the quantity or quality thereof breaks out violently The which Hippocrates seemeth also to grant Lib. 4. de Morbo saying Conturbatur homo dumfebricitat cujus reisignum est quod horror alià s atque ailà s per corpus transcurrit The Extâ—â—nal cause is from some Alteration of the Spirit or Air namely when the Humours are changed from what they were by Nature as from a Cold to a Hot or from a Dry to a Moist condition contra For Hippocrates Aphoris 6. and elsewhere in his Book De Nat. Hum. tells us that Heat and Moisture in the Body move forward the Crises For saith He some Diseases proceed from naughty Dyet others from the Air we attract by means whereof we Live Wherefore Dyet as it breeds such and such Humors is the Internal and Air attracted the External cause of the Crisis That the Qualities are alter'd by the Influence of the Stars and especially the Luminaries is a thing not now to be doubted it being sufficiently apparent in the four seasons of the year how the Air with all Plants and Animals c. do diversly admit of Alteration and therefore the Watry Humors and the Spirit being Aerial are observed to operate more when they are excited than otherwise As when the Harp is touched it moves men to Dancing when the Trumpet Sounds to War like Employments Hence it appears that the universal Cause of all Crises is the Influence of the Heavens For the Coelestial Bodies by their Heat Light Motion and Configuration or Aspects to which St. Augustine adds Afflatum that is Inspiration or Instinction and St. Thomas Aptitudinis Efficaciam a virtual Aptitude or fitness do rule and govern not only the Four Elements but all Elementary Bodies and especially Man from the very first Moment of his Birth until the Ultimate Minute of his Death inciting him sometimes to Mirth another while to Sorrow now to be Sick anon Well again For as Aristotle saith Ex irroratione Coelorum felicia infaelicia germinantur in Terris c. But as touching the Efficient Radical cause thereof the Philosophers making a deeper Scrutiny thereinto do attribute it to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Unity as that which primarily and radically governs the whole Universe as the Agent and first Act from which by which and into which all things are at length Resolved Wherefore the Pythagoreans named the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Unity Apollo because that as from Unity all Numbers take their Original and Encrease So are all things not otherwise than from One alone Surely the same Act which is the Word works centrally and alone from the Center to the Circumference for God is contained in the Heavens as a Center is within its Circle but by a different manner according to the variety of the Subject whereon it appears The Form or Essence of the Agent not being changed which is always Permanent and the same Wherefore it is evident that there is but only One Agent in every Region of this World and but only One Act of his yet divers and sundry Effects according to the manifold condition of the Organical Subject the thing Receiving or Suffering Whereof more in Dr. Flud in Cris. Mysterio There are two Principal sorts of Crises the One as in Acute Diseases and Lunar The Other in Chronical Diseases and Solar Such Crises as take their Original from their proper Principle or from an Internal cause as do the Crises Synochorum depend upon the Motion of the Moon But such as Proceed from the Air or from an External Cause as do the Crises of all Pestilential Feavers are govern'd both of the Sun and Moon Of the Sun if respect be had of the year if of the Month only then of the Moon Wherefore Acute diseases follow the Motion of the Moon and her configurations or Aspects to the place she was in at the first beginning of the disease But here we must Note that in Acute Diseases the Aspects or Radiations of the Moon viz. her Quartiles and Oppositions are not to be counted as if they should begin from her Conjunction with the Sun but from the degree and minute she is in at the Beginning of the Disease until her return to the same Radical Point which is performed in 27 days 8 hours or thereabouts Of Acute Diseases some are Acuti simpliciter simply Acute some Acuti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu Decidentia or from Mutation and Degeneration some Peracuti very Sharp others Perperacuti Exceedingly Sharp Acuti simpliciter are they which from the 8. to the 10 11 14 20 and 21 day Run to the very height some whereof are called Menstrui because absolved within the space of a Lunar Month. Acuti ex decidentiâ from Diminishing or Degeneration are such as are judged imperfectly For sometimes they wax worse in respect of the Symptoms and are sometimes Remitted according as the Moon meets with the Good and Evil Aspects of the Good or Bad Planets And oftentimes they Degenerate from being Acute and become Chronical As when a Pleurisie turns into an Empiema or an Ulcer in the Breast So when a Quotidian Feaver becomes a Hectick or from an Intermittent degenerates into a Quotidian Contrà And these Diseases are judged within 40 Days Peracuti are such as are judged the 5 6 7 and 8 days in which number are the Febres causones Synochae Cholera Angina Peripneumonia Lethargus and the like Perperacuti be such as are absolved within the Space of 3 days or 4 at the utmost and in that time terminated either with Recovery or Death of which sorts are all Pestilential Feavers the Apoplexy Pleurisie Phrensie c. Chronical Diseases follow the Motion of the Sun Acquiring a Crisis after the 40 th day and Judgment when the Sun attains to the Quadrates as is Evident in Hectiques Dropsies and Quaternaries When he comes to the Sextiles and Trines there are only some Indicative Motions made of such Effects as follow in the Opposition Nevertheless they are oftentimes Anticipated or Protracted according as the Planets he meets with help or hinder and for the better if by Nature those Planets be Benevolent if Malevolent for the worse And the like we are subject to in the whole course of our Lives Nam Morbus est Modus vitae Partialis as Campanella Lib. 4. Medicinal most ingeniously observes Moreover the Crises are thus generally distinguished viz. Salvae Dubiae seu suspiciosae Judicatae seu periditatae non Judicatae Crisis Salva or safe is that which happens without any great and Pernicious Accidents Crisis Dubia doubtful or Suspicious which appears with great and Pernicious Accidents and is the most dangerous Crisis Judicata or Hazarded is when on the 4 th day the Signs of Concoction do appear and therefore pâ—aesage the Disease to be judged on the Seventh day Crisis non judicata or not Judged is when the Crisis is absolved the Seventh day yet was not to be Judged the Fourth
