384 Cuaprer 11: Tue Issue oF House Division to the concept of the places, which it is closely, Ptolemy actually is using the places quite frequently, just not for topical purposes, but rather primarily for determining how “busy” “energetic,” or “operative” the planets are. That being said, itis not the case that Ptolemy does not use the places for topical purposes at all. In fact, there are several places where he explicitly uses them for topical purposes, and his usage is largely in line with the significations that other Hellenistic astrologers ascribe to those same places. For example, at certain points in books 3 and 4 he makes the following associations: Hour-Manxer with the appearance of the native.** SIXTH PLACE with injuries.” MrpHEaveEN with occupation.* ‘TWELFTH PLACE with slaves.” Ten, ELEVENTH, FOURTH, AND FirTH PLACES with children. “These are the only instances that I've found in which he associates specific topics with the places, and the rest of the places are not mentioned within the context of their topical significations. To some extent this seems to result from Ptolemy's tendency to act as a reformer of the tradition, and thus it is possible that his silence on the significations of some of the places represents a rejection of the traditional associations that many of his contemporaries took for granted. For example, why doesn’t he mention the third place in his chapter on siblings, or the seventh place in his chapter on relationships? On the other hand, his treatments of many of these topics are exceedingly brief, and pethaps itis the case that he would have used more of the traditional topics associated with the places ifhe had chosen to write a larger, more detailed exposition of each topic. Unfortunately, we cannot say for sure. All of that being said, while Ptolemy's tendency to focus on the planets and downplay the use of the places for topical purposes means that there are not many instances in the Tetrabiblos that we can study in order to infer what type of house division he used, the instances where he does discuss the places often seem to indicate that he was using the whole sign house system as his primary approach. Let's take a look at a few specific instances. In chapter 4 of book3 of the Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy provides a broad overview % Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 3, 12: 26. © Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 3, 13: Lf * Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 4, 4: If. © Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 4,7: 10. © Prolemy, Tetrabiblos, 4, 6: 1