TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Figures ................................................................................................... iv

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1
Structure of the book ............................................................................................ 2
Ptolemys Mundane Astrology .............................................................................. 4
Editorial conventions in this book ........................................................................ 5
A note on traditional astronomy: apogees .............................................................. 6
PART I: WEATHER ........................................................................... 11
Section I.1: Introduction ................................................................................... 11
Rainy signs & planets ....................................................................................... 13
Method 1: Centers of the Moon .......................................................................... 15
Method 2: Mansions of the Moon ...................................................................... 16
Method 3: Opening of the doors.......................................................................... 19
Method 4: Moon-Mercury-Venus ...................................................................... 21
Method 5: Sun at 20 Scorpio ........................................................................... 22
Method 6: Planetary hours at lunar ingresses...................................................... 24
Method 7: Lots of rain and wind ....................................................................... 29
Section I.2: Ptolemy on Weather ..................................................................... 32
Section I.3: Al-Kind, Letter on Air & Rains (DMT) ...................................... 48
Section I.4: Al-Kind, The Forty Chapters ........................................................122
Section I.5: Umar al-Tabar, Book of Questions..............................................129
Section I.6: Mshallh / Jirjis: Chapter on the Rains in the Year .................141
Section I.7: Mshallh, Letter on Rains & Winds ........................................149
Section I.8: The Latin al-Rijl .........................................................................158
Section I.9: Ibn Labban on Weather & Disasters ......................................163
Section I.10: Jafar, The Book of Heavy Rains ...................................................167
Section I.11: The Sages of India .........................................................................187
Section I.12: Hermann of Carinthia, The Book of Heavy Rains ....................193
Section I.13: The Opening of the Doors ..............................................................205
Section I.14: Saturn in Aries .............................................................................211
Section I.15: John of Spain, from the Epitome of All Astrology ...................217
Section I.16: John of Spain, Treatise on rains & the changing of the atmosphere
(part) ..............................................................................................................223
Section I.17: Robert Grosseteste, On the Impressions of the Air ..................229
Section I.18: Miscellaneous Excerpts, Munich Clm. 11067 .........................239

ii

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

PART II: PRICES & COMMODITIES ............................................ 241

Section II.1: Introduction ................................................................................241
Section II.2: Dorotheus on the Moon & Prices .........................................248
Section II.3: Mshallh, The Book of Prices ..................................................251
Section II.4: Umar al-Tabar, Book of Questions ............................................268
Section II.5: Al-Kind, The Forty Chapters ......................................................283
Section II.6: Ab Mashar, Flowers..................................................................285
Section II.7: Ibn Ezra on Prices .....................................................................287
Section II.8: The Arabic Al-Rijl on Prices ..................................................290
Section II.9: Ibn Labban on Prices ................................................................294
Section II.10: Jirjis & Aristotle...................................................................297
Section II.11: Al-Qabs (attr.) .........................................................................301
Section II.12: Jafar on Prices & Mansions ...................................................303
Section II.13: Al-Qabs on Mundane Lots & Prices .................................306
PART III: ECLIPSES & COMETS ...................................................309
Section III.1: Introduction ..............................................................................309
Section III.2: Ptolemy on Eclipses & Comets ............................................326
Section III.3: Dorotheus on Eclipses ............................................................340
Section III.4: Mshallh on Eclipses ..........................................................342
Section III.5: Sahl on Eclipses ........................................................................346
Section III.6: Ibn Ezra on Eclipses ...............................................................363
Section III.7: Sahl on Comets .........................................................................365
Section III.8: The Arabic al-Rijl on Comets ...............................................367
Section III.9: Ab Mashar on Comets .........................................................371
Section III.10: Shadhn: Excerpts from the Secrets of Ab Mashar, on
Comets ..........................................................................................................373
Section III.11: Bonatti on Comets .................................................................374
Section III.12: Robert Grosseteste, On Comets .............................................379
PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY & CLIMES ........................................ 381
Section IV.1: Introduction ..............................................................................381
Section IV.2: Ptolemys Triplicities ................................................................392
Section IV.3: Dorotheus on Chorography & Climes.................................407
Section IV.4: The Arabic al-Rijl on Chorography & Climes ..................408
Section IV.5: Ab Mashar on Chorography ...............................................422
Section IV.6: Al-Brn on Chorography ......................................................426
Section IV.7: Ibn Ezra on Chorography.......................................................430
Section IV.8: Ibn Labban on Chorography..................................................433

CONTENTS

iii

Section IV.9: Mshallh on Climes & Divisions......................................435

Section IV.10: Bonatti on Climes & Divisions ...........................................439
Section IV.11: Foundation Charts .................................................................450
Section IV.12: Lillys Chorography ................................................................455
Section IV.13: Guide to Place Names ...........................................................456
GLOSSARY ........................................................................................ 481
Appendix A: The Essential Medieval Astrology Series.....................................502
BIBLIOGRAPHY: ............................................................................. 503

INTRODUCTION
I am pleased to present Astrology of the World I: The Ptolemaic Inheritance
(AW1), the first in a three-volume series on traditional mundane astrology. It
will be followed AW2, on ingress charts, conjunctional theory, and astrological theories of history, and AW3, a translation of Ab Mashars Book of
Religions and Dynasties from the Latin edition by Burnett and Yamamotoalso
known as On the Great Conjunctions. In this Introduction I will give a general
overview of the book and Ptolemys methods. Detailed introductions will
precede each of the books four Parts, with shorter introductions in each of
the Sections which contain the translated texts. With these three volumes, my
Essential Medieval Astrology series (see Appendix A) will come to a close, followed by a Greek and Latin Hellenistic series, an Arabic series, and later
Medieval, Renaissance, and early Modern series.
The present works on mundane astrology are primarily horoscopic: that is,
based on charts cast for a specific time and with an Ascendant. Thus, we will
deal hardly at all with older omen-based astrology, apart from some lore on
comets and, in AW2, time-lord theories of history that are not at all (or hardly) based on specific charts. I have given this volume the subtitle The Ptolemaic
Inheritance, because most of our textsmost of which were written in Arabic
even if later translated and redacted into Latin1draw directly or indirectly
on Book II of Ptolemys Tetrabiblos, which itself is on mundane techniques.
Some of the authors in the series speak about relating individuals nativities
to mundane charts, but for the most part they deal only with astrological
phenomena which are present for the whole world: especially New/Full
Moons and eclipses. Indeed, one challenge for mundane astrology is to make
its judgments specific to a particular region or topic, and this is especially true
for weather prediction. Let us first look briefly at the four Parts of the book,
and then turn to Ptolemy and other topics.

