Sure, I wasn't suggesting otherwise, but seeing as you refer to him, it makes sense to also refer to him.
That is as simple and neat as it can be.
Sure, and if simple is a synonym for better then I understand why it would appeal. But as I don't think complexity is a problem, I'm not sure what this would advance for any problems whole sign is solving, especially when typically astrologers choose a house system or systems, regardless of complexity, and run with it.
But I do think there are some misunderstandings about whole signs and that Hand must have thought so too since the quote above comes from the first page of his booklet.
I think so too, but I also think some of them are that whole signs solve certain problems which in fact on closer examination they don't solve, which is why I was curious which problems you personally had in mind.
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Signs have ''cusps'' in the context of ''ingressions of the planets'' - Hellenistic transits which are whole sign transits. I believe Chris Brennan meant it in this way - not that the first degree is in any way special as other house system ''cusps'' (in the medieval sense that Tom pointed out) are. I personally disagree with out of sign aspects which Chris Brennan allows for, so I would apply cusps as borders in this sense as well.

I personally do not believe there was such thing as sensitive point and I do not find those useful at all (except of course the angular pivots which are spatial and observable in nature). There is no evidence of any Hellenistic astrologer using sensitive house cusps. Those are in my opinion invention of modern astrologers who try to synthesize the two systems. I've seen a lot of astrologers consider angularity by quadrants but topics by signs, but I personally disagree with this approach.
We don't know anything about what was there before though. I speculate that the five degree rule stems from the decan system somehow, whereby the decan was the equivalent of a house with particular meaning associated with it, and imagined conceptually as centred, which means that five degrees before and after a point could be imagined as a decan for simplicity, but that, like this statement, is just speculation.
Actually, the way Hephaistio says to examine the decans, it sound like entirely whole decan system division - 1st for birth, 28th for livelihood, the 25th for weakness, the 19th for injury, the 17th for the wife and the 10th for death. There is no difference between the first degree and the tenth degree of the decan rising, it is the same decan. If anything, decans are argument for the use of whole signs. (In the same way some astrologers said to examine the first sign for birth, the tenth sign for rank, the seventh for injury and marriage and the fourth for death.)

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petosiris wrote:Signs have ''cusps'' in the context of ''ingressions of the planets'' - Hellenistic transits which are whole sign transits. I believe Chris Brennan meant it in this way - not that the first degree is in any way special as other house system ''cusps'' (in the medieval sense that Tom pointed out) are.
I think he means both ways. If you look at argument 8 of his powerpoint here he says that whole signs may provide a solution for the Gauquelin sectors, but the only way that could happen is if the beginning of the sign had some special property like we would expect from the idea of a cusp.
http://theastrologypodcast.com/wp-conte ... houses.pdf
I've seen a lot of astrologers consider angularity by quadrants but topics by signs, but I personally disagree with this approach.
Me too but I'm sympathetic to it
There is no difference between the first degree and the tenth degree of the decan rising, it is the same decan
Right, now imagine that you have a mark that the first decan is whatever, and that's all you have. You may, for convenience, in the absence of any other information, put the ascendant point in the middle of the decan. In the same manner people have a first house starting 15 degrees prior to the ascendant etc.
If anything, decans are argument for the use of whole signs
We may have to agree to disagree here. The original use of the decans were a timekeeping method - you can measure something spatial (a decan) to determine something time related. In this way, the decans were actually a time keeping method used to measure the hours. Even by the time of the zodiac being related to the decans they were still time keeping in their role. Anubio for example recognises that the signs have three decans each but still provides them a time keeping role as they originally had. The decans were imagined as 36 ascendants, 36 different ascending decans and I am not aware of anyone recording the ascendant as anything other than the decan itself which can last for 10 days or 10 degrees, so if all that is recorded is the ascending decan then you don't know what the degree of that decan is (hence where I think the 'middling' of the decan may give us the 5 degree rule). The decans use at this point though is not particularly about spatial division as much as it is about inferring a time division by observing the space.

