Book 1

1. Introduction

Of those things, Syrus, which prepare a man to foretell the future through astronomy, two are the greatest and most authoritative. The first, in both order and power, is that by which we apprehend the configurations of the movements of the sun, moon, and stars as they occur from time to time in relation to one another and to the earth. The second is that by which, through the natural character proper to these configurations, we examine the changes they bring about in the things they enclose. The first of these has a study desirable in and for its own sake, even if the end attained by joining it to the second is not reached; and it has been set out for you, as far as was possible, demonstratively, in a treatise of its own. The second, which is not in the same way self-complete, we shall now treat in a manner befitting philosophy, and as one who keeps the love of truth most of all in view: he will not set its apprehension beside the certainty of the first, which is firm and always uniform, since he reckons with the weakness and difficulty of conjecture inherent in much of material quality; nor again will he shrink from inquiry into what is possible, since most of the more general events declare so plainly their cause from the surrounding heavens. But since everything that is hard to attain readily acquires, among the many, a nature easy to disparage, and since, of the two apprehensions set before us, the attacks upon the former would be wholly blind, while those upon the second find ready pretexts for their occasions—for either the difficulty of observation in some matters has produced the opinion of complete impossibility, or the difficulty of guarding what is known, together with the discrediting of the end as useless, has dragged it down—we shall try, before the detailed instruction, to examine in brief the measure both of what is possible and of what is useful in such prediction; and first of what is possible.

2. That knowledge through astronomy is attainable, and how far

That a certain power is diffused and reaches from the ethereal and eternal nature over all the region about the earth, which is wholly subject to change—the first elements beneath the moon, fire and air, being themselves enclosed and altered by the motions in the ether, while they in turn enclose and jointly alter all the rest, earth and water and the plants and animals in them—this would appear most clearly and in a few words to everyone. For the sun, together with the surrounding heavens, always disposes in some way all the things about the earth, not only through the changes that accompany the yearly seasons—bringing about the generation of animals, the fruitfulness of plants, the flowing of waters, and the alterations of bodies—but also through its daily circuits, warming, moistening, drying, and cooling in an ordered manner and in accordance with its positions relative to the point overhead us. The moon, too, as the body nearest the earth, distributes most of her effluence upon the earth, since most things, whether without soul or with soul, are in sympathy with her and change along with her: the rivers swell and ebb their streams with her lights, the seas turn their own movements with her risings and settings, and plants and animals are filled out and diminished with her, either wholly or in some of their parts. The passages of the stars, both the fixed and the wandering, likewise produce many signs in the surrounding heavens—of heat, of wind, of snow—by which the things upon the earth too are accordingly disposed. And further, the configurations they form to one another, as their distributions come together and are blended, work out very many and varied changes: the power of the sun prevailing as regards the ordering of quality as a whole, while the rest cooperate with it or work against it in some respect; the moon doing so more evidently and more continuously, as in her conjunctions, half-moons, and full moons; the stars more periodically and less perceptibly, as in their appearances, occultations, and approaches. If these things are viewed in this way, it would seem to everyone to follow that not only are things already compounded necessarily disposed in some way by the motion of these bodies, but also that the beginnings and formations of the seeds are molded and shaped to the quality proper to the surrounding heavens at that time. The more observant of farmers and herdsmen, at any rate, conjecture from the winds that occur at the times of mating and of sowing the seed the quality of what will come to pass. And in general we see that the more comprehensive matters—signified by the more conspicuous configurations of sun, moon, and stars—are foreknown for the most part even by those who reason not scientifically but only by observation: those that come from a greater power and a simpler order being known even by the wholly untaught, and indeed even by some of the irrational animals, as the yearly differences of the seasons and the winds—of which the sun is for the most part the cause—while those that are less so are known by men already habituated of necessity to observation, as sailors know the particular signs of storms and winds, which occur more periodically through the configurations of the moon, or of the fixed stars too, in relation to the sun. Yet because they cannot, through inexperience, accurately discern either the times and places of these very signs, or the periods of the wandering stars—which also contribute very much—it comes about that they often go astray. What, then, prevents one who has accurately learned the motions of all the stars, and of the sun and moon, so that neither the place nor the time of any of their configurations escapes him; and who has further discerned, from continuous inquiry handed down from of old, their natures for the most part—if not those in their actual subject, at least their natures as potentially productive (as that of the sun, that it warms; that of the moon, that it moistens; and so on with the rest); and who is competent, faced with such things, to determine the proper quality of the mixture both naturally and well-aimed from the combination of all—what prevents such a man from being able, at each of the given times, to state from the disposition of the phenomena then prevailing the proper characters of the surrounding heavens, as that it will be hotter or moister; and likewise, in the case of each individual man, to perceive the general quality of his temperament from the heavens prevailing at his constitution, as that he is such in body and such in soul, and to foretell his occasional accidents, by reasoning that such-and-such a state of the surrounding heavens is commensurate, and even suited, to such-and-such a temperament for good health, while such another is incommensurate and suited to harm? But that this apprehension is possible may be understood from these and the like considerations.

