Knowledge is invariably a matter of degree: you cannot put your finger upon even the simplest datum and say this we know.
(T. S. Eliot)
The word 'degree' came originally from Middle English via Old French (12/13 century) - degré (a stair step, rank, position etc.) And via Vulgar Latin degradus (a step); Late Latin degradare; from Latin de- down + gradus (step). See here.
The division of a circle into 360 degrees was known in ancient Babylon and Egypt, perhaps from the daily motion of the sun through the zodiac in the course of a year.
See Wikipedia
A 360th part of the circumference of a circle, which part is taken as the principal unit of measure for arcs and angles. The degree is divided into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds.More theories at the Wikipedia link above.
The original motivation for choosing the degree as a unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory states that it is related to the fact that 360 is approximately the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows through the ecliptic path over the course of the year, seems to advance in its path by approximately one degree each day. Some ancient calendars, such as the Persian calendar, used 360 days for a year. The use of a calendar with 360 days may be related to the use of sexagesimal numbers................
So - however we arrived at this, we have 360 degrees to the zodiac circle. Not content that all degrees, as all men (and women) should be "treated as equal", ancient astrologers and some modern astrologers, use what are known as "critical degrees" in their delineations. There are "critical degrees", "anaretic" or crisis degrees, and "pits and peaks".
Classic critical degrees (rounded off version - sufficient for this purpose):
0, 13, and 26 degrees of the cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn
8-9 and 21-22 degrees of fixed signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius
4 and 17 degrees of mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
The anaretic and 'crisis' degrees are 0 and 29 degrees of any sign. These are considered critical degrees as well. The 0 and 29 degrees are more crisis-oriented points, especially in predictive work.
There is not a universal agreement about the meaning of the critical degrees; some astrologers don't use them at all.
From an old thread at Astronuts tribe forum: By member known as "Captain" -
The Anaretic Degrees are related to something called the Hyleg, or The Giver of Life. At one time, this was said to be a planet so located as to influence one's longevity. The whole subject is very complex, and also very controversial, because it was used to predict the time of death....and nowadays that is quite frowned upon. Basically, the strongest planet that occupied one of the Aphetic places (places related to ruler or giver of life in a nativity) became Hyleg, and was deemed to be the Apheta. The Aphetic places were from the 25th degree of the 8th house to the 25th degree of the 11th house; from the 25th degree of the 12th house to the 25th degree of the 1st house; and from the 25th degree of the 6th house to the 25th degree of the 7th house. It gets very complex, but the Anaretic places were those occupied by Mars or Saturn, or by the Sun, Moon or Mercury if they aspected Mars or Saturn. And the Anaretic planets were, unlike the Hyleg, considered the destroyer of life. Some people have taken the term Anaretic and grafted it onto the Critical Degree concepts, but these are really two entirely different things. Some people consider any planet at 0 or 29 degrees to be at an Anaretic degree, and thus a crisis degree, but that is not how the word was originally defined.
From Dr. Farr on a board at astrology weekly.com
I shall post the list of "pitted degrees" (extracted from Ibn Ezra) and also the "elevation degrees" (which enhance benefic influences even in the face of weak dignity and adverse aspects!)
SEE LINK for the list.
Elevated Degrees, are (or rather, were) also known as "elevations", "peaks", "heights" and "degrees of increasing fortune"; planets in them are saved from detriment, changed from debility to dignity, rescued from affliction; if already strong, dignified, benefic, then their benefic influence is greatly amplified; if malefic, their negative influence is transformed into at least a mild benefic influence
Pitted Degrees, also known as "pits", "depressions", "holes", "deep degrees" and "degrees of diminishing fortune"; regardless of strength or weakness, dignity or detriment or debility, affliction, benefic or malefic, planets in them are neutralized (at least partially) or "blocked" (usually relative degree of influence or to time of manifestation of influence).
These elevated or pitted degrees have no orbs (unlike the critical degrees)-the planet must be in the exact degree -the influence of these degrees extend equally throughout the entire degree: a planet posited at the 59th minute of the degree is influenced by it as much as a planet posited at the 1st minute of the degree.
I have followed Ibn Ezra in the listing of these degrees; this because the Ankara tradition followed these, as well as early Renaissance authors (Agrippa); this list is at variance in several of the degrees with that of Al-Biruni: however, the 2 lists match in the great majority of degrees listed.
Where did these degree allocations come from? They might have developed from the "partes damnande" (involving 102 degrees of the ecliptic) listed by Manilius in the "Astronomica" (14AD)-but the source of these is nowhere to be found in the (known) historical literature. We don't find any similar kind of degree-system in Vedic astrology, so there is no help from that quarter. There is suggestive material connecting degree-qualities to the long-lost "Great Celestial Handbook" of Petosiris and Nechepso (c. 150 BC, Alexandria), and also that in some way they represent indications used in ancient Egyptian calendrical astrology. But nothing concrete has yet been brought to light. The Ebertin Cosmobiologie school, and the extensive researches of Charles Carter, has brought much information to light regarding degree-areas, but this is not the same as the ancient degree-quality material, such as here in the case of pits and peaks.....
I've also never felt keen on the Sabian symbols, another method of describing the 360 degrees. Sabians seem to me to be purely personal to the writer, plucked from that writer's individual perception. For someone else the perception and perspective would almost certainly be quite different.
If ancient astrological lore relating to the degree issue has been lost, I wonder from whence that lore came in the first place, and was it reliable? Even astrological lore from much nearer our time can seem distinctly iffy, especially that related to Fixed Stars, for example.
The concept of critical degrees, in general, doesn't appeal to me much. Perhaps degrees 00 and 29 do have a wee bit of extra significance, though what that is would have to be established from personal experiences. I have Mars at 28.55 Scorpio (if that counts as near enough 29 degrees); and Pluto at 00 Leo. Neither placement seems of any special significance to me. Maybe I'm looking at it in the wrong kind of light.
