Hephaistios of Thebes - Apotelesmatics, Book I

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HEPHAISTIO

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OF 1l!EBES

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Apotelesmatics Book I

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Tran.doted by Raben Schmidt

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by Robm Hand

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Project Hindsight

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Edi"d

Greek.Track Volume VI

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HEPHAISTIO OF THEBES

Apotelesmatics Book I Translated by Robert Schmidt Edited by Robert Hand

Project Hindsight Greek Track Volume Vl

The Golden Hind Press

PROJECT HINDSIGHT is funded entirel y by the astrological community through subscriptions and donations.

OCopyright 1994 by Robert Schmidt

Published by The Golden Hind Press, P.O. Box 002, Berkel ey Springs, WV 254 11 .

Table or ContenLs Introduction to Hephaistio of Thebes by Rohert Hand

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Translator's l>reface by Roben Schmidt

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The Apotelesmru:ics of Hephaistio of Thebes .

1. 2. 3. 4.

Concerning !he Name and the Power of the Twelfth-pans Concerning the Power of the Seven Wandering Stars .. Concerni ng the Power of the Fixed Stars . Concerning the Fonnations Farther North than the Zodiac 5. Concerning the r""Onnation.~ Farther South than the Zodiac . 6. Concern ing Trigons According to Dorothcus 7."Thc Piaces inWbi chtbeStarsRejoice 8. Concerning EKaltations 9. Concerning Sections That Command and Those That Obey 10. Conce rnin g Sections of Equal Power and TIKtse Seeing

I I . Concerning 12. Concernin g 13. Concerning 14 Concerning \5.Concerning 16. Concerning 17.Conceming 18. Concerning

Unconnected Sections theDiffcrenceoftbePiaces Rulershi p and Co-rulership . Appl ication and SepaJation Enclosure the Hurling of Rays Spear-bearing the Twelfth-pans That Are According to

Degrees 19. Concern ing One's Own Face and Chariots and Thrones 20. Concerning Universal I nvestigations and Effects

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26 211

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31 31 . 32 . 32 33 33 34

35 36 . 37 . 44

21. Effocl!l of the Ecl ipses and Comets That Arise 22.Co ncerningtheSigns'Duri ngtbeEcl ip.o;c: 23.Concerningthe lrKi icationsoftheAri singoftheDog St111and of the Stars Accompanying lt . . 53 24. Concerning the Co~ in Eclipses a!ld Comets 58 25. CnACeming the Sig nificance of Meteorological Phenomena .. 61

Appendix!

Translation Conv~ ntions .

64

Introduction to Hephalstio of Thebes by Robert Hand 'There is not g,..,at deal of info:rnation about Hephaistio' of Thebes. But

quitc,..,markably wchavc h.is birthchar1:. This is bascd onasingle cllart reported by NeugcbaUoCr in GTu k Horoscopes, L380 whi~:h il(:(:ording to Pingree is his own chart. Till: chart is from Book II of the Apotel~smmic$ and is given be low with mi.Jdern Koch ~usps.

The time is of course approximate, but the positions check ou t quite we ll. The data are as follows: Era of Diodctian 97 Athyr 30 at the sixth hour (we assume unequal hours) which cquatt:s to Nov. 26, 3SO CE. at

AleJI;andria, ' Egypt, Jl"N 12', 29"E 53' at about the llOOfl overpass (Bpprox. 11:50 A_M_ LM.T.) This is all we know aboot H~phai.stio's I i f~ But asl iuleas "'·~knowabouthis life, his wort is very important to us. Of the texts li"om the anciem world, Hcphaistio's tllroc books on Apotdtsmaric£. along with the Termbiblor. have surviv~d in the best condition. The Apolelu nll1tics !~fore giv~s us a most complete pictlii'C of astrology as it was actually pr.teticed intheanci~nt world. In panicular Hephaislio parallels and paraphrases a good deal of the Te1rabiblos which may allow us to clarify some of the more ambiguous pa.%age.~ of the Tetrubib/(}s. But it is not only the complet~ness of thi s work and it~ ~xplicalions of Ptolemy that makes it imponant. Hepbaistio appears to have set himself the task of unifying what were by his lime the two major ,;chools of Greek asuology, that of Ptolemy and that of Domtheus of Sidon. Thedifferencesbctween the twoschoolsaretoonumcl'()lls to describe complete ly in this introduction. however, a fe w major points

