Diurnal and Nocturnal

As you reflect about benefic and malefic planets, the immediate concept that follows is the qualitative distinction known as "sect", which affects how the stars manifest themselves in a chart. This is part of the reasons why benefic planets are not always perceived as positive and malefics are not always seen as negative.

As such, planets are classified in two factions: the first diurnal, led by the Sun and containing Jupiter as benefic and Saturn as malefic; and the second goup is the nocturnal, led by the Moon, which is accompanied by Venus as benefic and Mars as malefic. Mercury, by its dubious and almost 'wildcard' nature, can manifest within both factions according to its positioning on a given chart - and even so then there is no consensus among traditional authors such as Ptolemy, Porphyry and Valens.

Each planet 'prefers' to be in its own sect, so when this happens, it is described by the Hellenistic authors as "joyful" or "jubilant. On the other hand, the planet becomes "unhappy" or "angry" when the chart does not match its sect preference, and is referred to as "contrary to the sect".

Regarding the malefics, there is a rationale that facilitates understanding: Saturn, an extremely cold planet, receives some heat from the Sun during the day and becomes more cheerful and with a propensity to show its structuring side: more moderate than castrating and more of a"wise old man" than "bitter and grumpy". On the other hand, Mars, which is very hot, gets even warmer during the day from the sun's rays and without the coolness and humidity of the Moon to calm it down, thus more prone to explosions and trouble - as if the other team's attacker getting in the way of ours, to make a sports allusion. A similar logic applies when we talk about night maps.

Identifying the sect is one of the first steps when analyzing a map. To determine it, we simply check whether the native was born during the day or night, and look at the planets in the sect and those outside the sect. Due to the nature of dawn and dusk - the sky begins to clear before the Sun appears and still has a little light left after it goes into hiding - there is no consensus on the precise sect change for natives born at these times.