On the Sun and Light

...the eternal power and divinity of God also.

The Sun: Illuminator, Lord, and Governor of the Heavens. Chapter III.

The Sun, as the manifest lord of the heavens, rules and governs absolutely all celestial bodies. I shall for the present pass over its immense magnitude—which is thought to contain the Earth one hundred and sixty-six times original: "centies sexagiesque et sexties". In the first place, it implants light into all the stars: whether they possess a small native light of their own (as some suspect), or none at all (as most believe). Furthermore, that specific sign among the twelve is called "living" (as Aly likely Albohali or Al-Sufi, medieval Arabic astronomers and Abraham likely Abraham Ibn Ezra, a prominent Jewish scholar and astrologer say), and it appears so by its effect, because the Sun gives it life at that time. Indeed, the Sun fills two signs on either side with such great power that both spaces are called by the Arabs the "Guides of the Sun" original: "ductoria Solis", that is, the "Royal Throne" original: "regium solium". While the planets are within this space—provided they avoid being scorched a technical term for a planet being too close to the sun, known as "combust"—they prevail with marvelous power. This is especially true if, while positioned in this interval, the superior planets rise before the Sun, and the inferior planets rise after the Sun. Again, that sign in which the Sun reigns—that is, Aries—becomes the head of the signs; it signifies the head in any living being. Also, that sign which is the Sun’s domicile—that is, Leo—is the heart of the signs, and it holds the place of the heart in any living being. Now, truly, when the Sun reaches Leo, a plague, as if of fire original: "Pyronicum," referring to a feverish or burning pestilence, truly...