I have translated many of the texts from Latin, but others I have translated directly from
Arabic (or from the Latin, with corrections based on separate Arabic manuscripts). I am
grateful to the Urania Trust for a generous grant which allowed me to study Arabic more
deeply at the University of Minnesota in 2012.

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

Structure of the book

Part I: Weather. In this Part, we will address traditional methods of weather

prediction. Of our authors, al-Kind is the most Ptolemaic: that is, he uses
Ptolemys naturalistic approach to astrology, in which the planets at certain
New and Full Moons causally predict weather, with their ongoing transits
being monitored to judge weather throughout the seasons. In fact, where
Ptolemy is only very general or skimpy on details, al-Kind is at pains to describe his understanding of this approach in great detail. But al-Kind and the
other authors describe many other methods as well: certain Lots of rains and
winds, the lunar mansions, various versions of the opening of the doors,
the centers or posts or foundations of the Moon (which Ptolemy
mentions only briefly), and so on. Some authors draw on Persian and Indian
accounts. There is also disagreement on whether malefics cause rain or prevent it. All of this provides a wealth of resources for future research. And
throughout these texts, we must remember that a chief job of the astrologer
is to figure out how to localize the effects: if an application of the Moon to
Saturn means rain, it cannot mean rain everywhere in the world at the same
time, so how can we tell where the rain will fall? I will summarize a variety of
answers in in Section I.1.
Part II: Prices & Commodities. Although Ptolemy does not deal directly with
prices and commodities, later astrologers took many of his remarks and used
their own ingenuity to decide how to use New and Full Moon (or even ingress) charts to predict pricesboth of the market as a whole, and of
individual commodities. Notable in this respect is al-Qabs, who provides a
list of Lots for individual commodities. This topic is related to weather, since
periods of little rain lead to a scarcity in crops, which directly affects prices.
Some authors describe how to distinguish supply and demand in a chart.
Part III: Eclipses & Comets. Ptolemy himself had made eclipses (and to a tiny degree, comets) a central aspect of his mundane approach. Our authors
follow Ptolemy to a great extent, but they emphasize the meaning of the
eclipse chart in its own right as a statement about political events. For example, Ptolemy hardly spoke of the importance of the Ascendant and its lord at
an eclipse, but our Arabic-speaking astrologers give it a prime place. From
the eclipse chart, they reach in two directions: to effects on weather, crops,
and animals (as did Ptolemy), and to political events they otherwise analyze
from ingress charts. This middle position of eclipses was already inherent
in Ptolemys approach. Indeed, one of the frustrating things about Ptolemys

INTRODUCTION

mundane astrology to my mind is that it does not proceed in an orderly

manner like the other parts of the Tetrabiblos do. That is, while Ptolemy uses
both lunation charts and eclipses, Tet. II can hardly be read sequentially: the
text seems to constantly make references backwards and forwards, and at the
end one is not always quite sure how to bring the techniques together. Later
astrologers pretty much solved this problem by embedding lunations and
eclipses within the broader framework of conjunctional and ingress theory.
Part IV: Chorography & Climes. One of the more unusual and less-known
aspects of traditional mundane techniques is the application of chorography
and climes. Chorography is the method of associating cities, countries, and
territories, with the signs and planets. Climes are either discrete lines of latitude or bands of latitude on the earth, each of which comes under the
management of either the signs or planets (or both). Of course in the ancient
and medieval periods, these regions were more restricted: not much was
known about southern latitudes (although they do appear here), nor about
longitudes east of modern Pakistan and western Indiato say nothing of the
Americas. Ptolemy also developed a way of applying the triplicities mundanely (including special mundane triplicity lords which are mostly unknown
now), as well as describing how individual cities may be associated with signs
and planets based on their founding date or the nativities of their political
rulers. For Ptolemy this was particularly useful in judging eclipses, since the
sign in which an eclipse took place, determined both the regions and the
types of beings (animals or humans) effected by it: for example, that an
eclipse taking place in Libra would affect regions and beings ruled by Libra.
In our texts, we will see some Ptolemaic-type attributions (such as in ibn
Labban) as well as associations which have no explanatory context, simply
asserting that such-and-such a region is ruled by (say) Mercury and Capricorn. A Greek text will purport to give the founding charts for certain cities,
although more work will have to be done in order to understand what the
charts are really based on. We will have to investigate further to understand
how these types of rules may be applied to regions unknown to Ptolemy and
the medieval Arabic-speaking astrologers.
Finally, in this volume I have decided not to provide an Index to methods
or authors, since the extensive Sectioning and cross-referencing found
throughout the book made it seem redundant.