That with plausibility, but not with justice, it has incurred the charge of impossibility we may understand as follows. First, the mistakes of those who do not practise the art accurately, being many—as in a great study with many parts—have lent to its very truths the opinion of being due to chance, and this not rightly; for such a thing is not a weakness of the science, but of those who handle it. Next, the greater number, for the sake of gain, dignify another art with the name of this one, and so deceive the unlearned, seeming to foretell many things, even of those which have no nature to be foreknown; and by this they have given the more inquisitive an occasion to condemn even the foretelling of things that do have a nature to be foretold—and this not fittingly either. For philosophy is not to be abolished because some who profess it are revealed as base. Nevertheless it is plain that even if one approaches these studies as inquiringly and as genuinely as possible, he may often go wrong, not through any of the causes mentioned, but through the very nature of the matter and the weakness of his powers against the greatness of the profession. For, in general, besides the fact that all study concerning the quality of matter is conjectural and not capable of firm assertion—especially that compounded from many unlike things—there is the further point that the ancient configurations of the wandering stars, from which we apply to those which now stand in like positions the predictions observed by our predecessors in those former cases, can be more or less similar, yet by no means identical, since the exact return of all things in the heaven together with the earth either is never completed at all, or at least is not completed within a time perceptible to man—unless one wishes to indulge a vain conceit about the apprehension and knowledge of things that cannot be apprehended. Hence, the underlying patterns being unlike, the predictions sometimes fail. Concerning the examination of the events that occur in the surrounding heavens, then, this alone would be the difficulty, no cause being there taken into account besides the motion of the heavenly bodies. But concerning matters of nativities, and in general the particular constitution of each individual, one may see that there are causes neither small nor trifling which themselves cooperate in producing the proper character of the things constituted. For the differences of the seeds have very great power toward the special quality of the kind; since, the surrounding heavens and the horizon being the same, each of the seeds prevails to its own general form, as of man, of horse, and the rest. And the places of birth bring about no small variations in the things constituted: for the seeds being the same in kind—human, say—and the state of the surrounding heavens being the same, those born differ greatly, by reason of the difference of countries, both in their bodies and in their souls. Besides these, the modes of nurture and the customs, all the foregoing being supposed indifferent, contribute something to the particular ways of men's lives. Unless each of these is taken into account together with the causes from the surrounding heavens—even though this last has by far the greatest power, since the surrounding heavens is a cause that they too should be of such a kind, while they are in no way a cause to it—they can cause great perplexity to those who suppose, in such cases, that everything, even what does not depend wholly on the heavens, can be discerned from the motion of the heavenly bodies alone.

This being so, it would be fitting neither, because such prediction can sometimes fail, to do away with the whole of it—just as we do not reject navigation because it often fails—but rather, as in matters great and divine, to welcome the possible and count it a thing to be cherished; nor again to demand of it everything in a human and conjectural way, but to share in the love of the noble work, and where the whole did not depend on it, to supply the rest. And just as with physicians, when they make inquiry into the disease itself and into the particular character of the patient, we do not blame them for speaking, so here we should not be vexed at those who lay down the kinds and the countries and the modes of nurture, or any of the things that have already befallen.

3. That it is also useful

In what manner, then, prediction through astronomy becomes possible, and that it can reach only as far as the events occurring in the surrounding heavens themselves and what befalls men from that cause—these being matters concerning the original aptitudes of the powers and actions of body and soul, and their occasional affections, their length or shortness of life, and further whatever among external things has an authoritative and natural connection with the primary ones (as, for the body, possessions and cohabitation; for the soul, honour and dignity), together with their occasional fortunes—nearly all this has been made plain to us as in summary. It would remain to make in brief the examination concerning what is useful, first determining in what manner, and toward what end, we shall understand the very power of the useful. For if it be toward the goods of the soul, what could be more conducive to well-being, joy, and altogether contentment than such foreknowledge, by which we become observers of things both human and divine? And if toward the goods of the body, such apprehension, more than anything, would recognize what is proper and suited to the aptitude of each temperament. And if it does not cooperate toward wealth, or fame, or such things, then the same may be said of all philosophy; for of none of these things is it, of itself, productive. Yet we should not on this account justly condemn either philosophy or this art, putting aside the benefit they bring toward greater things.

In general, on examination, those who blame the apprehension as useless would appear to look toward none of the most important things, but only to this one—that the foreknowledge of things that will in any case come to pass is superfluous; and this, too, said quite simply and without good distinction. For first we must observe that even in things which will of necessity come about, the unexpected most naturally produces panic that drives men out of their senses, and joys that carry them away; whereas foreknowledge accustoms and orders the soul by the practice of regarding things absent as present, and prepares it to receive each of the things that come with peace and steadiness. Next, that we should not even so suppose that each thing follows for men from the cause above, as though from the beginning it were ordained for every single one by some indissoluble and divine command, and would of necessity come to pass, no other cause being at all able to work against it; but rather thus: that the motion of the heavenly bodies is accomplished from eternity in accordance with a divine and unalterable destiny, while the alteration of earthly things takes its first causes from above by accident and consequence, in accordance with a destiny that is natural and changeable. And further, that some things befall men through more universal circumstances, and not from each man's own natural aptitude—as when, through great and unguardable changes of the surrounding heavens, multitudes perish together by fires or plagues or floods, the lesser cause always yielding to the greater and stronger—while others befall through each man's own natural temperament, by reason of small and chance contrary influences of the surrounding heavens. For these things being thus distinguished, it is plain that, both universally and in particular, of whatever events the first cause is irresistible and greater than anything opposing it, these must in any case come to pass; but of whatever are not so, those that meet with the contrary influences are easily turned aside, while those that do not find them follow likewise the primary natures—through ignorance, however, and no longer through the necessity of strength. One may see the same thing happening also in all things simply that have natural beginnings. For of stones and plants and animals, and further of wounds and affections and diseases, some by nature do something of necessity, others only if nothing of the contrary works against them. So, then, we must suppose that the scientific men also foretell what will befall men by such foreknowledge, and approach it not according to empty opinions—holding that of some things, because their productive causes are many and great, men are unguarded, while others admit of changes through the opposite cause. Just as among physicians those who are able to read the symptoms foreknow both what is altogether fatal and what admits of help. And concerning things that can be changed, the astrologer is to be heard in this way: that, when the underlying proportions of such-and-such a temperament have been turned, by such-and-such a character of the surrounding heavens, to the more or the less, such-and-such an affection will follow—just as the physician says that this ulcer will spread or fester, and the miner, for example, that the magnet stone attracts iron. For as each of these, if left alone through ignorance of the contrary influences, will in every way follow the power of its primary nature—yet the ulcer will work neither the spreading nor the festering should it meet with the opposing treatment, nor will the magnet draw the iron if garlic be rubbed upon it (and these very hindrances too worked their counter-effect naturally and by destiny)—so too in those other cases: things that will befall men, if unknown, or even if known yet not meeting with the contrary influences, will in every way follow the chain of the primary nature; but if foreknown and provided with the remedies, they are set right again naturally and by destiny, becoming either wholly unrealized or more moderate. And since, in general, such power is the same both in things viewed comprehensively and in particular matters, one might wonder for what cause it is that, in universal matters, all men believe both in the possibility of foreknowledge and in its usefulness for taking precaution—for most men acknowledge that they foreknow the seasons, the signs of the fixed stars, and the configurations of the moon, and they take much forethought for guarding against them, always providing, against summer, things able to cool, and against winter, things that warm, and in general preparing their own natures toward an even balance; and again, for the safety of their seasons and their voyages, watching the signs of the fixed stars, and for the beginnings of mating and planting, the configurations occurring at the filling of the moon's lights—and no one anywhere has ever condemned such things as impossible or useless; whereas in particular matters, and as regards the special qualities arising from the temperament of the rest—such as more and less of cold, or even of heat, and each man's own temperament—some hold that foreknowledge is no longer possible, nor that one can in most cases guard against them; although it is quite plain that, if we have cooled ourselves beforehand against general heat-waves we shall be less scorched, and the same may avail against what particularly raises the heat of a given temperament to excess. But the cause of such error is the difficulty and unfamiliarity of foreknowledge in particular matters, which produces distrust in nearly all the rest as well. And because the power that works against the predictive power is for the most part not joined to it—through the rarity of so perfect a disposition, and because matters are accomplished about the primary natures without hindrance—this has produced the opinion that everything that will come to pass is unalterable and unguardable.

