THE DISPOSITION OF THE TERMS[54]
There are two methods of disposing the terms of the planets, in
reference to the dominion of the triplicities; one is Ægyptian, the
other Chaldaic.
But the Ægyptian method preserves no regular distribution, neither in
point of successive order nor in point of quantity.
[54] In reference to the terms of the planets, Placidus has these words
(according to Cooper’s translation): “The dignity of the planets in the
signs and their parts, which are called the bounds and terminations”
(_quasi_, terms), “have a real and natural foundation; to wit, the
powerful aspect or proportional influxes to the movable points in which
the stars begin to produce the primary qualities. So that, according to
those things we have explained in the philosophy of the heavens, these
are found to agree so well with the Ægyptian boundaries” (terms), “that
they are highly deserving of admiration.”
In point of order it is defective, since it, in some instances, allots
the first degrees of a sign to the lord of the house, in others to
the lord of the triplicity, and in others again to the lord of the
exaltation. By selecting examples this failure in order will easily be
seen; for instance, if the order were regulated by the government of
houses, for what reason should Saturn take the first degrees in Libra,
since that sign is the house of Venus? or why should Jupiter take them
in Aries, which is the house of Mars? If the government of triplicities
were followed, for what reason should Mercury take the first degrees in
Capricorn, which is in the triplicity ruled by Venus? If the government
by exaltations, why should Mars take the first degrees in Cancer? that
sign being the exaltation of Jupiter. And if the order were regulated
even by considering the planet which possesses most of these dignities
in the sign, for what reason should Mercury take the first degrees
in Aquarius, in which sign he rules only by triplicity, and why not
Saturn, who has government in it by house, as well as by triplicity? or
why in short should Mercury, who does not possess any kind of dominion
in Capricorn, receive the first degrees in that sign also? The same
want of order is abundantly evident in the rest of the distribution.
An equal irregularity exists in the respective quantities of degrees
allotted by the Ægyptians to the several terms of the planets. For it
is by no means a proper nor sufficient demonstration of accuracy that
the aggregate sum of all the numbers of every single planet amounts to
the precise total requiring to be divided into portions of time;[55]
since, even if it be admitted that this total, collected from every
single star, is correctly asserted by the Ægyptians, it may still be
objected that the same total, so collected by them, may be found in
many other ways by interchanging the numbers in a sign. There are
persons also who contend that in every latitude the same space of time
is occupied in ascension by every star; this, however, is manifestly
wrong: for, in the first place, these persons are guided by the vulgar
opinion of the plane heights of ascension, which is totally foreign
to truth, and according to which, in the parallel of Lower Ægypt, the
signs of Virgo and Libra would ascend each in thirty-eight degrees and
a third,[56] and Leo and Scorpio each in thirty-five degrees; when it
is, on the contrary, shown by the Tables,[57] that the latter two signs
occupy in their several ascensions more than thirty-five degrees each,
but Virgo and Libra less. It should further be observed, that those
who support this opinion seem (by so doing) not only to dispute the
quantity of the terms most generally received, but to be driven also to
the necessity of falsifying many points; since (as it is indispensable
to keep to the same total amount of all the terms together) they make
use of parts of degrees; but even that contrivance does not enable them
to reach the true point.
[55] This total is the 360 degrees of the zodiac, requiring to be
divided according to correspondent portions of the equator; by which
all time is reckoned.
[56] The degrees here mentioned are degrees of the equator.
[57] See, in the Appendix, an extract from these tables; the whole of
which are to be found in the Almagest.
