BOOK THE FIRST

...they are accustomed to eat meat. And he foresaw for Pharaoh seven years of abundance in livestock and grain, and just as many of scarcity and famine, because he had seen in his sleep seven fat cows grazing in the marshlands, and seven other thin ones on the riverbank devouring the very fat ones. And he saw seven ears of grain sprouting from a stalk, full, and just as many empty and scorched by the wind, the former devouring the beautiful ones. And because Joseph himself had dreamed that his own sheaf rose and stood upright, and the sheaves of his brothers stood around and bowed down to his sheaf; and that the Sun, the Moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him, it was interpreted that his eleven brothers, father, and mother would bow and revere him.

Again, from the cake of bread baked in the ashes original: "subcineritio pane"; refers to the dream of the Midianite soldier in Judges 7:13, which a Midianite had dreamed rolled into the camp of Midian, reaching the tent, overturning it, and leveling it to the ground, it was interpreted that the sword of Gideon would utterly destroy the camp and capture Midian.

The statue that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed of had a golden head, silver arms and chest, a bronze belly and thighs, iron legs, and a foot that was partly clay and partly bronze; and a stone cut from a mountain struck and broke the statue, and the statue vanished, and the stone became a mountain and filled the earth. Daniel, by God’s power, interpreted the golden head to be the great Nebuchadnezzar, and the silver foot The text says "silver foot," though the biblical Daniel 2:32-33 describes silver arms and chest to be the kingdom to come; the bronze part signifies that it will rule the whole earth, and the iron part that all these things will be crushed. The iron part of the toes signifies the division of the kingdom. The broken part and the solid part—iron mixed with muddy clay—which are mixed by human seed but do not adhere, just as iron does not mix with pottery.

So too the tree in the middle of the earth, whose height was so great it filled the sky, beautiful in form and fruitful; beneath it were beasts, and in its branches birds. A Holy One calls from heaven: "Cut down the tree, destroy the fruit, and scatter the beasts and birds; leave the roots, and let them be bound with a band of bronze and iron among the wild herbs, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven; let the human heart be changed so that it becomes like a beast’s, and let its duration be for seven times." Daniel interpreted this from God to mean the tree was Nebuchadnezzar, whose power ruled over all the earth. But the Angel announces to the son original: "filioque"; the text here may be conflating Nebuchadnezzar with his lineage or using "son" as a generic title that you shall be cast out from men for seven years, and you shall be a beast, and eat grass like an ox, and be sprinkled with dew, until you recognize your Lord. But after you have recognized that the kingdom comes from God, it shall remain for you; this is the sprout of its roots.

But let us digress to the histories of the Greeks. An eagle portends misfortune because it is predatory and bloody. Penelope dreamed of an eagle killing the geese she raised at home, from the nineteenth book of Homer’s Odyssey The Latin text says "vni decimo" (eleventh), but the dream occurs in Book 19, from which it is interpreted that Ulysses would kill the suitors who were destroying his goods.

Philip, King of Macedonia, after his marriage, appeared to have fixed a seal of a Lion upon his wife in a dream; Aristander of Telmessus, the dream-interpreter, affirmed she was pregnant, for seals are not usually fixed to empty things, and that she would give birth to an infant with the nature of a lion. Alexander dreamed that he lay with his mother; it was interpreted that he would possess the rule of the entire earth, for "to lie with" is to lay someone low, and the "mother" is interpreted as the Earth, because the Earth is the universal mother. Hecuba, while pregnant, saw in her sleep that she gave birth to a torch by which the kingdom would be burned; she gave birth to Paris, because of whom Troy was burned and reduced to ash.

The things read in the works of Artemidorus Daldianus A 2nd-century professional dream interpreter and author of the 'Oneirocritica,' the first manual of its kind are all taken from the similarity of things. Forests designate sadness and disturbance of the soul. For forests are full of confusion; they portend lashings for slaves, because the rods with which they are beaten are cut from forests. Planting trees is an excellent omen for those getting married, for they will procreate children. The woman is the field, and children are planted in her like trunks in a plowed field.

Hippocrates The famous Greek physician of the 5th century BC said that budding trees, laden with fruit, portend that the body is in good health; if they are sterile, it signifies the corruption of human seed. If the leaves have fallen, the body is harmed by moist and cold humors. If they bud without fruit, it is harmed by hot and dry humors. In the case of olive trees, to cast out waste original: "excrementa eijcere"; likely referring to manure or organic fertilizer is prosperous, because olives delight in such fertilizer. Likewise, to be anointed with oil signifies joy. Sweet and ripe apples are good, especially for the married and for lovers, for apples are friendly to Venus because of their sweetness; sour ones, however, signify strife and contentions. Mulberries and pomegranates signify wounds because of their color and likeness to blood. The pear signifies prosperity because it lasts a long time. White figs are good; black ones at an inopportune time signify calumnies and detractions. Nuts, and whatever...