in the Thirteenth of Queen Elizabeth a Hill of Twenty Acres with a Rock under it at Kinnaston in Hereford-shire The like another Anno 1583. which removed a Field of three Acres at Blackmore in Dorset-shire 6. Great Winds and Tempests manifest Changes and diversities of the Times Infection of the Air and all that Breath in it especially of such Creatures as are accounted Irrational viz. Oxen Swine and Sheep whose Heads are inclined downward for the Vapours that ascend are deadly Poysonous bringing Plagues and Pestilence as you may Read in Pliny Lib. 2. And in Seneca's Natural Questions 7. Cardan Lib. de Rer. Var. Cap. 72. goes yet a little further For saith he Terrae motus magni Bellum out Pestem Nunciant vel Tyrannicam Oppressionem efficiunt segetum inopiam Famem i. e. Great Earthquakes do presage a War or Pestilence or at least some grievous Oppression they cause a scarcity of Corn and a Famine Sundry Excellent Rules shewing by what Laws the Weather is Governed and how to discover the various Alteration of the same TO Satisfie the Learned and Ingenious part of the World on what grounds we proceed in judging of the Alteration of the Air and to convince another sort of People who reflecting on Marsianus his Rule Si vis divinare totum contrarium ad unguem dicito ejus quod Astrologi pollicentur Suppose we do but guess at the Weather and believe that if they should say Rain when the Astrologer writes fair and dry Weather or Calm when he fore-tells Winds they should hit the Mark as often as the Astrologer I will once for all hint a few of the many Causes which either are or should be considered by all such as aim at Credit or Truth in their Predictions of this kind First then you must know that when the Sun according to appearance wheels to a Star of a hot Nature as to Mars or Jupiter it argues a hot or warm disposition of the Air If to a Star of a cold Nature as Saturn or Mercury a distemper'd Air through the extremity of Cold. And the mutual Conjunction of the Stars that be of one Complexion augments the same Quality As the Conjunction of Jupiter and Mars by a two-fold vertue of their Heat make the lower Region of the Air more fervent Many Planets especially the Superiour in Northern Signs a hot Summer or a temperate Winter The contrary when many Planets the three Superiours chiefly are in Southern Signs For so they signifie a Cold and Moist Peristasis of the Air and a colder Winter Saturn in Southern Signs and especially in Capricorn and Aquarius Terrible Winters of Frost and Cold Summers remiss in Heat a Famine an evil increase of Wine and of all such Fruits as delight in the Sun Moreover when the Cold Nature of Saturn is duplicated by the presence of Mercury it makes the Quality of the Season Colder But if such a Conjunction or Aspect of the Planets falls out at the New or Full Moon or at any other Aspect of the Luminaries the vertue thereof shall appear much more Effectually nay if within three days preceding a New Moon it addeth Vigour to the Vertue of such a Planetary Conjunction or Aspect But when Signs of a contrary Nature be united by commixture of Mutual Aspects then shall a temperate affection of the Air attend the same The like you may Judge if there happen at the same time Constellations of different Natures whereof one produceth Frost and Cold the other Heat or if one of them bode a Dry Air the other a Moist for so of necessity a mean is produced The Influences of contrary Constellations mutually impeding and mitigating one another As the Conjunction of the Sun and Jupiter or Mars when both in Fiery Signs brings with it greater Heat than if one were in a Cold Sign and the other in a Hot. Furthermore the Full and New Moons that be Celebrated in Angles the Horoscope especially or Angle of the Earth are usually accompanied with Rain the same Day they happen But here you must Note That the Effects of the Stars do often-times shew themselves before they come into Partile Configuration that is to say during the time of their Access or Application one to another and sometimes in their defluxion or separation which the Ancient Grecian Astrologers named Epichemasin and Prochemasin There are some who not altogether without Reason Erect Schemes to the Apparent times of the Conjunctions of the Luminaries And having found the Almuten of the Figure and observed what Planets be Angular direct the Horoscope of the Conjunction allowing one Day for every thirteen Degrees eleven Minutes the mean Motion of the Moon in one Day For that when the Horoscope comes by such Direction to any Planet that was then Angular or to the Lord of the Lunation some Change of Air to Rain or Snow or Wind at least a dark Cloudy Air succeedeth Consider likewise the Position of the Lord of the Lunation in the Figure and the Latitude of the Moon for from thence come the Winds that occasion Tempests Take notice also when the Moon comes wâ—â—hin the Beams of the Lord of the Figure or the Angular Planets for then principally does she manifest her self according to the Nature of the Planet The Conjunction of the Planets