2 Subjects of astronomical judgment

This part has two parts: one about good fortune and one about misfortune.
And there are many subjects involving two parties that relate in a contrary way to the two parties in accordance with the combinations that influence them, like buying and selling that are subject to good or bad luck as for instance when a merchant sells some item for a $100 on Monday (ruled by the Moon), and on Tuesday (day of Mars) the item is worth $150, the seller is unlucky and the buyer is lucky. And so astronomers say that the seller was impelled to sell by the bad combination affecting him on Monday, and the buyer was inclined to buy because he was influenced by a combination that brought him good luck on Monday and Wednesday.

Following the above example of a commercial transaction we can understand how to deal with other things that come under astronomical judgment:
health and illness,
life and death,
joy and anger,
wealth and poverty,
abundance,
rest or labor,
setting out on a journey,
entering into matrimony,
looking for a residence,
wind, rain, frost,
theft,
war and peace,
gain and loss,
victory or defeat,
choosing where and where not to travel,
asking for something from one person an not from another, and at one time rather than another,
bathing, blood letting,
taking medicine,
assuming one function and not another, or one function more than another,
whether to get involved or not,
counsel,
security and danger,
giving,
speaking out or remaining silent,
going or staying,
learning and teaching,
and likewise with other things that involve good and bad luck.

Natural science and astronomy consider things in different ways, as proponents of natural science say that a thirsty man must naturally imagine a fountain or a tavern where he can drink, but astronomers say that in accordance with the sign and planet combinations that incline the man toward one region rather than another at the very point in time that he begins to thirst and imagine where he might drink, he must imagine a fountain, tavern or some place determined by the planet and sign combination that rules that moment, and which may be lucky or unlucky for him, and if the combination at that moment is unlucky for him, he will unfortunately imagine a fountain with bad, or too little water or a tavern with bad wine, or his imagination will lead him to look for water or wine in places where there is none to be found.

Proponents of natural science say that when a man begets a son it is because his nature is stronger than that of the woman who bears him, so that the son resembles his father more than his mother. And they say that a woman is naturally more disposed to bear daughters than sons. But astronomers say that due to the planet and sign combinations of the man and woman and their good or bad fortune, a man can beget a son or a daughter, or a child more similar to him than to its mother, and likewise with other things like this.

People who judge things neither by natural science nor by astronomy but rather in terms of the soul's discretion and freedom of choice, as the soul informs the body, say that good and bad stars and even natural conditions cannot influence free choice to choose to do one thing rather than another, or choose to go to one place and not another. Take for instance a king, who out of his free will either punishes or pardons his subjects, or gives to one person and not to another, and freely chooses one itinerary in preference to another; and likewise a man who freely chooses which kind of wine to drink or not to drink, and so forth. But astronomers say that whatever the king does, and in whatever way he does it, is necessarily done in accordance with the stars that are lucky or unlucky for him at that time and therefore they say that he is necessarily compelled by the stars in everything he does. And they say this because the king must have good or bad luck so that the heavenly bodies can exercise their virtue and influence on things below, like a cause in its effect. And we will respond to these arguments in the fourth and fifth part of this science.

Having finished the second part, which gave the theory for the first part, let us now proceed with the third part, on the practical application of the last part of this art.

Next: conjunctions and aspects of signs and planets
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