About the stars of Angelus Astrolabium Planum

In one of my researches in Rome’s libraries I found a copy of Astrolabium Planum, one of the most intriguing and enigmatic books written during Renaissance by Johannes Angelus, published in 1488 in Augusta, one of the oldest German cities, founded by the Roman Emperor Augustus-  where the author Johann Engel stated that the second part – a collection of pictures showing the 360 degrees of zodiacal belt with an explicative sentence for each of them – was elaborated ab excellentissimo viro medicine facultatis doctore experto Petro de Abano.   (( Giordana Mariani Canova , “Per la storia della figura astrologica a Padova. Il De imaginibus di Pietro d’Abano e le sue fonti”))

The text – written in Latin – had a so great fortune that it was immediately translated in several languages as German and English.

click to download the English version of Astrolabium Planum translated by John Gadbury with William Lilly preface.

This is Gadbury’s translation with forewords written by William Lilly, from Early English Books Online. (( Johannes Angelus, Esoptron Astrologikon. Astrological opticks. Wherein are represented the faces of every signe, with the images of each degree in the zodiack: thereby describing, 1. The nature and quality of every person, according to the degree ascending in the east at his nativity. 2. The virtue and signification of every planet through the 12. signes. 3. A most excellent description of the more hidden and abstruse influence of [symbol for Mercury] in his [symbol for conjunction] with all other the planets. 4. A clear explanation of the signification of the horoscope in any signe of the zodiack. / Compiled at Venice, by those famous mathematicians, Johann. Regiomontanus and Johannes Angelus., Early English Books Online (London, : Printed for John Allen, and R. Moon, and are to be sold at their shops, at the Sun-rising, and Seven-starrs in Pauls Church-yard, in the new buildings between the two north-doors., [1655] ))

So, according Engel himself, he was just the editor of a Medieval book written by Pietro Abano, a doctor and a scholar from Padua, an important cultural centre of Northen Italy during the end of 1200.

Engel is not a liar because an Italian scholar and expert of Pietro Abano, professoressa Federici Vescovini  (( Graziella Federici Vescovini, “Pietro d’Abano e gli affreschi astrologici del Palazzo della Ragione di Padova”)) found in Munich a manuscript (now it is scanned in Patrick Guinard’s DIAL astrological library), the only copy of the original text written by Abano around 1302-1303.

What does this part of the book describe? We can discover this from the incipit of Munich text, which says:

De 360 imaginibus: incipiunt ymagines signorum super triginta gradus quorum quilibet habet suam ymaginem propriam ad predicendum naturas et exercitia hominum.

Abano describes – in the original text in fact there are not pictures, on the contrary Engel’s Astrolabium Planum shows all the  pictures of 360 degrees with women and men in Renaissance clothes- the images of the stars – which were called paranatellonta by the Greek astrologers- rising with the Ascendant and their influence on the nature of men and their activities.

Relevant quotes can be found in Proclus’ Commentary to Plato’s Republic and in Censorinus.

Proclus in fact writes: “Degrees rising with the horoscope contain all the virtue of generation, so for example they produce some births proper to the priesthood and others that are dishonoured. ”

But almost 200 years before, Censorinus could state in De Die Natali: “These points are thirty for every sign: i.e. three hundred sixty for the whole circle. Greeks call them Moira, without every doubt because this is the name of Goddesses of Fate, and so our fate depends on these points, and the fact of being born under one or another it’s the most important factor.”

Firmicus Maternus devoted all the last part of his Mathesis about paranatellonta describing the influence of the stars rising  with several degrees of Zodiac, and as Abano- he believed stars made men professions and activities. ((Julius Firmicus Maternus, Ancient Astrology: Theory and Practice, Matheseos Libri VIII (Park Ridge N.J.: Noyes Press, 1975).))

If the theory is well known, it’s not the same for a more direct Abano source.

It’s evident as we will see below that a great part of Astrolabium Planum stars images comes from Liber VI of Albumasar’s Great Introduction, which the gentle author of this blog has translated here from the version of John of Seville, the longer one, never published (she copied the Latin version from the edited version by Richard Lemay for Istituto Orientale of Naples).

Some scholars as Saxl ((Fritz Saxl, La fede negli astri : dall’antichita’ al Rinascimento (cura Salvatore Settis) (Torino: Boringhieri, 1985).)) and Warburg think that Abano took his images from a Spanish manuscript written at the court of Alphonse the Wise,  known now as Vat. Reg. 1283 (now it is closed in Vatican Library, but Alfonso d’Agostino edited the Spanish text together with the  Italian translation ),   ((Alfonso X, Astromagia : ms. Reg. lat. 1283 a (cura Alfonso d’Agostino), Barataria, 6 (Napoli: Liguori, 1992).)) and in fact the two texts are so similar that it’s difficult thinking to a coincidence.

English readers can compare these texts  because the pages of Vat.Reg.1283  about  paranatellonta have been translated in the Library page of this blog since many months here.

