Anthony Louis's Blog, page 25

Live or die? An example of “prohibition” from Masha’allah

In the past couple of posts I’ve been looking at ‘prohibition’ in horary. Going through some old charts, I came across this horary from Masha’allah. The querent who is quite ill wants to know whether he will live or die as a result of his illness. I reproduced a close approximation of Masha’allah’s chart from the description in Ben Dykes’ translation in the Works of Sahl & Masha’allah (2008).

Moon day, Jupiter hour.

I usually begin with the 12th part of the Ascendant. Here the Asc in 14 degrees Virgo has its 12th part in Aquarius, the 6th whole sign from the Ascendant, which is consistent with illness being on the querent’s mind. The ruler of Aquarius, Saturn, lies in the 8th whole sign from the ascendant, as is fitting because the question is about whether he will die.

Masah’allah tells us to determine which planet signifies the querent. The ruler of the Ascendant is Mercury, but he is in the 8th house and cannot behold the Ascendant sign, that is, Mercury is in aversion to the Ascendant. He also mentions that Mercury is void of course.

Because of the status of Mercury, Masha’allah next looks at the Moon to see whether she is a more suitable signifier of the querent. In this chart the Moon aspects the Ascendant sign from the 9th house and is in better condition than Mercury, so the Moon becomes the querent’s signifier. (In addition, the Moon in Taurus is exalted.)

Next Masha’allah follows the chain of dispositors, starting from the Moon. Luna in Taurus is disposed by Venus in Pisces, which in turn is disposed by Jupiter in Taurus. Because Jupiter is the heaviest planet in this sequence and is not disposed by Saturn, who is even heavier, the chain of disposition ends with Jupiter. This is favorable and likely indicates that the querent will not die.

We must, however, examine the future aspects of Venus. We can see that Venus will apply to square Mars and to sextile Jupiter. The square to Mars would be bad news because Mars rules the 8th house of death. If Venus perfects the square to Mars before she can perfect the sextile to Jupiter, the querent will surely die. Fortunately Venus will sextile Jupiter (in the ephemeris) before she can square Mars, so Jupiter functions to “prohibit” the death that Mars would bring.

Another interesting feature of this chart is the nature of the “pushing” that takes place. “Pushing” simply means that the applying planets conveys its agenda and nature to the receiving planet which it aspects.

The Moon, being exalted in Taurus, pushes its exalted nature and desire to live (as ruler of the Ascendant) onto Venus, who receives the Moon from her domicile Taurus. Venus is already exalted in Pisces, ruled by Jupiter, so Venus gets kind of supercharged by the additional exaltation of the Moon.

Next Venus applies to Jupiter and, by doing so, conveys or “pushes” the Moon’s desire to live onto Jupiter who receives Venus from his domicile Pisces. This super-exalted Venus, a natural benefit, conveys her nature and the power of her exaltation to Jupiter who becomes a kind of super-benefic in the process of receiving this doubly exalted Venus and prevents the death from taking place.

Another example of “prohibition” in horary

In the last post I considered the concept of prohibition in horary and discussed a case example.

Lilly’s definition (CA 110):

“Prohibition is when two Planets that signify the effecting or bringing to conclusion anything demanded, are applying to an Aspect; and before they can come to a true Aspect, another Planet interposes either his body or aspect, to that thereby the matter propounded is hindered or retarded; this is called Prohibition.”

Going through my case files, I came across another example which might be of interest. On September 22, 2016 a friend called to ask a horary question about whether she should buy a house she had recently seen. She liked the house but thought the asking price was a bit high and wasn’t sure that the expense would be worth it. The question was asked at 10:58 AM EDT. Here is the chart with Regiomontanus houses.

Should I buy the house?

It was a Jupiter day during a Mercury hour. Scorpio rises, so that Mars rules the querent. Taurus on the 7th cusp makes Venus the seller of the property, which is signified by Jupiter with Pisces on the 4th cusp. The price of the house is symbolized by the Virgo 10th cusp, ruled by Mercury.

Venus (the seller) is separating from a sextile to Mars (the querent). There is no translation or collection of light bringing them together. The absence of an applying aspect between primary significators is on testimony against her buying the house.

Malefic Saturn lacks essential dignity and rises in the 1st house, another negative indicator.