But just as, I think, in the case of prognosis itself, even if it were not throughout infallible, yet its possibility appeared worthy of the greatest zeal, in the same way in the case of the protective power too: even if it does not heal all things, but only some, and these few and small, we should still love and welcome it and count it no ordinary gain. The Egyptians, who advanced this power of the art most of all, seem to have recognized this, and so everywhere joined medicine to prediction through astronomy. For they would never have set up certain modes of averting, and amulets, and remedies against the circumstances coming or present from the surrounding heavens, both universal and particular, had they held any opinion of the immobility and unchangeableness of things to come. But, placing the power that can work against the subsequent natures in second rank to the doctrine of destiny, they joined to the power of foreknowledge what is useful and beneficial, by means of what they call among themselves the works of iatromathematics—so that through astronomy they might come to know the qualities of the underlying temperaments, and the events that would arise through the surrounding heavens, and their proper causes (since, without knowledge of these, the remedies too must for the most part fail, as not all bodies or affections answer to the same applications); and that through medicine, from the things that are by sympathy proper or contrary to each, they might continually make, as far as possible, both the precautions against affections to come and the cures of those present, without failure.

But let these things be sketched for us thus far in summary. We shall now make our discourse in the manner of an introduction, beginning with the proper character of each of the heavenly bodies as to its very productive power, following the observations applied by the ancients in the natural manner; and first with the powers of the wandering stars, and of the sun and moon.

4. On the power of the wandering stars

The sun has been apprehended as having the productive part of its substance in heating, and mildly in drying. These effects are more perceptible to us than the others, both because of its magnitude and because of the plainness of the changes in the seasons; for the nearer it comes to the point overhead us, the more it disposes us in this way. The moon has the greater part of her power in moistening, plainly because of her nearness to the earth and the exhalations from moist things; and she disposes bodies thus directly, ripening and chiefly causing decay, though she shares mildly also in heating, through the illumination from the sun.

The star of Saturn has the greater part of its quality in cooling and mildly in drying, because, as it seems, it is farthest removed at once from the heat of the sun and from the exhalations of the moist things about the earth. Powers are determined, both for this star and for the rest, also through the observation of their configurations to the sun and moon, since some appear to turn the state of the surrounding heavens, more or less, in one way, others in another.

The star of Mars has chiefly a nature of drying and burning, in keeping with its fiery colour and its nearness to the sun, beneath which lies the sun's own sphere.

The star of Jupiter has its productive power well-tempered, its motion lying midway between the cooling of Saturn and the burning of Mars. For it warms and at the same time moistens; and because it is more warming, owing to the spheres beneath it, it becomes productive of fertile winds.

The star of Venus is productive of the same well-tempered effects, but in the opposite way. For it warms mildly because of its nearness to the sun, but it moistens most of all, like the moon, both because of the greatness of its own lights and because it draws to itself the exhalation from the moist things surrounding the earth.

The star of Mercury is found for the most part to be, in equal measure, now drying and absorbing of moisture—because it is never far removed in longitude from the heat of the sun—and now again moistening, because it lies next to the sphere of the moon, which is nearest the earth; and it makes its changes in both directions quickly, being as it were driven by the winds through the swiftness of its motion about the sun itself.

5. On the beneficent and the maleficent

These things being so, since of the four humours two are fertile and productive, that of the hot and that of the moist (for through these all things are compounded and increased), and two are destructive and passive, that of the dry and that of the cold (through which all things in turn are dissolved and decay), the ancients received two of the planets, that of Jupiter and that of Venus, and also the moon, as beneficent, because of their good temperament and their having the greater part in the hot and the moist; and the star of Saturn and that of Mars as productive of the opposite nature, the one because of its excessive cold, the other because of its excessive dryness. The sun and the star of Mercury, because of the commonness of their natures, they held to be capable of both, and rather to be turned in whichever direction they are joined with the others.

6. On masculine and feminine stars

Again, since the primary kinds of the natures are two, the masculine and the feminine, and of the powers set forth that of the moist substance is most of all feminine (for this part, in general, is more present in all females, the others rather in males), they have reasonably handed down to us the moon and the star of Venus as feminine, because they have the greater share in the moist; and the sun and the stars of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars as masculine; and the star of Mercury as common to both kinds, inasmuch as it is productive equally of the dry and the moist substance. They say, too, that the stars are made masculine and feminine according to their configurations to the sun: being eastern and leading, they are made masculine; being western and following, feminine. And further according to their relation to the horizon: in the configurations from the rising to the mid-heaven, or from the setting to the lower mid-heaven beneath the earth, they are made masculine, as being toward the east; but in the remaining two quadrants, as toward the west, they are made feminine.

