Morgan Leigh doth schreibble :
>
<SNIPS>
> It's 'natural position of the elements in the Zodiac' puts fire at
> East. However it does also say "The Elements vibrate between the
> cardinal points for they have not an unchanged abode therein", though
> here I think they are referring to quarter circle range of vibration
> of elements that they stipulate.
> I have often wondered why he didn't change it. Was it that he thought
> that the assignation of elements to directions was an absolute, or was
> it that the mind set of the colonists was still so firmly Northern
> Hemispheric that making the switch to Southern attributions wouldn't
> yet have meaning for them?
A better question might be, "Why would anyone
affix one of the Zodiacal Signs to the Midheaven
at all (for example), since it is in the very
nature of the Zodiacal Signs to ceaselessly
proceed through all of the Houses on a daily
basis, with each one of the Signs following the
other?"
The original < that is, pre-Golden Dawn/Wicca >
system assigns the Quarters to the Seasons,
and each Season encompasses *three* of the
Zodiacal Signs.
See Llull, for example:
"The Quality of the Sun is considered
according to Season.
In the Spring signs
(Aries, Taurus and Gemini)
he is hot and moist.
In the Summer signs
(Cancer, Leo and Virgo)
he is hot and dry.
In the Autumn signs
(Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius)
he is cold and dry.
In the Winter signs
(Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces)
he is cold and moist."
~ from:
*The Book of the Seven Planets*
( over 700 years old )
http://tinyurl.com/zopuv
This is exactly the correlation between the
Qualities and Seasons that we find in Ptolemy's
*Tetrabiblos*, a document that is over 1800
years old:
Quality Age Season Directions
------------------------------------
Wet+Warm Child Spring East
Hot+Dry Youth Summer South
Dry+Cold MidAge Autumn West
Cold+Wet Old Winter North
And these are exactly the same attributions
that we find in Chapters 6 & 7 of
*On the Nature of Man* [ < 400 BCE ], and
although the Elements themselves are not
mentioned, the Elemental Qualities are also
associated there with the Four Seasons and
the Four Humors:
Spring-warm and wet-Blood-sanguine
Summer-warm and dry-Yellow Bile-choleric
Autumn-cold and dry-Black Bile-melancholic
Winter-cold and humid-Phlegm-phlegmatic
If anyone here consults Karen Louise Jolly's
*Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf
Charms in Context*, 1996, and then turns to
page 111, they will find a reproduction of
Byrhtferth's *Macrocosm*, which also gives
exactly the exact same attributions, from a
document that is over 900 years old.
Here is a link to the page by way of
GoogleBooks :
*Popular Religion in Late Saxon England*
http://tinyurl.com/346og6
We also find it in the Macrocosmic diagram of
Isidore of Seville, in a manuscript dating from
1472 (over 500 years old):
*Qualities, Elements, Seasons, Humours*
http://tinyurl.com/22tnpa
And here are links to some barely legible
enlargements that I made from a diagram found
in Ripley's alchemical corpus (also over 500
years old) :
Ge-Li-Aq
Calidum < Warm >
Humidum < Wet >
Ver < Spring >
Digestive
East
http://tinyurl.com/ywrs9b
Ar-Le-Sa
Calidum < Warm >
Siccum < Dry >
Aestas < Summer >
Attractive
South
http://tinyurl.com/yrwcem
Ta-Vi-Ca
Frigidum < Cold >
Siccum < Dry >
Autumnus < Fall >
Retentive
West
http://tinyurl.com/2jnewz
Ca-Sc-Pi
Frigidum < Cold >
Humidum < Wet >
Hyems < Winter >
Expulsive
North
http://tinyurl.com/2sz7ps
I have also transcribed the circumference
of *Ripley's Key* from Ashmole's
*Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum* below:
1.) The First Side or
West Latitude of the
Stone and the Entry
into the Practice.
Earthy in Quality.
Occasionate.
Occidental.
As holy scripture maketh mention
Into the womb of a virgin immaculate
Christ descended for our redemption
From his high throne to be incarnate
So the Sun descendeth here from his estate
Fourth from the South passing into the West
Through the Ocean labouring without rest.
Saturnus Tenet Terram
2.) The Profundity of
the Stone in the North.
and the Sphere of Purgatory.
