The Minor Works of Marsilio Ficino

...and Mercury, though not named in the first line, is implied by the context of planetary domiciles. truly near Cancer has Gemini. Venus, however, has Libra on this side, and Taurus on the other. Mars also has Scorpio on this side and Aries on that. Jupiter has Sagittarius on this side and Pisces on that; Saturn has Capricorn on this side and Aquarius on that. But once, when I was arranging the seats of the planets in this way relative to the Sun and Moon, my close friend Bindaccio Ricasolano A contemporary of Ficino and member of the Platonic Academy in Florence., a man of profound judgment, objected thus: "Do you not see, Marsilio, that these same seats—though in a reversed order—are nonetheless disposed on both sides by the same degrees toward the houses of Saturn?" I said, "I see that this especially suits the Sun himself. Meanwhile, however, it also happens to the highest planet, Saturn. And why? If Saturn is worthy of this honor, it is because he is seen to deviate least of all from the royal path of the Sun The ecliptic, or the Sun's apparent path through the stars.."

But let us return to the task. Each of these planets, therefore, has two seats. One, indeed, following the Sun as if from behind; the other in the sight of the Moon. The former are called western from the Sun; the latter are called eastern from the Moon. Nevertheless, the Sun and Moon claim the whole Zodiac for themselves. For the province of the Sun occupies Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn. The province of the Moon occupies Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer.

Perhaps, indeed, they called Cancer the "Gate of Men" A Neoplatonic concept: the point where souls descend from heaven into human bodies. because the Sun is seen as nearly about to descend there. Capricorn, however, they called the "Gate of Gods" The point where souls are released from the body to return to the divine realm., because there the Sun is seen to ascend immediately. But we have declared these things otherwise elsewhere. Indeed, these two signs, along with Aries and Libra, claimed dignity for themselves so that they might be called the pivots of heaven original: "caeli cardines." These are the four cardinal signs that mark the beginning of the seasons., because there the Sun determines the changes of the four seasons. And because the Sun, walking through Aries and Libra, holds a middle course in its ascent or descent and balances the day with the night, for this reason, the circle extended from Aries into Libra is called the circle of Minerva—that is, the circle of wisdom and justice—among the Egyptians... original: "nuncupatur" (implied by the truncated 'nun').