In every case it’s not clear to me as Abano, who lived in the Northern Europe, could read the Spanish book, neither Warburg or Saxl say,  but surely Abano knew Albumasar text in the Latin version of Hermann of Carinthia, who translated Albumasar in 1140.

Moreover Abano in 1293 was the translator of  “The beginning of the wisdom” where the author – IbnEzra - copied as he could and would the images of 36 facies described by Albumasar, almost repeating  word by word Hermann shorter version – it seems that copy and paste from others’s works without any reference is not just a mean action of  some contemporary astrologers nothing new under the Sun.

In every case , whether if Abano knew Albumasar from a Latin translation, from IbnEzra  or from the Spanish manuscript there is no doubt that Liber Vi had a paramount influence on his book and the edited version by Johannes Angelus.

Simonetta, Feraboli, an Italian scholar and a Professor of Greek in the university of Genova, in my opinion the greatest expert of ancient stellar catalogues, wrote a wonderful paper about the images of Astrolabium Planum and the corresponding stars, better paranatellonta.  ((Simonetta Feraboli, “Astronomia classica nell’Astrolabium di Pietro d’Abano”))

This is an example for the 10th degree of Scorpio, which is my Ascendant.

From a German translation of Astrolabium Planum

The latin text says – German is more difficult for an Italian girl

Facies multum tortuosa. Homo mirabilis erit opinionis.

Which stands for:  a very twisted face. Man – and woman too obviously -with marvelous ideas – which it sounds very true to me

Which star is rising  with the first 10 degrees of Scorpio according Albumasar?

John of Seville, true to the Arab version translates as the head of Serpentarius.The same Liber Hermetis:

From the eighth to the tenth degrees there arise Serpentarius, Aesculapius, Hygea and two entwined dragons, they make botanists, doctors, perfumers.

But Hermann and many texts (Feraboli quotes  Gundel) indicate  this head as Medusa head, Algol, because this star sets at the Descendant while the tenth degree of Scorpio is rising.

Is it a very sophisticated game, true?

In every case images of Astrolabium Planum – better the older Abano version were depicted on the walls of Salone della Ragione in Padua by one of the greatest Italian artists, Giotto.

Destroyed in the fire of 1420 they were painted again- we don’t know if as they were originally painted by Giotto, still again quite true to the 360 images listed by Pietro Abano (some scholars showed the link between the images and the 333 frescos which cover the palace walls)

Astrological frescoes of Padua

All the living men are disposed in their life, in their inclinations, and in every kind of activity  from Heaven, i.e. from Planets.  (( Antonio. Barzon, I cieli e la loro influenza negli affreschi del Salone in Padova (Padova: Tip. Seminario, 1924). ))

Frescoes are depicted on three lines, in the centre of the central line there is the zodiacal sign corresponding to the month,  the month and the planet which rules the sign starting from Aries. In the upper part there are constellations rising with the sign while in the bottom line, the painter showed images from Astrolabium Planum.

The gentle author of this blog found a video in English taken from  the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence. I hope you will like it as Gadbury version of Astrolabium Planum.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Written by Margherita Fiorello @ year 2009

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Michael Jackson birth chart, animodar, isaritmia and much more

The gentle author of this blog is not very fond of Michael Jackson music- she has different musical tastes and never in her life took Michael Jackson into consideration- but as every astrologer, she uses people as guinea pigs for her experiments, and she cannot miss this chart.

She likes very much the reading Ben Dykes wrote some years ago (( http://www.bendykes.com/articles.htm )) but she did not study with Robert Zoller…

Let’s start from the birth time. Let us say that mine is just an experiment.

Some times ago I already mentioned in this blog the “isaritmia” and I translated from CieloeTerra site Marco Fumagalli’s article about Lady Di.

Isaritmia is the sophisticated method of rectification based on Ptolemy’s chapter about animodar used in CieloeTerra. This is THEIR method so I believe it’s right giving them any credit for it, mistakes are obviously from  me.

They run a wonderful astrology course where they explain their methods better than me, so if someone is interested  could write them at CieloeTerra site.

Ptolemy writes:

To obviate the difficulty arising from the inaccuracy of these instruments, it seems highly necessary to present some method by which the actually ascending degree of the zodiac may be easily ascertained, in a natural and consistent manner.

And in order to attain this essential point, it is necessary first to set down the ordinary degree which, by the Doctrine of Ascensions,  is found near the ascendant at the presumed hour. After this has been done, the new or full Moon, whichever it may be, that may take place next before the time of parturition, must be observed: and, if a new Moon, it will be necessary to mark exactly the degree of the conjunction of the two luminaries; but, if a full Moon, the degree of luminary only which may be above the earth during the parturition. After this, it must be observed what planets have dominion over the said degree: and their dominion depends always on the five following prerogatives, viz. on triplicity, house, exaltation, terms, and phase or configuration; that is to say, a planet, eligible to dominion, must be connected with the degree in question either by one, or more, or all of these prerogatives. ((Tetrabiblos, III 3))

1) The first part of the process consists in taking the preceding syzygy and choosing its ruler, the planet which has greater rights according the table of dignity.

