hemisphere

hemisphere

1. one half of a sphere

2. 

a. half of the terrestrial globe, divided into northern and southern hemispheres by the equator or into eastern and western hemispheres by some meridians, usually 0° and 180°

b. a map or projection of one of the hemispheres

3. either of the two halves of the celestial sphere that lie north or south of the celestial equator

4. Anatomy short for cerebral hemisphere

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Hemisphere

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Hemisphere literally means a half sphere. In geography, hemisphere refers to the division of Earth into northern, southern, eastern, and western hemispheres. In astrology, hemisphere usually refers to the division of a horoscope into upper and lower halves (using the ascendant-descendant axis as the dividing line) or into left and right halves (using the midheaven-imum coeli axis as the dividing line). The upper and lower hemispheres of a chart are technically termed the diurnal (day, because it is above the horizon) arc and the nocturnal (night, because it is below the horizon) arc, respectively. The left and right hemispheres are termed the oriental (eastern) arc and the occidental (western) arc. These technical terms are rarely used by contemporary astrologers.

In the interpretation of a natal chart, the occurence of many planets above the horizon is said to indicate extroversion; many planets below the horizon indicates introversion. Also, a chart with a preponderance of planets in the left hemisphere is said to indicate an individual who shapes her or his environment, and a preponderance in the right hemisphere indicates an individual who adapts to the environment. These interpretations are tentative, “first impression” delineations and can be quickly abandoned if other factors in a birth chart give contrary indications.

Sources:

Brau, Jean-Louis, Helen Weaver, and Allan Edmands. Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology. New York: New American Library, 1980.

Gettings, Fred. Dictionary of Astrology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.

The Astrology Book, Second Edition © 2003 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

hemisphere

[′he·mē‚sfir]

(geography)

A half of the earth divided into north and south sections by the equator, or into an east section containing Europe, Asia, and Africa, and a west section containing the Americas.

(mathematics)

One of the two pieces of a sphere divided by a great circle.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.