_Forbidding the Practice of Astrology and Chiromancy_
O thou who dost aspire to a solidly founded happiness, who seekest the
ways to obtain the favors of Providence! be not addicted to the
sorceries of chiromancy and astrology; they draw down misfortune on
those who practise them; they precipitate them to ruin: instead of the
gold they hoped to receive, they draw forth a vile metal. Since
immutable destiny has ordained all that can come to pass, forget the
future to think only of the present. Why be troubled in advance by what
is not yet, and sow needlessly in thy heart the seeds of anguish and
trouble?
Believe not the lying words of chiromancy, for God above knows what is
concealed. Even if this were a science, the man who teaches it is of no
worth; his knowledge is null, his words false, his mind diseased. Do we
not see what happens to these diviners and astrologers; is there a
single one who prospers? Might we not say that misfortune is the
satellite of all these sorceries? Leave, then, loans, and enjoy thy
ready money. What wilt thou do when thou shalt have been plunged in all
these agonies? Believe my words, and may God preserve thee from so
disastrous a blindness.