with Fixed Stars not far distant from the Ecliptique produce a Notable Alteration of the Air And when the Stars leave one Sign and enter into another they betoken Showers Yet still a regard must be had to the Qualities of the Signs and Seasons As if the Mutation be in a Watry Sign and in the Winter or Spring then may Rain or Snow be safely denounced Snow in Winter if so be a Cold Peristasis is impending The General Rule is Grandines in Aprili Octobri Nives in Hyeme in Aestate Tonitrua A special regard must be had to the Nature of the Earth and Air peculiar to the Horizon you live in or Write for because that in all places they are not of a like Nature And no less to the Winds that agree to the particular Season of the Year for as much as they blow not alike in all places some being Topical and peculiar to one place others Chronical which come at a certain time of the Year Wherefore Cardan Seg. 7. Aph. 29. Oportâ—t Coelum cognoscere Regionis quo tempore Anni sit tempestuosum tum etiam cui signo Regio magis conveniat si veritatem in judicando assequi velimus In the next place let the Interval of the Sun Moon and Planets be Observed which consists of the Aggregate of the Sun and Planets Orbs upon the Access or deflux thereof and especially in the Corporal Conjunction of the Planets As in the Sun's Application to a Conjunction with Saturn because the Sun's Orb consists of twelve Degrees and Saturn's of Nine Therefore so soon as the Sun shall be distant from him not more than Twenty one Degrees
hath noted and supputated both Superterranean and Subterranean whilst scarce two notable Ones fell out in our Hemisphere Morâ—over he saith that in Lunar Eclipses we are dâ—prived of the Light and Heat of the Sun which at other times is reflected by the Moon wholly if the Eclipse be Total but in part if Partil and only so long as the Eclipse lasteth But we are not more deprived of the Influence and Elemental Efficacies of the Moon than if there had been no Eclipse at all because that between Her and Us there is nothing interposed which might dull or diminish her Elemental or Influential vertues And this is true at least in respect of Influence as well of Subterranean as Superterranean Lunar Eclipses Whence it is that the Sublunary Nature is more affected by Solar Eclipses than Lunar by reason of the thereon imminute Influence of the Sun towards us and in all Eclipses the Influx of the Moon exceeds the Influx of the Sun but most in Lunar Eclipses He condemns the Ancients who thought that in Eclipses the Action of the Deficient Luminary ceased upon these Inferiours because they supposed the Luminaries to Act by Light only and were therefore unhappily Opinionated that some one of the Lesser Planets might execute the Office of the Deficient Luminary Again he saith that the Earth and its Inhabitants are more strongly disposed by the Eclipses of the Luminaries than by the other Conjunctions or Oppositions of the Sun and Moon because virtus unita fortior est But in Eclipses the Rays of the Sun and Moon are united upon the same time or very near it which is drawn from them to the Earth And the Earth is found in a Solar Eclipse within a Cone which drawn from both the Luminaries as from its Base binds the Earth by its Ambite But in a Lunar Eclipse 't is found within a Column the extreams whereof are the Disci of the Sun and Moon Besides in every Eclipse both the Luminaries are under the Ecliptick where the Zodiacal vertue most flourisheth Whence it followeth That an Eclipse by how much greater and of longer continuance it is by so much greater are the effects it produceth Because that in great Eclipses the Central Raies of the Sun and Moon are more united in the same Line which passeth over the Earth and remain longer united Then he condemns Ptolemy and all other Astrologers even till these present days as much mistaken about Eclipses in these two following things First in limiting the places of the Earth to which the Effects of every Eclipse belong For that they would have them appropriated to those Regions and Provinces which are under the Sign wherein the Eclipse falls or others of the same Trigon according to that distribution of the Earth which Ptolemy hath allotted to the twelve Signs of the Zodiaque But forasmuch as that Distribution is but a meer Fiction as he hath endeavoured to prove Lib. 20. Sect. 1. Cap. 2. it is evident they have erred in limiting certain places of the Earth wherein the Effects of an Eclipse shall happen and the rather for that an Eclipse as every other Lunation is an Universal Cause universally active throughout the whole Circuit of the Earth but in every place thereof particularly Active according to the particular posture of the Eclipse and of the whole Heavens in respect of that place of the Earth wherein yet an Eclipse is frequently not allowed to have any Effect according to the Ancients because the place is not under the Sign wherein the defect happens or any of that Trigon which saith he is Hallucinatio intolerabilis ab Astrologicis principiis alienissima And to such as by way of Objection do offer Ptolemy's Doctrine viz. Pro locis particularibus urbibus advertere ad loca Luminarium Cardines figurae Coelestis sub qua urbes ipsae conditae sunt aut ad Medium Coeli in Genituris Principum qui ipsis urbibus dominantur Ac si haec familiaritatem seu convenientiam habeant cum locis Luminarium Cardinum in figura Deliquii Effectus ad ipsas urbes pertinere He thus Answers That the Coelestial Bodies have no Influence on things made by Art at least per se as he seems to have proved Lib. 20. Sect. 4. Cap. 8. and therefore overthrows the foundation of that Doctrine of Cities although it should be deduced from their Radical Figure whereof notwithstanding scarce any One remaineth Now as to what belongs to the Medium Coeli of Princes admitting the Familiarity aforesaid viz. That an Eclipse happens in the