Myths and Marvels of Astronomy
the inhabitants of hills than valleys, and, for want of provisions, to
monks than courtiers, etc. Or if any one, from a knowledge of the
influence which the celestial bodies have upon the spirits of mankind,
should find it would affect the people more than their rulers, learned
and inquisitive men more than the military, etc. For there are
innumerable things of this kind that require not only a general
knowledge gained from the stars which are the agents, but also a
particular one of the passive subjects. Nor are elections to be wholly
rejected, though not so much to be trusted as predictions; for we find
in planting, sowing, and grafting, observations of the moon are not
absolutely trifling, and there are many particulars of this kind. But
elections are more to be curbed by our rules than predictions; and this
must always be remembered, that election only holds in such cases where
the virtue of the heavenly bodies, and the action of the inferior bodies
also, is not transient, as in the examples just mentioned; for the
increases of the moon and planets are not sudden things. But punctuality
of time should here be absolutely rejected. And perhaps there are more
of these instances to be found in civil matters than some would
imagine.'
The method of inquiry suggested by Bacon as proper for determining the
just rules of the astrology he advocated, was, as might be expected,
chiefly inductive. There are, said he, 'but four ways of arriving at
this science, viz.--1, by future experiments; 2, past experiments; 3,
traditions; 4, physical reasons.' But he was not very hopeful as to the
progress of the suggested researches. It is vain, he said, to think at
present of future experiments, because many ages are required to procure
a competent stock of them. As for the past, it is true that past
experiments are within our reach, 'but it is a work of labour and much
time to procure them. Thus astrologers may, if they please, draw from
real history all greater accidents, as inundations, plagues, wars,
seditions, deaths of kings, etc., as also the positions of the celestial
bodies, not according to fictitious horoscopes, but the above-mentioned
rules of their revolutions, or such as they really were at the time,
and, when the event conspires, erect a probable rule of prediction.'
Traditions would require to be carefully sifted, and those thrown out
which manifestly clashed with physical considerations, leaving those in
full force which complied with such considerations. Lastly, the physical
reasons worthiest of being enquired into are those, said Bacon, 'which
search into the universal appetites and passions of matter, and the
simple genuine motions of the heavenly bodies.'
It is evident there was much which, in our time at least, would be
regarded as wild and fanciful in the 'sound and just astrology'
advocated by Bacon. Yet, in passing, it may be noticed that even in our
own time we have seen similar ideas promulgated, not by common
astrologers and fortune-tellers (who, indeed, know nothing about such
matters), but by persons supposed to be well-informed in matters
scientific. In a roundabout way, a new astrology has been suggested,
which is not at all unlike Bacon's 'astrologia sana,' though not based,
as he proposed that astrology should be, on experiment, or tradition, or
physical reasons. It has been suggested, first, that the seasons of our
earth are affected by the condition of the sun in the matter of spots,
and very striking evidence has been collected to show that this must be
the case. For instance, it has been found that years when the sun has
been free from spots have been warmer than the average; and it has also
been found that such years have been cooler than the average: a
double-shotted argument wholly irresistible, especially when it is also
found that when the sun has many spots the weather has sometimes been
exceptionally warm and sometimes exceptionally cold. If this be not
considered sufficient, then note that in one country or continent or
hemisphere the weather, when the sun is most spotted (or least, as the
case may be), may be singularly hot, while in another country,
continent, or hemisphere, the weather may be as singularly cold. So with
wind and calm, rain and drought, and so forth. Always, whether the sun
is very much spotted or quite free from spots, something unusual in the
way of weather must be going on somewhere, demonstrating in the most
significant way the influence of sun-spots or the want of sun-spots on
the weather. It is true that captious minds might say that this method
of reasoning proved too much in many ways, as, for example,
thus--always, whether the sun is very much spotted or quite free from
spots, some remarkable event, as a battle, massacre, domestic tragedy on
a large scale, or the like, may be going on, demonstrating in the most
significant way the influence of sun-spots or the want of sun-spots on
the passions of men--which sounds absurd. But the answer is twofold.
First, such reasoning is captious, and secondly, it is not certain that
sun-spots, or the want of them, may not influence human passions; it may
be worth while to enquire into this possible solar influence as well as
the other, which can be done by crossing the hands of the new
fortune-tellers with a sufficient amount of that precious metal which
astrologers have in all ages dedicated to the sun.