The Moon, which signifies the question and co-rules the querent, applies to trine Venus (the seller) and could possibly indicate a sale, but before the Moon can perfect the trine to Venus it will perfect an opposition to Mars in the radical 2nd house. This opposition to Mars prohibits the trine to Venus from effectuating the matter, probably because of financial concerns (2nd house).

Mars is also the second triplicity ruler of of the Pisces 4th cusp, and as such it signifies the house. The Moon’s opposition to Mars will occur when the Moon is in the Saturn term of Gemini, where it is peregrine and totally without essential dignity. Gemini is also the 12th sign from Cancer, the Moon’s domicile, and is an especially unfortunate placement for the Moon. This symbolism again suggests that there is little positivity connecting the querent to the house she is considering buying.

The high price of the house is indicated by Mercury, ruler of the 10th, in its own sign, angular, stationary (not moving) and conjunct the Lunar North Node.

Jupiter, which signifies the house (4th cusp), happens to be peregrine, without any essential dignity in this chart. Jupiter is also combust the Sun, making the house less attractive.

As the chart indicated, the querent decided that the house was not worth the price they were asking, and she decided not to make a bid to buy it.

Some thoughts about “prohibition” in horary astrology

Recently a colleague asked a question about “prohibition” in horary, which prompted me to look up Lilly’s definition (CA 110):

“Prohibition is when two Planets that signify the effecting or bringing to conclusion anything demanded, are applying to an Aspect; and before they can come to a true Aspect, another Planet interposes either his body or aspect, to that thereby the matter propounded is hindered or retarded; this is called Prohibition.”

“For example, Mars is in 7 Aries, and Saturn in 12 Aries. Mars signifies the effecting my business when he comes to the body of Saturn, who promises the conclusion. The Sun at the same time is in 6 Aries. Now in regard that the Sun is swifter in motion than Mars, he will overtake Mars and come to conjunction with Saturn before Mars, whereby whatever Mars or Saturn did formerly signify is now prohibited by the Sun, his first impediting Mars and then Saturn, before they can come to a true conjunction.”

We could diagram Lilly’s example as follows:

Sun in 6 Aries —> Mars in 7 Aries ——————> Saturn at 12 Aries,
BUT
the Sun in 6 Aries, being faster than Mars, first conjoins Mars in 7 Aries and then advances to conjoin Saturn in 12 Aries, “impediting” both Mars and Saturn in the process and “prohibiting” the eventual conjunction of Mars and Saturn from producing the desired effect.
_____________________

Sahl gives another example of prohibition (see Dykes, Works of Sahl & Mahsa’allah, p.25:

Cancer rises and Capricorn is on the 7th cusp. The querrent (Moon) asks a question about marriage (Saturn).

Moon in 14 Scorpio applies to oppose Saturn in 22 Taurus, BUT Mars is in 17 Taurus and the Moon will oppose Mars before she can oppose Saturn, thus prohibiting the marriage from taking place.

_____________________

A real-life example might make this clearer. In his Horary Case Book (2012) Christopher Warnock discusses a horary in which a woman asks whether a man she is interested in will marry her. The data for the chart are: Feb 3, 2004 at 10 PM EST in Washington, DC. Here is the chart with Alcabitus houses (Warnock used Regiomontanus).

Will he marry me?

It is a Mars day during a Sun hour. Libra rising makes Venus the ruler of the querent. Aries on the 7th cusp assigns Mars to the prospective husband. Mars in Taurus occupies the home sign of Venus, which is consistent with the querent’s interest in this man represented by Mars. Venus lies in Pisces, the sign of her exaltation, and occupies the term of Mars. Venus is also in the triplicity of Mars, so there is a mutual attraction.

For there to be a marriage we would expect an applying aspect to be forming between Venus (Asc ruler) and Mars (7th ruler), but none exists. From the point of view of the principal significators, there is a mutual attraction but it is not likely to result in marriage.

Next we could consider the Moon as a co-significator of the querent. Here things look better because the Moon and Mars are within orb of a square aspect, and the Moon receives Mars in the sign of her exaltation. Unfortunately, Mars receives the Moon in the sign of his fall, so he is unlikely to be interested in marrying her.