Michael Jackson was born a few hours after the New Moon, which falls at 5.24 Pisces.

Full Moon, 29 August 1958, Gary, h. 00:53 AM

The  Moon is the light above the horizon, so let us consider which planet has greatest dignity in the 6th degree Pisces.

[table id=1 /]

Venus here is in her hairesis because it’s a night planet in a night chart while Jupiter not, but Moon is separating from Jupiter while Venus has no aspects with the Moon so I would prefer Jupiter.

2) the key point of isaritmia method is we should use – according Ptolemy - the method of ascensions, without considering ahime longitudes.

A planet should be far from the cusp of a house the same distance of the sign which is already culminated or should yet culminate (or the part of the sign which is already risen or should yet rise).

I started from Ben Dykes rectification, for 11:23 PM

Michael Jackson rectification according Ben Dykes

Unfortunately – at least I cannot see it – there is no isaritmia in this chart because half of Gemini has already risen and half of Aquarius is already culminating but Jupiter is on the cusp on the 6th house, it has already crossed all the 5th house.

Isaritmia means the same proportion, so Jupiter should be at the half of its house as the Ascendant or the MC is at the middle of the sign.

So I searched for one, but I’m more concentrated on the method than about a right birth time  and Dykes could be right with his rectification: eventually the only rectification is the one by accidents. And I want to save the Gemini rising.

I found this one:

Isaritmia for Michael Jackson, h:11:02 pm

I should consider which part of Aquarius at MC is already culminating with its right ascensions and which part of Gemini is already risen with its oblique ascensions.

Let’s try with MC.

It takes 29.55′ degrees of right ascension for Aquarius to wholly culminate at latitude of 41N35.

30 Aquarius RA = 332.06′

0 Aquarius RA = 302.11′

————–

29.55′  ==> 29.916

Then I consider the part is already culminated (8 Aquarius at MC).

8 Aquarius RA =  311.00′

0 Aquarius RA = 302.11′

————

8.49′  ==> 8.817

now, which distance is the right proportion? I need just a simple proportion

29.916 : 2 = 8.817 : x

x= 0.589

So Jupiter should have the same distance from the previous or following cusp.

The astrological software Morinus gives Placido’s speculum for all the planets. Let’s take information for Jupiter:

Longitude - Latitude- RA - declination - Semiarc - meridian distance

Let’s calculate temporal hours

temporal hours= semiarc/6

temporal hours= 98.96/6= 16.49

and now….hourly distance

hourly distance= meridian distance/temporal hours

hourly distance= 75.90/16.49=4.602

Jupiter is distant from the Meridian 4.602 hours, i.e it’s in 6th house because with Placido, every house is 2 hours.

But if every house – according Placido- is 2 hours it is distant 0.602 from the 6th house….

This is our isaritmia because it’s almost the same quantity of Aquarius culminating.

The difference 0.602-0.589= 0.013 is 0.013×60=0.78, less than a minute.

TEMPERAMENT

Let’s try the quick method  

In regard to the body, therefore, it is in all cases requisite to observe the oriental horizon, and to ascertain what planets may preside or have dominion over it, and also to pay particular attention to the Moon. For, from both these places, 1 and from their rulers, as well as from the natural formation and contemperament appertaining to every species of the human race, and also from the figure ascribed to those fixed stars which may be co-ascending, the conformation of the body is to be inferred. ((Tetrabiblos, III, 16))

[table id=2 /]

Mercury is obviously the ruler of the temperament, which is mostly hot:

Mercury, when oriental, makes the personal figure of a honey complexion, and of stature proportionate and well-shaped, with small eyes and a moderate growth of hair; and the bodily temperament is chiefly hot.

Mars being oriental gives to Mercury moisture, and the same Venus and Jupiter, moist planets. Moon is hot being in her full phase, and moist because in Pisces and in the first quadrant.

A sanguine temperament is confirmed by the kind of death. Sanguine natives are very strong so they tend to abuse of their strength, and generally death is sudden because the body at some point fails.

Generally  sanguine temperament is mixed with melancholic or phlegmatic one:  and in this case in my opinion- a melancholic temperament with all Jackson maniac/depressive signs. Giovan Battista Della Porta after repeating Ptolemy’s words, writes:

Ptolemy writes that an oriental Mercury is  hot, while a western  one is dry. But some authors more quickly say that it is cold and dry, so for its dryness makes a slim body and without flesh, emaciated, and indented the eyes, thin lips, and a thin voice….And Maternus says: they will suffer the illnesses of the soul, they will not see big things and the small ones they will see big, and awful thoughts, and restlessness of the mind, and they will look like mad…  ((Giovan Battista Della Porta, Della celeste fisionomica libri sei, Napoli, 1614.))

