UmbrielAstrology

The Prorogatory Places

The places in the chart that hold the thread of life.

Ptolemy, about 150 AD, in J. M. Ashmand's English of 1822. A 1-minute read · pages 130 to 131 · free, every word

[p. 130] Firstly, those places, only, are to be deemed prorogatory, to which the future assumption of the dominion of prorogation exclusively belongs. These several places are the sign on the angle of the ascendant, from the fifth degree above the horizon, to the twenty-fifth degree below it;—the thirty degrees in dexter sextile thereto, constituting the eleventh house, called the Good Dæmon;—also the thirty degrees in dexter quartile, forming the mid-heaven above the earth;—those in dexter trine making the ninth house, called God;—and lastly, those in opposition, belonging to the angle of the west.

Secondly, among these places, the degrees which constitute the mid-heaven are entitled to preference, as being of a more potent and paramount influence:—the degrees in the ascendant are next in virtue;—then the degrees in the eleventh house succedent to the mid-heaven;—then those in the angle of the west;—and, lastly, those in the ninth house, which precedes the mid-heaven.

[p. 131] No degrees under the earth are, in any manner, eligible to the dominion now in question; except such only as enter into light actually above the succedent, or, in other words, with the ascendant. And any sign, although it may be above the earth, is still incompetent to partake in this dominion, if it be inconjunct with the ascendant: hence the sign which precedes the ascendant, and constitutes the twelfth house (called that of the Evil Dæmon), is incompetent; and not only for the above reason, but also because it is cadent, and because the beams cast by the stars posited therein, towards the earth, are impaired by the thick and dark exhalations arising from the earth’s vapours, which produce an unnatural colour and magnitude in the appearance of stars so posited, confusing, and in some measure annihilating, their beams.

Thus far with regard to the places of prorogation.

Old words on this page

quartile
the old word for a square: two planets 90° apart.
sextile
two planets 60° apart. Lilly counted it friendly.
cadent
a house that falls away from an angle: the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th.
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The text is J. M. Ashmand's 1822 translation, checked word by word between two scans of the 1822 printing (Wellcome Library and Harvard). Pages are cited as the 1822 printing numbers them. The portrait is William Marshall’s engraving of Lilly from the front of the 1659 printing (Wellcome Library, public domain).

Updated 30 October 2026. Method: Umbriel's own astronomy engine computes every position stated on this site; how closely it matches NASA JPL Horizons is published on the accuracy page.