Nonetheless, let’s assume that the applying square between the Moon (querent) and Mars (7th ruler, potential husband) could result in marriage. Next we need to look for any prohibition. In this case, the Moon will first sextile Venus and then oppose Mercury before it can perfect its square to Mars. In addition, the Moon must leave its current sign Cancer and enter Leo to perfect the square to Mars. Venus and Mercury stand in the way of the Moon bringing a marriage to perfection, so it is unlikely that the querent will end up the the 7th house man as her husband.

There are other factors we could look at in this chart, but they all lead to the same conclusion: no, he will not marry the querent.

An example of CAZIMI in horary

The horary literature speaks of planets being in the state of “cazimi” or “in the heart of the Sun,” meaning that that are located within 17 minutes of arc from the center of the Sun. Since, to the human eye, the Sun measures about 34′ of arc in diameter in the sky, being in cazimi means that the body of the planet overlaps the body of the Sun, at least along the ecliptic. Lilly notes that “all Authors doe hold a Planet in Cazimi to be fortified thereby” (CA 113).

Most astrologers ignore the latitude of the planet above or below the ecliptic and define cazimi solely in terms of the planet’s projection onto the path of the Sun. It is possible that the originators of the cazimi concept had in mind that the planet should overlap the body of the Sun both in latitude above or below the ecliptic as well as in longitude along the ecliptic. In such a case, the body of the planet would overlap the body of the Sun in all directions from the center of the Sun.

Recently I was reviewing some old horary charts and came across an example in which the significator of the quesited was in cazimi, but the outcome was quite negative for the querent. The chart of one presented by Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson on page 212 of her famous book Simplified Horary Astrology (1960). I hadn’t noticed the cazimi in this chart because Ivy made a typo in drawing of the chart, and the cazimi condition was not apparent from looking at the chart in her text.

Here is the chart done by modern computer (without Ivy’s typo). The data is 14 Sep 1946 at 17:36 PST in Los Angeles, CA. (I adjusted the time Ivy gave by one minute to match the Ascendant of the chart in her book. ). Ivy used Placidus, but this chart is in Regiomontanus. None of the planets change houses with the change of house systems in this example.

Will there be a divorce?

The context of the question is that the querent was concerned about her husband’s violent temper and his infidelity. She apparently suspected that her husband wanted to divorce her. After reading the chart, Ivy told the querent that there would indeed be a divorce, but the querent told Ivy that she would not give him a divorce. In February following the horary, the husband came home very late and the querent confronted him. He then beat her up, packed his things and left her, moving to another state where he was able to secure an uncontested divorce in September of 1947, about a year after the horary question.

Ivy had apparently placed the Sun in her drawing of the chart at 22 Virgo 36, when in fact the Sun was as 21 Virgo 36 at the moment of the question. As a result, Mercury at 21 Virgo 43 was in cazimi, or the heart of the Sun, and supposedly strongly fortified and in a very fortunate position according to most horary authors. Nonetheless, Mercury rules the 7th cusp of her marriage, which was on the rocks because of her violent and unfaithful husband.

Ivy judged that there would be a divorce because Mercury, the marriage, was tightly square Uranus, the modern planet of disruption and divorce. Traditional astrologers, who ignore the modern planets, might have a harder time seeing divorce in this chart, perhaps arguing that Mercury is so strong in this chart that Mercury, as the husband who wants the divorce, will prevail over Jupiter, the querent, who is debilitated by being in her 8th house of loss and death. Perhaps also, the Sun as ruler of the 6th (the 12th of the 7th) signifies the dissolution of the marriage and the husband (Mercury) is greatly fortified by being in the heart of the Sun.

A final note: the latitude of Mercury in this chart is 1 N 35 and the latitude of the Sun is always 0 degrees because it travels on the ecliptic, thus by latitude Mercury is well outside the “heart of the Sun.” Perhaps to be truly fortified and rendered fortunate by its intimate contact with the Sun a planet needs to be truly overlapping the Sun’s body both in ecliptic longitude and latitude. This is an idea worth further exploration.

The theft of the slave girl’s linen

In Chapter 16 of my 1991 book Horary Astrology, The History and Practice of Astro-Divination, I discussed an ancient horary chart delineated by Palchus in the 5th century CE and reported in Neugabaur and van Hoesen’s Greek Horoscopes. Recently there has been renewed interest in this chart online. One of my favorite astrologers on FaceBook, Margherita Fiorello, mentioned the chart and included a graphic. Here is her reproduction of the chart by Palchus, cast for August 29, 478 CE in Syene (Aswan) for 10:35 PM LMT.

