Dignities and Debilities are what give the Planets strength or weakness. When a Planet is in its Dignity, it is happy, things are going well for it, it agrees most with its placement and it can show off its true strength. When it is in its Debility, the Planet is uncomfortable and when it is uncomfortable it brings down others who are comfortable in their places when it's aspected to them. Its strength to bring goodness is weakened or impeded by outside forces and this is never pleasant and it brings malevolence.

The Dignities and Debilities are broken up further into two sub categories. The first type is called an Essential Dignity and Essential Debility are those found in specific Zodiac signs. A Planet is either comfortable (dignity) or uncomfortable (debility) in certain Signs and positions of the Zodiac. A Planet will always be Essentially Dignified or Debilitated unless it is Peregrine. The second type of Dignity (or termed "Fortitude") and Debility are highly contested by many astrologers and are termed "accidental". Many astrologers do not consider these to have any power or that they shouldn't recognize them as being important. In fact the term "checklist" with a negative connation comes up quite often concerning their discussion due to how the fathers of Astrology have given table lists of each of them. The traditional authors on the other hand had a different view in which it is clear in the table below concerning their numbering system which will be discussed further later.

The other contest to the Accidental Dignities and Debilities, comes from the opinion that they shouldn't be used with Nativities and as before stated, that they mean very little in a Natal Chart. Whether or not one chooses to adhere to this opinion is up to the individual. However, as aforesaid, the Dignities and Debilities show the strength and weaknesses of the Planets, not all Planets are strong and not all are weak and it depends simply on the Planets placement, not the type of chart. Is it not important to know that a Planet is weak or strong in a chart?

Accidental Fortitudes(or Dignities) and Debilities play a key role in determining whether are not the Essential Dignities or Debilities (of the signs) are to be considered as powerful as they seem. A good example of this is a Nativity with the placement of Jupiter in Sagittarius. This placement, being its House or home Sign (the other being Pisces) receives the highest Dignity available because this is where it is most comfortable (being also a day Planet, Jupiter is most happy in Sagittarius, a day sign). With this placement it can make one honest, religious, and a follower of goodness. However, if that is as far as we go, it can simply produce a completely incorrect reading. If we find that Jupiter is Accidentally Debilitated, for instance Retrograde and Combust, its Accidental Debility far outnumbers its Essential Dignities that it received for being in its House and therefore the interpretation of this Planet has been changed almost to the opposite to produce atheists in most cases. Therefore it is absolutely recommended that the Accidental Dignities and Debilities be used in all charts.

To make the process of discovering strength or weakness of the Planets simple, traditional authors have designated a point system to the Dignities and Debilities. This scale is ranked from 5 points, which are the most powerful (either positively or negatively) to 1 point which is the least powerful. Each strong Dignity or Debility receives a 5 on the scale (or same choose to rank Debilities as -5 for the final sum).

Here is a Table of all the Dignities and Debilities of the Planets.

From the Table above it is clear what makes a Planet strong or weak. This Table is quite helpful in analyzing all Planets to judge whether the Planet has a strong positive, neutral or negative influence. For example if Jupiter were Retrograde we see that it receives a 5 (or -5) in the Debilities column. But if Jupiter is Retrograde in its House, it will receive a 5 (or +5). With each of these placements it gives quite a different reading which is important to understand. This is why it is important to consider all of the Dignities or Debilities before making judgment on whether a Planet is strong or weak. As aforesaid, some consider using the Accidental Fortitudes and Debilities as nothing more then a "checklist" counting the numbers but as is shown, its quite and important process that should be used by all astrologers.

Each term used in this table can be found in the different chapters and sections on Treatise pages to help the student understand each term. In order to greater understand these terms it is advised to study each of them.