Claudius Ptolemy: Of the Disposition of Terms.
Excerpted From The Tetrabiblos
With regard to the terms two systems are most in
circulation; the first is the Egyptian, which is chiefly based on the government
of the houses, and the second the Chaldaean, resting upon the government of the
triplicities. Now the Egyptian system of the commonly accepted terms does not at
all preserve the consistency either of order or of individual quantity. For in
the first place, in the matter of order, they have sometimes assigned the first
place to the lords of the houses and again to those of the triplicities, and
sometimes also to the lords of the exaltations. For example, if it is true that
they have followed the houses, why have they assigned precedence to Saturn, say,
in Libra, and not to Venus, and why to Jupiter in Aries and not to Mars? And if
they follow the triplicities, why have they given Mercury, and not Venus, first
place in Capricorn? Or if it be exaltations, why give Mars, and not Jupiter,
precedence in Cancer; and if they have regard for the planets that have the
greatest number of these qualifications, why have they given first place in
Aquarius to Mercury, who has only his triplicity there, and not to Saturn, for
it is both the house and the triplicity of Saturn? Or why have they given
Mercury first place in Capricorn at all, since he has no relation of government
to the sign ? One would find the same kind of thing in the rest of the system.
Secondly, the number of the terms manifestly has no consistency; for the number
derived for each planet from the addition of its terms in all the signs, in
accordance with which they say the planets assign years of life, furnishes no
suitable or acceptable argument. But even if we rely upon the number derived
from this summation, in accordance with the downright claim of the Egyptians,
the sum would be found the same, even though the amounts, sign by sign, be
frequently changed in various ways. And as for the specious and sophistic
assertion about them that same attempt to make, namely that the times assigned
to each single planet by the schedule of ascensions in all the climes add up to
this same sum, it is false. For, in the first place, they follow the common
method, based upon evenly progressing increases in the ascensions, which is not
even close to the truth. By this scheme they would have each of the signs Virgo
and Libra, on the parallel which passes through lower Egypt, ascend in 38 1/3
times, and Leo and Scorpio each in 35, although it is shown by the tables that
these latter ascend in more than 35 times and Virgo and Libra in less.
Furthermore, those who have endeavoured to establish this theory even so do not
seem to follow the usually accepted number of terms, and are compelled to make
many false statements, and they have even made use of fractional parts of
fractions in the effort to save their hypothesis, which, as we said, is itself
not a true one.
However, the terms most generally accepted on the authority of ancient tradition
are given in the following fashion :
Terms according to the Egyptians.
Aries : Jupiter = 6; Venus = 6; Merkur = 8; Mars = 5; Saturn = 5;
Taurus : Venus = 8; Merkur = 6; Jupiter = 8; Saturn = 5; Mars = 3;
Gemini : Merkur = 6; Jupiter = 6; Venus =5; Mars = 7; Saturn = 6;
Cancer : Mars = 7; Venus = 6; Merkur = 6; Jupiter = 7; Saturn = 4;
Leo : Jupiter = 6; Venus = 5; Saturn = 7; Merkur = 6; Mars = 6;
Virgo : Merkur = 7; Venus = 10; Jupiter = 4; Mars = 7; Saturn = 2;
Libra : Saturn = 6; Merkur =8; Jupiter = 7; Venus = 7; Mars = 2;
Scorpio : Mars = 7; Venus = 4; Merkur = 8; Jupiter = 5; Saturn = 6;
Sagittarius : Jupiter = 12; Venus = 5; Merkur = 4; Saturn = 5; Mars = 4;
Capricornus : Merkur = 7; Jupiter = 7; Venus = 8; Saturn = 4; Mars = 4;
Aquarius : Merkur = 7; Venus = 6; Jupiter = 7; Mars = 5; Saturn = 5;
Pisces : Venus = 12; Jupiter = 4; Merkur = 3; Mars = 9; Saturn = 2;
According to the Chaldaeans.
