Figure 1: Babylonian Seal – Mythological Depiction of Sunrise Between two Mountains
In order to understand the magical world of our ancient ancestors, we must understand the way they saw the world: as a realm under God’s creation in which all things exist, demons, angels, gods, animals, kings, criminals, magicians, warriors, love, betrayal, defeat, victory and so on. All of these different beings were present on earth AND in the sky in the form of planets, constellations, individual stars, stellar phenomena etc.
So each planet is associated with more than one divinity – and each of these divinities is shown through the planets heliacal phase. Roll credits.
Just kidding. This is a big topic which requires a lot of technical knowledge and remains an incomplete field, however I will do my best to elucidate these mysteries in this post.
The term ‘heliacal’ refers to the name ‘Helios’ the ancient Greek name for the Sun. So heliacal means, ‘to do with the Sun’. So a heliacal phase refers to the relationship of a planet’s position in the sky to the position of the Sun. The inner planets (Venus and Mercury) have different heliacal phases than the outer planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn); this is too complicated for me to explain here, it is enough just to know it for now.
The main two phases that the planets have are as ‘evening stars’ or as ‘morning stars’. Imagine you are an ancient priest who is watching the sky – how are the planets going to appear? They will look like rapidly moving stars! When the planets change phase they will either appear in the morning (before sunrise) or in the evening (after sunset), hence the term evening or morning star.
The way to understand this astrologically is illustrated in figures 2 and 3 below. If a planet is earlier than the sun in the order of the signs (sun is in Taurus and Venus is in Aries), then it is a morning star. If it is later in the signs than the Sun (Sun in Taurus and Venus in Gemini), then it is an evening star.
Figure 2: Sunrise in Blue Circle, Morning star(s) in Red
Figure 3: Sunset in Red Circle, Evening Stars in Blue and Morning Stars in Green
Keep in mind that the first house and the seventh house are the horizons and anything beneath them is beneath the earth and cannot be seen, but anything above these two houses can be seen. In figure 3, Jupiter Mars and Saturn won’t be seen until they rise above the horizon in 6-8hours, whereas Venus and the moon will be seen above the sunset for several more hours before sinking below the earth.
So now that the basic concept is out of the way what does it all mean???
Venus: Morning star is Athena – masculine, forward moving, loyal in love, victorious/warlike. Ruling in Leo.
Evening star is Aphrodite – feminine, unstable in love, focus on beauty, romance and sex, magnetic. Ruling in Taurus.
Mercury: Morning star is Apollo – artistic, right brain, poetic, storytelling, creative, divine inspiration. Rules in Virgo?
Evening star is Hermes – intellectual, left brain, analytical, detail oriented. Rules in Gemini
Mars: Morning star is Hephaestus – Victory in war/conflict, athletics, forging/building, controlled passion, channeled anger.
Evening star is Ares the God of bloodshed – destructive, chaotic, unrestrained anger, issues with police, criminals or military, war.
Jupiter morning star is Zeus – social advancement, acquisition of riches, glory and fame, entering high society .
Evening star is Hera – Charitable, advancement to ‘give back’, helping the unprotected or needy.
Saturn morning star is Ninurta, the dark hero – Mature, serious, strong boundaries, desiring power/control, controlled fears, slow progress
Evening star is Anzu the Devil-bird – Suspicious, hateful, holding grudges for a long time, ruthless, insecure, fearful
This is a good introduction to the different phases of the planets. In the next post I will cover the invisible planets and what each one indicates and how to identify it in a chart. Until then, go with Apollo and Athena at your back! Julian
This teaching goes by two names, and they mean the SAME thing. Often it is called “sect” but can also be called “hays”. You will hear ancient astrologers talk about whether a planet is IN sect/hays very often – if it IS in hays, it is showing its best self, if it is OUT of hays, it is showing its worst self.
There are 6levels of Hays. The first level is the most important and accounts for 70% of the hays of a planet. It is whether the chart is a day chart or a night chart. This is very easy to see – you simply look at where the sun is in the chart. If the sun is above the first house and the seventh house shown in Fig1, it is a day chart. If the sun is beneath the first house and the seventh house, it is a night chart as shown in figure 2.
Figure 1. A Day Chart
Figure 2. A Night Chart
The second level of hays which is about 10% is the quadrant of the chart the planet falls in. If the planet is between the ascendant and the MC it is in a day quadrant, between the MC and the seventh house (DC) it is in a night quadrant as illustrated below in figure 3.
Figure 3. The Hays of the Quadrants
The other levels of hays are much more difficult to represent graphically, but I will explain them here for those who are interested. You may also ask me any questions you have on my Instagram or by email at admin@olympus-astrology.com.
The third level of hays is which SOLAR quadrant the planet is in. This is a more advanced technique, but only accounts for approx. 5% of the hays of a planet. In principle it is the same the second level of hays, except you use the sun as the ascendant and divide the zodiac into 90degree segments. From the conjunction with the sun to the first square is day, from the firs square to the opposition is night etc.