PROFESSION

This is a chapter occult to me, because there are so many limits that it’s almost impossible to find a planet….Generally we should consider just Mercury, Venus and Mars when they have some dignity on the MC or if they are in the tenth or  if they are in heliacal phase to Sun- unfortunately all the planets are in the wrong place here: Mars is oriental but very far from its phase, it’s going to do its station, and Venus and Mercury are both oriental while they should follow their hairesis

In every case these latter planets are angular in the fourth house. Paulus Alexandrinus:

About the stars with a swift motion we can discuss about activities, because  action has a swift motion. These stars are those of Mars, Venus and Mercury and every art and science can be considered because of these three stars. About the places which are effective because of the presence of these stars, they are: all the angles, their following places and the sixth place from the horoscope. (( Paulus Alexandrinus, Introduzione all’astrologia. Lineamenti introduttivi alla previsione astronomica  cura Giuseppe Bezza, (Milano: Mimesis, 2000). ))

In this chart Mercury and Venus are in an angle, Mercury – even if in the wrong side of the Sun is going to its heliacal phase (it’s becoming visible) and has the greatest rights on MC (for triplicity and terms, Venus has the facie), so let’s say that:

Further, should it happen that two arbiters of employment may be found together, and provided they should be Mercury and Venus, they will then produce musicians, melodists, and persons engaged in music, poetry, and songs: they will also produce (especially if changed in their places), mimics, actors, dealers in slaves, makers of musical instruments, choristers and musical performers, dancers, weavers, modellers in wax, and painters. (( Tetrabiblos, IV, 4 . In fact the gentle author of this blog has a wonderful Venus/Mercury mutual reception  ‘:) ))

SUCCESS

As Paulus Alexandrinus states :

If the Sun or the Moon or the greater part of the stars would be at the IC, (natives) will be famous and rich, but they finish their life in an awful way or they will be thrown in discords or  will be object of envy and condemnation.

SEX, LOVE, PEDOPHILIA

Let’s start from sexual tastes, and here – according Ptolemy – we should check Venus and Mars and their heliacal phase.

Venus is visible and oriental to the Sun, in Leo, masculine sign and quadrant: it gives a male sexual taste, while Mars oriental to the Sun, in Taurus, feminine by sign but in masculine quadrant gives again male sexual taste.

Mars is squaring Venus and Mercury from the Ascendant, Saturn from the other angle finishes the work:

Vettius Valens:

It is necessary to consider how Venus is situated, with what planets and by what planet or planets it is witnessed or mastered. For when it is in tropical zoidia or has dealings in bicorporeal zoidia, especially at night, it makes those who are polygamous and promiscuous, and especially if Mercury should happen to be together with it, or much more so if Mars should also happen to bear witness to it. That is, they come lo have intercourse with male children. And if the zoidion should also happen to be more virile, they become more successful with regard to intercourse. ((II, 38))

Firmicus Maternus:

If Mars is in aspect to Mercury and Venus located together, this indicates an early marriage but connected with some scandal. For then the natives also desire to bed with boys as well as women and seek depraved pleasures beyond measure. ((VI.26))

Generally speaking according Girolamo Cardano:

The commixture of Saturn, Venus and Mercury make the man corrupted in every kind of scandal.

And

But if Mars, Venus and Mercury are mixed, the corruption will be immense.

DIRECTIONS

There is an interesting direction, which is a little larger, (we should move the birth time  a little behind, but I did not want lose  the Gemini Ascendant) but it’s impossible to miss, the Moon – which is hyleg here – to Mars.

direction with Morinus software

Let’s check Morinus calculation by hand.

The direction is the arc a planet walks until it reaches another point. This distance is taken in hourly distances, i.e the position in the quadrant, considering that every quadrant has 6 hours and every house has 2 hours (with Placido) .

Mars – according Morinus, without latitude has a semiarc of 107.03′ and a meridian distance of   98.40′

So the temporal hours are 107.05/6=17.84

and the hourly distance is 98.66/17.84=5.529

So Mars is distant 5.529 from MC.

Moon – according Morinus, without latitude, has a semiarc of 85.18° and a meridian distance of  36.43′

Same game:

So the temporal hours are 85.30/6=14.216

and the hourly distance is 36.716/14.216=2.582

Moon in fact is in the 11th house, every house is 2 hours in fact.

How are they distant?

5.529-2.582=2.947

Mars has a speed of 17.84, its diurnal temporal hour

arc= 2.947 x 17.84 = 52.574

more or less,  here we are.

Written by Margherita Fiorello @ year 2009

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Giancarlo Ufficiale – Lessons for CIDA school in Rome.

Giuseppe Bezza- I seminari di Roma

Cieloeterra – GLI ECCESSI DELLE PASSIONI E LE LORO DEVIAZIONI secondo Claudio Tolemeo e altri grandi Maestri dell’Arte

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On Voynich and the herba borissa

Yesterday evening the gentle author of this blog visited the presentation of the book “L’enigma del manoscritto Voynich“, the enigma of Voynich manuscript. a book about the famous manuscript, one of the greatest riddles of the history, in the most famous esoteric bookshop in Rome.