The two places where the decans were observed (or perhaps different sets of decans) was the astronomical ascendant and midheaven, suggesting that from very early on in the tradition, perhaps before any concept of the decans or houses having astrological meaning in and of themselves, the four angles were the important points that were considered for time keeping purposes via the decans. Of course the decans are also spatial and were also used spatially, so really it's too difficult to imagine, like with whole sign houses, the decans were *just* spatial, because their use, unlike that of whole sign houses, was also time keeping, and they were referred to as 'regulators' or 'markers' of time.
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great conversation.. thanks!
Tom wrote:
Sort of, if we direct to house cusps. Not all astrologers did that. Progressions and the modern solar arc directions go the other way.
tom - in fact - progressions and solar arc can go either way.. it's my belief that these ideas were used in direct or converse motion.. but i would agree with you - that is not how most astrologers use them today.. especially with regard to solar arc directions- it really is about the degree differential between points or planets in the chart.. something separated by 30 degrees is going to connect whether they are directed, forward or back... it is a helpful tool to use, but some might not believe it!
petosiris wrote: I personally disagree with out of sign aspects which Chris Brennan allows for, so I would apply cusps as borders in this sense as well.

I personally do not believe there was such thing as sensitive point and I do not find those useful at all (except of course the angular pivots which are spatial and observable in nature). There is no evidence of any Hellenistic astrologer using sensitive house cusps. Those are in my opinion invention of modern astrologers who try to synthesize the two systems. I've seen a lot of astrologers consider angularity by quadrants but topics by signs, but I personally disagree with this approach.
hi petosiris.. thanks for chiming in... i like someone with holds a strong position for or against something! the way i see it, one either gives a greater priority to signs, or aspects.. clearly you emphasize signs over aspects.. i see it differently, but i appreciate where you and Frawley are coming from...

as for sensitive points - obviously the ascendant and midheaven axis degrees are sensitive points... after that - it becomes much more open to style... modern astrologers view the sun-moon or ascendant/midheaven midpoint as a sensitive point.. astrologers from the past have been using arabic or greek parts for a very long time... whether one views these parts as sensitive points or not - i suppose it is optional for the astrologer... some use the part of fortune and etc too.. are they sensitive points to your way of thinking or not? thanks..

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Right, now imagine that you have a mark that the first decan is whatever, and that's all you have. You may, for convenience, in the absence of any other information, put the ascendant point in the middle of the decan. In the same manner people have a first house starting 15 degrees prior to the ascendant etc.
It find it highly disrespectful of the ancients to say that they used whole signs out of convenience, lack of calculation or haphazardly. There is also little if no evidence for this historical claim, especially in the earlier authors who are capable of calculating quadrants, have degrees of the ascendant and the planets, but do not do this.

That being said, I do not reject quadrants just because of my experience or antiquity. I reject them because they are incompatible with the Hellenistic approach to houses.

The first signifying body and spirit at the same time, and the seventh signifying injury and old age can only be coherent in a system that considers certain degrees above the horizon and certain degrees below the horizon to be related to those places. (interstice rationales are highly unappealing and asymmetrical)

Whole Sign Configurations are interchangeable with the houses - the upon the tenth and dexter concepts exists only because the Zenith Midheaven exists. The third and ninth are considered better than the sixth and twelfth because they aspect the orient (Ptolemy, statement that makes sense only in whole signs - 1:24).
The original use of the decans were a timekeeping method - you can measure something spatial (a decan) to determine something time related.
The zodiac is an excellent timekeeping method as well - 360 degrees for a reason.

I do not understand how is that related to their astrological (which had developed by the third century BC) usage, which was noting which decan is rising and then making forecast according to that decan (which is determined by the other 35, which is why the delineation of the rising image always takes into account the eleven as well, if you read Rhetorius and Valens carefully, you will see where). This approach is explicated in the Mathesis by Firmicus Maternus.
The decans were imagined as 36 ascendants
Yes, and dodekatemoria were imagined as 144 ascendants. There are 60th parts in Manilius - 720 ascendants (bound are also considered - 60). In Jyotish there are vargas, usually calculated in a whole sign manner. Do you think that is an unrelated coincidence?
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as for sensitive points - obviously the ascendant and midheaven axis degrees are sensitive points... after that - it becomes much more open to style... modern astrologers view the sun-moon or ascendant/midheaven midpoint as a sensitive point.. astrologers from the past have been using arabic or greek parts for a very long time... whether one views these parts as sensitive points or not - i suppose it is optional for the astrologer... some use the part of fortune and etc too.. are they sensitive points to your way of thinking or not? thanks..
I think one should use the culminating image as the Midheaven for the purposes of Hellenestic astrology, and the zenith (bearing superior aspect to the rising at all times), and for the most part ignore the meridian MC. Those are spatial sensitive points anyone can observe by looking at the horizon to the east and to the zenith to the south (north in the Southern Hemisphere).

Interesting you mention lots, and Paul should take a look at this as well, as the Lots are not considered sensitive points, but Hour-Markers (ascendants) themselves. The place where the lot of fortune falls is called the place of fortune, ruling place, powerful, from which the whole can be seen. The place where the lot of the father falls is considered the place or sign of the father. Aspects to those lots are examined by sign configurations.