The fourth level of Hays is whether the planet is on the same side of the horizon as the sun. If it is a night chart (the sun is below the horizon), so if a planet is also below the horizon WITH the sun, it is on the day side of the horizon. If the sun is above the horizon and a planet is also above the horizon WITH the sun, it is on the day segment of the horizon. This is about 5% of the hays of a planet.
The fifth level of Hays is whether the sign is a day or a night sign. The signs alternate, the first sign Aries is a day sign, the second sign taurus is a night sign and it continues like this. This comes to about 5% of the hays of a planet.
The sixth level of Hays is whether you are a man or a woman. Men belong to the day sect and women belong to the night sect. This also comes to about 5% of the hays of a planet.
Now that your brain has been fried with details, let’s simplify this system and look at some practical examples. Below you will find two charts, figures 4 and 5. The first is the chart of my teacher, Rumen Kolev. The second is a chart of an anonymous character given in a lecture who spent 5years in prison!
Figure 4: The Chart of Rumen Kolev
Figure 5: Anonymous Chart of a Man Convicted to Prison
What you will notice about both these charts, is that both charts have Mars close to the MC. This is their defining characteristic. However, one chart belongs to one of the most notable astrological scholars of modern times and the other to a convict!
If you have learned this system of hays, you can recognise this difference immediately. Let’s find the sun! For chart 1 it is below the horizon but for chart 2 it is above the horizon! If you like, you can analyse the other levels of hays as well, however the most important is simply whether the chart is day or night. You only need to go the other levels for a very deep analysis.
In the ancient texts (firmicus maternus, mathesis, book 3 translated by James Herschel Holden) mars in the tenth house or MC is described as follows:
“If it is in a night chart, in its own domicile or a sign of Jupiter it will make the native exposed to many dangers and swindled in different ways. But nevertheless, it will make governors, generals, lords of life and death, and great magistrates over provinces and cities… but if it is found in the tenth house or MC by day, it makes ineffectual men who are hindered in many ways in everything they do; it signifies great damage and loss to their personal wealth. It makes natives who are judged as outlaws or persecuted by the law. It indicates burden of travel; compels some to flee or makes them exiles; it makes some to die abroad or in exile from their homeland.”
In general: By night, Mars in the tenth house gives leaders and courageous people who encounter dangers and swindling in their life but are still great and successful. But during the day it makes criminals and people who will face mostly misfortune.
Another example: below is my own chart, figure 7, the chart of J.F Kennedy in figure 8 and the chart of my mother, figure 9. You will notice all the charts are characterised by a powerful Saturn in the ninth or tenth house on the meridian (MC). To illustrate the power of hays let us read what firmicus says about Saturn on the meridian (equal to the tenth house) and then tell the real stories. It reads as follows:
“Saturn in the tenth house or on the MC by day will make emperors, military commanders or captains of the imperial bodyguard… it will give great assets, glory and inheritances from great people most especially if mars does not make aspect… if found in the tenth or MC by night it will cause the loss of inheritance, it will deny marriage, it will deny children, however if a good star makes aspect (Venus or Jupiter), the native will have in some part, children, marriage and inheritances. However, often Saturn in an angle at night kills the marriage partner, ruins the children and causes bitter pain and loss.”
Figure 7: Saturn on MC by day (me!)
Figure 8: Saturn on MC by day – J.F. Kennedy
Figure 9: Saturn on MC by night (my mother)
Saturn in the tenth by day is very clear in its manifestation especially in the chart of JFK – it literally made him a king as described in firmicus. In my own chart… we will have to wait and see! I will discuss the omens of my own chart – as they are a great testament and example of practical ancient astrology – in another blog post.
My mother’s chart is a very interesting case! As you can see it is a night chart, Saturn is in the MC. However, Saturn also has a wide trine with her Venus – which is incredibly powerful – and a conjunction with Jupiter. We can interpret that she WILL be married and she will have children, however they will only come after great delay and there will be complications in their health which they will survive. Saturn creates the delay and the troubles with children.
The real story: Her inheritances were not ruined as Firmicus described, in fact they grew and are still growing today. We can thank the conjunction of Jupiter and trine of Venus for this! Also the wealth star Rukbat on her MC with Saturn indicates good income. As for marriage and children which Saturn so cruelly denies at night: She did not marry until she was 38 years old! Saturn delayed it greatly. Her first child (me) was happy and healthy. However, her second child was born 5 days before a solar eclipse! As you can imagine, disaster struck. My brother became sick with meningitis when he was five months old! 5days-5months. He did survive (thanks to trine from Venus and conjunction of Jupiter), but he became deaf as a result!
As you can see, the omens were quite accurate! It is lucky my mother had the aid of Zeus Jupiter and Venus to bring her through a trial which may have been much more tragic than it already was. Saturn gave her many delays and trials when it came to creating her own family, finding a partner and having children, however these things did come eventually, but were tainted with grief just as Firmicus describes.
Now you have a good understanding of the technical and practical side of the use of Hays in astrology. May it change your life forever and bring you great peace and the bliss of Olympus!
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