Hi Lucas, unfortunately I'm not able to answer this question directly. I know there are a few members of the forum who also have their SAN as an eclipse, so maybe they can give you some information about it. I can't recall having read about it, but maybe those with the placement have done specialized research to answer that very question.
Judging malefic and benefic planets in horoscopes can be tricky, but we typically start with sect to give us a good overview of judging if a planet is on the native's team or not. Planets in sect will be, and planets out of sect won't be. So people born during the day will have more difficulties from the Moon, Venus, and especially Mars; whereas people born at night will have difficulties with the Sun, Jupiter, and especially Saturn. Mercury can be on either sect depending on his relationship with the Sun. If Mercury rises before the Sun it's diurnal and causes more problems for people born at night; if it rises after the Sun it's nocturnal and causes more problems for people born during the day.
Accidental malefics are planets that rule the natal 6th, 8th, and 12th house, as they'll carry on the negative significations of those houses throughout the native's life. Accidental benefics aren't really that much of a thing, but you could make a case for the planet ruling the 1st and 10th as being somewhat benefic.
Finally, we have what I refer to as "functional" benefic and malefic planets. A functional malefic is a badly placed benefic planet and a functional benefic is a well placed malefic planet. Now, this isn't something that all astrologers agree on, and it particularly wasn't a thing around the 1500s-1700s due to the strong Christian philosophy that was prominent in astrology at the time, but that's another discussion.
Thank you, Kaiousei no Senshi for your helpful reply.
Am I correct in assuming that planets are in or out of sect based solely on whether it is a day or night chart, and that being above or below the horizon has nothing to do with it?
And by "badly placed" or "well placed," do you mean the planet's dignities/debilities and house placement? Or do you include the aspects that said planet makes as well?
Going by your help, and including what I have learned from reading "Traditional Astrology for Today," by Ben Dykes, I think I can say this about my Mercury:
1) Mercury rises before the Sun, and is therefore diurnal. Mine is a diurnal chart, so Mercury is in sect, and that is good. (Could we call it "essentially benefic," then?)
2) By Whole Sign Houses (as per Dr. Dykes on house rulers), Mercury rules my 12th (Gemini) and 3rd (Virgo) houses. Therefore, by virtue of it's rulership of the 12th house, Mercury is an "accidental malefic."
3) By Alcabitus Houses (as per Dykes on whether a planet is angular, etc.), Mercury is in the 10th and Angular (but 6 degrees from the 11th, so barely so), so it is strong. But it is also "under the sun's beams,"which is bad. And I would think that being conjunct the SAN/Eclipse is also bad, especially since that eclipse was one on the south node (but this is conjecture on my part). I would say that this makes Mercury a "functional malefic," assuming that "essential benefic" trumps "accidental malefic," and that "under the sun's beams" and the eclipse trumps being weakly angular.
In any case, my guess is that Mercury in my chart acts more as a malefic, i.e. against me.
Does this seem like a fair analysis?
Let me just add this: I was born with an ear infection which caused me to be deaf for the first 4 years or so of my life, at which point there were tubes put in, making it so that I could hear. I think that this is likely indicated in my chart by Mercury's rulership of my 3rd house, and Mercury's conjunction with the SAN/Solar Eclipse. It would be nice to see this analysis supported by authoritative texts or astrologers.
But again, thank you for your help.
Regards,
Lucas
