Further thoughts on Zael’s “Not-reception” in astrology

In September of 2017 I posted some comments about Sahl’s concept of “not-reception,” which I will summarize here as background to this post:

Astrologers talk about how one planet receives another in one of its dignities, including mutual reception in which two planets in aspect occupy a major dignity of the other; for example, Venus in Cancer (ruled by the Moon) sextile the Moon in Taurus (ruled by Venus). The traditional literature defines “reception” as a situation in which two planets are in aspect and at least one of the planets occupies a major essential dignity (or two minor essential dignities) of the other.

When two planets are in the essential dignities of each other but no aspect is present, the situation is called “generosity” because each planet is inclined to behave helpfully and ungrudgingly toward the other but there is no aspect bringing them into contact. For example, if Venus occupies Gemini (ruled by Mercury) and Mercury occupies Taurus (ruled by Venus), there is no aspect connecting them but each is in the domicile of the other, so they are feeling amiable and generous toward one another.

Curiously, the 9th century astrologer Sahl ibn Bishr al-Israili, often known as Zahel or Zael, utilized what he called “not-receptions” in his work. Lilly studied Sahl and incorporated many of his horary principles into Christian Astrology (1647).

What did Sahl mean by a not-reception? In his translation of Sahl’s text (Introduction §5.9), Ben Dykes cites the following example.  Suppose the Moon lies in Aries, which is the sign of “fall” or “descension” of Saturn, and furthermore that the Moon is applying to an aspect with Saturn while Saturn is not receiving the Moon in any of Saturn’s dignities. According to Dykes’ translation, “in such a case, the Moon [in Aries, the fall of Saturn] would be like someone approaching Saturn from the house of his enemies [Aries], and he [Saturn] will neither receive nor esteem her.” 

Sahl’s idea seems to be that because the Moon occupies Aries, the sign of Saturn’s fall, an inimical place where the ringed planet is held is low esteem, then the Moon can only beam its rays toward Saturn from a scornful, degrading and toxic environment, but Saturn is under no obligation to accept such nasty rays from the Moon and would, in fact, try to avoid them. If Saturn were Superman, the the Moon in Aries would be like someone on a planet laden with Kryptonite who can only send items contaminated with the toxic substance back to the superhero.

Since the publication of Ben Dykes translation outlining Sahl’s use of “not-reception,” several astrologers who practice with traditional methods have begun to use this concept in their work. For example, medical astrologer Marcos Patchett in a recent YouTube video on medical astrology (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjByBh-6LRM&t=229s) discusses the usefulness of recognizing what he calls “rejection” (not-reception) and “hostility” (as opposed to generosity) in charts.

By “rejection” Patchett means Sahl’s “not-reception.” In other words, there are two planets in aspect (beaming their rays at each other within orb) and at least one of them occupies the sign of fall or detriment (exile) of the other. Because one planet’s rays are tainted with the nastiness of detriment or fall, the other planet rejects those rays and refuses to cooperate.

Be “hostility” Patchett means the opposite of “generosity.” In other words, if planet A is not in aspect (not able to “see”) planet B, then planet A will be “hostile” toward planet B whenever planet B occupies the sign of fall or exile of planet A. This occurs because planet B’s rays originate from an environment which is toxic to planet A.

Since we’re talking about medical astrology, let’s look at an example of a notable person person who was known to be sickly much of his life. Author Marcel Proust suffered from chronic debilitating asthma attacks, which began in childhood. At age 31, in the autumn of 1902, his health deteriorated considerably, forcing him, from then on, to limit his activity and lead a retiring life. From his biography we know that Proust was born at 96 rue la Fontaine in Paris, France (coordinates 48n51′ and 2e16) on 10 July 1871 at 23:30 LMT, according to his official birth certificate. Here is the chart with Placidus houses.

Proust was born on a Moon day during a Mars hour.

His Ascendant sign is Aries, ruled by Mars.

At age 31 (in the autumn of 1902), when his health declined dramatically, his profected Ascendant was Scorpio on the 8th Placidus cusp. Natal Mars lies in Libra, the sign of its exile (detriment) and occupies the 6th house of illness. Lilly writes in Book 3 of Christian Astrology (p.577): “If the lord of the ascendant be in the 6th or 12th, it argues a sickly person.” Here the lord of the ascendant, Mars, is in the 6th in Libra, the sign of its detriment. Modern astrologers will note that Asc-ruler Mars is in partile opposition to Chiron (the wounded healer) in the 12th house.

Libra is also the sign of fall of the Sun, which is exalted in Aries. Thus, 1st-ruler Mars lies in the fall of the Sun, which makes the Sun regard any contact with Mars as toxic or hostile. In this chart the Sun is in square aspect to Mars, and the Sun rules the cusp of the Placidus 6th house of illness. Furthermore, the Sun in Cancer occupies the sign of fall of Mars, which is exalted in Capricorn, so that Mars regards any contact with the Sun as coming from the toxic and hostile environment of its fall. Here we have a mutual not-reception. The Sun and Mars are connected by square aspect, but the Sun occupies the fall of Mars, and Mars occupies the fall of the Sun. The Sun views Mars as hostile, Mars views the Sun as hostile, and they are beaming their rays at each other with a hostile square aspect. This is especially bad news because Mars is the Ascendant-ruler, signifying the life, body, and vital energy of the native. Poor Marcel ended up chronically ill for his entire life.

Traditional astrologers did not know about Neptune, but in this chart Neptune is in partile conjunction with the Ascendant degree where it can have a dissipating or debilitating influence on health. On the positive side, Neptune here can indicate great imagination, spirituality, creativity and artistic talent.

If we take a more modern perspective, looking at Asc-ruler Mars and Neptune conjunct the Ascendant, we see that their midpoint lies on the Mercury-Sun conjunction in Cancer, which traditionally rules the lungs (he suffered from chronic asthma). Here is the 90-degree dial with the Mars/Neptune midpoint.

Sun = Mars/Neptune correlates with his lifelong ill health.

Mercury = Mars/Neptune is consistent with his tremendous imagination and literary genius.