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

Ptolemys Mundane Astrology

To understand traditional, horoscopic mundane astrology, we really must

begin with Ptolemy. His Tetrabiblos Book II provides foundational material
for later works on weather prediction, eclipses, lunation charts that precede
solar ingresses, chorography, and more. But here and throughout AW1, for
the most part I will provide only summaries of Ptolemys astrology, rather
than direct translations. The summaries are based on the Robbins translation,
in cooperation with Hbners critical edition where necessary, as well as
Schmidts translation of parallel material in Hephaistio (who frequently copied Ptolemys material, albeit with some changes). I hope this will help ease
the reader into Ptolemys approach, which he enjoys expressing in a way that
is both very compressed and wordy. Throughout, I will provide chapter references and sentence numbers (in boldface) for the Robbins/Hbner
editions, for those who wish to check the sources.
Let us begin with Ptolemys opening statements about mundane astrology,
before moving on to his theory of weather prediction. In his introductory
chapter (Tet. II.1), Ptolemy recognizes two main branches of astrology (2):
mundane (the universal part) and natal (the individual part), of which the
mundane obviously has broader effects which sometimes override the normal expected outcomes of individuals nativities (3). Here we are obviously
interested in the universal, mundane part.
But within mundane astrology, there are also several divisions (4): one
part considers broad changes and effects pertaining to regions, another to
cities, another to various events like wars and natural disasters (pestilence,
earthquakes, famine), and another to local weather trends. Ptolemy prefers to
stick to regions, as he thinks it is very difficult to get down to localized particulars in mundane astrology (1, 5). (Of course this is one of the chief
problems in traditional weather prediction, which I address a bit in Section
I.1.)
In order to make these predictions, we need two types of information or
tools. The first is some way of associating heavenly phenomena with the
world (5), and for Ptolemy the chief ways involve associating geographic regions with the zodiacal triplicities, and the individual planets with the climes
and ethnic groups in them.2 The second is to identify which heavenly pheSee Section IV.2. Ptolemys justification for this is based on his association of planets
and signs with winds and physical processes.

INTRODUCTION

nomena actually matter in mundane astrology (5-6): for Ptolemy, these include the visible eclipses of the Sun and Moon, lunar phases (especially those
immediately preceding solar ingresses), and planetary phases and stations,
particularly those of the superior planets. Later on, he will also include comets and other omens (II.9, II.13).3
So while Ptolemy does want to track ongoing transits and phases of various kinds, his mundane techniques rest on two types of charts: New/Full
Moons (and the stages of the lunar month called the centers of the Moon,
see Section I.1), and visible eclipses of the Sun and Moon. In each case he
notes the signs involved, the rulers of those signs (see especially Section
III.2), and the types of beings and areas of the earth affected (Sections I.2,
III.2). In Sections I.2, III.2, and IV.2, I will go through Ptolemys interpretive
steps. But the reader should keep in mind that later astrologers went beyond
Ptolemy in their interpretations: as an example, Ptolemy pays little attention
to the Ascendant and its lord, but these take center stage in later authors.
Editorial conventions in this book
In putting together this set of translations, I have divided the book up in
certain ways, and have also added details to the texts themselves. At the
purely editorial level, I have divided it into four Parts, each of which is devoted to a different area of mundane astrology: weather, prices, eclipses and
comets, and chorography. But within each Part is a variety of Sections: the first
Section contains my own introduction, the second Ptolemys approach (except for Part II, since Ptolemy has no doctrine of prices), with the rest of the
Sections being devoted to other authors.
In addition, since 2012 I have decided to start adding sentence numbers
to my translations. This is especially useful for translators comparing texts in
different languages, but I think it will also be helpful for readers who are
looking for precise references. In the text itself I indicate the sentence with a
boldface number, such as: 5 And if Mars were in the seventh. When citing
a certain sentence in a footnote or in one of my introductions, I follow the
usual reference with the boldface number. For instance, if something is
found in the fifth sentence of Chapter II.3 of the Tetrabiblos, I will write: Tet.
II.3, 5. In a few cases it was important to indicate which language a sentence
came from, such as when a text in multiple languages has a paragraph that
3

See Section III.2.

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ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

Umar al-Tabar: Book of Questions Ch. 81:

On the knowledge of the weather, the times & seasons,
and how they effect change in heat & cold
(from al-Rijl: Book of the Skilled VIII.26)
2 This will be known from [1] the place of the meeting or opposition2 of
the Sun and Moon, and from [2] the Ascendant of the meeting or prevention, which was before the entrance of the Sun into Aries, and from [3] the
place of the luminaries in the figure (and likewise from the places of the
planets).3
3 Whence, if you found Saturn in one of the stakes from the Ascendant,
or in any of the stakes from the lord of the Ascendant, [Saturn] being firm in
that same place, in any of his own dignities (and especially in the stake of the
Midheaven), it signifies diversity in the air, harm, and darkness, and in a time
of heat it diminishes4 the heat, and in a time of cold it makes great cold. 4
And if he were remote from the stakes, the seasons will be stable and even,
just like they should be. 5 However, if Saturn were in the stakes from the
lord of the Ascendant,5 his signification will be less and weaker than when he
will be in the stakes from the Ascendant.
6 And if Mars were in that very status which we stated with respect to
Saturn, and especially in the stake of the Midheaven, heat will be increased in
a time of heat, and cold will be diminished in a time of cold;6 and spring and
autumn will incline towards heat.

Burnetts Umar and the Tehran al-Kind only have the meeting or conjunction, but
Hugo agrees with the Latin al-Rijl.
3 I have put this last part in parentheses, because they are not explicitly stated in Umars
Arabic but are obviously relevant in what follows.
4 I am reading with al-Rijl here, who agrees with the Tehran al-Kind On Rains (kasara, it
breaks). Burnett reads kathrah, abundance. But this does not make astrological sense,
and throws off the parallels with Mars below. Because Saturn naturally signifies cold, he
should diminish heat and increase cold.
5 Burnetts Umar makes this the angles of the Ascendant itself, not its lord; but the Tehran al-Kind and Hugo affirm it is the lord of the Ascendant, which makes more
astrological sense: for Umar has already said the angles of the Ascendant will be powerful
in their signification.
6 Reading with the Tehran al-Kind and Hugo; Burnetts Umar has the cold increasing,
not decreasing.
2