Medium Coeli of the Radical Figure of a Prince Or that in both Figures to wit that of the Geniture and the Eclipse the Medium Coeli should be one and the same that Eclipse indeed shall have signification upon the Actions and particular Fate of the Prince But as for what concerns the Citizens Earth Water and Air as Plagues Barrenness c. they shall not be thence foreseen unless peradventure by Accident so far forth as the Prince being actively or passively disposed to War by the similitude of the Figures Plagues and Barrenness c. may thence ensue But these things contribute nothing to the Constitution of the Air at least of Heat Cold Moisture and Drought 2. The second thing wherein he charges the Ancients to have Erred is in determining and limiting the Subject upon which an Eclipse shall especially operate by the Form and Nature of the Constellation wherein the Eclipse falls saying that if the Constellation be Human as Gemini Virgo Aquarius Men shall be affected and if Beastial as Aries Taurus Cancer Leo c. Beasts so and so called For that these names do not truly agree to the twelve Signs of the Zodiaque which ought properly to be called by the names of the Planets there predominating whose Natures they resemble Thus much Morinus whose new and uncouth Doctrine till either it be Refelled or Received by the Learned suspends my Judgments in this matter Of the Crises in Diseases to find out the same and how to judge thereof according to Durret CRisis is thus defined by Galen Est velox repentina morbi mutatio quâ Infirmus vel ad salutem vel ad mortem deducitur and indeed every swift and sudden Mutation whether it be in the Moon the Air or in a diseased Body is by him so called for that it seems to execute the Judicial Sentence be it for the Life or Death of the Patient It is so called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Latin is judico decerno or sententiam fero whence these Days are Metaphorically termed Critici Judiciales or Judiciarii Decernentes or Decretorii The cause thereof is two-fold Internal External The Internal is taken from its own proper Principle the which is also twofold For 1. Either Nature would expel some Noxious Humor 2. Or else the Humour it self not yet digested nor prepared to Excretion offending Nature either by
mutatis autem temperamentis mutantur mores mutatis moribus Principum Subditorum Sequitur mutatio Reip. Heaven saith he most effectually Operates upon a Human Body best agreeable to it self and so also on the Body both of the Prince himself and his Subjects to wit so as that it changeth the Temperaments of Mens Bodies and with those Temperaments their manners or conditions and the manners or conditions of Princes and Subjects being changed a mutation of the Commonwealth followeth And with him agrees that excellent Mathematician and Astrologer Origanus part 3. Membr 2. Cap. 1. Non modo in Regnis varias mutationes translationes animadvertimus dum modo hos modo illos Regnare atque aliis Dominari comperimus verum etiam in ipsa superficie terrae nihil esse perpetuum ex collatione temporum locorum Siccum humido humidum sicco permutari terrasque alias aquis aboleri alias assurgere deprehendimus We Observe not only sundry Changes and Translations of Kingdoms whilst these and these Planets reign and bear Rule with others but also that upon the whole surface of the Earth there is nothings perpetual and by comparing of Times and Places perceive Siccity chang'd into Moisture Moisture to Siccity some Countries destroy'd others increas'd by Waters Thus He and that very truly For although God the Author of Nature and the First Cause of every Good thing changes Countries and Transfers Kingdoms at his pleasure yet seeing he hath engraven in the Book of Nature and chiefly in Heaven which measureth Times the Motions and Mutations of all things things that be Invisible even his own eternal Power for the greatest part yea and exposed Heaven unto our view that it might be for signs of Present and Future things I shall not think it contrary to true Religion or Good Manners if with Fear and Reverence I enquire the Superior Natural Causes of those Mutations so long as I ascribe no necessity thereunto Maugre the Croaking and Coaxation of some few Epileptique Prophets and other Religious Lunatiques who prate and perswade the Contrary The First Cause is the Change of the Absides of the Planets whereby the Five Planets together with the Sun transfer the Places in which they are highest and most remote from the Center of the Earth so also the Places wherein they are lowest and nearest thereunto and together with those Places their swiftness and slowness of Motion into several parts of the Zodiaque according to the succession of the Signs whereof Cardan Seg. 1. Aph. 37. in these words Permutationes Absidum Regna Regiones Religiones mutant Changes of the Absides alter Kingdoms Regions and Religions Thus from the Change of Saturn's Absis into Cancer Mahomet had his growth and by the Change thereof into Capricorn the Sign Opposite thereunto receives he Detriment and at length a final Destruction Spinaeus an Excellent Astrologian and Physician to the Duke of Mantua in his Catastrophe Mundi Genuinely English'd by the Polite Quill of my Oaken Friend Elias Ashmole Esq tells us that Mahomets Destruction initiated Anno 1630 c. and this he chiefly deduces from the Change of Saturn's Absiâ— out of Sagittary into Capricorn which indeed I confess fell out according to the Prutenick Tables in the end of the year 1630. But by the more accurate observations of latâ—r Authors the Absis of Saturn continues in Sagittary for many years yet to come For by the Philolaique Tables the best extant it enters not Capricorn until the beginning of the year 1728. and therefore it could not in the least be unless we will have the Effect precede its Cause that Mahomets Destruction commenc'd in this respect in or near the