Kirk, however you chose to make the houses work for you is fine by me - the system that people prefer is not my interest in this thread. As you can see my post is not fixated on the midheaven, since I make the point that the principle applies to every house meaning: that every 'place' expresses meaning related to angularity and diurnal movement of stars and planets - something that happens in the sky: they are not just random bits of space that have no meaning outside of their count from the ascendant on a piece of paper. But that was pretty much the theme of my book and I would turn into a bore to keep playing the same record ...

Pythagorean philosophy is a foundational influence of Hellenistic astrology

Hello Kirk,

I think it would be more accurate to state that Pythagorean philosophy is one of the foundational influences of Hellenistic astrology along with Platonic and Stoic philosophy.

Mark

So it looks like I'm getting free Internet service while the company figures out exactly what services they are going to offer. I was looking forward to a period of being Internet free.


Mark,

I wrote:

. . . is a foundational influence of Hellenistic astrology.

You wrote:

. . . is one of the foundational influences of Hellenistic astrology. . .

Aren't we saying the same thing, my 'a' indicating that there were others? Thank you for naming other influences, but you forgot the Chaldean.



Deb,

I wasn't referring to any system. I was questioning such a strong focus on the midheaven ? perhaps meridian is a better word ? for the origin of 10th house significations. I was considering the possibility of an entrenched and favored ancient numerological idea in relation to the all-important Ascendant leading to 10th house meanings. The Ascendant was the 'hot spot' for the Greeks, and the idea of the 10th sign to rise there, bringing fulfillment, completion and success, seems quite plausible. Rather than looking at a high point in the center of the sky I was considering the development of ASC potential. Rather than looking back and forth between the ASC and MC, switching the focus between the horizon and the sky, I was staying with the ASC and wondering what formerly may have been seen to develop directly from it ? the 10th house as an outgrowth and completion of the ASC. There might be a chance that the two approaches came together and gave us the 10th house. But I ain't no expert.

Kirk wrote:

Since we need to keep an open mind and might do well to check all the possibilities . . . Pythagorean philosophy is a foundational influence of Hellenistic astrology.

Kirk wrote:
Aren't we saying the same thing, my 'a' indicating that there were others? Thank you for naming other influences, but you forgot the Chaldean.

I didn't forget Chaldean. I was picking up the word

philosophy

There seems to be these three main hellenistic philosophical streams involved in early Greek astrology. Its unclear what philosophical legacy (as opposed to astrological legacy) Mesopotamia contributed to the foundation of Hellenistic astrology.