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A33536
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[Meteorologia, or, The true way of foreseeing and judging the inclination of the air and alteration of the weather in several regions ... by William Cock ...].
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Cock, William.
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1671
(1671)
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Wing C4794; ESTC R4959
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21,118
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84
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To the READER IN Astrology there be commâ—nly two Queries one of the lawfulness of it the other of the truth of it to both which as touching this present subject of the Planetary Influence for the Weather and Meteors The lawfulness of this although that of some other parts of Astrology be much disputed is and must be acknowledged by every one Gen. 1. 14. and Job 38. 31 32 33. But as for the truth and certainty of predictions though it be the most infallible piece of all Starry knowledg yet the ignorance of pretenders to it hath rendered it so ridiculous that our Almanacks or rather Almanack-makers through their many absurd mistakes of the weather 〈…〉 ased to thâ—mselves the sorry name 〈◊〉 Jack the Liar And were it not the learned experience and solid judgments of some few that do maintain the dignity of it by their more certain Prognosticks this knowledg had been degraded from the honour of Learning long ag As for this Discourse were it not a matter of conscience with me to hide my talent in the ground it had never seen the light and now when it is come abroad let me tell thee what is here contained is not to be found in all the Books this world doth contain This discovery by the goodness of God was gained by the Observations of many years and the Rules of it I have a thousand times put to the touchstone of trial and a thousand times I have found them to be true therefore give Glory to God the supreme Author and own me his instrument for Thy Christian Friend William Cock Pertho Edinburgensis To his Ingenious Friend Mr. WILLIAM COCK Upon His Excellent Tract of Meteorology or Judgment of the WEATHER AStrology is an Art though much abused Whereinlies hid great Mysteries unknown To many Mortals yet some are infused With those great gifts of knowledg this all own All are not born to know this secret skill And those that search the depth of Natures myne Are oft condemn'd although they act none ill By such as value Pearls like hungry Swine In this small Tract a Secret is disclosed By which the World shall clearly see and find Much truth in Starry knowledg though opposed Only by such whose words pass like the wind Here 's a Discovery made till now unknown Which may convince those which so much deny The change of aire by man may before shown To the great Credit of Astrology Let all men therefore much respect my Friend And for his pains let no man him despise But rather give him thanks unto the end Who now at length hath made us Weather-wise Sic dixit Henry Coley Philomat To my Ingenious Friend Mr. WIL. COCK Upon His ASTROLOGICAL Judgment of the WEATHER SIR to your praise our profit have you wrought What Haly Guido and the rest nere taught Your surer Observations have made known What most pretenders never could have done When Bookers worth to Lilly did appear Surpassing others in this work Oh where Were thou my Friend to inform us all A Scheme for Booker was not radical Yet to his praise we ever shall attest With famous Lilly he was one o'th'best For others skill they who have eyes may see Our errors are with them the truth with thee W. Harrison R. S. I. D. P. Philomat THE INTRODUCTION FOr their sakes that as yet understand nothing of this kind of Learning I thought good to premise this by way of Introduction to the right understanding and application of the following Work 1. They ought to acquaint themselves with the right use of an Ephemeris which they may have annually for a smal price To which purpose after they understand the Characters of the seven Planets the twelve Signs and those of the Aspects which are the only furniture of an Ephemeris they should also learn to know the distance of each Aspect in the Ecliptick or Zodiack which is briefly shewed in the following Work 2. To be exceeding ready by the help of their Ephemeris to discover what Planets are in Configuration the one with the other as also how the Moon beholds them as she passeth through the Zodiack 3. Learn to be well acquainted with the Nature of the Signes as which are Fiery which Earthy which Aery and which Watery 4. Be careful to observe the several Separations and Applications of the Planets as also their Natures and â—he Nature of the fixed Stars by whose bodies they frequently pass in their Diurnal and Annual Motions I say these and such like things as these are necessary to be known by all such as desire to be acquainted with this kind of sublime â—nowledg which leads to â—he contemplation and admiâ—ation of the great and wonderful Works of our Creator Now those that are as yet Strangers to this kind of Study may if they please acquaint themselves with the Fundamentals of Astrology by the help of a small Treatise lately published entituled Clavis Astrologiae to be sold at the Raven in Duck-lane wherein they shall receive full satisfaction in what is convenient to be known by way of introduction to this Art as also the Genethliacal part of Astrology viz. the exact handling and calculating Nativities and other things of good use to all such whose Genius leads them to this kind of Speculation Lastly Note that it is the opinion of some good Artists and curious Observators that not only the Geocentrick Aspects ought to be considered but also the Heliocentrick Aspects of the Planets which are found to cause much variation in the Weather when there hath been nothing to signifie the same otherwise Vale. THE True way of Foreseeing THE WEATHER CHAPTER I. AS in Architecture we do take inspection if the ground upon which we are to build be firm enough to bear up the weight of the house before we do provide materials and go to work with the building even so in this Discourse we will first take a view of the Fundamentals and therein discover the sandy Foundations upon which the vulgar frame of an Almanack is totteringly erected Secondly we will make choice of better Principles for a surer ground-work of weather-knowledg And Thirdly proceed to the rearing up a more trusty fabrick of Starry learning to foreknow the Seasons and their Meteors by the signs which God hath set in the firmament for that purpose For the first of these viz. the mistakes of our common Astrologer whereof the principal reasons be First Because of many things which our paper Astrologers are ignorant of which must of necessity be known before the knowledg of Influences can be attained A great sort of usurpers of this profession ignorant of Philosophy and Nature and void of well-grounded experience and if they have made observations upon the influences they are not able to try their experience by the touch-stone of true natural knowledg in which they are meer strangers and so no wonder they go wrong This defect I shall endeavour in the second Chapter of this