Horary by Palchus about the theft of the slave girl’s linen.

Here is a close approximation of this ancient chart with modern software using Porphyry houses and the Raman ayanamsa.

Slave girl’s linen stolen

Palchus tells us that the theft occurred during the Full Moon. He says that the stolen object is out-of-sight because the Part of Fortune lies in Scorpio below the horizon.

Palchus links Saturn to the thief because the Full Moon in Pisces opposes Saturn in Virgo. Lilly would have noted that Saturn is a peregrine planet in an angle and could therefore represent a thief. Because Saturn lies in Virgo the Virgin, Palchus believed that the thief was an educated old man who was “frustrated in intercourse.”

He also felt that Asc-ruler Venus occupying Virgo, the sign of its fall, symbolically fit the status of the slave girl who had been robbed.

Palchus argued that the stolen item would be recovered because Mars disposed the Part of Fortune in Scorpio, and the Moon would be moving from Pisces into Aries, ruled by Mars, from which the Moon would sextile Mars in the first quadrant house. In addition, the Sun would sextile the Part of Fortune and then trine the degrees of the Ascendant. In addition, Jupiter disposed the Moon and occupied its own domicile Sagittarius.

As Palchus predicted from the horary chart, the stolen object was quickly recovered.

Tarot suits and social class

Our modern tarot deck appears to have its origins in a playing card deck used by the Mameluk Egyptians and brought into Europe after the Muslim forces invaded and conquered the Iberian peninsula. Muslim soldiers used these cards to play a game called Nã’ib, or the game of lieutenants, and the Spanish language still refers to playing cards as naipes.

The Mameluk deck had court cards consisting of a malik (king), naib malik (viceroy) and a thaim naib (deputy), which became the King, Knight and Page of European decks. The French then added the Queen to the group of court cards, producing a hierarchy in order of King at the top, followed by the Queen and the Knight, with Page at the lowest rung.

Mameluk cards, image from wikipedia

The four modern suits were patterned after the suits of the Mameluk deck: Chalices, Scimitars, Polo sticks and Dinars (coins). Europeans apparent associated the four suits with four levels or classes of society: Chalices or Cups with the clergy, Scimitars or Swords with the nobility, Dinars or Coins with the merchants, and Polo-stick or Rods/Wands with the laborers, peasants or working classes. These associations created the following hierarchy:

Chalices or Cups as the highest rank because the clergy were closest to God. Occultists later associated Cups with the element of water .Swords or Scimitars as the second highest because they symbolized the nobility and perhaps later the intellectuals and professional members of society. Occultists later associated Swords with the element of air .Dinars, Coins or today’s “Pentacles” as the third from the top because they represented the merchants who sold goods essential to society. Occultists later associated Coins with the element of earth .Rods, Wands or Polo-sticks at the bottom of the ladder because they stood for peasants and laborers whose work was essential but who were disdained by the upper three classes of society. Occultists later associated Wands with the element of fire .

Interestingly, the above hierarchy follows the scheme outlined in the Thema Mundi of Hellenistic astrology, the so-called birth chart of the universe in which the Moon, starting at the Ascendant in Cancer, would transit the Angles of the chart in the order: Cancer (water), Libra (air), Capricorn (earth) and finally Aries (fire).

Thema Mundi, with the sequence of Angles in zodiacal order from the Ascendant being water, air, earth and fire.

At times it may be useful in tarot readings to be aware of the hierarchical structure of the deck. Within the court cards the Pages might signify individuals who are younger, less experienced and less mature than the Queen or King, for example. Cards of different suits could suggests differences in social class or mores which could be significant within a reading.

Will Joe Biden survive January 20th?

Astrologer Fernando Ruiz Guarin recently posted a video looking at the transits for the day of Joe Biden’s Inauguration, 20 January 2021. The sky looks fairly ominous that day, and an assassination attempt or other form of violence seems highly likely. We can only hope that law enforcement is doing its job to prevent Trump-supporting domestic terrorists, who believe the Big Lie, from carrying out their nefarious agenda.

Here is the chart for 11:39 AM when the Mars/Uranus midpoint crosses the Ascendant with Pluto on the Midheaven, a perfect astrological storm for domestic terrorism and violence:

If I had to guess when the Trump-inspired domestic terrorists will strike on 20 January 2021, I would pick 11:39 AM EST in Washington, DC.