Watery in Quality.
Variable in Colour.
Dark and Imperfect.
The Eclipse of the Sunne.
North.
As Christ his Godhead hid from our sight
When he our kind on him did take
Right so the Sun his beams of light
As for a time here him forsake
For under the wings of his mate
The Moon he hideth his glory
And dieth in kind that he may multiply.
Mercurius Tenet Aquam
3.) The Second Side or
East Latitude of the Stone
and Entering into the Speculative.
Aiery in Quality.
The Light Sphere of Paradise.
The Full Moon.
Oriental.
As Christ in tomb was tumulate
After his passion and death on tree
And after in body glorificate
Uprose endued with clarity
Right so by Corporal penalty
The Sun Eclipsed with colours variable
In the East upriseth in Whiteness incomparable.
Jupiter Tenet Aerem
4.) The Altitude of
the Stone in the South.
Fiery in Quality.
Shining more than the perfect Quintessence.
The End of Practice.
Temperate.
South.
As Christ from earth to heaven did ascend
In Clouds of glory up to his high throne
And reigneth there shining without end
To whose clearness comparison may be none
Right so the Sun now made our Stone
To his first glory renewed with youth
Ascendeth to be intronizate in the South
Sol Tenet Ignem
If we take a moment to examine Agrippa's
Scale of the Number Four (in manuscript
circulation since 1510, making it just
500 years old, and which is available
online here at Joe Peterson's site:
http://tinyurl.com/2m23xn ), we will
again find :
Elements Seasons Humours Triplicities
-----------------------------------------
Air Spring Blood Ge-Li-Aq
Fire Summer Choler Ar-Le-Sa
Earth Autumn MelanCholer Ta-Vi-Ca
Water Winter Phlegm Ca-Sc-Pi
More recently, these assignments turn up in
the work of Gerard Encausse, aka Papus:
http://tinyurl.com/2axxp7q
There is an excellent translation of his work
available:
*Astrology for Initiates:
Astrological Secrets of the
Western Mystery Tradition*
by Papus,
translated by J. Lee Lehman
(Preview @GoogleBooks)
http://tinyurl.com/28z8af9
Unlike Eliphas Levi, Encausse actually practiced
astrology - what a pity that his contributions
went ignored, and Levi's bungling was adopted,
thus breaking with centuries of tradition!
As for the Southern Hemisphere attributions -
here is an excerpt from my post on the subject,
from 3/1/2007:
" No matter what side of the Equator you are
on, the Elemental Assignments are determined
by the Frame of the Seasons, and *not* by the
Frame of the Zodiac.
We consider the Height of the Sun above the
Horizon, and that Point at which the Sun is at
its Height is the 'Noon' of both the Day and
the Year, and this is the Angle of Fire.
Noon is the Warmest and Brightest time of the
Day, and Summer is the Warmest and Brightest
time of the Year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this is in the
South, and in the South, this is in the North.
Likewise, the Point of 'Midnight' for the Year
is the Angle of Water.
Midnight is the Coldest and Darkest time of the
Day, and Winter is the Coldest and Darkest time
of the Year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this is in the North,
and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is in the
South.
The Spring of the Year is attributed to Air in
both Hemispheres, even though the Spring of the
Southern Hemisphere occurs during the Autumn of
the Northern Hemisphere.
Likewise, the Autumn of the Year is attributed
to Earth in both Hemispheres, although the Autumn
of the Southern Hemisphere occurs during the Spring
of the North.
Once again, it is primarily the Seasons and *not*
the Signs of the Zodiac that determine the Elemental
Assignments to the Four Directions of the Compass.
As I said in my post of 12/9/2005 -
Spring will always be of Air, and Sanguine.
Autumn, Melancholic and Earthy.
Summer and Winter will be Fiery/Choleric
and Watery/Phlegmatic, respectively. "
Cors in Manu Domine,
~ Khem Caigan
<[log in to unmask]>
"Heat and Moisture are Active to Generation;
Cold and Dryness are Passive, in and to each Thing;
Fire and Air, Active by Elementation;
Water and Earth, Passive to Generation."
*Of the Division of Chaos*
-Dr. Simon Forman
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