The Emperor's Astronomy

SIXTH ASTRONOMICAL ANNOUNCEMENT. IMPERIAL

To find the motion of Saturn before and after the birth of Christ, without any delay or calculation, and furthermore to find its accidents and influences.

After we have spoken abundantly and clearly concerning the nineteenth and eighteenth spheres and the fixed stars, we shall henceforth take care, so as not to disturb the order, to complete in a few words the sphere of Saturn. As the highest and first of the planets, its convex surface is touched by the concave part of the eighth heaven The "eighth heaven" refers to the sphere of the fixed stars in the Ptolemaic geocentric model.. Since that seventh sphere governs only a single star original: "astrum"; here referring to the planet Saturn, its motion has been observed by the most ancient astronomers not just once, but with great diligence, and was found to be such as is presented in the following instrument. Indeed, the temperament of that planet, judged by its color and effects, is cold and dry, corresponding most poorly to the imbalance of the Melancholic humor. Furthermore, he discovered that the natural hours The method handed down by the ancients to be considered regarding the domains of the planets. of the day vary according to the influences of the wandering stars planets found beneath the eighth sphere (two of these hours always constitute one house of the heaven; they are called temporal, wandering, or unequal hours). Considering that variety of times and effects, they found which day Saturn—as the first and highest of the wanderers—would chiefly rule. They saw that this day is called the Sabbath by us, because Saturn, after the rising of the Sun, would especially pour out and exercise its operation upon these lower realms. After this, dividing the night and day into 24 unequal parts (as you will learn more fully from our planisphere), they assigned to each division—that is, each hour—its own planet, descending from the highest to the lowest. In this way, any given day took its name from the planet holding the first hour of the day after the rising of the Sun. Truly, because every one of the ancient astrologers attributed to the Saturnine star solitudes, the highest imaginations, the deepest speculations, and the most solid sharpness of wit, it was even called "Mind," as if contemplating eminent and divine things. Not without justice did Moses the Lawgiver judge this light, over which Saturn presides, to be unsuitable for performing more serious business or matters of war, but rather fit for treating divine things. For this reason, he commanded that the same day be sanctified or kept as a holiday by the Jews, along with the worship of God. Christians, inverting this custom, changed the feast day because of the days of the birth and resurrection of Christ the Savior, both of which were days of the Sun. Therefore, they called the Sun’s day the "Lord's Day," and decided not to hold it in the same honor as the Jewish festivity celebrated on the day of Saturn, to distinguish the two.

¶ You will find more elsewhere, such as in our planisphere, regarding the full details of the domains or rule of the planets—specifically the hours over which the lords preside. However, because the following column was clearly going to be empty, I decided to insert something in this place concerning the same matter. Therefore, I pray that no one be annoyed by these planetary hours presented here, as if they were inserted without purpose. The theme of the following table is as follows: as soon as you have the hour of any day you wish (whether what they call the "temporary" hour of the day or of the night), look for it by descending the first line of the present table. Furthermore, consider the day at the head of the table; proceeding in a straight line downward from it, and likewise entering from the hour found in a straight line through the area until you reach the line of the day, you will find the "common angle." This is the point where the day and the hour sought meet, and in that place the planet appears as the overseer or governor of that hour, and it also gives its name to that same hour.

Example of Emperor CHARLES. ¶ This will become clear by example: His Imperial Majesty Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor is said to have been born into the world on the Lord's Day—that is, the day of the Sun—at night, following the day of the Sun, in the hour already completed after sunset (speaking according to temporal hours). To know which of the planets governed that time by its rule (for the most ancient astronomers long ago demonstrated that the elements and all their mixtures are most powerfully subject to the governorships of the planets), first seek the Lord's Day, which we astronomers have taught to be the day of the Sun, at the head of the following table. Similarly, in the first line on the left side, read the tenth hour, which is the 22nd hour from the rising of the Sun. If you proceed in a straight line from this until you touch the line of the Lord's Day, you will immediately find the symbol of the Sun at the contact point, which is also called the "common angle." Accordingly, you see that the hour of the Emperor's birth was attributed to the Sun, and that the Sun then chiefly ruled all these lower things.

Example of FERDINAND. ¶ It is also established that the thrice-greatest FERDINAND, King of the Romans, was born on the sixth day of the week Friday, which the ancients attributed to Venus, in the third hour after the rising of the Sun. Therefore, to understand the name of this hour and by which of the planets it is called—being subject to its dominance—you scan the aforementioned day of Venus at the head of the table. From that found point, you proceed downward in a straight line (which for the sake of easier understanding you shall call the "line of the day"). Next, in the line first encountered from the left hand, you also take the hour of the day. From there, having moved through the area to the line of the day of Venus, you find the symbol of the Moon,

the Moon, the mistress of the hour of birth. It is not irrelevant to advise students of this art in this place that this system of domains is not approved in all things. For indeed, in the path of making astrological judgments, there is another way of choosing planets. But because this form is so greatly commended by the Ancients, we wished to indicate it, rather than leaving it out entirely.

Decorative scrollwork ornaments flanking the first line of the title below.

TABLE OF THE

RULE OF THE PLANETS

ACCORDING TO TEMPORAL

HOURS.

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