year 1630. Nevertheless I believe with Spinaeus that the many Revolutions of the Heavens in and about that year have already produced a sensible Commencement of Detriment unto him yet conclude not his final Destruction until after the year 1728. Wherein Saturns Absis will be Changed into Capricorn and that several other Causes concur to extirpate him and his Law There is no other change of the Absis of any Planet falling out in our time save only the Absis of Mars and this happen'd according to Bullialdus in the latter end of the year 1647. which was from Leo to Virgo and what a strange mutation ensued the year following viz. A Dissolution of the English Monarchy c. the whole World can witness which very thing signally confirms that of Ludovic de Reg. Aph. 9. Mutantur Regna Dominia Fides Sectaeque ac opiniones hominum dum mutantur Auges Planetarum de signo in signum dico illarum gentium quarum significator erit Planeta Augis permutatae Kingdoms and Governments Faith Religions and Opinions of Men are changed when the Auges or Absides of the Planets are changed from one Sign to another I mean the Kingdoms Governments Faith Religions and Opinions of such Nations as have for their significator the Planet whose Auge is changed Now all men know who know any thing of this Nature that Aries is the Ascendant and Mars Lord thereof the significator of England and so he is of France Germany Denmark and several other places who are herein no less concern'd than the English as a few years will assuredly manifest Mutatioque erit ad bonum vel malum secundum Naturam significatorum superiorum illorum temporum secundum Naturam signi mutationis And this change saith that same Author and Aphorisme shall be to Good or Evil according to the Nature of the chief significators of those times and Sign of Mutation We know Saturn Mars and Mercury have born the greatest sway in almost every Eclipse Revoâ—ution and other notable Configurations of the Planets 〈◊〉 and since that year especially in Two of the Three Eclipses of 1652. and in the great and Total Eclipse Anno 1653. in March And as for the Sign into which this change was made it is Virgo the principal house of Mercury a Cold and Dry Melancholy Barren Sign whereby we may easily judge of what Nature the Change is I spare to Expatiate Another Cause is the Change of the Sun's Eccentricity described of Copernicus cap. 20 lib. 3. Revol by the Motion of a little Circle having the Center of the Eccentrick in its Circumference and finishing its Period in 3434 years The year 1653. Offers it the least that can be according to Rheinoldus and Copernicus being 32190. such parts as the Eccentrick hath 1000000 or Part 1. 55′ 53″ 24‴ where the Semidiameter of the Suns Eccentricity hath 60. The greatest viz. 2° 3â— 7″ happen'd 36 years before Christ about the beginning of the Roman Monarchy Georgius Joachimâ—â— Rheticus callled this Circle the Wheel of Fortune by whose Revolutions saith he the Monarchies of the world assume their Commencements and Changes For like as the Roman Empire obtain'd its Highest Dignity when the Eccentricity was greatest so the same decreasing it is very much Impaired
thereof from the Center of the Earth 3. That the Head thereof be Sphaerical or near Sphaerical But for my own part as I was not furnished with Instruments proper for this purpose so I cannot hear of any one of our Learned English Astronomers and we have not a few such in Oxford and elsewhere in England unless at London the Reader of Gresham Colledge that made any Curious Observations thereof What was done by Gassendus Bullialdus Hevelius or other Famous Observers in Foreign Parts will doubtless e're long be produced to Light The Diameter of it as it appear'd to the Eye was not so little as 15 Inches I mean when it seemed greatest And therefore if as saith the Gentleman formerly and but now instanced All the Symptoms thereof agree with those which have been evinced to be Coelestial it must needs be of a huge and incredible Magnitude Which imports the Fame Renown and Vehemency of its Effects For quo major est Stella eo est Efficacior The greater any Star or Comet is the more Efficacious Nevertheless it is true and I instance it by way of Caution that lesser Stars do often-times Operate more effectually upon Sublunary things than others that be greater but it is when nearer thereunto The like knowledge should next be had of the Magnitude of the Tail thereof which nevertheless is more uncertain by reason of the inconstant vibration and ejection of its Rays but having not the distance of the Comets Head nor the distance of the extremity of the Tail thereof from the Centre of the Earth neither the apparent distance of the Head from the extremity of the Tail which three things are necessarily requisite hereunto I forbear further mention thereof 5. The Fifth and last thing Observable are the Fixed Stars near to which this Comet first appeared Touching which we must note That this Comet first began in the last part of the Bull 's Asterism wherein are the Horns of the Bull Aldebaran and the Hyades Stars so called of the Nature of Mars So likewise the Buckler Foot and left Shoulder of Orion of the Nature of Mars Mercury Jupiter and Saturn and which are usually the Causes of Lightning Thunder and Fiery Impressions Thus then it appears that the quality of the Events presaged by this Comet are clearly of the Nature of Mercury and Mars And to tell you what they are is the next thing intended The Dominion of Mercury portends great Calamity unto all those that Live by their own Industry and such as love and favour the Muses with the Death of some great Personage Wars Famine and Pestilence of Diseases the Phrenzy Lethargy Epilepsie and griefs of the Head Mars presageth of Sickly Contagious and unpleasant Winds the drying up of Fountains and Rivers Scarcity and Putrefaction of Fruits much and often Thunder Coruscations and