In Hellenistic astrology, there's a key concept called Sect that's essential for interpreting Natal Charts.
It divides charts into two main types: day charts and night charts.
This distinction may seem simple, but it profoundly shapes how astrologers like me interpret a person's chart and how you can begin to interpret your own!
You don’t need an astrologer to show you whether you have a day chart or a night chart either. Let me teach you!
Find where your Sun is in relation to the Ascendant/Descendant line.
If it's above the line, you have a day chart. If it's below, you have a night chart.
(This gets a bit sticky if you were born really close to sunrise or sunset, making your Sun close to the Ascendant or Descendant line. I’ll explain in a different post in the future)
The Sun and the Moon are the luminaries in astrology, with the Sun serving as the sect light for a day chart and the Moon as the sect light for a night chart.
This distinction affects how strongly we identify with the qualities of our sect light. Night charts may struggle more to connect with their Sun sign compared to day charts, despite both luminaries being significant.
If you feel like you don’t really connect with your Sun sign, check if you’re a night chart!
Sect Benefics and Malefics: Who’s on your team?
If you have a day chart: The Sun is your sect light and Jupiter and Saturn belong to your day chart team.
If you have a night chart: the Moon is your sect light and Venus and Mars belong to your night chart team.
Benefic and malefic planets in astrology play distinct roles depending on whether a birth chart is diurnal (day chart) or nocturnal (night chart).
Jupiter is the benefic planet associated with expansion, abundance, and growth in various aspects of life, including knowledge, wisdom, and spirituality.
Venus focuses on pleasure, harmony, beauty, and the enjoyment of sensual and aesthetic experiences.
Venus and Jupiter both have the capability to say “yes” to things/promise favourable things, but their influence depends on sect.
Typically, the benefic planet aligned with your chart's sect will be more beneficial than the one that is not (Jupiter for a day chart, Venus in a night chart).
When these benefics are "out of sect" (Venus in a day chart or Jupiter in a night chart), their influence may feel like someone turned the dimmer on them — yet still supportive!
If you don't get the hype around transits for either benefics, sect could explain why.
It reminds me of a saying my grandmother used to say in Italian: “troppo di buono guasta,” which literally translates to: “too much of a good thing spoils.”
In other words — too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing.
Malefics of sect offer constructive lessons or “rewards” through perseverance, while out-of-sect malefics can bring challenges for seemingly no reason at all.
Depending on whether you have a day chart or night chart, Mars and Saturn can bring different challenges.
For a day chart native, Saturn is seen as important for bringing structure to your daily life and helping you achieve your aspirations through discipline. Day charts usually find Mars transits a bit tougher however, with more potential for unnecessary conflicts and unexpected injuries/ailments — such as a friend of mine suddenly slicing up their finger at work with transit Mars in their 6H and applying to an opposition with their natal Mars in 12H.
Day Chart = Mars is malefic out of sect
6H = work
Mars = injuries, cuts, wounds, and accidents
For a night chart native, Mars supports self-assertion, boundaries, and protection. Saturn, on the other hand, can be especially tough for night charts, “throwing a wrench in the plan” that can be really hard to overcome.
This also explains why Saturn returns tend to be less challenging for day charts and why Mars returns are less challenging for night charts.
Mapping out where your most supportive and challenging planets land (sign/house) helps you pinpoint which topics in life you’ll experience more ease and where you might encounter more difficulty in life.
Understanding sect thus illuminates essential information on how the planets in your chart operate and how you navigate this thing called life.
Until next time, whenever my creativity strikes,
Aless