PART I: WEATHER SECTION I.5: UMARS BOOK OF QUESTIONS 131

7 And if Jupiter or Venus or the Moon7 were in the manner which we
said, they make the air fit, and temper [it], and make it be of a good complexion, and [make] what is sown and planted, sprout and grow.
8 And look likewise at Mercury: because if you found him in the Midheaven from the Ascendant of the meeting,8 and he were in any of the airy
signs, and any of the infortunes were in any of the stakes of Mercury himself,9 it signifies diversity in the air, and many damaging winds. 9 And you
will judge in this way if you found any of the infortunes10 in the angles from
Mercury, and Mercury [were] in an angle from the fortune: because this is
worth as much as if the infortunes11 are in the sign of the meeting.12
[The significator with Mars or Saturn]
10 Whence, whatever planet you found in the stakes from the Ascendant
of the meeting (or in [its] succeedents), make that one a significator.
11 Afterwards, inspect to see what kind of commixtures it has with Saturn
and Mars: and if you found it to be mixed with Mars from the square or
from the opposition or assembly, and Mars were in one of the fiery signs,
heat will increase in a time of heat, and cold will be decreased in a time of
cold. 12 And if the aspect were from the trine or sextile, and Mars [were] in
the fiery signs, it signifies what we said, but not so much.
13 But if the significator-planet had a commixture with Saturn13 from the
square or from the opposition or assembly, and Saturn were in the cold and
dry signs, or in the cold and moist signs, cold increases in a season of cold,
and heat is diminished in a season of heat. 14 And if the aspect were from
the trine or sextile, and Saturn [were] in the signs which we said before, it
signifies what we said before, but not so much. 15 And if Saturn were in the
hot and moist signs (which are Gemini and its triplicity), and he had a comThe Ar. has all of them doing this, but Umar might mean any one of them being in
such a condition.
8 That is, the conjunction or New Moon (but we should probably follow al-Rijl in adding
the New Moon).
9 Burnetts Umar and Hugo put the infortune in the same angular place as Mercury, not
merely in any of the angles of Mercury.
10 Reading infortunarum with Burnett and Hugo, for the Latin al-Rijls fortunatarum.
11 Again, reading infortunae with Burnett and Hugo, for fortunae.
12 I do not understand this last sentence: how could an infortune harming Mercury by
square, but Mercury being related to other fortunes, be in any way related to an infortune
being in sign of the conjunction itself?
13 The Ar. specifically mentions a connection, indicating a degree-based aspect.
7

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ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

mixture with the significator from the opposition or square or assembly, it

signifies that the air will be tempered and of a good complexion. 16 And if
this commixture were from the trine or sextile, with [Saturn] appearing in the
signs we said before, the signification will be greater, and of greater [proper]
mixture,14 and a better complexion. 17 And likewise, if Mars had a commixture with the significator, and he were in the cold, dry signs, or the cold and
moist signs, and the commixture were from the square or opposition or conjunction, it tempers the air and makes it be of a good complexion and
manner. 18 And if the aspect were from the trine or sextile, with [Mars] appearing in the aforesaid signs, the tempering will be greater and every thing
which sprouts and is generated will increase.
[The Lot of air and winds]
19 And help yourself in this with the Lot of air and winds, and make it be
a partner with the significator.15 20 And if you found Saturn or Mars with the
Lot or its lord,16 judge from them just as we said before about their appearance in the stakes and in the aspects of the significator. 21 For you will take
this Lot from the degree of Mercury (if he were not in his own house) up to
the degree of the lord of the house in which he is, and add on top of this the
degrees of the Ascendant, and project from the Ascendant:17 and where the
number is ended, there is the Lot. 22 And if Mercury were in his own house,
take his own degrees, adding the degrees of the Ascendant to them, and projecting from the Ascendant: and where [the counting] applied to, there is the
Lot. 23 And you will do the same at the entrances of the Sun in the quarters
(which are Aries, Libra, Cancer, and Capricorn). 24 You will do likewise at
the entrance of the Sun into each of the twelve signs.

Temperiei.
This sentence differs greatly among the authors. The Tehran al-Kind says to consult
the Lot with these indications; Hugo says that this Lots testimonies resemble the
significators mentioned above; Burnetts Umar says to consult the Lot and the partners
of these indicators. To my mind, al-Rijls reading here is the clearest and most natural.
16 Reading with Burnetts Umar and the Tehran al-Kind for al-Rijls their lords.
17 Burnetts Umar reads, subtract.
14

15

PART I: WEATHER SECTION I.5: UMARS BOOK OF QUESTIONS 133

[Interpolation: Ab Mashars Lot of days]18
7:L6 And Ab Mashar spoke of another Lot [although it does not belong
in this book],19 which is called the Lot of days: and it is taken on any day
from the degree of the Sun up to the degree of Saturn, and is projected from
the degree of the Moon when the Sun arises on any day. 7 Whence, if Mercury aspected this Lot or he were with it in one place, say that on that day there
will be wind; 8 and the judgment will be nailed down more if the Moon were
with him, and if Venus had any commixture there, it will be more.
7:L9 There is another way of judging by the days: determine the Ascendant at the hour in which the Moon enters the first minute of a sign, and look
to see which [planet] aspects the Ascendant: you should take that as the significator, and judge by that one20 as long as the Moon was in that sign, and
you will find what you wanted, by God.

Umar al-Tabar: Book of Questions Ch. 82:

On the knowledge of rain, thunder, lightning, & winds
(from al-Rijl: Book of the Skilled VIII.27 [part])
2 You21 will know this from the entrance of the Sun into 20 and one minute22 of Scorpio. 3 Whence, determine the Ascendant, the stakes, and the
planets at that hour, and afterwards look at Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury. 4
And if you found all three to be western, [slow], or retrograde, judge that in
that year there will be many rains and moistures. 5 And if you found them to
be eastern or direct or of a great course,23 it signifies that in that year there
will be few rains and moistures.

What follows is a later interpolation, which corresponds to DMT Ch. 7:L 6-9 (lines
labeled as such here). Umar was dead by the time Ab Mashars astrological career was
getting underway, so Umar could not have written this himself.
19 Adding based on the Arabic. According to Bos and Burnett, this Lot is the second of
those listed in Ab Mashars Kitab al-Sirr (Book of the Secret). See my list of Lots of
rain and wind in Section I.1.
20 That is, according to the typical weather patterns it suggests.
21 Burnett continues the line numbering from the previous chapter, even though the Arabic clearly labels this as a new one.
22 Or rather, once he enters 20 exactly (Ar., to the minute), because then he will be in
the first minute of that degree.
23 That is, moving quickly.
18

SECTION II.6: AB MASHAR, FLOWERS

Comment by Dykes. In this Section I simply reproduce without comment a
short passage by Ab Mashar on prices, taken from the Latin Flowers of Ab
Mashar.1 For the full version with footnotes and comments, see AW2.

