Ten Treatises on Astronomy (Book of Astronomy)

from the air: both those falls and that impression occur by the impressions that Aquarius made into the air and similar things.

On the water signs. And first on Cancer.

Woodcut of a crab representing the zodiac sign Cancer.

Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, which are the water signs original: "signa aquatica", act upon the element of water, but in different ways. Namely, because Cancer acts upon water by impressing into it a balanced coldness and moisture. Through this, a movement of nature occurs to provide the sweetness and nourishment by which animals are fed and live, and by which all vegetation and similar things are nourished.

On Scorpio.

Woodcut of a scorpion representing the zodiac sign Scorpio.

Scorpio acts upon the element of water by bringing into it a moisture and coldness that is far removed from balance Temperamentum: The ideal proportion of qualities—hot, cold, moist, and dry—required for life.. Through this, the movement of nature tends toward corruption rather than toward nourishment or preservation, because of the decay and saltiness original: "falsuginitatem" that the action of Scorpio brings into the water. It offers nourishment to very few things.

On Pisces.

Woodcut of two fish swimming in opposite directions, representing the zodiac sign Pisces.

Pisces acts upon the element of water by bringing into it an unbalanced and harmful coldness. Through this, a movement of nature occurs toward the ruin and destruction of animals and seeds, as well as nearly all vegetation, because of the corruption, bitterness, and foulness which the action of the fish brings into the water.

¶ This is the reason why there are only twelve signs—neither more nor fewer: since there are only four elements, and the signs act upon the elements according to three modes. The first mode is as a nourisher and increaser; the second mode is as something neither entirely nourishing nor entirely destroying; the third mode is as a destroyer. These three states contain within themselves a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each set of three signs acts upon one of the four elements: the three fire signs act upon fire in the said three modes; the three air signs act upon air in the said three modes; the three water signs act upon water in the said three modes; and the three earth signs act upon earth in the said three modes. Because of this, Ptolemy, Agathodaimon, Stephanus, Aristotle, Abu Ma'shar The text lists these as "Ptholomeus Aaydimon astaphan arastellus albumasar," citing the great authorities of Greek and Arabic astrology. and the other philosophers were in agreement that there are four triplicities Triplicities: Groups of three zodiac signs belonging to the same element. of signs. For any three signs of the same nature act upon the element assigned to that nature: the fiery on fire, the airy on air, the aquatic on water, and the earthy on earth; thus, there could not be more or fewer. ¶ There is another reason why there were twelve signs: because the zodiac original: "zodiacus" consists of four quarters, two of which are northern and two of which are southern. Of these, one is given to the fire signs, one to the air signs, one to the water signs, and one to the earth signs, each of which contains three signs according to the aforementioned natures of the four elements.

Chapter Three: Why the elements are thus arranged and ordered.

It was stated in the preceding chapter upon which element

each sign acts and in what manner. Now, however, it must be said in this chapter why the four elements were thus arranged or ordered: namely, fire highest in the concavity of the sphere of the moon, contiguously and immediately; then air; then water; then earth.

Chapter Four: To show that the elements are only four, neither more nor fewer.

It was stated in the preceding chapter how the elements are ordered or arranged. Now it must be said in this chapter why there were only four elements, neither more nor fewer. Although many of these things that have been said (and those that will be said) might not seem to be the concern of the astrologer, it is nonetheless necessary to mention them, since we must speak of all these things; they occur in our work very frequently. For the elements could not be anything but four, neither more nor fewer: since every physical body original: "corpus elementatum" consists of the four elements and has within itself four qualities: namely, heat, dryness, coldness, and moisture. And four things happen to it: namely, generation, durability (or preservation), corruption, and destruction. Specifically: through heat, it is chiefly generated; through dryness, it endures; through moisture, it is corrupted; through coldness, it is destroyed—understand these things rightly. These four states of being operate in and around every physical thing; for it draws heat from fire, moisture from air, coldness from water, and dryness from earth. Thus, since the accidents of physical things are only four and are drawn from the elements, it was necessary that the elements be only four, neither more nor fewer. The elements, insofar as they are simple or pure in their own spheres, have simple dominant qualities in them: namely, fire has heat; air has moisture; water has coldness; and earth has dryness. But insofar as they are connected and intertwined with one another, they have compound qualities: namely, fire has heat and dryness; air has heat and moisture; water has coldness and moisture; and earth has coldness and dryness.

Chapter Five: Why the signs were thus ordered or arranged.

It was stated in the preceding sections why there were only twelve signs, neither more nor fewer, and why there were only four elements. Now, however, it remains to be said in this chapter why the signs were thus ordered or arranged. The ordering or arrangement of the signs began from the fiery ones, as Agathodaimon and Abu Ma'shar said. The fiery signs were placed at the beginning; then the earthy; then the airy; then the aquatic. ¶ But you might say: why did the wise men not order the signs according to the order of the elements, starting with fire, then air, then water, and then earth, according to how the elements are successively placed in their arrangement? The causes that moved the wise men to order them this way were several. One of these was because the elements, as has been said, receive corruption and alteration from the movements and the continuous and restless revolution of the signs and the heavens. From that corruption and alteration come the four qualities that happen to physical bodies: namely, generation, preservation, corruption, and destruction. And because generation is more noble than the other qualities of physical things, they began with the signs through which generation occurs (or the movement of nature toward generation), and those are the fiery signs. And because the quality that is noble next to generation is durability or preservation, and that occurs from the signs through which the movement of nature toward preservation or durability happens (insofar as corruptible things receive durability), those are the earthy signs. And the quality which is ignoble and follows durability...