7. On diurnal and nocturnal stars

Likewise, since of the things that make up time the two most conspicuous intervals are these—that of the day, which is the more masculine through the heat and activity in it, and that of the night, which is the more feminine through the moistness and restfulness proper to it—they have accordingly handed down as nocturnal the moon and the star of Venus, and as diurnal the sun and the star of Jupiter, and as common to both the star of Mercury, diurnal in the eastern figure and nocturnal in the western. They have also assigned to each of the sects the two of destructive substance, yet no longer according to the same natural causes, but according to the opposite ones. For to things of good temperament the like, being made akin, makes their benefit greater, while to the destructive ones the unlike, being mixed in, loosens much of their harm. Hence they have assigned the star of Saturn, being cold, to the heat of the day, and the star of Mars, being dry, to the moisture of the night; for thus each, gaining due proportion through the mixture, becomes proper to the sect that has furnished the good temperament.

8. On the power of the configurations to the sun

Now further, in accordance with their configurations to the sun, the moon and the three of the wandering stars receive a more or a less in their own proper powers. For the moon, in her increase from rising to the first half-moon, is more productive of moisture; from the first half-moon to the full, of heat; from the full to the second half-moon, of dryness; and from the second half-moon to her hiding, of cold. The wandering stars, when eastern only, from their rising to their first station are more moistening; from the first station to their evening rising, more heating; from the evening rising to the second station, more drying; from the second station to their setting, more cooling. And it is plain that, blended with one another too, they work out a great multitude of differences of qualities in the heavens about us, the proper power of each prevailing for the most part, but turned as to quantity by the power of those configured with it.

9. On the power of the fixed stars

It being next in order to run over the natures of the fixed stars also according to their own special productive power, we shall set forth the characters observed in them, making our exposition like that of the natures of the wandering stars. And first of those whose forms lie about the very circle through the middle, the zodiac.

Of the Ram, then, the stars in the head have a productive power like that of a mixture of the powers of Mars and Saturn; those in the mouth, like that of Mercury and mildly of Saturn; those in the hind foot, like that of Mars; and those on the tail, like that of Venus.

Of the stars in the Bull, those on the line of section have a temperament like that of Venus and mildly of Saturn; those in the Pleiades, like that of the moon and Jupiter; of those in the head, the bright one of the Hyades, somewhat ruddy, called the Torch-bearer, is like Mars, but the rest like Saturn and mildly Mercury; and those at the tips of the horns, like Mars.

Of the stars in the Twins, those on the feet share a quality like that of Mercury and mildly of Venus; the bright ones about the thighs, like Saturn; of the two bright ones in the heads, the one in the leading Twin is like Mercury, and is called the star of Apollo; the one in the following Twin is like Mars, and is called the star of Hercules.

Of the stars in the Crab, the two on the eyes are productive of the same effect as Mercury and mildly Mars; those in the claws, like Saturn and Mercury. The cloudy cluster in the breast, called the Manger, is like Mars and the moon; and the two on either side of it, called the Asses, like Mars and the sun.

Of those about the Lion, the two on the head produce the like of Saturn and mildly of Mars; the three in the neck, the like of Saturn and mildly of Mercury; the bright one on the heart, called Regulus, is like Mars and Jupiter; those in the loins, and the bright one on the tail, like Saturn and Venus; and those in the thighs, like Venus and mildly Mercury.

Of those in the Virgin, the stars in the head and the one at the tip of the southern wing have a productive power like that of Mercury and mildly of Mars; the rest of the bright ones in the wing, and those about the girdle, like Mercury and mildly Venus; the bright one in the northern wing, called the Forerunner of the Vintage, like Saturn and Mercury; the one called the Spike, like Venus and mildly Mars; and those at the tips of the feet and on the train, like Mercury and mildly Mars.

Of the stars in the Claws of the Scorpion, those at their very tips dispose in like manner to Jupiter and Mercury; those in the middle, to Saturn and mildly to Mars.

Of the stars in the body of the Scorpion, the bright ones in the forehead produce the same as Mars and mildly Saturn; of the three in the body, the middle one, ruddy and brighter, called Antares, is like Mars and mildly Jupiter; those in the segments, like Saturn and mildly Venus; those on the sting, like Mercury and Mars; and the so-called cloudy cluster, like Mars and the moon.

Of those about the Archer, the stars on the point of the arrow have a productive power like that of Mars and the moon; those about the bow and the grip of the hand, like Jupiter and Mars; the cluster in the face, like the sun and Mars; those in the cloak and on the back, like Jupiter and mildly Mercury; those in the feet, like Jupiter and Saturn; and the quadrilateral on the tail, like Venus and mildly Saturn.

Of the stars in the Goat-horned, those on the horns act in like manner to Venus and mildly to Mars; those in the mouth, to Saturn and mildly Venus; those in the feet and the belly, to Mars and Mercury; and those on the tail, to Saturn and Jupiter.

Of those about the Water-pourer, the stars in the shoulders dispose like Saturn and Mercury, together with those in the left hand and the garment; those on the thighs, more like Mercury and less like Saturn; and those in the stream of water, like Saturn and mildly Jupiter.

Of those about the Fishes, the stars in the head of the more southern fish produce the same as Mercury and mildly Saturn; those in the body, like Jupiter and Mercury; those on the tail and the southern cord, like Saturn and mildly Mercury; those in the body and the backbone of the northern fish, like Jupiter and mildly Venus; those on the northern part of the cord, like Saturn and Jupiter; and the bright one on the knot, like Mars and mildly Mercury.

Of those in the more northern figures of the zodiac, the bright stars about the Little Bear have a quality like that of Saturn and mildly of Venus; those about the Great Bear, like Mars; the cluster of Berenice's Hair beneath its tail, like the moon and Venus; the bright stars in the Dragon, like Saturn and Mars and Jupiter; those of Cepheus, like Saturn and Jupiter; those about Boötes, like Mercury and Saturn—but the bright and ruddy one, called Arcturus, is like Jupiter and Mars; those in the Northern Crown, like Venus and Mercury; those in the Kneeler, like Mercury; those in the Lyre, like Venus and Mercury, and likewise those in the Bird; those of Cassiopeia, like Saturn and Venus; those of Perseus, like Jupiter and Saturn, while the cluster on the hilt of the sword is like Mars and Mercury; the bright stars in the Charioteer, like Mars and Mercury; those of the Serpent-holder, like Saturn and mildly Venus, and those about his serpent, like Saturn and Mars; those of the Arrow, like Mars and mildly Venus; those about the Eagle, like Mars and Jupiter; those in the Dolphin, like Saturn and Mars; the bright stars of the Horse, like Mars and Mercury; those in Andromeda, like Venus; and those of the Triangle, like Mercury.

