The Minor Works of Marsilio Ficino

...the ecliptic The apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere. of the separated mind original: "segregatæ mētis." Likely referring to the Cosmic Intellect or a mind detached from material concerns. by no means deserts it. Moreover, Jupiter and Mars—since the former through his Sagittarius and the latter through his Aries are in harmony with the Solar Leo—likewise obtained a duty. Thus, Jupiter indeed signifies religious justice, civil laws, and prosperity; while Mars signifies magnanimity, fortitude, and victory. The Moon, Venus, and Mercury are called the "companions of the Sun." The Moon is so called because of her frequent conjunction When two celestial bodies appear in the same part of the sky. or aspect with the Sun; while Venus and Mercury are called so because of their extreme proximity and because their progress is nearly equal to that of the Sun.

From this, therefore, they received command over the whole of generation The process of birth, growth, and the creation of physical life.. Since the more humid Moon, in her conjunction and gaze? of the Sun, having obtained vital heat, subsequently supplies a warm and vital moisture for the things to be generated. But Mercury mixes these two things and all parts in the generation of things by a certain numerical proportion. Venus, however, adds to such mixtures forms?, grace, and joy. The Sun indeed, just as it distributes all the light collected within itself through the various stars which differ from one another in kind, so it also distributes all-formed virtues along with its all-formed light. From which one may clearly conjecture that there are at least as many virtues within the Sun as there are stars existing in the heavens.

Chapter VII.

Proinde Accordingly or therefore., the very arrangement of the signs in the zodiac clearly declares that the Sun is the King and the Moon—who is both sister and spouse to the Sun—is the Queen of the heavens. For Leo, the seat of the Sun, and Cancer, the seat of the Moon, touch each other. Likewise, Aries is the kingdom of the Sun The Sun is "exalted," or at its most powerful, in the sign of Aries. and Taurus the kingdom of the Moon The Moon is "exalted" in the sign of Taurus.. But the other planets arrange their seats on all sides around the King and Queen, as if they were placed in the middle. Mercury, on this side near Leo, has Virgo; on the other side...