I live very near to the bookshop, so I decided to walk a little,  profiting of  one of the first summer nights, so I walked down Quirinale hill, where I live, and after crossing Via del Corso, which is so called because Pope Paul II from 1467 organized here Carnival races (corsa in Italian).

On the other side of the street there is the Jesuit Collegio Romano, founded by St.Ignatius Loyola, and where many famous scholars  teached and lived, even one of the stars of this story, Athanasius Kircher, who was the last owner of the Voynich manuscript we know. When Voynich found the book in fact, it was in a jesuit villa near Rome, where Jesuits took their collections when Piedmontese soldiers entered in Rome, in 1870.

Athanasius Kircher was very interested in Egyptian cults and especially the ones dedicated to Isis.

Oedipus Aegyptiacus, 1692

For some strange coincidences the area of Collegio Romano, where Kircher lived was previously occupied by the Isis temple built by Marcus Antonius (Cleopatra’s lover) so in 1600 it was still full of archaeological relics.

In Rome Isis was identified with Persephone, with a spike in her hand, and this let us think of something astrologers know well, Spica rising in the first facie of Virgo.

Schifanoia, Virgo facies

Isis temple was soon destroyed because of a scandal reported by Flavius Iosephus: a woman was cheated and raped there, so the Emperor Tiberius, who was not  fond of this kind of things and he had the idea which opportunity makes the thief, completely destroyed the temple.

In this area I crossed Piazza della Minerva, with its obelisk taken from the temple of Isis:

The Egyptian obelisk

Isis obelisk is carried by an elephant designed  by the famous architect  Gian Lorenzo Bernini, from one of the best sellers of Renaissance, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, published in 1499 by Aldo Manuzio.

The book  written in a strange mix of Italian and Latin, with words from Greek and Arab and Hebrew is the story of  an esoteric journey in which Poliphilo pursues his love Polia in a fantastic land.  The same author is unknown, maybe Pico della Mirandola or Lorenzo de Medici or Leon Battista Alberti. And the author of wonderful pictures which depict the dreamy land is unknown too, some say Andrea Mantegna.

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (page 38), 1499

The inscriptions on the elephant explain the first half of the title of this post:

Alessandro VI, the ancient obelisk, monument to the Egyptian Pallas, taken from the ground and erected in the square which was of Minerva ((Goddess of Wisdom)) and now of the Mother of God, dedicated to the Holy Wisdom in the year 1667-

Whoever you are, who are seeing on the obelisk these hieroglyph from the learned Egypt carried by the elephant, the strongest of the animals, understand the message: just a strong intelligence could carry a sound Wisdom.

A true and grounded wisdom should be supported by a vigorous mind.

Left the obelisk, in minutes I arrived at the bookshop, where the lecture was going to start.

The book was introduced a strange couple of men, a japanese and a computer expert:

I really did not understand anything from the Japanese because he talked a strange mix of Italian and something else. The rest of the hour was about  the story of Voynich manuscript, a book nobody could read because it is written in a special language.

The heroes of this story are the ones who are always involved in this kind of tales as Da Vinci Code and Focault’s Pendulum teach: John Dee, Leonardo da Vinci, Rudolph II, Rosacrucian movement, alchemists….

We should not miss Girolamo Cardano, which invented a famous method of crittography called with little fantasy Cardano grid. This seems to be the same method used for the new age Genesis Code, poor Cardano…

I don’t know if the book is a falsification and there is no secret hidden in its pages, but some sections are especially interesting as the botanical section, with its images of  unknown herbs.

Some Italian researches as Vera Segre and Sergio Toresella have studied these kind of herbals, called “alchemical herbals” from the name Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), the first Professor of Natural Sciences in Bologna University and a famous scientist and polymath, gave to the ones in its possession.

They were so called because they did not list the virtues mentioned in famous books like Dioscorides’ Materia medica or Circa Istans, which were used by doctors and specialists. Alchemical herbals were used by charlatans and barbers, diviners. vagabonds….The word alchemical here is not connected with alchemy as a set of sophisticated operations, here the making of gold implied cheating and profiting from the selling of some secretum

Especially famous is the case of the moon herb, lunaria.

Lunaria from Voynich manuscript

Herbs were always linked with astrology and some lists are very famous, but peony and moon herbs have a special place in botanic astrology, while they are never mentioned in more academical textes and their curative virtues are unknown.

Hermes says that peony is the strongest herb, and its power comes directly from God.

If we squeeze it and we put its juice on silver we will have pure gold, and if we take a part of it and we put on lead, we will have gold and with the juice from its roots we oil iron and it will liquify it… ((Capitulum hermetis de herba borissa))

Strangely enough the same qualities of lunar herbs are mentioned in Arab alchemy.

