The Divided Line and Universal Manifestation (Houses 9-12)

Universal Manifestation (Houses 9-12)

At the top, house 1 and houses 9-12 with their dignities are depicted.

In the lower right is Plato’s Divided Line. The four sections are labeled “Phantasy,” “Sensation,” Understanding,” and “Intuition,” reading from left to right. There are two planets correlated with each section of the Line: the top planet represents the gnostic function (exaltation) associated with that section, and the bottom planet represents the type of object known (rulership) associated with that section. The Sun and Mars in Aries are associated with Phantasy, Mars and Saturn in Capricorn are associated with Sensation, Saturn and Venus in Libra are associated with Understanding, and Jupiter and the Moon in Cancer are associated with Intuition.

Bracketed below each of the rulerships (the bottom planet) are all the signs in which it is in rulership (on the left) and all the signs in which it is in exaltation (on the right), with the exception that beneath Mars in Aries are the two signs in which the Sun is in rulership and exaltation. It’s unclear whether this departure from the pattern is deliberate or not.

Beneath each of these sets of signs are two groups of roman numerals in parentheses. The first group consists of the houses in which the top planet is in rulership, and the second group consists of the houses in which the bottom planet is in rulership. For example, under Sensation, Mars is the top planet since it is in exaltation in Capricorn. Mars is in rulership in houses 1 and 8, so “I” and “VIII” are in the first group of roman numerals. Saturn in Capricorn is the bottom planet because it is in rulership in Capricorn. Saturn is in rulership in houses 10 and 11, so “X” and “XI” are in the second group of roman numerals.