Of those in the more southern figures of the zodiac, the bright star in the mouth of the Southern Fish has an effect like that of Venus and Mercury; those about the Sea-monster, like Saturn; of those about Orion, the stars on the shoulders are like Mars and Mercury, the rest of the bright ones like Jupiter and Saturn; of those in the River, the last and the bright one are like Jupiter, the rest like Saturn; those in the Hare, like Saturn and Mercury; of those about the Dog, the others are like Venus, but the bright one in the mouth is like Jupiter and mildly Mars; the bright star in the Forerunner of the Dog is like Mercury and mildly Mars; the bright stars of the Water-snake, like Saturn and Venus; those in the Bowl, like Venus and mildly Mercury; those about the Raven, like Mars and Saturn; the bright stars of the Ship, like Saturn and Jupiter; of those about the Centaur, the stars in the human body are like Venus and Mercury, the bright ones in the horse like Venus and Jupiter; the bright stars about the Beast, like Saturn and mildly Mars; those in the Censer, like Venus and mildly Mercury; and the bright stars in the Southern Crown, like Saturn and Mercury.

Such, then, was the observation that the men of old made of the powers of the stars in themselves.

10. On the power of the seasons and the four angles

The seasons of the year being four—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—spring has the greater part in the moist, because of the diffusion that follows the past cold as the heat begins; summer the greater part in the hot, because of the sun's nearness to the point overhead us; autumn the greater part in the dry, because of the absorption of the moist things that follows the past heat; and winter the greater part in the cold, because the sun is then farthest removed from the point overhead us. For this reason, although the zodiac, being a circle, has by nature no beginning, they suppose the sign that begins from the spring equinox, that of the Ram, to be the beginning of the whole—making the moist excess of spring, as it were, the starting-point of the zodiac as of a living creature; and the remaining seasons in order. For of all living things too the first ages have the greater part of the moist substance, being tender and still delicate, like the spring; the second, up to their prime, have the greater part in the hot, like the summer; the third, already past their prime and at the beginning of decline, have themselves too the greater part now in the dry, like the autumn; and the last, near to dissolution, have the greater part in the cold, like the winter.

Likewise too of the four places and angles of the horizon, from which the winds blowing over the whole regions take their beginnings: that toward the east itself has the greater part in the dry, because, when the sun comes there, the things moistened during the night then first begin to be dried; and the winds blowing from it, which we commonly call apeliotes, are without moisture and drying. The place toward the south is itself the hottest, both because of the fieriness of the sun's mid-heavenings, and because these, owing to the inclination of our inhabited world, incline rather toward the south; and the winds blowing from it, which we commonly call south winds, are hot and rarefying. The place toward the west is itself moist, because, when the sun comes there, the things absorbed during the day then first begin to be moistened again; and the winds borne from it, which we commonly call zephyrs, are fresh and moistening. The place toward the north is itself the coldest, because, owing to the inclination of our inhabited world, the causes of heat in the sun's mid-heavenings stand farthest from it, as though it were the opposite of mid-heaven; and the winds blowing from it, commonly called north winds, are cold and condensing.

The distinction of these things is also useful for being able, in every way and on each occasion, to discriminate the temperaments. For it is easily understood that, in accordance with such states of the seasons, or of the ages, or of the angles, the productive part of the power of the stars is somehow turned: in their own proper states they have a quality less mixed and an activity stronger—as in the hot states those whose nature is to heat, and in the moist states those that moisten—while in the contrary states a quality mixed and weaker, as in the cold states those that heat, and in the dry states those that moisten; and so likewise in the rest, in proportion to the quality blended through the mixture.

11. On the tropical, equinoctial, fixed, and bicorporeal signs

These things being set forth beforehand, it would be in order to add also the natural characters handed down of the signs of the zodiac themselves. For the more comprehensive temperaments of each of them are proportionate to the seasons that occur in them; but certain peculiarities of theirs arise from their kinship with the sun, the moon, and the stars, as we shall set forth in what follows, having first placed before them the powers viewed in the unmixed signs themselves alone, both in themselves and in relation to one another.

The first differences, then, are those of the so-called tropical, equinoctial, fixed, and bicorporeal signs. For there are two tropical: the first thirty-degree sign from the summer solstice, that of the Crab; and the first from the winter solstice, that of the Goat-horned. These have taken their name from what happens; for the sun, coming to be at their beginnings, turns and reverses its course in latitude into the contrary direction, making summer in the Crab and winter in the Goat-horned. Two are called equinoctial: the first sign from the spring equinox, that of the Ram, and the one from the autumn equinox, that of the Claws; and these too are named from what happens, since the sun, coming to be at their beginnings, makes the nights everywhere equal to the days.

Of the remaining eight signs, four are called fixed and four bicorporeal. The fixed are those that follow the tropical and the equinoctial—Bull, Lion, Scorpion, Water-pourer—since the moistures and heats and drynesses and colds of the seasons that begin in those former signs reach us, when the sun comes to be in these, more strongly and more solidly: not that the states of the air are then by nature less mixed, but that we, having now lingered in them for a time, take hold of their strength the more perceptibly. The bicorporeal are those that follow the fixed—Twins, Virgin, Archer, Fishes—because they lie between the fixed and the tropical and equinoctial, and share, as it were, at their ends and beginnings, in the natural character of the two states.

12. On masculine and feminine signs

Again likewise, they assigned six of the signs to the masculine and diurnal nature, and an equal number to the feminine and nocturnal. And the order was given to them by alternation, because day is always joined and near to night, and the feminine to the masculine. The beginning being taken from the Ram for the causes we have stated, and the masculine likewise ruling and taking the first place (since the productive is always first in power to the passive), the sign of the Ram, and further that of the Claws, were held to be masculine and diurnal—both for that reason and at the same time because the equinoctial circle, drawn through them, accomplishes the first and strongest movement of the whole; and those that follow them accordingly, by the alternating order, as we said.