Chapter III.1: On high and low prices

2 However, you will know these things from each of the superior planets,
since every burden is of the work of Saturn, and all ease is of the work of
Jupiter. 3 Therefore, however often you saw Saturn (in the revolution of the
quarters of years) in a sign in which there was a conjunction which signified a
sect, and Jupiter (or Venus with the Head), did not aspect him, without a
doubt this will be of the signals of severity. 4 Therefore, commingle your
account of him [using these factors], and do not have fear. 5 And if it were
so that the Tail were with [Saturn] in one [and the same] sign, judge the burden of the yield and the terror of men, unless Jupiter aspects this place at the
hour in which the Tail is being separated from him. 6 Moreover, the years
that signify famine, are themselves those over which Saturn is in charge, in
the conjunction or opposition in which the revolution was, and more severely so if he were in the conjunction or opposition of Mercurythis is [in the
revolutions] of years. 7 For the months, if you saw him in the ninth place or
the third at the conjunction or opposition, this will be a signal of ease.
8 Therefore, know the Ascendant of the prevention or the conjunction. 9
After this, look at its lord: which if [the lord] were increased in light or
course, then the yield will be increased in price in that same month; and likewise, if it were increased in the Midheaven, the price of the yield will be
increased in the same way. 10 And if it were decreased in course, the price of
the yield will be decreased. 11 And if it were going to its own descension,
likewise the price of the yield will go down. 12 But if it were in the subterranean angle, or in the seventh [angle], the price will be stable in its own
condition.

This was a Latin translation of a distinct Arabic work on mundane techniques by Ab

Mashar (Sezgin pp. 142-43 #3), whose title in some manuscripts can be abbreviated as
The Report.

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ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

13 However, in other matters besides wheat and barley, you should look
at the manager of the year, to see if it were made fortunate; look even to see
in what kind of sign it is, and what the essence of that same sign is. 14 Which
if it were of the essence of fire, this will be in silver and gold, and in everything which is worked through fire. 15 Which if it were in the earthy ones,
this will be in earthy things. 16 If however it were in a sign of air, then this
will be in animate things: look at the place of that same sign from the Ascendant, and speak about that. 17 Look to see if it were in watery signs: this
will be in animals of the water, and in everything which comes from out of it.
18 However, all of these [are] places in which there will be every burden of
the yield. 19 If however [the lord of the year] were in Aries or its triplicity, it
will be in the direction of the east; if in Taurus or its triplicity, in the direction
of the south; if however in Gemini or its triplicity, it will be in the west; but if
in Cancer or its triplicity, it will be in the north.
20 Consider the market value of the yield when the Sun has entered the
first minute of Aries or the signs in which the exaltations of the planets are
(which are the movable ones). 21 Now, the dismounting of the Sun onto the
first minute of Aries is stronger and more lofty than all of his [other] dismountings in the beginnings of the movable signs, and more lofty than his
dismountings at the beginnings of each sign. 22 Know this secret in market
value, and do not pass over it, and do not look at [anything] else. 23 And if
you wanted to have the knowledge of some thing by name, look at the planetary significator of that thing, and of the market value of that thing, [and] in
what kind of sign it is; and look at what [illegible/incoherent] to that sign and to
that planet. 24 And I have already made [illegible] to you in this book on the
natures of the signs. 25 Therefore, know and work through that, and you will
discover [it], if God wills.

PART III: ECLIPSES & COMETS SECTION III.5: SAHL

347

Chapter 26: Concerning an eclipse

[2] Know that the two eclipses have a powerful effect in the world, and I
[will] explain to you what is needed for knowledge of it. 3 And so, one must
know that an eclipse cannot happen except around the Head or the Tail. [4]
The Tail is cold, its bond is with the two infortunes, and with Saturn especially; and the Head is hot, moist from the nature of the fortunes, and its
bond is with the fortunes. 5 Therefore, with an assembly of the benevolents
around the Head, there is no greater omen [of good]; with it conjoining the
harmful ones, there is no greater misfortune than the Tail. [6] And if the Tail
was with the fortunes, it breaks its evil; and the Head with the infortunes
breaks their evil. [7] And the worst is [if] the eclipse is with the Head in a
house of Mars, or with the Tail in a house of Saturn.
[8] And look at the sign in which the eclipse was: what belongs to it of
the quarters of the earth, and of the division of the areas belonging to that
triplicity, and what belongs to that sign in terms of cities and existence.2 [9]
And look at the viewpoint of the sign of the eclipse from the Ascendant and
the quarters of the circle: for from that viewpoint in which the sign of the
eclipse is, is the quarter from which the vice is: the east and the west and the
north or the south. [10] And if the sign and the quarter disagreed, (such that
one is eastern, the other western, and in this manner), one will have to mix
the nature between each, and concede it to the one which was stronger.3
11 But an eclipse of the Sun must be feared for those parts of the lands
whose sight it [actually] reaches. 12 For if it happens under the earth, it will
harm nothing of the upper hemisphere.
[13] And look at the sign of the eclipse, and the place of the eclipse from
the Ascendant of the middle of the eclipse, [14] and who is connecting at4
the beginning of its eclipse, and its middle, and its end, and is it connecting
with the infortunes or with the fortunes, [15] and with what colors it is being
eclipsed, and what is the nature of the sign of the eclipse. 16 For, these things
which are observed steer the certain path of the one judging.