The old terms, admitted by many persons on the authority of former
tradition, are as follows:
THE TERMS ACCORDING TO THE ÆGYPTIANS
-------------+----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------
Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Jupiter| 6| 6|Ven.| 8| 8|Mer.| 6 | 6|Mars| 7| 7|Jup.| 6| 6|Mer.| 7| 7
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Venus | 6|12|Mer.| 6|14|Jup.| 6 |12|Ven.| 6|13|Ven.| 5|11|Ven.|10|17
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Mercury| 8|20|Jup.| 8|22|Ven.| 5 |17|Mer.| 6|19|Sat.| 7|18|Jup.| 4|21
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Mars | 5|25|Sat.| 5|27|Mars| 7 |24|Jup.| 7|26|Mer.| 6|24|Mars| 7|28
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Saturn | 5|30|Mars| 3|30|Sat.| 6 |30|Sat.| 4|30|Mars| 6|30|Sat.| 2|30
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+---+--+---+----+--+--+----+--+--
Libra | Scorpio |Sagittarius| Capricorn| Aquarius | Pisces
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Saturn | 6| 6|Mars| 7| 7|Jup.|12 |12|Mer.| 7| 7|Mer.| 7| 7|Ven.|12|12
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Mercury| 8|14|Ven.| 4|11|Ven.| 5 |17|Jup.| 7|14|Ven.| 6|13|Jup.| 4|16
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Jupiter| 7|21|Mer.| 8|19|Mer.| 4 |21|Ven.| 8|22|Jup.| 7|20|Mer.| 3|19
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Venus | 7|28|Jup.| 5|24|Sat.| 5 |26|Sat.| 4|26|Mars| 5|25|Mars| 9|28
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Mars | 2|30|Sat.| 6|30|Mars| 4 |30|Mars| 4|30|Sat.| 5|30|Sat.| 2|30
-------+--+--+----+--+--+----+---+--+----+--+--+----+--+--+----+--+--
Thus, by the Ægyptian distribution, it appears that the total numbers
of the degrees for each planet, added together, make 360:—viz. for
Saturn 57, Jupiter 79, Mars 66, Venus 82, and Mercury 76.
The method of the Chaldæans contains a certain simplicity of
arrangement as to quantity, and preserves an order of succession
rather more comformable to the dominion of the triplicities. It is,
nevertheless, highly imperfect, as may be easily discovered even
without being pointed out: for in the first triplicity (which the
Chaldæans also attribute to the same signs; viz. Aries, Leo, and
Sagittarius), Jupiter, the lord of the triplicity, takes the first
degrees; Venus, who rules the next triplicity, follows him; after her,
in succession, are Saturn and Mercury, the lords of the triplicity
of Gemini; and lastly Mars, lord of the remaining triplicity. In the
second triplicity (also allotted to the same signs, viz. Taurus, Virgo,
and Capricorn), Venus stands first; next to her, Saturn and Mercury;
after them Mars, and Jupiter last. In the other two triplicities a
similar order of succession is closely followed; and with respect to
the third triplicity, which is ascribed to two lords, viz. to Saturn
and Mercury, Saturn is placed first in order by day and Mercury by
night.
The quantity of degrees allotted to each planet is also simply
regulated in the Chaldaic method; it diminishes in graduation from the
quantity given to the planet first in order, so that each successive
planet takes one degree less than that which preceded it. Thus the
first planet takes eight degrees, the second seven, the third six, the
fourth five, and the fifth four. By this arrangement the degrees of
Saturn amount by day to 78, and by night to 66; the degrees of Jupiter
to 72, of Mars to 69, of Venus to 75, and of Mercury by day to 66, and
by night to 78—the whole amounting to 360.
Of these two distributions of the terms, that of the Ægyptians seems
more to be relied on than the other; since it has been handed down and
recommended in the writings of the Ægyptian authors, and also because
the degrees of the terms, in nativities rectified by them as examples,
are universally in accordance with this distribution; while, on the
other hand, neither the order nor the number of the Chaldaic method has
ever been recorded or explained by any writer—not even by the writers
of that very nation: the accuracy of that method is consequently
doubtful, and its irregularity as to the order of placing the planets
is widely open to censure.
There is, however, an ancient writing which has fallen into the
author’s possession, and which gives a rational and consistent account
of the nature of the terms; of the order in which they are to be
taken, and of the quantity belonging to each. It will be found in the
subsequent chapter.