Some, however, use the order of the masculine and feminine signs beginning also from the rising sign, which they call the horoscope, making the beginning of the masculine there. For just as some take the beginning of the tropical signs from the sign of the moon, because it turns more swiftly than the others, so too they take the beginning of the masculine from the rising sign, because it is more toward the east. And some, again, use the order by alternation in like manner; others divide by whole quadrants, holding to be eastern and masculine that from the horoscope to the mid-heaven, and the opposite one, from the setting to the lower mid-heaven beneath the earth; and the remaining two quadrants to be western and feminine. They have applied to the signs certain other appellations also, from the figures about them—I mean such as four-footed, land-dwelling, ruling, prolific, and the like—which, since they carry both their cause and their indication in themselves, we hold it superfluous to enumerate, the quality from such delineations being able to be set forth in whichever of the predictions it may appear useful.

13. On the configured signs

The parts of the zodiac that are configured to one another are first made akin among themselves. These are such as have a position of opposition, comprehending two right angles and six of the signs and one hundred and eighty degrees; and such as have a position of triangle, comprehending one right angle and a third, and four signs, and one hundred and twenty degrees; and such as are said to be in square, comprehending one right angle and three signs and ninety degrees; and further such as make a position of sextile, comprehending two-thirds of one right angle and two signs and sixty degrees.

For what cause these alone of the distances were taken we may learn from the following. Of the relation of opposition the account is at once plain, since it makes its conjunctions upon a single straight line. But taking the two greatest fractions and the consonant epimoric ratios: of the fractions in relation to the diameter of the two right angles, the half and the third, the one made by division into two the relation of the square, and the one by division into three the relation of the sextile and of the triangle; and of the epimoric ratios in relation to the square of the one right angle, taking the sesquialter and the sesquitertian between them, the sesquialter made the relation of the square to that of the sextile, and the sesquitertian the relation of the triangle to that of the square. Of these configurations, however, the triangles and sextiles are called harmonious, because they are composed of signs of the same kind, either all feminine or all masculine; while the squares and oppositions are inharmonious, because they take their constitution by opposition of the kindred signs.

14. On commanding and obeying signs

Likewise, those parts are said to be commanding and obeying which are configured at equal distance from the same, or either, of the equinoctial points, because they rise in equal times and lie on equal parallels. Of these, those in the summer semicircle are called commanding, and those in the winter semicircle obeying, because the sun, coming to be in the former, makes the day greater than the night, and in the latter, less.

15. On beholding and equally-powerful signs

Again, they say that those parts are of equal power to one another which are equally distant from the same, or either, of the tropical points, because, when the sun comes to be at each of them, the days are accomplished equal to the days, and the nights to the nights, and the intervals of their proper hours are of equal duration. These are also said to behold one another, both for the reasons stated and because each of them rises from the same parts of the horizon and sets toward the same parts.

16. On disjunct signs

Those parts are called disjunct and estranged which simply have no relation to one another of the kinships before enumerated. These are such as are neither commanding nor obeying, nor beholding nor of equal power; and which are found to share in none at all of the four configurations set forth—opposition, triangle, square, and sextile—being either one sign or five signs apart. For those that are one sign apart are, as it were, turned away from one another, and being two, comprehend the angle of one; while those that are five apart divide the whole circle into unequal parts, the other configurations making the division of the circumference into equal parts.

17. On the houses of each star

The planets, too, are made akin to the parts of the zodiac through what are called houses, triangles, exaltations, terms, and the like. The matter of the houses has such a nature as this. Since, of the twelve signs, the most northern—those that come nearest of all to the point overhead us and therefore furnish heat and warmth—are that of the Crab and that of the Lion, they assigned these two as houses to the greatest and most authoritative bodies, the luminaries: that of the Lion, being masculine, to the sun, and that of the Crab, being feminine, to the moon. And accordingly they supposed the semicircle from the Lion to the Goat-horned to be solar, and that from the Water-pourer to the Crab lunar, so that in each of the two semicircles one sign might be assigned, fittingly, to each of the five stars, one configured toward the sun, the other toward the moon, in accordance with the spheres of their motions and the peculiar characters of their natures. For to the star of Saturn, being colder by nature, in opposition to the heat, and having the highest zone, far from the luminaries, were given the signs diametrically opposite to the Crab and the Lion, namely the Goat-horned and the Water-pourer; both because these signs are cold and wintry, and because the relation of opposition is inharmonious with beneficence. To the star of Jupiter, being well-tempered and beneath the sphere of Saturn, were given the two signs next to the foregoing, being windy and fertile—the Archer and the Fishes—in a triangular relation to the luminaries, which is a harmonious and beneficent configuration. Next, to the star of Mars, being drier by nature and having its sphere beneath that of Jupiter, were given the signs next again to those—of like nature—the Scorpion and the Ram, in keeping with its destructive and inharmonious quality, making a square relation to the luminaries. To the star of Venus, being well-tempered and beneath that of Mars, were given the two next signs, which are most fertile—the Claws and the Bull—keeping the harmony of the sextile relation; and since this star is never more than two signs distant from the sun on either side. Lastly, to the star of Mercury, which never makes a distance from the sun on either side greater than one sign, and is beneath the others yet somehow nearer than they to both the luminaries, were given the two remaining signs, continuous with those houses—that of the Twins and that of the Virgin.

18. On triangles

The kinship with respect to the triangles is of such a kind as this. Since the triangle and equilateral figure is most consonant with itself, and the zodiac is bounded by three circles—the equinoctial and the two tropical—its twelve parts are divided into four equilateral triangles. The first, which is through the Ram, the Lion, and the Archer, being composed of three masculine signs and having the houses of the sun, of Mars, and of Jupiter, was given to the sun and Jupiter, Mars being foreign to the solar sect. Of it the sun takes the first rulership by day, and Jupiter by night; and the Ram is more toward the equinoctial, the Lion more toward the summer circle, and the Archer toward the winter. This triangle is by leading character northern, through the joint rulership of Jupiter, since he is fertile and windy, akin to the winds from the north; but through the house of Mars it takes a mixture of the southwest wind and is constituted north-and-southwest, since Mars is productive of such winds, both through the sect of the moon and through the femininity of the west.