Lightning The Seas pester'd and troubled more than ordinary with frequent Ship-wracks of Brawlings Contentions Wars Vexations Tumults Seditions and other Mischiefs Of Diseases most cruel Dysenteries or Bloody-Fluxes Pestilent Fevers and Tertian Agues and Swellings full of heat and redness commonly called St. Anthony's Fire Phrensies Untimely Births and hot Sicknesses the Hemorrhoides or Piles Dotages Acute and Chronick Diseases with others of like Nature And saith Cardan habet ut dixi semper hoc praecipuum Cometes à deliquio distinctum ut Martis de Mercurio furentium damna significet A Comet as I have told you hath always this special distinction from an Eclipse That it signifies losses and hurt to be done by the Outrages of Souldiers and Mercurialists He adds further Dissidium permutationem Fulgura Tonitrua Terrae Motus Ventos graves Saevas tempestates Novas Artes Inventiones omnes tamen humano generi perniciosas That is Deceit and Bartering Thunder and Lightning Earthquakes Grievous Winds Cruel Tempests New Arts and Inventions yet those Mischievous to Humane kind Moreover the same Cardan tells us Seg. 3. Aphor. 117. Cometae Mobiles bella indicant ab externis That movable Comets do proclaim Wars from or by means of Foreigners and Strangers Again in another place Semper videntur quae contra ordinem Signorum feruntur mutationes Legum significare Those Comets which are moved contrary to the Order of the Signs are always observed to signifie Change of Laws And he gives the Reason thereof Quod motus is primi Coeli fit atque ob id à Deo vel supremo Rectore Because that motion follows the Primum Mobile and is therefore from God or other Supream Governour of our Affairs Haly Rhadoan is likewise of Opinion that a Retrograde Comet doth signifie Haereses Legum turbas c. Heresies and varieties of Laws than which saith he none are crueller seeing that in all other Evils Men may know they work Mischiefs but in the Breaches and Debates of Laws and Heresies and in Wars that be raised by reason of different Laws when Men exercise their Cruelty upon Infants and little Children and kill Men with Torments and Fire lead away Captives into Bondage spoil the Fields and destroy whole Cities with Fire some think they do God good Service others play the Hypocrites And our Learned Dee Aphor. 88. plainly tells us that Planeta Retrogradus c. A Retrograde Planet or Comet seems after a sort to infringe the constant Order of Nature in that it finishes its daily Motion in shorter time than doth the Aequator it self Let us yet hear what Junctinus says fol. 318. Si apparuerit aliqua ex Stellis Cometis c. If any one Comet saith he shall appear in Gemini it foreshews an appearance of Wantonness and Fornication with a Reverence of Venereal Incests in Men That Religious Persons and Men serving God shall be cast down and nothing regarded It shall signifie Brawling and Contention Seed-Plots of War and Sicknesses whereby shall follow the Death of Children and Young Men especially Moreover Abortive-Births Destruction of Birds Famine Thunder and Coruscations with strong Winds that shall tear up young Trees by the middle Again Si apparuerit aliqui ex Stellis Cometis in Tauro c. If any Comet saith he shall appear in Taurus it imports the bad state and condition of Men that little of good shall befall them and the Injuries of Rebels that be in those Regions or Countries towards them It is also wont to portend the Death of some Great Man Captivities Wrongs and a Toleration of Unlawful things Besides Detriment unto whole Herds and Droves of Cattel strong Winds Corruption of Corn and Fruits very much Cold in its Season with a horrible Earthquake Vehement Sicknesses and dry Diseases as Scabs and Itches And thus much of the Quality or Nature of this Comets Effects 2. The Second thing to be enquired after are the Places and Persons thereby threatned and endanger'd For the knowledge whereof we must consider 1. The inclination of the Comets Tail or Rays for look what Regions or Countries the same did respect and those shall
and last Particular laid down by Ptolemy and that is the time of these Events In due search whereof we are to consider the Habit of the Comet in respect of the Sun Cometa Orientalis effectum suum citius ostendit Occidentalis tardius An Oriental Comet doth quickly shew its Effects but an Occidental as this was more slowly And this in the general In Specie saith Cardan quantum temporis requiritur Prolemaeus non dixit Ptolemy hath left us no special Rule whereby to know the precise beginning of a Comets Effects Howbeit Cardan is of Opinion that the beginnings thereof are as in Eclipses deferred so many Months as there shall be inequal hours intercepted between the Comet and the Ascendant of the Figure erected to the middle time of its appearance Yet saith he Hoc unum interest quod semina corum quae pâ—r Cometam significantur diutius proferuntur This one thing is considerable that sometimes the Generation or Seeds of those things which are signified by a Comet are deferred longer And he gives the Example of our Saviour at whose Birth there appeared a Comet in the East which the Wise Men saw and came therefore to Worship him They called it a Star by a common name as well because Comets are called Stars as also for that it was most fair and beautiful and resembling those that usually shine by Night Which Star or Comet saith he pronounced the Seditions and Troubles that succeeded by the Promulgation of the Faith of Christ These many Exiles and Martyrs and afterwards the Kingdom of Peace and Salvation to be established The Author and King of which CHRIST was born in the very Glory of the Comet because it appeared in the East Nevertheless the Effects thereof that is to say the Preaching and Promulgation of his Law the Seditions and Tumults of the People the Persecutions Banishments Deaths Wars and Kingdoms erected in a Christian Name scarce