The Book of Nativities and the Centiloquy of Hermes

Through the athazir original: "athazir"; an Arabic astrological term referring to the "direction" or progression of a planet of Mars, you shall know his fornications, marriages, loves, friendships, and the loss or profit from women, as well as disputes and oppositions. Through the athazir of Venus, you shall know love and marriages, sexual intercourse and delights, the goodness of the soul, and joy with women and girls. Along with the aforementioned, it is also necessary to know the location of the Dragon’s Head and its Tail The lunar nodes: the North Node (Head) and South Node (Tail), and all the planets with them. When you have carefully investigated what I have said and have properly cast the figure of the heavens, judge every birth according to the judgments handed down in this book, in which I have explained and collected to the best of my ability the sayings of all the wise men who were before me. Know, however, that a wise man, through his own wisdom and subtlety, will be able to easily lead the judgments concerning births declared in this volume toward the truth and the true trinity of science.

On the Perfection of the Seed in the Womb. Chapter 1.

The first wise men, who were of sound intellect and experienced in the proofs of the significations of the stars, said that the casting of the seed conception holds a likeness to the sign and state of the newborn above all significations extracted from the Ascendant when the newborn emerges from the mother's womb. For the casting of the seed into the womb is like the heat of a fire which exceeds all the warmth of baths; it is like the heart in a bow, the iron in a spear, the sword in the hand, the weight in a wheel, and the root from which the said things are extracted: the foundation. Therefore, when you know the hour and day of the casting of the seed into the womb, and the locations of the planets in the minds or "signs" that signify that seed, then you will be secure in that upon which you can found and firm up your judgment. For if you are ignorant of this, you will perhaps be deceived. I wish, therefore, to hand down the immediate fall of the sperm from the day it fell until the day it emerges from the mother's womb, and the quantity of its delay in the womb, and the order of the planets with it, by the will of God. Thus the wise men have said and recorded in their books: Know that the matter of the seed will be according to the likeness of the foods received in the body. And the root of that matter is coldness and moisture. But when the natural color or "heat" works in the womb, it makes it hot and moist. Indeed, heat and moisture existing in any member of the body causes the matter to descend from every place of the body through the motion of intercourse. From every place of the body it descends and becomes white, like the milk existing in the breasts, which is transmitted from various vapors in the form of blood to the breasts and is converted into whiteness through the cooking of the natural color. And so it is made through agitation and natural heat. First, therefore, the matter of the seed descends from the brain, which is white, cold, and moist. Second, it comes principally from the liver, which is hot and moist and the mine of blood. Third and subsequently, it comes from the other members until it reaches the testicles; and the testicles give it to the members, and the member to the womb. And the wise men say that the womb has many follicles, or places in which that seed can be divided. And a woman, according to the quantity of places in which the matter is divided, can have many sons or daughters; it has the quantity of matter in the said follicles, which are seven receptacles. For if the seed descends to only one follicle of the womb, she will have a single son or daughter; if to two, two; and so on up to seven. Now, when the seed has fallen into the womb, the menstrual blood will nourish it and will be the mother of that seed; and then it joins with it and ceases for the women until the fetus emerges from the womb. When the seed first falls into the womb, Saturn will dispose it in the first month, because he is higher than the other planets and his circle is superior. The seed will therefore be, according to its nature, cold and congealed in that month, and it has this quantity of coldness and dryness from Saturn. And because the nature of Saturn is closer and more disposed to death than to life, therefore the seed of the man in that month will not be mixed with the seed of the woman, but each will be separate, like the white of an egg from the yolk; and so it will remain from the day the seed fell into the womb until the first month has passed. Afterward, Jupiter will dispose that seed, who is the planet of wind and change; and the wind of Jupiter will move it, by the will of God, until both seeds are mixed together and made of one nature. And then that seed will be mobile, from whose motion in the vessel of the woman there will happen to the woman nausea and a change of soul. So much so that the whole body will change beyond measure by the change of the wind and the seed in the womb. A newborn, therefore, who has much of such wind will be wise, because that wind is more subtle than the soul; and it is mixed with the body and exits from it before the soul; and that wind has its seat in the body and the soul in the brain. For from that wind proceed the thoughts of the newborn, just as from the soul proceed the five senses. Likewise, therefore, the wind directs the natural heat. So much so that when a man dies, the heat of that wind remains in the heart of the man and afterward recedes; from whose recession the whole body afterward grows cold and dries up. Certain wise men have said that when in the second month both