''Nor is enough to know the special shapes of signs and the individual ordinances which the stars impose on men at their birth ; they also affect our destinies through their agreements with each other, for they rejoice in alliances and cooperate with one another according to their natures and locations. - Goold, G. P. (1977). Manilius. Astronomica with an English Translation. Cambridge, MA.

When lots were abandoned because of Ptolemy in the Renaissance, house division was the only thing capable of differentiating things between people within two hours, aside from divisions (numbers), which Ptolemy and his later followers also rejected of course.

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petosiris wrote: It find it highly disrespectful of the ancients to say that they used whole signs out of convenience, lack of calculation or haphazardly. There is also little if no evidence for this, especially in the earlier authors who are capable of calculating quadrants, have degrees of the ascendant and the planets, but do not do this.
Is this to me?
I agree with you, I haven't suggested otherwise. What I was imagining is a time before the house system as we know it when 36 decans were recorded, but not necessarily by degree, but by decan itself. In that world, you may imagine a decan as the ascendant being in the middle. I'm not saying that the ancients were too dumb to calculate houses.
I reject them because they are incompatible with the Hellenistic approach to houses.
Can you expand? In what sense are, say Porphyry houses, which are explicitly detailed in the Hellenistic tradition, incompatible with the Hellenistic tradition? What house system is incompatible and what is the Hellensitic approach to houses which makes them incompatible?
Whole Sign Configurations are interchangeable with the houses - the upon the tenth and dexter concepts exists only because the Zenith Midheaven exists.
The zenith has no bearing on this, and dexter concept exists as much because epicycle phenomenon that Ptolemy was operating from as well as the idea of moving with the diurnal motion. That wouldn't therefore be the Midheaven, but the nonagesimal.
The third and ninth are considered better than the sixth and twelfth because they aspect the orient (Ptolemy, statement that makes sense only in whole signs - 1:24).
Ptolemy never states this. Please quote and provide which version of Ptolemy you're using.
The zodiac is an excellent timekeeping method as well - 360 degrees for a reason.
Actually it's not all that fantastic in telling time, where the decan set was actually used for that very purpose.
I do not understand how is that related to their astrological (which had developed by the third century BC) usage, which was noting which decan is rising and then making forecast according to that decan (which is determined the other 35, which is why the delineation of the rising image always takes into account the eleven as well).
Can you restate the question? Not sure what you're asking.
The decans were imagined as 36 ascendants
Yes, and dodekatemoria were imagined as 144 ascendants. There are 60th parts in Manilius - 720 ascendants (bound are also considered - 60). In Jyotish there are vargas, usually calculated in a whole sign manner. Do you think that is an unrelated coincidence?
Can you tell me who refers to the dodekatemoria as 144 ascendants?
I don't know much about vargas to comment.
I think one should use the culminating image as the Midheaven for the purposes of Hellenestic astrology, and the zenith (bearing superior aspect to the rising at all times), and for the most part ignore the meridian MC. Those are spatial sensitive points anyone can observe by looking at the horizon to the east and to the zenith to the south (north in the Southern Hemisphere).
The zenith is not really used astrologically. It's the point directly over head, but for most of us there is no ecliptic/zodiac directly overhead. Instead the commonly used points are the nongesimal which is 90 degrees from the ascendant, and then the MC which is the intersection between ecliptic and meridian.

I'm not sure what distinction you're trying to draw here. If by MC you mean MC by degree and Midheaven you mean MC by sign, then that's fine, you can do so, but it's not necessarily the same as what Hellenistic authors themselves did.

I'm not sure what you mean by spatial and observable, they're spatial yes, but also temporal, and not directly observable, but only by examination of something transiting them by primary motion.
Paul should take a look at this as well, as the Lots are not considered sensitive points, but Hour-Markers (ascendants) themselves
I didn't want to complicate matters by introducing lots but we can if you like.

