Lilly’s Table for Assigning Natal Planets to Body Parts

On page 119 of Christian Astrology (1647) William Lilly reproduces a table from the traditional literature “showing what members in Man’s Body every Planet signifieth in any of the twelve SIGNS” of the zodiac. This table is based on the archetypal assignment of the Aries-rising zodiac onto the human form and the idea of whole-sign topoi or “places.”

The Body and the Zodiac: image from the Yale University Library collection.

The underlying principle is that, just as Mars when it occupies its home sign Aries signifies the upper part of the head, in an analogous way any planet in its own domicile also represents the head. The signs are counted, starting from the home sign of the planet. The scheme goes approximately like this (assignments may vary slightly depending on the traditional source):

A planet in its home sign = the head (like Aries).In the 2nd sign from its domicile = lower face, the throat and neck to the shoulders (like Taurus).In the 3rd sign = shoulders, arms, hands and upper chest (like Gemini).In the 4th sign = breast, chest and heart (like Cancer).In the 5th sign = mid-chest, heart, belly, stomach, abdominal cavity (like Leo).In the 6th sign = lower abdomen, intestines, hip area (like Virgo).In the 7th sign = the pelvic triangle, sacrum, the “secrets”, and the “reins” or region near the kidney associated with feelings and arousal (like Libra).In the 8th sign = external genitalia and excremental organs, the “secret” parts (like Scorpio).In the 9th sign = buttocks, gluteus and upper thighs (like Sagittarius).In the 10th sign = knees and thighs (like Capricorn).In the 11th sign = shanks (lower legs) and ankles (like Aquarius)In the 12th sign from its home sign = the feet (like Pisces).

Let’s consider a recent example from the news. On Monday 2 January 2023 the American football player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 8:53 PM when he was hit bluntly in the chest by another player. Fortunately, he survived and is recovering well in the hospital as I write this. One would expect the symbolism of the heart to be prominent in his transits, progressions, directions, etc. for that period.

Damar Hamlin’s date of birth is given as March 24, 1998 (age 24 years), in McKees Rocks, PA, time unknown. Without a birth time we are limited in what we can say about a chart. In such cases, Alan Leo used the sunrise chart for the birthplace and I will do the same here. The chart shown is the sunrise birth chart surrounded by the transits for the medical event.

Natal chart with transits for cardiac event superimposed

An advantage of the sunrise birth chart is that it places the Sun, a universal symbol for the heart, on the Ascendant. Thus, we can read this chart as a symbolic of the native’s heart as well as of his nativity. From this perspective, the transiting Asc conjoins the cusp of the Placidus 6th house of medical problems, which happens to have Leo (ruled by the Sun) on the cusp.

From a whole sign “place” perspective, Virgo is the 6th sign from the natal sunrise Ascendant, making Mercury the planet associated with 6th “place” medical issues. Transiting Mercury lies in Capricorn and squares his natal Mercury/Saturn conjunction while, by transit, Saturn (blocks, stoppage) is just setting opposite the transiting Ascendant at the cusp of the natal Placidus 6th house. Capricorn is the 5th sign from Virgo, which in Lilly’s table refers to the ” mid-chest, heart, belly, stomach, abdominal cavity (like Leo).” Thus, the symbolism of body parts fits the medical problem suffered at this moment when viewed from the perspective of transits at the time.

Here are the relevant pages from Lilly’s text. Note that the head is assigned to Saturn in Capricorn or Aquarius, Jupiter in Sagittarius or Pisces, Mars in Aries or Scorpio, Sun in Leo, Moon in Cancer, Venus in Taurus or Libra, and Mercury in Gemini or Virgo.