cil!lt:'= madc. Ptolemy's astrology is basedprimari lyonthe gcneralsignificalion of the planets. Sun equals honor, Venus, beauty and love, Man, war. Jupiter, wealth ar>d so forth. House~ are used but 1101 stmngly ~mphasiz.ed. A planet'• solar phase, oriental o r occidental, and its applicationsandsep!ICationstotbeotherplanetsisemphasiz.edoverits house position Ptol~my makes extensive use of five digniti~s and uses th~m eollcclivelytode tenninewbatplanetshaverulershipover variouspan.s of the chart. The concepl of what was later known as the Almuten eomesdirectly out of Ptolemy.' Ptolemy's five dignities arc domicil~. exaltation, triplicity , tenn,andphaseOf' c:onfiguration .l His US~.: of lots,

' TbelucationisusumedbyNeugtbauerandPingrtt ' How~ver. untikt the Arab aulbon, Ptolemy doc~ 001 use a wciKf!ting system 10 give more weigllt to domicile and~~altation than lhcO(herdignitits 3

Thi sfi fthdignityi••ronsidcrabl~ souottofdifficul ty.TheMiddleAgcs

andRtuaimmce ....witasthedocanicfaccru lcdbytheptanetsintheChaldean ordrr starting with Mau u the firS! decan ruler of Aries. Out there is ab.olutdy 1>0 justifiauion for this in the Grttk literalure. In the Greek litentture it is ai,."Jys"phaMorcoofiguration."This has t>ttn interpreted by some writers, ~Othing like this anywhere else in the ancient literature. This is clearlyanEgyptianteere are two pol'Sible explanations for thi s. Firstwecouldbedealing with a dewiant traditiont..re. lt maybelhatlhe sect of the oigns are exactly as li•tcd. Among the Hindus there are al ternate traditiom about which sign~ were diurnal and nocturnal HoweVCJ. lheJe is a more likely possibili ty. All of lhe r.igll5 listed as nocturnal are in the lunar half of the zodiac which ulmds from Aquarius throughCancer.Similarlythesigllll li stedasdiumRlareallinthewlarhalfof the zodiac which u rends from Leo through Capricorn. Since the Moon is nocturnalandtheSund iumal, HephaistiocouldheclaMifyi ngthesectof tt.. signsaocordingtotheha.lfofthezodiaceachsignisinr.otherlhanaccording

towbethertheyareoddore¥en.Tbesignsth.atarenotdMsifiedcooldsimpty betheresultofomi"ion1. [RH)

~oulhcrn

pans are icy and chilling.' TQ!hisaresuhjccl: A~icm Babylo_n. to~n of Tyrian Delos. HmdmostArobta, neoghllocOf thc la11dofEgypt

Acc~ding LO Ptolemy: Brinania, Galatia, Gt nnania. l'alestillC, ldumaea. Judaca. But like Hipparchu.~. lhc ancient Egyplians also made distinction:s aocording to p;uts, thus: for the left ~booldtr. Babylonian; for the right shouldcc, Thracr:; for the hrea.~t. Armenia; fO£ the spine, bothlhcvalcofPcrsiaandCappadocia,Me.sopotamia,Syria, the Red &~. Weba,efulin prognosticatiomforthose places. Tilt' andent Egyptians. and Dorotheus in meter. divided the boundaridasfollow~·