Its most famous virtue is being the money herb, and it is called like that in several European languages, in Italian it’s known as “Pope’s money,” in English “perennial honesty”.

Anyway, here everybody knows Pinocchio’s adventure with the Cat and the Fox, where these strange couple of thieves propose to Pinocchio to come with them to the Land of Barn Owls in a land called the Field of Miracles where the coins can be planted and grown into a money tree….

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Vera Segre Rutz, Il Giardino Magico Degli Alchimisti: Un Erbario Illustrato Trecentesco Della Biblioteca Universitaria Di Pavia E La Sua Tradizione (Milano: Il polifilo, 2000).
2. Vera Segre Rutz, “ Capitulum de arbore borissa – Le piante della Luna ,” in Florilegium : scritti di storia dell’arte in onore di Carlo Bertelli. (Milano: Electa, 1995), 124-129.
3. Sergio Toresella “Gli erbari degli alchimisti,” in Arte farmaceutica e plante medicinali: erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri, ed. Liana Saginati

Written by Margherita Fiorello @ year 2009

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The Sun enters in Berlusconi’s harem

While newspapers are concentrated on Iran revolt, and astrologers from all the world  too,  your gentle author is going to explore a little a lighter event, an Italian scandal to the light of traditional astrology. She cannot miss the opportunity to talk about her Prime Minister, in fact

Silvio Berlusconi was accused by several escorts and models to organize “particular” parties in Sardinia, in Villa Certosa, and in Rome in his residence, Villa Grazioli. Some pictures can give the idea.

Now let’s show the Ingress chart for Summer, this scandal in fact is born in these days.

Summer Ingress, 21 June 2009, h.7.45 AM Rome, Italy

I would take Venus as ruler of this Ingress.

The Sun enters in Cancer during a Venus hour and Venus is very strong in her sign and in her triplicity, in the house of good fortune.

The Ascendant degree, 26 Cancer,  is in Venus triplicity and terms and Venus is aspecting it with a large sextile.

And Venus means women…..

Now let’s see where we can find our Chief of the Government. The tenth house falls in Aries, so it is ruled by Mars.

As Venus, it is against its hairesis, a night planet in a day chart. Why Venus is against her hairesis too? Because she shows us how women are strong and influential now, but maybe this is not the best example of activities women should be interested.

Anyway, our Mars condition  is considerably worse. In his detriment, and in Venus hands!

Venus and Mars are together in the 16th degree of Taurus.

Firmicus Maternus: ” (The Ascendant) in the 16th degree of Taurus will pollute the native with every vice.” ((Mathesis, 8.XX))

Liber Hermetis: “This degree makes the sexually perverted, makers of turpitudes, and lovers of music,  and friendly… ” ((chapter XXV))

The seven birds, Pleiades in Astrolabium Planum rising with the 15th degree of Taurus

In general these qualities of  Taurus are linked with the seven Pleiades which according Ptolemy’s catalogue occupy the first part of the constellation.

Manilius writes – and it seems he was thinking to Berlusconi   Beneath their influence devotees of Bacchus and Venus are born into kindly light, and people whose insouciance runs free at feasts and banquets and who strive to provoke sweet mirth with biting wit. ((Astronomica, V 143-145 ))

It fits? Venus -which rules the hidden fourth house in the chart- and Mars at the highest point of the chart seem to say that secret parties and banquets are public now. And the poor Mars is starting to be worried….

Written by Margherita Fiorello @ year 2009

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marcus Manilius, Il Poema Degli Astri (cura Simonetta Feraboli, Enrico Flores, Riccardo Scarcia), 1° ed. (Verona: Fondazione Lorenzo Valla : A. Mondadori, 2001).

Marcus Manilius, Astronomica (Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1977). 

Hermes, Hermetis Trismegisti De triginta sex decanis (cura Simonetta Feraboli, Sylvain Matton), Corpus Christianorum, 144 (Turnholti: Brepols, 1994).

Julius Firmicus Maternus, Ancient Astrology: Theory and Practice = Matheseos Libri VIII (Park Ridge N.J.: Noyes Press, 1975). 

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About traditional 7 virtues and planets

One of the most famous and interesting subjects of Medieval art and astrological discussion was the thread of cardinal and theological virtues.

The word “virtue” comes from the Latin “vir“, i.e. man. Still in Latin culture the word did not indicate just masculine gender, but a moral code, an unwritten law more important than the written one.

I see somebody found this subject a little confusing, so I want to give some details about it.

Theological virtues are the founding virtues and are listed by St.Paul: (( I,13,13 ))

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

On these virtues, cardinal virtues are based. Their origin is not in religion, because they come from Greek philosophy, Plato to give some names.

Anyway we can find them in the Old Testament too in the hellenistic text called The book of Wisdom: (( VIII,7 ))

And if a man love justice: her labours have great virtues: for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life.