seeds—namely, of the man and the woman—are mixed together by the power of that wind, the person will be a sleeper who always sleeps; so much so that such motion cannot be called life or death. But with this, it is added with that wind: which wind in the fourth month will mix the soul with the seed and will remain in the body with the soul. When the soul has dominion over that wind, it will bring forth life. When the soul is dominated by the wind, it will flow into a nature of sleepiness. And that seed will be of diverse mutation according to which one has dominion over the other. For when one dominates over the other, its effect will appear, and the affection of the other will somewhat flow away. Know also that when the Sun has dominion over the Moon through conjunction, the light of the Moon will not have vigor because of the light of the Sun. The wind of Jupiter will not move from the seed until the third month comes, which then is disposed by Mars, because the circle of Mars follows the circle of Jupiter. And because Mars is the planet of blood, he will change that seed into his own nature and heat, by the will of God. Therefore, that seed will be coagulated in the manner of blood, and the wind of Jupiter will hide itself and grow cold; that which was moved from the body by that wind, such as the nausea which the woman had in the second month, will cease. Therefore, that seed will remain in the disposition of Mars until the fourth month comes. And then it will be in the disposition of the Sun, who by his dryness will remove its superfluous moisture. And it will return as a mixed thing, in which God will give strength and a soul; and He will fulfill His work in it; and it will appear in it and receive the strength and form of a man. Afterward, in the fifth month, the disposition returns, by the will of God, to Venus, who forms the shape of the members and their uses will appear; then hair will grow on it and it will receive senses. Then the disposition of the sixth month returns to Mercury, who is the planet of vocalization and sense; then, therefore, its tongue and its members will move so that they stretch out, pressing into the womb with hands and feet; and its motion will be strengthened. So much so that it does not desire to remain in such a narrow place. But it busies itself seeking an exit from the darkness of the womb to the world with all its strength. In the seventh month, however, its disposition comes to the Moon; and because its form and the strength of its members are completed, if it is born in that month, it will be complete and fit for life. But if it perseveres in the womb until the eighth month, its disposition returns a second time to Saturn, by whom, according to his nature, it will be chilled and congealed, and coldness will remain in it through that whole month; whence if any is born in that month, he will be cold and dry and poorly suited for life. And frequently many are born dead in that month, or die immediately. Afterward, in the ninth month, its disposition returns again to Jupiter; those, therefore, who are born in that month are commonly disposed to life because of the nature of Jupiter. For which reason it should be known that those who are born in the months attributed to Saturn, Mars, the Sun, and Mercury die quickly or emerge dead, especially if the aforementioned four planets were unfortunate. Therefore, the progression toward a life disposed for living will be in the months attributed to Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon.

On the Delay of the Newborn in the Mother's Womb. Chapter 2.

Certain men have said that the delay itself will be according to the quantity of the sign in which the Sun is, to the ninth sign, according to the space between its House and its Exaltation. As from Leo, which is the House of the Sun, to Aries, in which the Sun is exalted, there are nine signs. Give, therefore, to each sign, according to the said manner, one month. And so it will be seen that the Sun signifies the affairs of the newborn and his hour, as well as the ascending degree, the Angles, the houses, and his creation. Through him, therefore, you shall know the state of the newborn, and his years, and the times of loss and gain. Therefore, when the seed has fallen into the womb of the woman and the Sun is in any of the signs, he will be the significator of that from the hour of the fall of the seed in the womb until the hour of the progression of the newborn from the mother's womb; and the Sun will not move from that signification in the sign and its mutation until he has exited the mother's womb. Therefore, the Sun leads him from mode to mode until he reaches the fifth sign from his place in which he was when he began; because in the space of eight signs he fulfills the four natures, namely: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. And then the Sun returns to the nature of the sign in which he began. And this happens in the fifth month from the casting of the seed, in which the form of the newborn is completed and its members take on flesh. Sight opens and it begins to be in the form of its parents. Therefore, the fifth sign, because of its nature and the similarity it has with the Ascendant, signifies children. For when the Ascendant is an Earthy sign, it will be Earthy. And if it is Fiery, it will be Fiery. If Watery, Watery. If Airy, Airy. And when the Sun enters the ninth sign and completes the triplicity of heaven and fulfills its nature, its mutations in the signs with its elevation, descent, addition, and diminution will be completed.