had their Commencement Thirty Years after and persevere until this very day So on the contrary in 1264. there appeared an unhappy Comet in the East extending its Hairs or Rays if we Credit the Story to the Mid-heaven which Comet continued almost Nine Months together Nâ—ither sooner vanished it than Pope Urban dyed After whose death Charles with an Army of Frâ—nch marched against Manfrâ—dus and having Vanquished him possesses himself of the Kingdom of Naples Two Years after the Paeni or Carthaginians invaded Spain and there committed great Cruelty nevertheless they were afterwards repulsâ—d and slam At the same time there were great Tumults raised in Hetruria What followed In the third Year after the Comet Banducar or rather Bandoduchar King of Babylon and Assyria invaded Armenia with a mighty Army Conquered Antioch and committed most grievous slaughters upon the Christians In the fourth Year after the Comet Conradinus the Suevian being Vanquished and taken Captive by Charles Earl of Provence and Sicily and as Aemilius writes the declared King of Jerusalem was Beheaded In the fifth Year Lewis the Ninth King of France passing into Africa was taken at Carthage or as others say at Tunera and dyed of a Flux the greatest part of his Army being first destroyed by Famine and Pestilence Whose Death was no sooner heard of than the aforesaid Charles enforced the King of the Carthaginians to a Yearly Tribute In the Sixth Year the Scythians now called Tartars assisting the Armenians the Assyrians or Saracens being Vanquished and fled freed Asia and long kept it by the consent of the Christians So that the measure of time limiting the beginning and ending of a Comets Effects cannot be prefixed unless as Ptolemy describeth for so indeed they may be conjectured But to adventure on feigned proportions of time where none is in Nature were ridiculous Diuturni Cometae effectuum magnitudinem diuturnitatem stabilemque in perturbatione quam afferunt statum significant Effectus minores minus stabiles minus Diuturni Cometae afferunt Comets that continue long saith Origanus import the Magnitude and continuance of their Effects and a stedfast condition in the Trouble or Aâ—â—iction they bring But such as continue a shorter time lesser Effects and not so durable This Comet continued twenty three days or thereabouts and 't is probable the Effects may continue as many Years but I dare not conclude so For although that proportion should hold true where the Effects of Comets meeting with no obstruction terminate per se their virtue being extinguished like as it falls out in all other Natural Causes Yet when another Comet Eclipse or Great Conjunction supervenes which is of a contrary Nature it everts the Decrees of the former and so eludes us as to any certain proportion of time limiting their Effects Teaching how Astrology may be restored from Morinus viz. Johannes Baptista Morinus Doctor in Physick and Physician in Ordinary to the Duke of Luxemburgh after his Epistles to the South and North Astrologers for restoring of Astrology Printed at Paris Anno 1628. delivers these six following Articles c. as necessary for the Confirmation and Demonstration thereof by Principles which Articles c. I have faithfully Translated and here inserted in hope some Noble Spirits endued with Ability of Parts and Purse may timely attempt the Prosecution thereof 1. FIrst to Collect from the Histories of several Nations of the World the most Eminent and Notable Changes that have therein happened in respect of Sects Empires Kingdoms Wars Famines Deluges c. with the exact times of their Changes and the true postures of the Constellations and Planets preceding the same 2. To observe the Changes of the Air in respect of Heat Cold Moisture and Drought as also the Winds throughout the whole Latitude of the Earth And then the different places of Longitude in their Natures and Qualities at the same and at several times Erecting Coelestial Figures most congruous for that purpose and to mark well how from thence Plants Brutes and Men are affected and all these Observations to compare one with another 3. To erect the several Nativities of such as dyed not long after they were Born of those that be Sickly or any ways Hurt Blind Lame Ulcerated Wounded Burnt Mutilated c. diligently observing the Parts so affected the which may most conveniently be done in a spacious City such as Paris is where are many Hospitals and Poor People innumerable many Chirurgeons and every day various Casualties 4. By help of the Physicians to find out if possible the Beginnings Species Accidents and Solutions of all Acute and daily Diseases that every where abound Erecting Coelestial Schemes to those Beginnings And that especially at Paris where the exorbitant Practice of frequent Blood-letting does much disturb Natures Motions and Crises in Diseases and very often elude and frustrate the Astrological Predictions of the Ancients concerning them 5. What the Ancient Astrologers have delivered on every Subject the same to Collect and Observe in several by diligent reading thereof and to