That the new system of divination is not solely solar, but partly
planetary also, is seen when we remember that the sun-spots wax and wane
in periods of time which are manifestly referable to the planetary
motions. Thus, the great solar spot-period lasts about eleven years, the
successive spotless epochs being separated on the average by about that
time; and so nearly does this period agree with the period of the planet
Jupiter's revolution around the sun, that during eight consecutive
spot-periods the spots were most numerous when Jupiter was farthest from
the sun, and it is only by going back to the periods preceding these
eight that we find a time when the reverse happened, the spots being
most numerous when Jupiter was nearest to the sun. So with various other
periods which the ingenuity of Messrs. De la Rue and Balfour Stewart has
detected, and which, under the closest scrutiny, exhibit almost exact
agreement for many successive periods, preceded and followed by almost
exact disagreement. Here, again, the captious may argue that such
alternate agreements and disagreements may be noted in every case where
two periods are not very unequal, whether there be any connection
between them or not; but much more frequently when there is no
connection: and that the only evidence really proving a connection
between planetary motions and the solar spots would be constant
agreement between solar spot periods and particular planetary periods.
But the progress of science, and especially the possible erection of a
new observatory for finding out ('for a consideration') how sun-spots
affect the weather, etc., ought not to be interfered with by captious
reasoners in this objectionable manner. Nor need any other answer be
given them. Seeing, then, that sun-spots manifestly affect the weather
and the seasons, while the planets rule the sun-spots, it is clear that
the planets really rule the seasons. And again, seeing that the planets
rule the seasons, while the seasons largely affect the well-being of men
and nations (to say nothing of animals), it follows that the planets
influence the fates of men and nations (and animals). _Quod erat
demonstrandum._
Let us return, however, to the more reasonable astrology of the
ancients, and enquire into some of the traditions which Bacon considered
worthy of attention in framing the precepts of a sound and just
astrology.
It was natural that the astrologers of old should regard the planetary
influences as depending in the main on the position of the celestial
bodies on the sky above the person or place whose fortunes were in
question. Thus two men at the same moment in Rome and in Persia would by
no means have the same horoscope cast for their nativities, so that
their fortunes, according to the principles of judicial astrology, would
be quite different. In fact it might happen that two men, born at the
same instant of time, would have all the principal circumstances of
their lives contrasted--planets riding high in the heavens of one being
below the horizon of the other, and _vice versa_.
The celestial sphere placed as at the moment of the native's birth was
divided into twelve parts by great circles supposed to pass through the
point overhead, and its opposite, the point vertically beneath the feet.
These twelve divisions were called 'houses.'
Their position is illustrated in the following figure, taken from
Raphael's Astrology.
The first, called the Ascendant House, was the portion rising above the
horizon at the east. It was regarded as the House of Life, the planets
located therein at the moment of birth having most potent influence on
the life and destiny of the native. Such planets were said to rule the
ascendant, being in the ascending house; and it is from this usage that
our familiar expression that such and such an influence is 'in the
ascendant' is derived. The next house was the House of Riches, and was
one-third of the way from the east below the horizon towards the place
of the sun at midnight. The third was the House of Kindred, short
journeys, letters, messages, etc. It was two-thirds of the way towards
the place of the midnight sun. The fourth was the House of Parents, and
was the house which the sun reached at midnight. The fifth was the House
of Children and Women, also of all sorts of amusements, theatres,
banquets, and merry-making. The sixth was the House of Sickness. The
seventh was the House of Love and Marriage. These three houses (the
fifth, sixth, and seventh) followed in order from the fourth, so as to
correspond to the part of the sun's path below the horizon, between his
place at midnight and his place when descending in the west. The
seventh, opposite to the first, was the Descendant. The eighth house was
the first house above the horizon, lying to the west, and was the House
of Death. The ninth house, next to the mid-heaven on the west, was the
House of Religion, science, learning, books, and long voyages. The
tenth, which was in the mid-heaven, or region occupied by the sun at
midday, was the House of Honour, denoting credit, renown, profession or
calling, trade, preferment, etc. The eleventh house, next to the
mid-heaven on the east, was the House of Friends. Lastly, the twelfth
house was the House of Enemies.
The houses were not all of equal potency. The _angular_ houses, which
are the first, the fourth, the seventh, and the tenth--lying east,
north, west, and south--were first in power, whether for good or evil.
The second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh houses were called _succedents_,