The significator indicates the area of life affected, while the promittor shows an active force interfering in the affairs of the significator.
Only the house cusps and the Part of Fortune can be significators. Aspects and antiscia of planets can only be promittors.
The planets themselves can function as both promittors and significators.
For example, in a direction to another planet, the MC always represents the public activity of the native as a significator, regardless of the second planet's (promittor) influence. The promittor will always bring events into public activity (in the directional MC) according to its determination.
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How to Assign a Significator?
1. By Location and Rulership
The accidental meaning of significators in directions is primarily determined by the house's position and rulership of the house in question. Sometimes we also take into account the secondary ruler of that house, but no more than that. Other forms of determination, such as determination by aspect or cusp rulership by exaltation, play an insignificant role.
2. By Natural Meaning
We can assign a planet as a significator if its natural meaning and aspect strongly coincide or oppose the sense of the house, provided that the planet has any determination to the house in question (by location, rulership by exaltation and triplicity, aspect, etc.).
Examples:
- Suppose Mars closely aspects the ASC by square, which is strongly inimical to life. Mars can be a significator of injury to the body. The direction of Mars to the ruler of the 1st (which would be a promittor in this case) may give a wound.
- Suppose Venus closely aspects a planet in the 7th by trine. Then, it can be a significator of marriage, since Venus's natural meaning and the nature of the trine coincide with the sense of the 7th house.
How to Assign a Promittor for a Given Significator?
1. The Native
The first and most obvious promittor is the native himself. Although the promittor is the active force that affects the significator, in the case of the native, he is the first to receive the effect.
Example:
If the ruler of the 11th house (or a planet in the 11th) is the significator of friends, then its direction to the trine of Jupiter, the ruler of the ASC, will affect the native through his friends. However, whether something good or evil happens with the native's friends in this direction depends on his own actions or those of their friends.
2. Other Planets Logically Connected to the Promittor
Suppose we have the Sun in the 12th house as a significator of secret enemies or sickness. If the promittor is the ruler of the 7th, we would expect matters related to the 12th house to affect the native through his spouse or partner.
Here's another example: let Mars be the ruler of the 4th house in the 6th. This means that Mars signifies both parents and servants. Suppose we have the square of the Moon as the promittor.
- The Moon is in the 10th house, which signifies the native's actions,
- The dexter square of the Moon in the 7th house portends lawsuits and disputes (see effects of aspects)
So we combine the lawsuits initiated by the native (as the active agent) with the subject of the parents and servants (who receive this action).
This direction portends lawsuits with parents, servants, or both, or disputes with parents regarding the animals. We can discern the final meaning by knowing the current context of the native's life.
A Planet-to-Planet Direction Problem
As mentioned earlier, planets can be both promittors and significators. When considering the directions of two planets, the question of role distribution (between promittor and significator) is solved as follows.
If Two Planets are in The Same House
In this case, the two planets show the same affairs. Therefore, the significator will be the planet that more clearly expresses that house.
It may be the planet closer to the cusp or one that is determined by the house in several ways at once, for example, by exaltation, aspect, position, and natural rulership of the exact nature of the house itself.
Then, the second planet will become a promittor. Finally, in the direction of the significator to the promittor, we will consider both the natural meaning of the promittor and the houses it rules.
For example, suppose the 10th house has the Sun and Mars, and the Sun is closer to the cusp. Moreover, the Sun's nature coincides with the 10th house. In this case, the Sun becomes a significator.
When Mars approaches the Sun in its directional movement, it will bring not only conflicts according to its nature but also the meanings of those houses that it rules.
When Planets are in Different Houses
In this scenario, the planets represent different significations, and there is no astrological rule that states that one planet always holds more significance than another.
The same planet can be a significator for one thing and a promittor for another. For example, a Saturn in the 8th house can be a promittor of death when directed towards the planet in the 1st house in the converse direction. On the other hand, Saturn in the 8th house can be the significator of death, while the planet ruling the 12th house in the 1st house can be a promittor of illness or injury to life. Both directions lead to a similar outcome - a threat of death, but at different times.