In the Middle Ages the debate about the SEVEN virtues (and vices) was naturally linked  to planets because of the number. This is Giotto, one of the most famous Medieval artists in his masterpiece, the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

Giotto surely was very interested in astrology since he depicted a first version – destroyed in a fire- of frescos of Astrolabium Planum, the famous book written by Pietro Abano.

Prudence, Strength, Temperance, Justice, Faith, Hope, Love.

Despair, Envy, Idolatry, Injustice, Wrath, Fickleness, Foolishness.

We should note that panels are one in front of the other, so to the Prudence corresponds Foolishness, to  Strength the Fickleness, to Temperance Wrath, to Justice Injustice, to Faith Idolatry, to Hope Envy, and last but not least, on the contrary this is the most importan for  St. Paul – to Love Despair.

As usually – as in our modern times – nobody could agree with nobody, so we have different lists. This is the one Dante gives for virtues he uses in his Paradiso:

Moon: souls disposed to virtue; Mercury: souls disposed to good for fame; Venus, true love and friendship; Sun, theologians; Mars, warriors because of faith; Jupiter, kings; Saturn, contemplative souls.

Alberto Marchesi, a Renaissance monk, gives his version of zodiacal signs and vices: ((Coeliloquium morale p. fratris Alberti de Marchesiis de Cottignola Ordinis minorum de obseruantia artium ac sacrae theologiae lectoris peritiss. Approbatum Clementis VII. Decreto ne quis hunc librum infra septennium imprimat aut alibi impressum uendat: sub poenis in eo contentis. Pubblicazione: (Impressum Bononie : in aedibus Ioannis Baptiste de Phaellis, die 20 Maij 1529))

In the Sun, which always shines proudly you should understand arrogance…secondly, in Mercury, which is always near to the Sun avarice…thirdly in the Moon, you should understand sloth because  it puts something dark in the soul. Mars, which fires blood near the heart region, you should understand wrath; Jupiter, benefic by nature, let understand greed. Then Venus, lust and the sin of the flesh. Last, Saturn, dark and ashen star, you should understand envy, which is nourished with the good of others, and makes dark and ashen the soul.

Maybe the most beautiful images of seven virtues comes from Andrea Mantegna, a famous painter and artist, who illustrated one of the first tarot decks, which is called after him, Mantegna tarot, which is not a tarot deck as we know, but a set of composite illustrations.

The cards numbered I-X depict various levels of the Human Condition, from its base, no. I Misero (the Beggar or Pauper) to its apex, no. X, Papa (the Pope). Those numbered XI-XIX represent the nine muses, and card XX, Apollo. Cards XXI-XXX depict the realm of knowledge, and feature the seven Liberal Arts, Astronomy, Philosophy and Theology. The cardinal and theological Virtues are illustrated on cards XXXIV-XV, and are preceded by three cards representing the Cosmos, Time, and the Sun, respectively. Lastly, cards XVI through to L constitute an ascent through the celestial spheres, with representations of the seven planets, of the ‘eighth sphere’ of the fixed stars, up to the Primum Mobile (the Prime Mover) and Prima Causa (the First Cause), which is to say, towards God.  (( from http://www.spamula.net/blog/2004/08/the_mantegna_tarot.html ))

This is the complete set of the B group, the one about virtues: (click on the images for a slideshow):

These are the original versions from a deck of 1475.

This is a modern version -  original in the picture and coloured – from my tarot collection (I have 20-30 different decks) by Scarabeo.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Giuseppe Bezza, Arcana Mundi: Antologia Del Pensiero Astrologico Antico (Milano: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, 1995).

Algol, women losing their heads

In the previous post we saw as Salome’s story, the story of a woman who asked the head of a prophet in a gold plate in order to satisfy her lust of power can be easily connected with Algol and its representation in Art, especially in Decadent   ((from the famous verse of Paul Verlain (1883) Je suis l’Empire à la fin de la décadence, qui regarde passer les grands Barbares blancs, en composant des acrostiches indolents, d’un style d’or où la langueur du soleil danse. ))  and Symbolism movement, which liked so much witches, sinners and  femmes fatales.

Now it’s time to see some example charts. Unfortunately we cannot take those charts where Algol has the same longitude of the Moon or some other planet because  a fixed star is not always where its longitude is.

Stars are not like planets – in Greek this word means wanderer, planets wander on the ecliptic in fact-   stars are ,on the other  hand FIXED.

For this reason- because they always keep the same distance and proportion between each other, they generate unexpected event, as the pseudo-Ptolemy states:

The fixed stars grant extremely good fortune, unconnected with the understanding; but it is most commonly marked by calamities, unless the planets also agree in the happiness.

This is explained in a very plain way in  Jean  Stade De Stellis Fixis Commentarius (( Johannes Stadius, Tabulae Bergenses aquabilis et apparentis motus orbium coelestium (Colonia Agrippina, 1560). )), translation from latin here in this blog.

Fixed stars  don’t have any other motion than the motion of the sky, so they should be measured according the diurnal motion.