Ar. al-kawn.
For example, if the eclipse were in a fiery sign (which indicates the east), but in the western quadrant, then one would have to see if there are any special indications for one or
the other. William Lillys approach to this may be found in Christian Astrology II, pp. 36465, 391, and 393.
4 Ar. f, which can also mean through, throughout.
2
3

348

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

[17] For Aries is in charge of all hairy things and four-footed things, but
to Leo belong what has claws,5 and to Sagittarius belongs what has hooves,
and a share of the horse, and its liveliness.6 [18] But in Taurus and its trigon,
it is harmful to young boys and fruits and trees and vegetation and sheep,
and it is like a scarcity of rain and planting. And cows belong to Taurus, [19]
and to Virgo the plants and food, and it is without rain in it.7 [20] And to
Capricorn are goats and everything which is sown at high cost,8 and vegetation. [21] But in Gemini and its triplicity, it is death and killing in men and
birds, and the disaster of beasts, and the tyranny9 of the winds; for Gemini
belongs to kings and majesty, [22] and Libra belongs to the pious, and trade.
[23] And Aquarius belongs to the lowest part of [society]. [24] But in Cancer
and its trigon, it is dangerous enough for waters and aquatic things, for Cancer belongs to everything which descends from heaven, and Scorpio to every
water which is flowing, and Pisces to every water which is stagnant.10
[25] Erect the Ascendant of the middle of the eclipse, and look at the lord
of the sign of the eclipse: how is its place [from its own house]11 and what is
its condition relative to the lord of the Ascendant of the eclipse, and what
does it have from the lord of the Ascendant of the year and [from] the significator of kings, and how do the infortunes and fortunes look at it? [26]
And if it looked at the eclipse in [the time of] the eclipse, and it was made
unfortunate from an aspect to the infortunes, then what it indicated increases
and intensifies. [27] And the strongest thing for that is if the lord of the
house of the eclipse were the significator of kings: and if it was that, and the
infortunes are aspecting it, [there is] injustice upon the king when the Sun
reaches the Midheaven of the eclipse. And12 if it were the lord of the year,
there is injustice upon the citizens when the Sun reaches the Ascendant of
the eclipse.

In a later sentence, Sahl adds that an eclipse of the Sun in Leo has indications for kings.
Ar. wa-sharh.
7 Reading yuqiu.
8 Reading f al-ghal.
9 Reading fiasf for fiasf (tyrant).
10 Pisces and Scorpio should be reversed: Scorpio should rule stagnant water, and Pisces
flowing water.
11 Adding with Beatty.
12 Adding this sentence from Vatican.
5
6

384

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

Bonatti (IV.10) does just such a thing, even going so far as saying how much
territory is covered by each bound.
Triplicities. Both Ptolemy and ibn Labban employ a method of assigning
the triplicities to regions of the known world, which Ptolemy then uses as a
template to describe the characteristics of the people falling under them.
Ptolemys scheme is rather complicated and requires some explanation, while
ibn Labban changes the attributions without explanation. Of course, such
schemes could not account for most of the southern hemisphere, extreme
east Asia, and the Americas.
Others. Finally, there are several other methods mentioned in our texts.
The first is a way of counting the number of cities in each clime based on the
number of minutes in the zodiacal circle: this is described briefly by al-Rijl
who quotes Hermes (Section IV.4, in his Ch. VIII.34), and by Mshallh
(IV.9). After that are a few schemes in al-Brn (IV.6) which I do not discuss, but the reader is invited to investigate them: various divisions into three
parts justified by legends (attributed to a King Fardn or Afrdn, Noah, and
the Greeks), the seven kishwart of the Persians (attributed to Hermes), and a
nine-fold division attributed to the Indians.4
The seven climes5
A clime is a line of geographical latitude, but defined in terms of how
many hours of daylight there are on the longest day of the year. Since daylight is a function of ones latitude, all positions in the same hemisphere with
the same amount of daylight will share the same clime and latitude. The
clime can be expressed as a ratio between the longest and shortest hours, as
follows: suppose that a city has 14 hours of daylight on the summer solstice
(the longest day). Since there are only 24 hours in a day, this means that there
are 10 hours of night. And contrariwise, on the winters solstice (the shortest
day), there will be 10 hours of daylight and 14 of night. So, the latitude of the
city can be expressed as the ratio of longest to shortest, or 14:10 (by reduction, 7:5). Any place with this ratio will be on the same clime, provided it is in
the same hemisphere: ancient astrologers knew only of the northern hemisphere, so they did not formally define the climes for the southern one, and
certainly did not list any cities for it in their tables.
4
5

For details, see al-Brn 1934, 240, and Kennedy (1973), pp. 73-74.
In this section I am indebted to Neugebauer 1987, pp. 4-6.

PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY SECTION IV.1: INTRODUCTION

385

Ancient astronomers were originally interested in casting charts using the

climes of the most important cities of that time, namely Babylon and Alexandria, whose ratios of longest to shortest were taken to be 3:2 and 7:5,
respectively. Of course, not all cities fall on one of these lines, nor even did
Babylon and Alexandria, because the ratios of 3:2 and 7:5 are a little idealized. The longest daylight hours for Alexandria are really 14.179 hours, which
means the shortest days are 9.821 hours, yielding a ratio that is not exactly
7:5 without some rounding up and down of the hours to 14 and 10. Nevertheless, calculating climes for regular intervals did allow for the creation of
more accurate maps as well as the use of ascensional times tables for certain
predictive methods in astrology (such as distributions through the bounds),
not to mention other astronomical and astrological purposes.
The idea of climes and hours of longest daylight is closely related to the
use of ascensional times for the signs of the zodiac, simply because the hours
of daylight and the ascensional times are a function of ones latitude on the
earth. As many readers know, the ascensional time of a sign is the amount of
time (measured in degrees of right ascension) that it takes for a sign to
ascend fully across the horizon in the eastwhich varies based on ones location.6 Now, in the northern hemisphere the longest day is the summer
solstice, when the Sun is at 0 Cancer.7 If we measured the time between
sunrise and sunset on that day (thus measuring the hours of longest daylight),
then all of the signs between Cancer and Sagittariusthe so-called straight
signs or signs of long ascensionwould have completely arisen by the
time the Sun set (see figure below).
Now, since there are 360 of right ascension, but 24 hours in a day, the relation between ascensions and hours of the day is 15: 360/15 = 24.
Ascensions / 15 = hours of daylight

6 My own website (www.bendykes.com/reviews/study.php) has a table of ascensional

times for many latitudes, and the software for Delphic Oracle automatically calculates
them for every chart.
7 In the southern hemisphere, it is when the Sun is at 0 Capricorn.

