Sect
Sect divides the seven traditional planets into a day team and a night team. A chart born with the Sun above the horizon is diurnal; below, nocturnal. The Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn belong to the diurnal sect; the Moon, Venus, and Mars to the nocturnal. Mercury follows the side it rises on. A planet in its own sect performs near its best; out of sect, it must work through a less natural mode.
The sect light
Every chart has a sect light: the Sun by day, the Moon by night. The sect light is the chart's primary luminary, the most important point after the Ascendant. The non-sect light is secondary but never irrelevant. This is the foundation Hellenistic readings build on, before any planetary aspect is examined.
Triplicity by sect
Sect changes which planet rules what. Each element has three triplicity lords — one for day charts, one for night, and a third (the participating triplicity) for both. In a fire sign by day, the Sun rules first, Jupiter second, Saturn participating; in a fire sign by night, Jupiter rules first, the Sun second. Lilly's grid lists both columns; Netra picks the right one based on the chart's sect.
Sect in benefic-malefic logic
Hellenistic doctrine treats benefic and malefic strength as sect-conditional. Jupiter is the diurnal benefic; Venus, the nocturnal benefic. Saturn is the diurnal malefic — surprisingly milder by day, harsher by night. Mars is the nocturnal malefic. A nocturnal-sect Saturn does not become a benefic, but its severity is read as cooperating with a day chart's whole orientation in a way it doesn't at night.
How Netra uses sect
The Sect panel reports the chart's sect, names the sect light and its sect-mate benefic and malefic, and applies the sect-conditional triplicity rulers everywhere dignity is computed. The almuten and hyleg calculators both consult sect.
Illustrative natal chart — the technique above applies to any chart you compute in Netra.
Sources
- Vettius Valens, Anthology, Book II
- Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis, Book II
- Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, Book I
See Sources for the full corpus and the public-domain policy.
Related
- Essential dignities — The five-fold table of planetary strength by zodiacal placement — domicile, exaltation, triplicity, term, and face.
- Almuten — The planet with the most aggregate dignity at a given degree — the synthesis of essential dignity into a single ruler.
- Hyleg and alcocoden — The classical pair indicating life force and its allotted span — Ptolemy's longevity technique.
- Time-lords — Profections, firdaria, and zodiacal releasing — three classical systems that name a planet for each chapter of life.