Degrees, Meanings of
Degrees, Meanings of
(religion, spiritualism, and occult)In astrologers’ quest for subsidiary bands of influence, the 12 signs of the zodiac have been subdivided in various ways. Decans (10° arcs) and dwads (2½° arcs) are two such subdivisions. It was almost inevitable that astrologers would eventually speculate about the astrological meanings of the individual degrees of the zodiac. Unfortunately, there has been less general agreement on the meanings of the degrees than on the meaning of other subdivisions. There have been counts of not less than 17 distinct systems for assigning significance to the degrees. This lack of unanimity is less important, however, than astrologers’ disagreement over other issues, because, for purposes of individual chart interpretation, degree meanings provide a level of detail that astrologers rarely have time to develop. Hence, most do not use them. Probably the most widely used system among those who do consider degree meanings is the Sabian Symbols popularized by Marc Edmund Jones and Dane Rudhyar.