Only one Lot, the Lot of Fortune is ever used as an ascendant, but they were not used as time keepers, or at least I have no evidence of them being used in this manner. Do you? Instead they are often 'likened' to the ascendant.
Aspects to those lots are examined by sign configurations.
I disagree. In fact Valens explicitly states in places if the planet is exact to the degree then this means such and such etc. In Book IX he also has a formula for determining the ascendant degree if the Lot and the Moon is known which requires that the Lot is recorded also in degrees and not just signs.
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That wouldn't therefore be the Midheaven, but the nonagesimal.
Zenith Midheaven
Ptolemy never states this. Please quote and provide which version of Ptolemy you're using.
their power is greater when they are in the orient, and less when they culminate beneath the earth or are in some other aspect to the orient; if they bear no aspect at all to the orient they are entirely powerless. - Robbins, F. E. (1940). Tetrabiblos (Vol. 435). Loeb Classical Library. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/R ... /home.html
I disagree. In fact Valens explicitly states in places if the planet is exact to the degree then this means such and such etc. In Book IX he also has a formula for determining the ascendant degree if the Lot and the Moon is known which requires that the Lot is recorded also in degrees and not just signs.
Yes, but he considered and uses whole sign aspects throughout his work. That is consistent with the whole sign paradigm. It would not be consistent with the paradigm of Ibn Ezra or orbs.
Can you tell me who refers to the dodekatemoria as 144 ascendants?
Hephaistio of Thebes gives ''thought-interpretation'' delineations for all 144 ascendants in Book III.
nongesimal
Being of course the closest to the zenith. Stellarium shows illustrates the overhead principle of the midheaven (the nonagesimal and sign) in contrast to the meridian perfectly.
https://i.imgur.com/DhGHBSx.png
https://i.imgur.com/7121ora.png

It is not considered astrologically today, but it was 2000 years ago in Alexandria, for example by Ptolemy.
Instead they are often 'likened' to the ascendant
Yes, that is what I meant. And they used them the same way because Signs = Places = Lots. Malefics setting without benefic testimony signifies misfortune to siblings (because they oppose the I, signifying siblings according to Hermes). The same opposed to the lot of siblings signifies misfortune to siblings.

See 2.40 of Valens, where he talks of the place of brothers as the I or III, and then he says how ''some astrologers'' find the place of brothers - by the lot of brothers. Unless you think that a lot ''fills'' a quadrant house, those statements make zero sense in anything but the whole sign paradigm.

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petosiris wrote:Ptolemy, statement that makes sense only in whole signs - 1:24
Sorry I misread, I thought you said Ptolemy states that makes sense only in whole signs which seemed absurd.
Yes, but he considered and uses whole sign aspects throughout his work. That is consistent with the whole sign paradigm. It would not be consistent with the paradigm of Ibn Ezra or orbs.
He uses both.
Hephaistio of Thebes gives ''thought-interpretation'' delineations for all 144 ascendants in Book III.
What translation are you using? I only know of them being referred to as 12th parts even in this section. Can you quote where he refers to them as ascendant so I can see if it's different in my translation?
Being of course the closest to the zenith.
I ask, because it's hard to work out how you're differentiating MC, Midheaven and Zenith. So by Zenith you mean the nonagesimal, by MC you mean the degree of the MC and the Midheaven you mean the sign?

I don't know what the stellarium images are meant to show.
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He uses both.
Ok, but we also have to question why whole signs configurations started to become disregarded as time went on. Surely quadrant houses contributed to this, if they were not the reason.
What translation are you using? I only know of them being referred to as 12th parts even in this section. Can you quote where he refers to them as ascendant so I can see if it's different in my translation?
Well he uses the 12th part of the ascendant, just as he uses decan of the ascendant. That is my argument.
I ask, because it's hard to work out how you're differentiating MC, Midheaven and Zenith. So by Zenith you mean the nonagesimal, by MC you mean the degree of the MC and the Midheaven you mean the sign?
''The squares, too, are used, as has been said, for sympathies in the nativities. Moreover, the arrangement of the squares is used by some for another purpose. For they supposed that, when one of the signs of the selfsame square is setting, the next sign culminates in the hemisphere beneath the Earth,> as when Capricorn is setting, Aries culminates, Cancer rises, and Libra culminates beneath the Earth. The same logic applies to the remaining squares.'' - Geminus, Introduction 2:18-19, trans. Evans and Berggren, p. 129

I think there is a midheaven degree in a midheaven sign (the whole image is very powerful, but there is a degree that is most powerful - this is what I say is observable spatially unlike artificial cusps of the other signs).

Both are always squaring the orient and found in the middle of the heaven (Moon in picture two). Perhaps the meridian MC has a separate meaning (arrow is pointed towards there in picture 2), but it should not be used in constructing a separate house system, thus for examining occupation, I use only the X, always the X.

The Moon is considered cadent in the pictures by quadrants. It is angular by whole signs. Being literally at the midheaven?, I would consider it angular. Because most astrologers refer to the meridian as MC, I would try to refer to this MC as nonagesimal next time.