essential dignity

Essential dignity, in astrology, refers to the relative strength or weakness of a planet or point's zodiac position by sign and degree, or its essence—what the pre-eminent 17th-century astrologer William Lilly called "the strength, fortitude or debility of the Planets [or] significators." In other words, essential dignity seeks to view the strengths of a planet or point as though it were isolated from other factors in the sky of the natal chart.