The second triangle, which is through the Bull, the Virgin, and the Goat-horned, composed of three feminine signs, was accordingly given to the moon and Venus, the moon ruling it by night and the star of Venus by day. The Bull is more toward the summer circle, the Virgin toward the equinoctial, and the Goat-horned toward the winter. This triangle, too, is by leading character southern, through the rulership of Venus, since this star is productive of like winds through the heat and moistness of its power. Taking on a mixture of the east wind, because the house of Saturn, the Goat-horned, falls within it, it is constituted south-and-east, in opposition to the first, since Saturn too is productive of such winds, being itself made akin to the risings through its sect toward the sun.

The third triangle, which is through the Twins, the Claws, and the Water-pourer, composed of three masculine signs, and having no relation to Mars but a relation to Saturn and Mercury through the houses, was assigned to these, Saturn again ruling by day through the sect, and Mercury by night. The sign of the Twins is toward the summer circle, that of the Claws toward the equinoctial, and that of the Water-pourer toward the winter. This triangle too is constituted by leading character eastern, through Saturn; but by the mixture north-and-eastern, through the sect of Jupiter, who is made akin to Saturn in being assigned to the diurnal account.

The fourth triangle, which is through the Crab, the Scorpion, and the Fishes, was left to the remaining star, Mars, which has a relation to it through the house of the Scorpion; and as joint rulers, through the sect and the femininity of the signs, the moon by night and the star of Venus by day. The Crab is toward the summer circle, the Scorpion more toward the winter, and the Fishes toward the equinoctial. This triangle too is constituted by leading character southwest, through the rulership of Mars and of the moon, but by the mixture south-and-southwest, through the rulership of Venus.

19. On exaltations

The so-called exaltations of the wandering stars have such an account as this. Since the sun, coming to be in the Ram, makes its passage into the high and northern semicircle, and in the Claws into the low and southern, they have reasonably set the Ram as its exaltation, in which both the length of the day and the heating power of its nature begin to increase, and the Claws as its depression, for the contrary reasons.

The star of Saturn, again, that it might have a position diametrically opposite to the sun, as also in the case of the houses, took the Balance as its exaltation, opposite to the Ram as its depression; for where the hot increases, there the cold diminishes, and where the hot diminishes, the cold increases. Again, since the moon, in conjunction with the sun in its exaltation in the Ram, makes her first appearance and beginning of the increase, and as it were exaltation, of her light, in the first sign of her own triangle, the Bull, this sign was called her exaltation, and the diametrically opposite, the Scorpion, her depression.

After these, the star of Jupiter, being productive of the northern and fertile winds, and becoming most northern in the Crab, increases again and fulfils its proper power; whence they have made this sign its exaltation, and the Goat-horned its depression.

The star of Mars, being by nature burning, and becoming more burning in the Goat-horned, because there it becomes most southern, itself reasonably took the Goat-horned as its exaltation, in opposition to Jupiter, and the Crab as its depression.

Again, the star of Venus, being by nature moistening, and more so in the Fishes, in which the beginning of the moist spring is foresignified, itself increasing its proper power, had its exaltation in the Fishes and its depression in the Virgin.

The star of Mercury, on the contrary, being rather somewhat dry, reasonably and in the opposite way is, as it were, exalted in the Virgin, in which the dry autumn is foresignified, and is depressed in the Fishes.

20. On the disposition of the terms

Concerning the terms, two ways are chiefly in circulation. The one is Egyptian, that which looks for the most part to the rulerships of the houses; the other is Chaldean, that which looks to the rulerships of the triangles. Now the Egyptian way, that of the commonly circulated terms, does not at all preserve the consequence either of order or of the quantity proper to each. For first, as to the order, in one place they have given the precedence to the lords of the houses, in another to the lords of the triangles, and sometimes to the lords of the exaltations. For example, if they had followed the houses, why have they given the first place, say, to Saturn in the Balance and not to Venus, and why in the Ram to Jupiter and not to Mars? If the triangles, why have they given to Mercury in the Goat-horned and not to Venus? If the exaltations, why to Mars in the Crab and not to Jupiter? If to those that have most of these claims, why in the Water-pourer have they given to Mercury, who has only a triangle there, and not to Saturn, of whom it is both house and triangle? Or why at all in the Goat-horned have they given the first place to Mercury, who has no relation of rulership to that sign? And in the rest of the arrangement one might find the same inconsistency.

Secondly, the quantity of the terms also appears to follow no consequence. For the number gathered together from all of them for each single star—the number to which they say their times are apportioned—has no proper or readily acceptable account. And even if we trust this number arrived at by addition, as one openly acknowledged by the Egyptians, the same number would be found gathered together though the quantity within the sign be altered in many other ways. And the plausible argument that some attempt to make and to gloss over concerning these—that, according to the ratio of the risings in each clime, the times that are somehow configured for each star gather together the same quantity—is false. For first they follow the common procedure, that constituted upon uniform increments of the risings, which is not even nearly true; according to which, on the parallel through Lower Egypt, they wish the signs of the Virgin and the Claws each to rise in thirty-eight and a third degrees, and those of the Lion and the Scorpion each in thirty-five, although it is shown by the lines of the table that these latter rise in more than thirty-five degrees, and those of the Virgin and the Claws in fewer. And next, even those who attempted to establish this no longer appear to have followed even so the quantity of the terms current among most authorities, being forced in many cases to falsify; and somewhere they even used fractions of fractions for the sake of saving their position, though they did not, as we said, hold to a true aim.

Nevertheless, the terms current among most, by reason of the credit of the tradition from above, are laid down in the following manner.