the one to the other which is succedaneous and almost equivalent to the great and proper aspectings of those two mighty Planets Be careful to observe this one thing that Mercury Mars and the Sun do in some manner enforce the other Planets to give an accompt of their natures and influences Mercury after a moderate way but Mars more strongly and the Sun is the most active of all the three As for example when the moist planet Venus is in Conjunction with Mercury suppose in the begining of the sign Gemini Mercury making Venus appear in her own nature we have showers and sun-shine interchangeably But when Mars is united to Venus we have more continued snows or rains but most of all it powreth down rivers when the Sun Venus do meet together These three Planets not unlike unto Chymists do distill and extract the natures of the other Planets Now to draw to a close of this point you must understand that the seven Planets which are visible in the Skies have their secret correspondents throughout the whole body of the Universe that is there be seven Planets occultly in the air and there be also hidden Stars and Planets in the bowels of the earth There is a visible Saturn and a visible Jupiter in the Firmament there is an hidden Sarurn and an hidden Jupiter and hidden Stars also within the obscurities of the earth The matter is thus then the Planets above do move their brother-Planets below of this inferior globe of earth and water to move and keep harmony with them so Saturn below sympathiseth with Saturn above in sending forth cold exhalatious for it is the earthly Saturn moved by the celestial Saturn that bringeth forth the colds out of the bowels of the earth The Second Principle is The Nature of the twelve Signs of the Zodiack Which are Aries or the sign of the Ram Taurus or the sign of the Bull Gemini or the sign of the Twins Cancer or the sign of the Crab Leo or the sign of the Lion Virgo or the sign of the Virgin Libra or the sign of the Ballance Scorpio or the sign of the Scorpion Sagittarius or the sign of the Archer Capricornus or the sign of the Goat Aquarius or the Sign of the Skinker Pisces or the sign of the Fishes Their Characters be these ♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♠♎ ♠♠♑ ♒ ♓ These twelve Constellations are set about the Firmament like a girdle through which the Sun maketh his way every year and since the Creation of the world it is the only road in the starry frame which all the Planets do move in The Sun enters the Ram in March and makes his progress through the Bull in April and he perambulates the Twins in May and so in order bestoweth a whole months time upon every Sign journeying from one to another he goeth round thorow all the Signs until he come to the Ram again and thence begin his travels for the next year If you would know the Sign where a Planet hath taken up his quarters any time you must procure the book of the motions of the Planets for that year commonly called Ephemerides The twelve Signs are divided into four sorts for some be earthy others watery a third sort aery and the fourth sort is fiery There be three of each sort the earthy which are so named because like the earth they are cold and dry namely the Bull the Virgin the Goat the watery are apt for rainy aspects being cold and moist and they are the Crab the Scorpion and the Fishes If any great Eclipse of the Sun or great Conjunction or Aspect of ♄ and ♃ do happen in them we have store of rains The three aery are the Twins the Ballance and the Skinker which are temperately warm and moist and hugely windy and chiefly for Westerly winds Jupiter in the Skinker opposed by Saturn in the Lion did raise mighty South-west winds So Jupiter lately in the Twins being in a trine-Aspect of Saturn in the Skinker did bring us mighty winds from the South-West The three fiery signs which be most apt to thunder are the Ram the Lion the Archer moderately dry but sensibly hot they stir up heats and so make the Planets very active while they reside in them When Saturn without mixture of other Planets is in them we have excessive droughts So then to judg upon the Signs Observe when a Planet is in an earthy Sign he was lately dried up by perambulating a fiery Sign and after that immediately having made his progress in an earthy Sign he is quite bound up from moisture So the Sun in the Bull is dry and Jupiter having but a temperate moisture of himself becometh sapless in an earthy Sign and Saturn in them is dry and cold except in the first 15 degrees of Capricorn he is moist Then if there be an Aspect with Jupiter in an earthy Sign the season is at least dry In like manner when a Planet hath been somewhat moistned in an airy Sign and after that having made a pretty progress in a watery Sign he is pretty well sap'd So Jupiter in the watery Signs or Triplicity occasioneth a wet time When a Planet is in the beginning of one Sign and in the end of another he is indifferent to either of them two Signs but when he is in the middle of any Sign he is then well acquainted with the nature of that Sign Mars in the midle of Leo is hot but in the midle of Cancer he is moist and a little abated of his heat but in the end of Leo and the beginning of Virgo he is neither much heightned nor much abated in his heat yet he is purely dry for both the Lion and the Virgin are dry Signs So Venus in the beginning of the Ram differeth not much from Venus in the end of the Fishes and Venus in the end of the Ram is almost of the same temper with Venus in the beginning of the Bull. Thirdly Consider in what Sign the Planet is strongest Other parts of Astrology do admit of 5 dignities of the Planets viz. House Exaltation Triplicity Tearm and Face the Planets are strongest in their Houses next to that in their Exaltations where there be some fixed Stars directly of the Planets nature next to them they are strongest in their Triplicities they have some strength also in their Terms but least of all in their Faces But Astrology as it respecteth the weather hath only reference to three of them namely House Exaltation and Triplicity The Houses of Saturn are the Goat and the Skinker his Exaltation is in the Balance his Triplicity according to some is the three airy Signs these indeed have relation to Saturn of the Skinker and in them Saturn is windy but the earthy Saturn of the Goat hath his Triplicity in the earthy signs in all which he is cold and in the Bull and the Virgin if by mixtures of other Planets he be not accidentally