The Use of Separating Aspects in Horary

A colleague recently asked about the use of separating aspects in determining the outcome of a horary chart. There is apparently a view among some practicioners that only applying aspects should be used. A good example of Lilly’s use of separating aspects to determine the outcome can be found in his discussion of a ship at sea on page 165 of Christian Astrology. A key point is that the astrologer must understand the nature of the question.

On March 19, 1647 (NS) at about 10:28 AM LMT someone asked Lilly about the condition of a ship at sea. The horary chart set for London, UK, with Regiomontanus houses. It was a MARS day during a MOON hour, the 5th hour of the day. The Ascendant is at 6 Cancer 05′ and its 12th part (dodecatemorion) is at 13 Virgo in the 4th house of places deep below sea level. The Moon, which signifies the ship and its crew, lacks any essential dignity and occupies the sign of the 12th part of the Ascendant, suggesting that the querent is worried that the ship may lie at the bottom of the ocean. Mercury, which rules Virgo – the sign of the 12th part – occupies the 10th of successful ventures, but Mercury in Pisces is in the sign of his fall, an indication that the question also has to do with a business failure.

Modern approximation to Lilly’s chart on page 165 of CA, “In what condition is the ship at sea?”

It is important to note that the querent asked, “In what condition is a ship at sea?” The question is NOT about what will be the future condition of the ship, but rather what has happened to the ship up to this point, which resulted in its current condition.

As a result, Lilly studies the Moon which rules the Ascendant, the signifier of the ship and its occupants. It is a day chart and the only dignity which the moon has in Virgo, in Lilly’s system of dignities, is as triplicity ruler of earth signs at night. Thus, Lilly would consider the Moon peregrine, that is, without essential dignity. (My preference is to use the Dorothean dignities in which the Moon is also without essential dignity in 10 degrees of Virgo.)

Dorothean Dignities for this “Ship at Sea” chart

To see what has already happened to the ship Lilly would consider its most recent aspect prior to the question, which was a square to Saturn. Unfortunately, Saturn rules the 8th Regiomontanus house of death, and Saturn is peregrine in 15 Taurus. At the time when Moon squared Saturn from 15 Leo, the moon was cadent and peregrine and then entered a void of course state. Since the question is about what has happened to the ship, and not what will happen to the ship, the approaching trine of the Moon to Saturn is irrelevant. What had already happened to the ship at the time the question was posed looked pretty ominous despite the fact that the Moon is about to trine Saturn at the time of the question. Here is a list of the relevant transiting aspects surrounding this horary question.

List of transiting aspects for the above horary chart.

Below is Lilly’s delineation from CA 165:

Lilly’s chart from page 165 of CA

Here the Ascendant and the Moon are Significators of the Shippe, and those that saile in her: the Moon lately separated from a Square of Saturn, Lord of the 8th and 9th, then at time of the question voyd of course; but afterwards first applyed to a Trine of Saturn, then to Opposition of Mercury, Lord of the 12th and 4th; this shewed the Ship had lately been in danger (of Death) viz. Shipwrack:

and as the Moon had been voyd of course, so had no newes been heard of her; because the Moon was last in Square of Saturn, in fixed Signes, tortuous or odiously and malitiously aspecting each other, and falling into Cadent houses, and then did not presently apply to the good aspect of any benevolent Planet, but was voyd of course, and then againe continued her application out of the 4th to Saturn, who is still Lord of the 8th, although it was by good aspect;

and then after seperation from him, applyed to Opposition Mercury, and that Mercury her Dispositor was in Detriment, and entering Combustion, and Jupiter Dispositor of Mercury Subterranean and in Conjunction with Mars, and termes of an Infortune; and forasmuch as I found Mars in his Fall, upon or neer the Cusp of the 2nd house, I judged losse was at hand to the Merchant; Part Of Fortune being in the 6th house, disposed by Jupiter, and he Retrograde in the 2nd, not beholding Part Of Fortune; the Moon also casting her Square Sinister to the Part Of Fortune, and so Mercury his Dexter Square: by meanes therefore of so many evill testimonies of receiving losse rather than benefit;

I judged that the Merchant should lose much, if not all that was adventured in this Ship, and so consequently I doubted the Ship was cast away; (and so it proved.)