thereof Otherwise we can hardly explain this matter because of his Inscrutable Majesty That therefore the Celestial Bodies are Animate is hence rightly concluded For it were absurd to deny a Life and Soul to be in Heaven and the Stars the which Inspire both Life and Soul even in the vilest of these Inferiour Bodies They give Life unto Plants which grow without Natural Seed as we see in the Mountains and Places untill'd So likewise to the Earth For if a Lump be taken out of the Bowels thereof and for some time exposed to the Rays of the Sun it yieldeth Grass or some Herbs oftentimes the twiggs of little Trees The Stars also bestow Life upon Animals not generated by Copulation Nor can we be so stupid as to imagine that Plants Trees c. are of a Nobler Condition than the Celestial Bodies This manifest perpetual Operation cannot come but from a Pure and Cleansed Body These things I suppose are sufficient to prove the World hath a Soul placed in Heaven as in the most Noble Part thereof But perhaps you desire it may be further Proved that these Celestial Souls are Rational and participate of the Divine Mind The Matter is not obscure For if the World as Plato saith be the best effect that could be of goodness it self That is of GOD for we Germans so express it because Got sounds nothing else with us than Gut if we rightly enquire the Reason of the Idiom it must certainly participate not only of Life Sense and Reason but also of Intelligence The Soul is the Perfection of the Body And that Body most Perfect which hath the Perfectest Soul Wherefore if the Celestial Bodies be most Perfect they must of necessity enjoy the most Perfect Souls The Heavens therefore do Participate of the Intellect and Mind Which very thing the Platonicks plainly approve by Musical Concords For seeing that Musical Concord is as it were Living Rational and Efficaâ—ious what Resemblance hath it unto Life it self how Pleasing is it to the Mind and even Ravisheth the whole Man And which is more the Mind and all things else are made by the Soul By her they are preserved by her they are moved And therefore Plato did not amiss when he Described the Soul to be she that made preserved and moved all Natural things especially by Musical Numbers and Proportion constituted I say by Numbers not Mathematical as some Calumniate but by Ideal and Metaphysical Proportions of Numbers This Harmony consisteth altogether in Motion because that by an Aërial Nature posited in Motion it moveth the Body By a Purified Air it stirs up the Aërial Spirit the Chain of Soul and Body By affect it at once disposeth the Sense and Affection By signification it Operates upon the Mind Lastly through this Motion of the subtil Air it penetrates vehemently It floweth sweetly through the Contemplation And by its conform Quality poureth out it self with a wonderful Pleasure By its Nature as well Spiritual as Material it at once Ravisheth and Claimeth all that is Man Wherefore let us seriously consider how the Sounds of most sweet Musick elevate and as it were double and treble our Minds And in like sort judge the Melody of the Celestial Bodies who now by a slower but anon by a swifter Motion produce a tone that is Grave or Acute Whereunto agree in these Sublunaries Gravity and Levity Cold and Heat Moisture and Dryness of Elements So likewise Matter and Form in the Gâ—neration of things Meekness and Magnanimity Temperance and Fortitude in Humane Affairs Seeing therefore that Motion is â—very where Free in its own Nature it might easily prevaricate and wander unless it were Ruled by the Intellect and Mind The which we cannot further enquire of in this Place according to the Exigence of the Matter Besides it is absurd for us to have Reasons of our own works For the Celestial Souls and so the Soul of the Universe have no Reasons of theirs of whose Spirit even we our selves are generated and live continually If the Lesser World enjoy an Intelligent Soul such also enjoys the Greater But we will cease to prosecute this any further concluding that the World is a System of Celâ—stial and Terrestrial Bodies constant in Order Number and Measure but Living Animate Intellectual Whence we safely gather that the Soul of the World is a certain singular Life filling all things vivifying all things producing and connecting all things that it may accomplish and preserve one Fabrick of the whole World and be as a Monochord sounding out by the three-fold kinds of Creatures Intellectual Celestial and Corruptible at one Blast one only Life The Mystery of Unity is but known of a few Now can we here pass by the Authority both of the Holy Scriptures and also of the most approved Philosophers Deut. 4.19 Thou shalt not Worship the Sun Moon and Stars which God hath Distributed to all Nations under Heaven Deut. 28.12 God shall open unto thee his good Treasure the Heaven c. Deut. 33.13 Concerning Joseph Thy Blessing shall be of the Precious things of the Sun and of the Precious things of the Moon But above all let us consider those thingâ— which are in Levit. 26.19 I will make saith God your Heaven as Iron and your Earth as Brass The same is repeated Deut. 28.23 And also in Hosea 2.21 And I will hear the Heavens and they shall hear the Earth and the Earth shall hear the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl and they shall hear Israel Therefore we hereby see that God doth set the Root of Worldly Benedictions in Heaven as it were in the Soul of the Universe so that the Beginning of Blessings is from Heaven as the Beginning of Motion from our Soul which are of themselves perspicuous enough To this also belongs that in Job 38.33 Knowest thou the Course of Heaven or canst thou dispose the Rule thereof in the Earth The Rule of Heaven proceeds through Terrestrial and all Inferiour things as the Rule of an Emperour or King throughout his Empire and Kingdom As therefore a King is the Soul of his Kingdom so the Heaven and the Stars are the Soul of the World Likewise that of Job 26.13 His spirit hath garnished the Heavens Psal. 33.16 By the Word of the Lord the Heavens were made and by the spirit of his Mouth the whole Army thereof In whatsoever Body the Spirit of God dwelleth and shineth that Body without doubt shall be Animate and Intellectual Psal. 19. God hath set his Tabernacle in the Sun One Day telleth another and one Night teacheth another knowledge There is no Speech nor Language in those Heavens yet understandeth he their Voice Their Line is gone forth through all the Earth and their words unto the ends of the World in them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sun Psal. 89.5 O Lord even the Hâ—avens shall confess thy wonderful Works John 3. Our Saviour saith to Nicodemus I have told you