The Chaldaean method involves a sequence, simple, to be sure, and more
plausible, though not so self-sufficient with respect to the government of the
triangles and the disposition of quantity, so that, nevertheless, one could
casily understand them even without a diagram. For in the first triplicity,
Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, which has with them the same division by signs as
with the Egyptians, the lord of the triplicity, Jupiter, is the first to receive
terms, then the lord of the next triangle, Venus, next the lord of the triangle
of Gemini, Saturn, and Mercury, and finally the lord of the remaining
triplicity, Mars. In the second triplicity, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, which
again has the same division by signs, Venus is first, then Saturn, and again
Mercury, after these Mars, and finally Jupiter. This arrangement in general is
observed also in the remaining two triplicities. Of the two lords of the same
triplicity, however, Saturn and Mercury, by day Saturn takes the first place in
the order of ownership, by night Mercury. The number assigned to each is also a
simple matter. For in order that the number of terms of each planet may be less
by One degree than the preceding, to correspond with the descending order in
which first place is assigned, they always assign 8° to the first, 7° to the
second, 6° to the third, 5° to the fourth, and 4° to the last; thus the 30°
of a sign is made up. The sum of the number of degrees thus assigned to Saturn
is 78 by day and 66 by night, to Jupiter 72, to Mars 69, to Venus 75, to Mercury
66 by day and 78 by night; the total is 360 degrees.
Now of these terms those which are constituted by the Egyptian method are, as we
said, more worthy of credence, both because in the form in which they have been
collected hy the Egyptian writers they have for their utility been deemed worthy
of record, and because for the most part the degrees of these terms are
consistent with the nativities which have been recorded by them as examples. As
these very writers, however, nowhere explain their arrangement or their number,
their failure to agree in an account of the system might well become an object
of suspicion and a subject for criticism. Recently. however, we have come upon
an ancient manuscript, much damaged, which contains a natural and consistent
explanation of their order and number, and at the same time the degrees reported
in the aforesaid nativities and the numbers given in the summations were found
to agree with the tabulation of the ancients. The hook was very lengthy in
expression and excessive in demonstration, and its damaged state made it hard to
read, so that I could harely gain an idea of its general purport; that too, in
spite of the help offered hy the tabulations of the terms, better preserved
because they were placed at the end of the book. At any rate the general scheme
of assignment of the terms is as follows. For their arrangement within each
sign, the exaltations, triplicities, and houses are taken into consideration.
For, generally speaking, the star that has two rulerships of this sort in the
same sign is placed first, even though it may be maleficent. But wherever this
condition does not exist, the maleficent planets are always put last, and the
lords of the exaltation first, the lords of the triplicity next, and then those
of the house, following the order of the signs. And again in order, those that
have two lordships each are preferred to the one which has but one in the same
sign. Since terms are not allotted to the luminaries, however, Cancer and Leo,
the houses of the sun and moon, are assigned to the maleficent planets because
they were deprived of their share in the order, Cancer to Mars and Leo to
Saturn; in these the order appropriate to them is preserved. As for the number
of the terms, when no star is found with two prerogatives, either in the sign
itself or in those which follow it within the quadrant, there are assigned to
each of the beneficent planets, that is, to Jupiter and Venus, 7° ; to the
maleficent, Saturn and Mars, 5° each; and to Mercury, which is common, 6°; so
that the total is 30°. But since some always have two prerogatives for Venus
alone becomes the ruler of the triplicity of Taurus, since the moon does not
participate in the terms there is given to each one of those in such condition,
whether it be in the same sign or in the folIowing signs within the quadrant,
one extra degree; these were marked with dots. But the degrees added for double
prerogatives are taken away from the others, which.have but one, and, generally
speaking, from Saturn and Jupiter because of their slower motion. these terms is
as follows :
Terms according to Ptolemy.
Aries : Jupiter = 6; Venus = 8; Merkur = 7; Mars = 5; Saturn = 4;
Taurus : Venus = 8; Merkur = 7; Jupiter = 7; Saturn = 2; Mars = 6;
Gemini : Merkur = 7; Jupiter = 6; Venus = 7; Mars = 6; Saturn = 4;
Cancer : Mars = 6; Jupiter = 7; Merkur = 7; Venus = 7; Saturn = 3;
Leo : Jupiter = 6; Merkur = 7; Saturn = 6; Venus = 6; Mars = 5;
Virgo : Merkur = 7; Venus = 6; Jupiter = ; Saturn = 6; Mars = 6;
Libra : Saturn = 6; Venus = 5; Merkur = 5; Jupiter = 8; Mars = 6;
Scorpio : Mars = 6; Venus = 7 ; Jupiter = 8; Merkur = 6; Saturn = 3;
Sagittarius : Jupiter = 8; Venus = 6; Merkur = 5; Saturn = 6; Mars = 5;
Capricornus : Venus = 6; Merkur = 6; Jupiter = 7; Saturn = 6; Mars = 5;
Aquarius : Saturn = 6; Merkur = 6; Venus = 8; Jupiter = 5; Mars = 5;
Pisces : Venus = 8; Jupiter = 6; Merkur = 6; Mars = 5; Saturn = 5;