Principal Significators under the Earth, ill: worst of all, if in the 4th, for that is an assured testimony of sinking the Ship.

Addendum: Deborah Houlding made the following comments about this chart at her site Skyscript.co.uk (bold mine):

“In this example Lilly reviews the Moon’s last aspect. This is something he routinely does to get a grounding for the background of the question, even if the Moon’s last aspect is well out of orb or occurred in the previous sign.

This is relevant in symbolising the last event to impact upon the situation under scrutiny. In this case he has to trace the Moon right back to the middle of the previous sign to find it: a square to Saturn. Since the afflicted Saturn rules the 8th house of death and the 9th house of sea journeys, he judges this to show that the Ship had met the “danger (of death) viz, shipwreck” some time before the question was asked. From that point on the Moon had remained void of course until its present application to Saturn by trine.

Despite the Moon’s current application to Saturn by trine, the violent fixed star connections and damaging indications in the chart are overwhelming; so Lilly judged the ship was lost.”

Saturn as the “Sun of the Night”

Back in the 1980s, while reading about the history of astrology, I came across the description of Saturn as the “Sun of the night,” which was apparently how the Babylonians viewed the ringed planet. This idea of Saturn playing the role of the sun at nighttime intrigued me and, not quite understanding exactly what it meant, I noted it in my first book on horary astrology back in the 1990s and have pondered it ever since. This post updates some of my reflections on Saturn as the Sun of the night.

There are certainly overlaps between the symbolism of the Sun and that of Saturn in the astrological literature. Both planets have been used to refer to father figures, authority, profession, career, command, achievement, etc. The prominent American astrologer Grant Lewi popularized the notion of Saturn transiting around the natal chart as an important indicator of one’s career trajectory. With reference to Saturn’s position by transit in the birth chart, he wrote:

“Strong men of destiny ride the full tide of their natures, upward and downward. They start obscurely, rise meteorically, and fall spectacularly…Standing at the midnight point, they proclaim their will to be, and catch the hour hand as it swings up the circle from obscurity to fame. Still proclaiming their individual pre-eminence, they stand for one fearful hour at the noon point, and then, orating about their indomitable will, they have not the will to let go of their fate, but clutching the indicator with a death grip, sweep with it down the slope to darkness.”

Like the Babylonians, Lewi appears to have viewed Saturn as symbolically equivalent to the Sun. For example, he delineates transiting Saturn at the natal MC as “proclaiming their individual pre-eminence, they stand for one fearful hour at the noon point.” I wondered whether this concept of Saturn as “Sun of the night” would be more evident in night births than in day births, and this speculation led me to study the Thema Mundi of Hellenistic astrology, the heuristic horoscope for the creation of the universe, used to explain the assignments of planetary rulers to the signs of the zodiac.

Thema Mundi, image from wikipedia. Note that Saturn rules both Capricorn and Aquarius.

It seems likely that the Hellenistic Greek astrologers inherited the concept of Saturn as the “Sun of the night” from the Babylonians and incorporated this concept into their conception of the birth of the universe. In the above depiction of the Thema Mundi the Moon is rising on the eastern horizon while Saturn, the Sun of the night, is setting on the western horizon. The Sun will be the next planet to rise at daybreak. Because Saturn in this scheme rules both Capricorn and Aquarius, the planet Saturn will set in the west as the Sun rises in the east. The Moon most fully reflects the light of the Sun when the two luminaries are directly opposite each other in the sky, but in the Thema Mundi the Moon is directly opposite Saturn, the “Sun of the night.”

Firmicus Maternus, in commenting in the Mathesis about the originators of the Thema Mundi, tells us that “they wanted to put the Moon in such a place so that she would conjoin herself to Saturn and hand over to him the rulership of the times.” (Holden trans., p.92). By “conjoin” he means to unite by aspect, in this case an exact opposition so that its role is analogous or equivalent but occurs in the opposite “sect,” that is in the other half of the 24-hour hour period as it is divided into “day and night” or “light and darkness.” It is also noteworthy that the Earth’s Moon was the original “chronocrator” and handed over that function to Saturn, making the ringed planet the universal “lord of time.” Perhaps Firmicus Maternus was thinking about the fact that the Moon spends about 2.5 days in each sign of the zodiac while Saturn spends about 2.5 years in each sign.