21. According to the Chaldeans

The Chaldean way has a certain account that is simple and rather more plausible, yet not so self-sufficient as regards the consequence of the rulerships of the triangles and the order of the quantity—though so much so that even without a written table one may readily fit it together. For in the first triangle, the Ram, the Lion, and the Archer, which among them has the same division by sign, the lord of the triangle, Jupiter, takes first; then in order the lord of the next triangle, I mean Venus; then the lords of the Twins, Saturn and Mercury; and last the lord of the remaining triangle, Mars. In the second triangle, the Bull, the Virgin, and the Goat-horned, which again has the same division by sign, Venus is first, then Saturn, then again Mercury, after these Mars, and last Jupiter. And nearly the same order is seen in the remaining two triangles also. But of the two lords of the same triangle—I mean Saturn and Mercury—the precedence of the proper order is taken by day by Saturn, by night by Mercury. And the quantity of each is something simple. For, so that, in the descending order of precedence, the quantity of each one's terms may fall short of the one set before it by a single degree, they always give to the first eight degrees, to the second seven, to the third six, to the fourth five, and to the last four, the thirty degrees of the sign being thus completed. From these too there are gathered, for Saturn, degrees by day seventy-eight, by night sixty-six; for Jupiter, seventy-two; for Mars, sixty-nine; for Venus, seventy-five; and for Mercury, by day sixty-six, by night seventy-eight. The total comes to three hundred and sixty degrees.

These terms, however, are, as we said, less worthy of credit than those of the Egyptian way, both because the gathering of the latter has been judged worthy of record as useful by the Egyptian writers, and because, for the most part, the degrees of these terms agree with the illustrative nativities set out by them. Yet since these very writers nowhere made plain the system of them, nor the number, the inconsistency in their order would reasonably become suspect and easy to disparage. We ourselves, however, have happened upon an old manuscript, much corrupted, containing a natural and consonant account of their order and quantity, together with the agreement of the degree-writings of the foresaid nativities, and the number of the totals, with the record of the ancients. The text of the book was very long and accompanied by superfluous demonstration, but illegible through corruption, and scarcely able to give us even a sketch of its general purpose—and this with the help, too, of the record of the terms themselves being somewhat better preserved, through being placed at the end of the book. The outline of their whole procedure is of this kind. As regards the order in each sign, the exaltations and the triangles and the houses are taken into account. For, in general, the star that has two of these rulerships in the same sign is set first, even if it be maleficent; and where this does not occur, the maleficents are always set last, and first the lords of the exaltation, then those of the triangle, then those of the house, in accordance with the consecutive order of the signs; and again, in order, those having two rulerships are set before the one having a single rulership in the same sign. The Crab, however, and the Lion, being houses of the sun and the moon—since terms are not given to the luminaries—are assigned to the maleficents because these are crowded out in the order, the Crab to Mars and the Lion to Saturn, in which their own order is also preserved. As regards the quantity of the terms: where no lord is found by two ways, either in the sign itself or in those following up to a quadrant, to the beneficents, that is to Jupiter and to Venus, seven degrees each are given; to the maleficents, that is to Saturn and to Mars, five degrees each; and to Mercury, being common, six degrees, for the completion of the thirty. But since some always have two claims—for Venus alone becomes lord of the triangle in the Bull, the moon not being taken into the terms—one degree is added to each of those so circumstanced, whether in the sign itself or in those following up to a quadrant, beside which dots were also set. And the degrees thus added on account of the double claim are subtracted from the rest, which have single claims—mostly from Saturn, then from Jupiter, because of the slowness of their motion. And the exposition of these terms also is of this kind.

22. On places and degrees

Some have further divided the rulership into still smaller sections than these, calling them places and degrees, supposing a place to be the twelfth of a sign—that is, two and a half degrees—and giving the rulership of these to the signs in order. Others use certain other unreasoned orders, again giving each degree, from the beginning, to each of the stars in accordance with the order of the Chaldean terms. These things, then, having a plausible but not natural account, but one of vain conceit, we shall pass over. But that other point, being worthy of attention, we shall not omit: that it is reasonable to make the beginnings of the signs from the equinoctial and tropical points, the writers having somehow made this plain too, and especially because we see that their natures, powers, and kinships derive their cause from what has been demonstrated above as proceeding from the tropical and equinoctial beginnings, and from nothing else. For if other beginnings be supposed, we shall be compelled either no longer to use their natures for the predictions, or, if we do use them, to fail—the intervals of the zodiac that bestow their powers upon them being transgressed and estranged.

23. On proper faces, chariots, and the like

The kinships of the stars and the signs would, then, be about so many. They are said to be in their proper faces whenever each of them preserves toward the sun, or also the moon, the same configuration which its house has toward the houses of those luminaries—as when the star of Venus, for example, makes a sextile relation to the luminaries, but being western to the sun and eastern to the moon, in accordance with its original houses. They are said to be in their proper chariots and thrones and the like whenever they are made akin, by two or more of the ways set forth above, to the places in which they are found; their power being then increased most of all toward activity, through the likeness and cooperation of the kindred fellowship of the surrounding signs. And they are said to rejoice whenever, even if the kinship of the surrounding signs is not toward themselves but yet toward those of the same sects, the sympathy thus arising is rather of long standing; nevertheless they share likewise also in the same manner of likeness. Just as, when they are found in estranged places and those of the contrary sect, much of their proper power is loosened, the temperament from the unlikeness of the surrounding signs producing some other mixed nature.

24. On applications, separations, and the other powers

And in general, the leading stars are said to apply to those that follow, and those that follow to have separated from the leading, so long as the interval between them is not great. Such application is taken into account whether it occurs by body or also by one of the configurations handed down—except that, for the applications and separations and latitudes by the bodies themselves, it is useful to observe them, so as to admit only those passages found to lie toward the same parts of the circle through the middle; but for those through the configurations such observation is superfluous, since all the rays are always borne toward the same point—that is, toward the centre of the earth—and meet there alike from every quarter.

From all these things, then, it is easy to see that the quality of each of the stars is to be examined both from its own natural character and further from that of the surrounding signs, or also from that of the configurations to the sun and to the angles, in the manner we have set forth concerning all these things; and its power, first, from its being either eastern and additive in its own motions—for then they are strongest—or western and subtractive, for then they have a weaker activity; and next, from its relation to the horizon, for being in mid-heaven, or borne toward the mid-heaven, they are most powerful; secondly, when they are upon the horizon itself or rising after it, and the more when upon the eastern point, less when they are in mid-heaven beneath the earth or otherwise configured to the rising place; and not being so situated, they are wholly without power.