386

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

Q 0^

K
L

Figure 62: Signs arising on day of longest daylight

(northern hemisphere)
Therefore, hours of longest daylight are nothing more than the number of
ascensions of the longest or straightest signs at ones latitude, divided by 15.
For example, the sum of ascensional times for Cancer through Sagittarius
(from 0 Cancer to 0 Capricorn) at my location (Minneapolis, Minnesota,
USA, 45 N) is 231.44 according to Delphic Oracle:
231.44 asc. times / 15 = 15.429 hours of longest daylight, or 15h 25m
Now, this number is mathematically correct, but slightly off in terms of
actual daylight. If we use a program or newspaper to discover how long the
period from sunrise to sunset was, we find it was about 15.36 hours, roughly
10 minutes longer than our calculation. Why was the actual period of daylight
longer? Well, the reason is that the Sun is also moving forward through the
zodiac, so that by the time we reach sunset, he will already have moved about
30 forward in the zodiac, taking longer to set than the actual degree of 0
Cancer. At any rate, the principle is this: the time of longest daylight, and the
sum of the ascensional times of the longest signs, are directly correlated to
the latitude of a place.
The Babylonians had two ways of calculating ascensional times, called
System A and System B. These systems give the ascensional times for all of

PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY SECTION IV.1: INTRODUCTION

387

the signs at the latitude or clime of Babylon. Following are both systems,8
along with the modern trigonometric values (for the latitude 32 32 N):9
System A System B Modern
A/L
20
21
20.47
B /K
24
24
23.81
C /J
28
27
29.66
D /I
32
33
34.70
E /H
36
36
36.01
F /G
40
39
35.35
Figure 63: Ascensional times for Babylon
Based on the descriptions above, we can figure out the longest hours of
daylight for Babylon. Add together the ascensional times for the six signs
Cancer through Sagittarius, and divide by 15:
System A and B: 216 / 15 = 14.40 hours
Modern: 212.12 / 15 = 14.14 hours
The modern calculations give Babylon slightly longer daylight hours,
which means that it puts Babylon in a slightly higher latitude than Systems A
and B do. Later astrologers decided to do the same thing for Alexandria:
System A System B Modern
A/L 21 40
22 30
20.85
B /K 25
25
24.13
C /J 28 20
27 30
29.80
D /I 31 40
32 30
34.56
E /H 35
35
35.69
F /G 38 20
37 30
34.97
Figure 64: Ascensional times for Alexandria

8
9

See Neugebauer and Van Hoesen 1987, pp. 3-4.

Calculated using Delphic Oracle.

60S

50S

40S

30S

20S

10S

10N

20N

30N

40N

50N

60N

70N

1: 16 45
2: 24 15
3: 31 00
4: 36 30
5: 41 30
6: 45 35
7: 49 10

7: 49 10
6: 45 35
5: 41 30
4: 36 30
3: 31 00
2: 24 15
1: 16 45

PAC IFIC O C EAN

U n ite d Sta te s

C a n ad a

Br a z il

ATL AN TIC O C EAN

G r ee n la n d

AR C TIC O C EAN

IN D IAN O C EAN

In d ia

C h in a

R u s s ia

Au s tra lia

PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY SECTION IV.1: INTRODUCTION

391

Figure 67: Ptolemaic climes by modern calculation (North/South)

SECTION IV.2: PTOLEMYS TRIPLICITIES

According to Berggren and Jones,1 Ptolemys conception of the world and
its size changed a bit between the Almagest, the Tetrabiblos, and the Geography
(in that order). First of all, Ptolemys world was much more limited than
ours, and in his geographical discussions2 he took the Canary Islands (about
28 N, 15 W) as being the western edge of the known world, and somewhere around the Ganges river and associated parts of China (perhaps near
the end of the Silk Road) as the eastern edge. For the north, he identified 63
N and the seas containing the isle of Britain. The southern border was between 16-17 S, at a latitude with about 13 hours of longest daylight, which
he refers to generally as a land surrounding Ethiopia, south of Libya.
As for the size of this territory, Ptolemy had originally thought it fit into a
90 section of the northern hemisphere (as measured eastward from the Canary Islands), but by the time of the Geography he believed it encompassed
180 (although by then he thought the earth was somewhat larger than it is).
To his credit, he was aware of the limits of contemporary geographical
knowledge, and supposed that there were other land masses beyond these
borders, including an uncertain land which formed the southern edge of
what we now know as the Indian Ocean.3
The map in the figure below approximates his worldI say approximates, because Ptolemys proportions for land masses were not always
correctnot to mention that he barely knew of Indias geography, nor much
of sub-Saharan Africa. And so, his Geography encompasses this territory by its
coordinates, but not in all of its details.

Berggren and Jones 2000, p. 21; I have relied broadly on their Introduction as well as
their new translation of the theoretical chapters of Ptolemys Geography.
2 See Ptolemys Book 7 of the Geography, in Berggren and Jones, pp. 108ff.
3 Berggren and Jones, p. 108.
1

PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY SECTION IV.2: PTOLEMY

60N

Helsinki
Stockholm

Oslo

40N

30N

20N
10N
0

Riga

Moscow
Nov
rMinsk
Be la
us
Samara
UK
BerlinWarsaw

London
Brussels
Kiev
Prague U
k r a in e
ParisVienna
Ka z a k h s tan
Fra n c e Zurich Budapest
Ita ly Zagreb
Bucharest
Sarajevo

Alma-Ata
Sofia
Rome
Tashkent
Istanbul
Madrid
a in
Tu rk e y
Sp
Lisbon
Athens
Ashkhabad
Algiers
Tehran
Kabul
Casablanca
Ir a n
Ir a q
Tripoli
Tel Aviv
Cairo
Lhas
New Delhi
Alg e ria
L ib y a
K
Eg y p t
Karachi
Riyadh
In d ia
Sa u d i Ar a b ia
Ma li