Why should the Moon and Saturn, the “Sun of the night,” be so closely associated with time? I think the reason must have to do with how time is measured on Earth. Our year is based on a complete cycle of the Sun around the Earth in a geocentric system. In addition, our month is based on complete lunar “synodic” cycles of the Moon with respect to the Sun.

By analogy, Saturn, being the outermost and slowest visible planet, behaves much like the Sun. It has a steady, predictable orbit and takes about 30 years to complete a cycle around the solar system. Because of its slow rate of motion, the synodic cycle of Saturn with respect to the Sun is just slightly longer than a year (about 378 days). Just as the Sun was the major “chronocrator” on Earth, giving us the annual cycle or revolutions of the year, Saturn became the major chronocrator in mundane astrology, playing the role of the Sun in the greater cosmos outside of the sublunar sphere described by Hesiod about 700 BCE.

Hesiod divided the Universe into a Sublunar world, within the sphere of the Moon, and a Supralunar word, outside of the sphere of the Moon. The Sun and the Earth’s Moon are the major chronocrators in the Sublunar world. Saturn and Jupiter are the major chronocrators in the Supralunar world of universal happenings. The “influence” of any event in the Supralunar world can only reach the Earth by passing through the sphere of the Moon, which acts as mediator.

If the synodic cycles of the Sun and Moon give us earthly “months” as units of time, then the synodic cycles of Saturn (the “Sun of the night”) and Jupiter (the “moon of the night”?) give us roughly 20-year units of time (“cosmic months”?) by which to measure broad periods of history in the mundane realm. As a chronocrator, Saturn behaves in the greater cosmos in a manner analogous the role of the Sun in determining how we measure time on Earth. This may also explain why Saturn, as a ruler of the night equal but opposite to the daytime Sun, is associated with cold and darkness.

A good reference for the history of this concept can be found at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298447154_Saturn_as_the_Sun_of_Night_in_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Tradition.
The authors of his paper present a similar idea to my understanding about the steadiness of Saturn being one of its thematic ties to the symbolism of the Sun. They write on page 288: “… if Saturn was linked to the Sun for the regularity and steadiness of its path, a similar line of reasoning could explain why the Babylonians, followed by Indian astronomers, regarded Mercury as the counterpart or the “son” of the Moon.70 Changing direction every 98 days, Mercury can be seen as the epitome of mobility among the planets, akin to the Moon’s fast pace. This might indicate that the comparison of Saturn and the Sun based on their motion was part of a system.”

This fascinating theory about Mercury being regarded as the child or son of the Moon in Babylonian and Indian astrology is consistent with and similar to the reasoning about Saturn at night being symbolically linked to the daytime Sun.

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All original material in this post is copyright Anthony Louis 2021

Lord of the Orb in Annual Revolutions

Ben Dykes in his translation of Abu Ma’Shar on the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities (2019) discusses the concept of “lord of the orb.” Dr. Dykes notes that it appears unclear, in the text which he translated, exactly how the lords of the orb are to be distributed over the course of the solar revolutions during the native’s lifetime. Dykes presents a “continuous loop” version and a “single cycle version” of lords of the orb on pages 126 and 128 respectively.

I came across the use of lord of the orb while reading a 15th century manuscript by Diego de Torres, an astrology professor of the University of Salamanca, Spain. Torres’s 15th century text reveals how the lord of the orb was understood at the time. Here is the original text, handwritten in Old Castilian Spanish:

Folio 54 of Diego de Torres

Here is a transcription of the above text with my translation of Diego de Torres’s words from 15th century Spanish into English (if any Spanish scholars see an error in my translation, please leave a comment and I will correct it):

Capitulo 6º: que declara el señor del orbe, o del circulo o de la hora, que es vna mesma cosa.

Chapter 6: what the lord of the orb (or of the circle, or of the hour, which all refer to the same thing) declares.

Es de notar que el señor de la hora del tiempo de la natiuidad se dize el señor del orbe para el primer anno de la natiuidad y por aquel has tu de jusgar de la vida y de la disposition en costumbres, sanidad y enfermedad del nascido y de los otros significados de la primera casa en el primer anno.

