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9. Non diffinias vel eligas aliquid existente Scorpione in ascendente, nec cum anguli sunt obliqui: aut si Mars sit in eis, falsus enim eveniet diffinitionis eventus, & praecipue quia Scorpio falsitatis est signum.
"Do not decide or choose anything when the Scorpio is in the ascendent, nor when the angles are oblique; or if Mars is in them, for the result of the decision will prove false--for Scorpio especially is the sign of falsity."
This aphorism pertains to the matter of Elections. Electional Astrology is an important branch of our Discipline. It concerns the procedure for choosing the most fortuitous times for undertakings of all sorts. It is probably true that the time and date for the signing of the Declaration of Independence were chosen according to electional procedures. The one time I tried it was in an attempt to choose the best time for planting a tree. The tree (a small Christmas tree) had been in a pot for several weeks and was not doing well. In order to optimize the election, I set the clock to the Exact Time and planted it during the four-minute period when a particularly fortuitous degree was rising. The tree died. The problem was that I had violated the cardinal principle for planting trees by planting it while the Moon was waning (or "decreasing in light"). There is little point in fine-tuning an Election when such a basic principle has been violated, but my assumption was that if I waited another 10 days for the New Moon, the tree would be dead by then anyway. Another important principle is that, if your Radix indicates that you will be unfortunate in the planting of Trees, no Election can improve the situation!
So what have we here? First, we are forbidden to elect ANYTHING when Scorpio is rising, that is, about 8% of the time (on the average--it varies with the time of year). Elections will also come to nothing when "the angles are oblique," but I do not know what that means--I will have to ask Beltrano when he returns. Also, Elections are forbidden when Mars is in any of the four angles. That will amount to 33% of the time, more or less. To be precise, the two strictures amount to 1/12 + 1/3, or 5/12 of the time (41%). That is why people make so many unaccountable mistakes: choices can be made successfully only 59% of the time!
Note also that Mars rules the sign of Scorpio, and that according to the system known as "zodiacal melothesia" (useful in Medical Astrology and in other contexts as well), Scorpio rules the pudenda. All false--and this is a profound set of considerations, calling for careful thought!
Once again, for Ottavio Beltrano, this is
OLD HAT
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Sir:
ReplyDeleteI read your comments on the Ninth Aphorism with the greatest interest. You have indeed provided some fresh and unusual insights!
Rather than waiting until after my return from Tbilisi, I have decided to go ahead and post some comments on the very interesting questions you raised in your commentary.
My comments are pertinent to the next-to-last paragraph of your posting. First, you expressed a desire to ask me about the meaning of anguli obliqui (“oblique angles”). This means simply that the angles fall in the “signs of short ascension” (Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini). Notice that the plural (anguli) is used. This is because oblique angles always come in pairs: if the Ascendant falls in the signs of Aries, Taurus, or Gemini, the Medium Coeli will fall in Capricornus, Aquarius, or Pisces; if the Ascendant falls in Capricornus, Aquarius, or Pisces, the Imum Coeli will fall in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini; if the M.C. falls in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini, the Descendant will fall in Capricornus, Aquarius, or Pisces; finally, if the I.C. falls in Capricornus, Aquarius, or Pisces, the Descendant will fall in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini. It follows from this that two of the angles will always be oblique. Since this would invalidate all elections, that cannot be the meaning here. Generally speaking, when “the angles” are mentioned without qualification, it is the First and Second Angles (the Ascendant and the M.C.) that are meant, and that is surely the case here. Thus, both the First and Second Angles will be oblique only when the Ascendant falls in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini (placing the M.C. in Capricornus, Aquarius, or Pisces). Furthermore, if we understand anguli in this sense, we must also emend our understanding of Mars in eis (“Mars in them”) to refer to the Ascendant and M.C. only. The grammar of the sentence requires this.
I was very interested in your attempt to compute the combined probability of the considerations enumerated in the aphorism. Now that we have established the meaning of anguli obliqui, it becomes possible to obtain a final result.
First, it is clear from our discussion that the (first and second) angles will be oblique exactly one-fourth of the time (25%). Second, Mars will be placed in either the first or second angle one-sixth of the time (16.7%). Third, Scorpio will be the rising sign one-twelfth of the time (8.33%). To compute the combined probability of any of these conditions arising in a chart, we first take the probability of the Ascendant falling in Aries, Taurus, Gemini, or Scorpio (the first and third considerations). This will happen one-third of the time (33.3%). To this we must add the one-in-six (16.67%) probability we have established for the second consideration, yielding a result of one-half the time (50%). However, we must deduct from this the probability of the (redundant) cases where both conditions obtain. This is obtained by multiplying them: 1/3 x 1/6 = 1/18 (5.55%). Deducting this result from 1/2, we get 4/9 (44.44%). This is the combined probability of the three conditions mentioned in our aphorism. Thus, a successful Election can be made five-ninths (55.55%) of the time.
BELTRANO