Day And Night Chart - How Sect Influences Your Natal Chart
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Day And Night Chart - How Sect Influences Your Natal Chart
There is an ancient astrological technique in Hellenistic astrology for interpreting Natal Charts that can be quite fundamental, called sect. This categorises Natal Charts into either day charts or night charts. It’s a relatively simple concept but one that can change how you view the interpretation of a chart.
If you were born with the Sun above the horizon, then you have a Day Chart and the Sun, Jupiter, and Mars become key players for you. If you were born with the Sun below the horizon line, then you have a Night Chart and the Moon, Venus, and Saturn become highlighted for you.
One of the most important things about it is that if you were born at night, you may identify more with your Moon Sign than your Sun Sign. To get a free copy of your birth chart, click here. As always, you will need your exact birth time.
How to know if you have a day or night chart:
If you have a day chart, the Sun will be placed above the horizon line when you were born (in the Houses 7-12, above the AC line), i.e. you were born during the day. It will be your sect light.
If you were born at night, or have your Sun in Houses 1-6 (below the DC line), the Sun will appear in the bottom half of your Natal Chart, below the horizon line. This means that the Moon will be your sect light.
It gets a little bit tricky if you were born really close to sunrise or sunset, so your Sun is close to the ascendant or descendant line, because it will have already been light/dark out and so your chart may behave more like a day chart even if it was technically still nighttime, or vice versa. In this case, an orb can be applied to the Sun of about 3-5º, as well as your own judgement as to which one resonates with you most.
Chart Sect Planets
Your Moon Sign is an important piece to your cosmic puzzle (forming part of “The Big 3” along with your Sun and Rising Sign, which many people also identify more with than their Sun Sign). It represents your internal world, your emotions, how you process your feelings, needs, wants, desires, and how you feel safe and taken care of.
It can also relate to your relationship with your maternal figure and/or womxn in your life. However, as mentioned, if you have a night chart, you may actually resonate more strongly with your Moon Sign as a whole, encompassing aspects of your core personality and values, which your Sun Sign normally would govern.
Other factors also come in to play with chart sect. These are namely the malefic planets Saturn and Mars, and which one will feature more predominantly for you in your life, and the benefic planets, Venus and Jupiter, and which one can be more bountiful.
In a day chart, Mars is the malefic out-of-Sect, potentially causing more difficulties to overcome, whereas Saturn can poses a more constructive challenge- something that is surmountable and lead to growth, particularly post-Saturn return.
In a night chart, Saturn is the malefic out of Sect, and Mars is the malefic of sect (in general, Saturn is known as the greater malefic and mars is the lesser malefic). This means that Saturn can be more challenging for night charts, and can contribute to the experience of the Saturn Return more.
Of course, the final interpretation will depend on the nature of these planets in your chart. A dignified Saturn (in its domicile or exaltation, House of joy, in harmonious aspect to the benefics etc), which always be more manageable.
The same applies to the so-called benefics, Jupiter and Venus. If you have a day chart, then Jupiter is going to have extra strength and play a more important role in your chart.
If you have a night chart, Venus will feature more predominantly for you (usually, Jupiter is known as the greater benefic and Venus is known as the lesser benefic).
That’s not to say that the other one won’t have blessings to bestow upon you, simply that the benefic for your sect will have more emphasis in your chart! Again, for both of these their actual placement in your chart also plays a role. Even Venus can be problematic if harshly challenged.
Mercury is taken less into account for influence and is said to be either nocturnal or diurnal depending on its placement, or simply neutral. If it is oriental, rising before the Sun, it is diurnal. If it is occidental, rising and setting after the Sun, it is nocturnal. You can see this in whether it is on the right (rising before) or left of the Sun glyph in your chart.
Diurnal Planets
Sun - sect light
Saturn - malefic of sect
Jupiter - benefic of sect
(Mercury if risen before the Sun)
(Mars is the malefic-out-of-sect and so may pose more challenges)
Nocturnal Planets
Moon - sect light
Mars - malefic of sect
Venus - benefic of sect
(Mercury if risen after the Sun)
(Saturn is the malefic-out-of-sect and so may pose more challenges)
There are several mitigating factors that can be taken into consideration as well when considering sect, namely with the Zodiac Signs, Houses, and aspects. For example, if one of the Planets is in their own ruling Sign or exaltation or in a fortunate House their effects will be mitigated (for more information on this check out our post on The Astrological Houses).
You can also look to mutual receptivity where two Planets are in each other’s domicile. Positive aspects to benefic Planets will also help mitigate a placement, such as a trine or sextile between Saturn/Mars and Venus/Jupiter. It can also help explain, among other factors, why you may experience a more intense Saturn Return than other people!
It can be beneficial when using these methodologies to use Whole Sign Houses as this was the system used when this was being developed (and I would personally argue to use this system all the time thanks to the work of the brilliant Chris Brennan and Chani Nicholas)!
Overall, it can be summarised as the day Planets are most constructive in a day chart, and the night Planets are most constructive in a night chart. It’s an illuminating method to take into consideration when looking at your Natal Chart, I hope you give it a go! Let me know in the comments section below if you have any questions or comments to add.
If you would like a personalised session with me, book in a 1:1 Astro reading! I’d be honoured to guide you, I also have an offering specifically for students of Astrology. If you prefer to study Astrology alone instead, get our Cosmic Guidance: Traditional Astrology 101 Course or our Beginner’s Astrology + Birth Charts Guidebook!