It should be noted that the lord of the hour of the time of birth is called the “lord of the orb” for the first year of life and by it one shall judge the life and disposition of the native with regard to habits, health and illnesses and other significations of the 1st house during the 1st year of life,

en el 2º anno de la Natiuidad el señor del orbe o del circulo sera el señor de la hora, 2º començando desde el tiempo de la natiuidad y aquel se dize el señor de la hora de la casa 2ª, del qual has tu de tomar los juysyos en el 2º anno de la natiuidad y jusgar de las substancias y Riquezas que vernan al nascido. Segund el estado que touiere en fortaleza y fortunio o infortunio.

during the 2nd year of life the lord of the orb, or of the circle, will be the lord of the 2nd hour following the birth time of the native and it is called the “lord of the hour of the 2nd house” from which one may make judgements regarding the 2nd year of life and about the substance and riches which the native will see — according to the condition [of the lord of the orb] whether it be fortified, and fortunate or unfortunate.

y en el 3º anno seruira el señor de la hora tercera para las cosas de la casa 3ª y segund su estado sera su juysio y ansy hemos de desyr de los otros señores de las horas para el
anno 4º. 5º y 6º y otros;

and in the 3rd year [of life] the lord of the 3rd hour [after birth] will serve for matters of the 3rd house [and 3rd year of life] and, according to its condition, you will make your judgement; and similarly we may regard the other lords of the hours for the 4th, 5th and 6th years of life, and so on;

de manera que pasados 12 annos al 13º bolvamos al primero y es aqui de notar que estos señores se han de tomar por la diuision de las horas, diuidiendo cada vn dia, agora grande o pequeño, en 12 partes yguales; y eso mesmo la noche. y ver entonçes los planetas que Reynan por las horas. y para que mejor esto se entienda, para obrar en las Reuoluciones, hyse aqui vna tablilla.

so that having passed through 12 years, in the 13th year we return to the 1st house; and it should be noted that these lords [of the orb] are taken from the division of hours, which partitions a day, however long or short, into 12 equal parts; and the same is done for the night, and then see which planets rule each of the hours, and to make clear that you understand this in the sequence of revolutions [of years], I have prepared the following table.

Lord of the Orb Table by Diego de Torres calculated for Venus as Lord of the Orb during the 1st year of life (first complete revolution which begins at birth). He apparently misread “29” at the top of column three as “39” and continued counting from 39 instead of 29.

Unfortunately, Diego de Torres did not have access to an Excel spreadsheet in the 15th century, and he made a calculation error in the third column of his table. I have corrected his error and will present his table in modern format. The numbers in this table refer to the year of life, for example, “1” refers to the year from age 0 to age 1 so that the native is age 1 at the completion of the yearly cycle, “2” to the year from age 1 to age 2 so that the native is age 2 at the completion of the yearly cycle, and so on. You can see from the table that Venus is lord of the orb in years 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and 36 during the first 42 years of this person’s life.

In this table columns 1, 2 and 3 refer to the annual revolution up to age 42, for the case in which Venus is Lord of the Orb during the 1st annual revolution, starting at birth. I believe that Diego de Torres was thinking of ordinal rather than cardinal numbers when he constructed this table. He uses the phrase “conpliste revolución” to head the column for “lord of the orb,” meaning that the planet listed was the lord for the year indicated: 1 for the 1st year of life, 2 for the 2nd year of life, etc. If the first year of life has Venus as the planetary hour of the nativity and is thus lord of the orb at birth, this table shows the lords of the orb in sequence for each year from birth onward.

The same method would be followed to construct a table for a planet other than Venus as lord of the orb. Ben Dykes refers to this distribution of lords of the orb as the “continuous loop” version, which appears to be how astrologers in the 15th century understood this technique.

To make the above clearer, let me state it a little differently. The lord of the orb at birth is the planetary hour at the time of birth. The sequence then goes in the Chaldean order from slowest to fastest planet: Saturn – Jupiter – Mars – Sun – Venus – Mercury – Moon, and repeats every 7 years. So you have the same lord of the orb at birth and at ages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, 77, …. Basically, you take the planetary hour at birth and assign it to the first house and to the first year of life, the 2nd planetary hour after birth to the 2nd house and the 2nd year of life, and your do this indefinitely. The lord of the orb appears to act like a participating ruler which works with the profected Asc ruler and the natal house rulers to help delineate the chart. Its condition in the Solar Return as well as in the nativity indicate how matters related to its house will go that year.

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All original material in this post is copyright Anthony Louis 2021.