Ptolemy describes their motion  in the Almagest: (( Almagest VIII.4. Claudius Ptolemaeus, Almageste ou Astronomie de Ptolemée. Klaudiu Ptolemaiu Mathēmatikē Syntaxis = Composition mathématique de Claude Ptolémée, ou Astronomie ancienne Trad. … par M. l’Abbé Halma, et (A Paris: Chez Merlin, 1816).  My translation from French.  ))

Algol, j’ai baisé ta bouche

As I wrote in my latest post, I was planning  to write about the fixed star  Algol.

As everybody, I read Thomas post about Algol and Pleiades and the following post from Dorothy, and in the same time I was involved for some sincronicity in a clash of wills about this star, in a chart I will show after some preliminary considerations.

A new subscription to AM

This morning I tried to renew my subscription to Angelicus Merlin list, from which I was deleted almost an year ago.

Which was my fault and mistake? That I told in public that Anton Grigoryev stole my money and betrayed a 4 years friendship.

Official reason: “I was lying”. Lying about what it’s unclear because I was sure that Dorothy Kovach  was not in Russia with me to see what happened during my staying there, she did not read the letters Anton sent me, she was not here when I was working at the article  about Agostino Chigi Anton used for “his” lecture in Moscow, June 2007.

In every case I see this year organizers did not invite him, but maybe  in a few days Anton will write a report in his blog about his fame in Russia. I bet he will do in a few days, I know him quite well.

Maybe it’s because he does not say how he copies here and there from others, and that he is going to publish Cardano aphorisms, copied by the Italian translation made by Giuseppe Bezza and which we bought here in Rome during one of his staying here, before he would steal the silverware. How one who has a secondary technical school can translate Renaissance Latin? Why he is translating just that book and not Cardano’s comment to Tetrabiblos- which is the most important of Cardano works? Just because he has no translation from which he could copy.

Why I should be out from AM and  true friends just because I was so stupid to believe to someone who told me “he had just a word” and then disppeared without an explication and without giving  me back MY money and credit card (for having this back I should thank just Dorothy)? If there is one who should be far from honest people is Anton, not surely me.

I will keep updated if my subscription in AM will be approved, which I have many doubts.  In Italy – I don’t know in the rest in the world - a friend of thieves is a thief him/herself , still at the moment my mail is banned from AM.

And in every case in my country  a “man” who hides behind the back of women and let women pay his debt – has just a name, as the one who steals them money.

Please, come back very soon, in a couple of days – after wonderful Thomas article-  I will post about Algol, me too.

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Considering Todd and other people wrote me, I want explain better my words.

I don’t think Dorothy is a thief or she is dishonest, or she is involved in Anton’s actions.

I’m just surprised she deleted me from AM while Anton is still an owner there, because I did nothing else than believing in Anton and trusting in his words. I know it’s difficult to believe when someone we know behave like that, because our world is very different and we are not used to these kind of actions.
Still now I can’t believe my eyes, and I always hope to be wrong.

Yet, when a man takes money from a woman and then disappears without a word, just withdrawing even  the last 20-30 euro from the Paypal account she opened for him, without giving back the money she lent him,  when till the day before he wrote her all his friendship, I cannot understand nothing else than what I wrote about Anton.

It’s difficult to believe, but there is no other explanation, this is the evidence of the facts. So now Dorothy knows this, and knows how Anton is going to publish Cardano’s aphorisms as his translation from Latin, while it’s just a translation from Giuseppe Bezza’s Italian version- a book published in 1998- and she knows how Anton puts between his lectures under his name an article he wrote with me, and already published in Italy with both names and much more.

So because I know she is honest and hates thieves and dishonesty, I invite her to think a little about this sad story and me and Anton and AM.

Argoli, the fox and the internet

Traditional astro-lists in the net are a precious source of  knowledge (and friendship), and I’d like to mention two different threads worthy to inquire about and mix a little how I like to do very often.

The first one appeared in The Real Astrology and it was about an Italian translation of two important works of Andrea Argoli, a well known mathematician, astronomer and astrologer- one about primary directions and the other about decumbiture and critical days.
Considering how difficult is Renaissance Latin, how inexpensive are both books, and  how some  recommendations are just moved by deception and “the fox and the grape”  spirit , I ran to book the one about decumbiture.
In the meantime I gave a look to some pages of the Italian translation I could find in Google Books and to the Latin version which is listed in DIAL, Guinard’s website. The last part of the book is a collection of genitures, so I came across  in  Urbano VIII, a Pope who had several problems because of stars, famous -among the rest  – for Galileo trial, which was mentioned in some detail in another astro- list, Solar Returns the one dedicated to Morin de Villefranche .

About Giuseppe Bezza, starred images, scorpions and much more

Yesterday morning at 6.30 Giancarlo Ufficiale Fabrizio Corrias and me left Rome for Milan:  there we met Patrizia Nava and Lucia Bellizia.
Our astrological destination, Giuseppe Bezza’s lecture about Centiloquium and much more.