N ig e r
Ra
C h a dKhartoum
Su d a
n

Niamey
Aden
Bamako
Ndjamena
N ig e r ia
Addis Ababa

Ethio p ia
Colombo
Lagos
Copenhagen

50N

Vilnius

Kampala

Port-Gentil

DRC

Kinshasa

10S

393

Mogadishu
Nairobi
Dar es Salaam

Luanda

IN D IAN O C EAN

An g o la
Lusaka

Figure 68: Geographical limits of Ptolemys world

Later Persian and Arabic authors adopted his scheme of climes, as I mentioned in my Introduction above. But they also drew on another
chorographical scheme described in the Tetrabiblos, which he devised4 for
astrological prediction: the assignment of the triplicities to territories on the
earth.
In Tet. II.3, Ptolemy identifies two axes which divide the known world into four parts, and essentially define the center of the world. The horizontal
axis goes from the Straits of Gibraltar through the Gulf of Issus, to the Taurus Mountains. The vertical axis goes from the Persian/Arabian gulf to the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Oddly, he also identifies the Aegean Sea as
being on this line, but even in the old maps in Berggren and Jones, that is too
far to the west even by Ptolemys standards. At any rate, the map below illustrates the four regions, each of which Ptolemy assigned to certain triplicities
and planets. He also used this scheme to help explain broad cultural differences between peoples of different regions.

As with much of Ptolemys astrology, it is hard to say how much he borrows straight
from his predecessors, or streamlines or even invents himself.

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

394

In order to understand Ptolemys triplicity scheme for geography, we

must understand something about his concept of triplicities in general as well
as his notion of winds, because both are necessary for dividing the earth as
he does.
Edinburgh

L ith u a nia

Copenhagen

Kazan'

Moscow

Omsk

Vilnius

Minsk
Be la r u s

Dublin

UK

Cardiff

Berlin
Amsterdam
G e r ma n y
London
Brussels

Luxembourg
Paris
Fr a n c e

Warsaw

Voronezh

Po la n d

Kiev

Prague

U k r a in e
Ka z a k h s ta n

V ienna Bratislava
Budapest
Zurich

Ita ly

R o ma n ia
Zagreb
Belgrade Bucharest
Sarajevo
Bla c k Se a
Sofia

Rome

Gurjev
R u s s ia
Groznyy
Tashkent

Istanbul

Madrid

Tu r k me n is tan

Tu r k e y

Sp a in

Lisbon

Samara

A thens

Mo r o c c o

Tripoli

Tehran

Sy r ia

Me d ite r r a ne a n Sea

Casablanca

Ashkhabad

Algiers
Gibraltar

Kabul

B eirut Damascus

Tel Aviv 'Amman

Baghdad
Ir a q

Ir a n

Afg h a n is ta
n

Cairo

Alg e r ia

Pa k is tan

L ib y a
Eg y p t

Riyadh

Sa u d i Ar a b ia

Dubai

Karachi

Muscat
O ma n

Figure 69: Approximate center of Ptolemys earth (Tet. II.3)

Triplicities in general. A triplicity (Lat. triplicitas) is a group of three or
something threefold: in this case, a group of three signs. The Greek is a bit
more straightforward, as a triplicity is simply a triangle (Gr. trigon), and one
may easily see that the signs can be grouped into threes by overlaying triangles onto the zodiac.

PART IV: CHOROGRAPHY SECTION IV.2: PTOLEMY

395

F
B

E
C

Figure 70: Zodiacal triplicities or triangles

Most traditional astrologers in the Greek, Persian, and Arabic-speaking
worlds used what are sometimes called the Dorothean triplicity lords, socalled because they were described by Dorotheus in his astrological poem;
but Vettius Valens had described them as well. In this system, the signs
joined by the points of each triangle are jointly ruled by a set of three planets:
one in day charts, another in night charts, with a third, partnering planet assisting the others. However, these planets are not the same as the lords of
these signs. For example, in the triplicity of Aries-Leo-Sagittarius, the three
triplicity lords are the Sun (diurnal), Jupiter (nocturnal), Saturn (partner): but
Saturn does not actually rule, nor is he even exalted in, any of these three
signs.5 These triplicity lords were used for a number of purposes, both interpretive (such as in judging eminence and life success) and predictive
(assigning the lords to different periods of life).
Throughout the Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy tries to preserve many essential points
of standard astrological doctrine, especially if he can explain them naturalistically by reducing them to processes such as heating and cooling: for example,
that Mars causes heating and drying. On the other hand, sometimes he virtually rejects entire areas of astrological knowledge, such as the use of Lots
(apart from his own version of the Lot of Fortune). When it comes to his
Occasionally there has been speculation as to why these lords were assigned in the way
they were, and in that order. I have some proposals to make which I will reserve for another time.

396

ASTROLOGY OF THE WORLD I: THE PTOLEMAIC INHERITANCE

treatment of the triplicities (I.18), something very odd is happening, and his
arguments often receive a strained reception. When all is said and done, Ptolemy has rejected the category of partnering planets, and only changes the
lords of Cancer-Scorpio-Pisces. In the Dorothean system, the two main
planets are Venus (diurnal) and Mars (nocturnal), but for Ptolemy they are
Mars (diurnal and nocturnal), with the assistance of Venus (by day) and the
Moon (by night).
By Day/
By Night/
Partnering
Diurnal
Nocturnal
AEI
Q
V
W
CGK
W
S
V
DHL
T
U
R
BFJ
T
R
U
Figure 71: Dorothean triplicity lords
By Day/
By Night/
Diurnal
Nocturnal
AEI
Q
V
CGK
W
S
DHL
U (T)
U (R)
BFJ
T
R
Figure 72: Ptolemys version of standard triplicity lords
At first glance, this does not seem to be so great a change: after all, the
partnering planets were always tertiary in importance, and Mars was always
one of the two main triplicity lords of Cancer-Scorpio-Pisces anyway (and is
still being assisted by Venus and the Moon). But when it comes to Ptolemys
actual arguments and explanations, Tet. I.18 makes little sense. First of all,
Ptolemy seems to want to derive the triplicity lords from the lords of those
signs, which does not always work (the Moon does not rule any earthy sign).
The rules seem to change from triplicity to triplicity, with criteria for identifying one set of lords being dropped in favor of others in the next one. The
discussion is permeated by talk about winds. Finally, while trying to derive
roughly the same lords as the Dorothean model, Ptolemy suddenly introduces what will turn out to be alternative lordsfor instance, wanting Jupiter