Some people hold that, by their movements, the planets produce not only
poverty and wealth, health and sickness, but even beauty and ugliness;
and, what is more, vices and virtues. At every moment the stars, as if
they were irritated against men, (are said to) force them to commit
actions concerning which no blame attaches to the men who commit them,
since they are compelled thereto by the influence of the planets. It
is even believed that the cause of the planets' doing us evil or good
is not that they love or hate us; but that their dispositions towards
us is good or evil according to the localities through which they
travel. Towards us they change their disposition according as they are
on the cardinal points or in declination therefrom. It is even held
that while certain stars are maleficent, others are beneficent, and
that, nevertheless, the former frequently grant us benefits, while the
latter often become harmful. Their effects differ according to their
being in opposition,[200] just as if they were not self-sufficient,
and as if their quality depended on whether or not they looked at each
other. Thus a star's (influence) may be good so long as it regards
another, and evil when it does so no longer. A star may even consider
another in different manners,[201] when it is in such or such an
aspect.[202] Moreover, the totality of the stars exercises a mingled
influence which differs from the individual influences, just as several
liquors may form a compound possessing qualities differing from either
of the component elements. As these and similar assertions are freely
made, it becomes important to examine each one separately. This would
form a proper beginning for our investigation.