·.Of1boondaries,does Phacth6n' occup>· thesixdegrcesthefii"SI Jn thiJ;,then:,.fu:rwa.~ allotted Cythcrcia'anequal number. Stilb0n1 eigbt tbethird, andPyroeis6 five as well. Tbcremainingones to equal Thouros' 1-'hainOn'gOfaslol. Ptolemy, thus: Zeus, six; Aphrodite. eight; Ht:rmcs, 7; Ares, 5; Kronos. four. They also set out bright dcgrccs for ea.ch Widion. The bright degrees of this tbidion. then. are 1he third, nineteenth. t"'-eoly·s.ixth, tvJimty-seventh, thirtieth. hll"lhcnnoJe, foreveryv:Jidiontheydistinguished three!kcan.< in ten degree interval~. And the lirst du:oan is Chonrare , the ~nd

' llere of coorse we havo a dw:ription b.lStd on the s!CII;u OOOS!dlatinn mlher tban atropica130"division. Thisgoingb.lckanr.Jfonhbdwee.o l ign&and C(lll!tellatium ;, typk;al of the u tn>logy of thi~ period. This;, what lw served to rnakl: tocnci•e tropieal-$ideu;.d ~onlruven;y .50 hard tO settle. [Kill 1 i.o.,Mria.,.. !Crms. !RHJ

3 NnmefortilestarofZcus,meaniog"ther:>di3lllone.' • sum:ome ofAphror.titc J NiiPIC for the Wlr of Her~MS, meaning 'tl>t !P~am.ing ooc.· 6 Nllllll:forthel.l.1rofAres,meaning ' thclio:ryune." 1 Anotbe• epithet for~ ttar of Ares. meaning "the impeluous one.' 1 Name: fmlhcsurof Krooos. JOCaning "th~ !ohiningooe.'

ChQfftachrt, the third Siktt. In general, when no other cause is counteracting, they expected those who ha~e the fir's! decan marking the buurtornarrybad!yinthr:irearly years,andmarrywell in their later years and make a good end . lbe signs': The breast is thin a...:! not fleshedout;thelegsbareandlean. Hewillha~ea rnark onthelcft side or under the left armpit. And the critical periods of this decan were rccordedasthe4thyear.9th,l2th,2 1st.JJrd,49th,52nd,64th,74th. Andlheyupectedthosewhuhavcthe5eeonddecan rnarking tbc hour to bcamplynourishedalongwithbeingaffiictedinsomeway in the early years. but to be prudent and learned and to be the leader of many and to meet with a good "nd. lbe signs: His ey"s will be large whilebeingprotrud.ing.1 he will bealittkquick toangcr.hisstature adequate and his height proportionate. And the critiOn"s lotde~ees twicethru,

And PhaetbGn was allouod eight. and PhainOn five. AfterthesetheremainingdegreesgotPyrocisas lut.

ACcording to Ptolemy. thus: Aphn;xlitc, eight; HemJcs, 7; Uus, 7; Arc>, 6: Kronos. 2. Its bright degrees are the third. fifth, tenth, seventccnth, t ...·cn.ty-eighth. thirtieth. Its decans are three: the lirst i~ ChOou. the second Ero, the third H rombromnn. He who ha:; the first marlr.:::ing the huur will be agreeable, deartornany,andm.akelifesweet, buthewill toil, andaftcr rejecting the fU"St marriage, he wiH many a seduced woman and there will be great happiness for him. l lle 5igns: His head will be large; his eyes large; hi.~ size proponionate; hi.~ lips large. Tht:re will be a mork around thcthroat,aJsoaroundthehowm.allll anothcraroundtherightrib. The critical period.~ of this da:au arc the 1st year, 4th, 8th. lith, 2200, J3rd, 49th,56th,69Lh. noo.

' fi~ed. [Rill

ArK! he who has the sooor>d d«an marking the heralsandmarkcH:lerksand archpriests. and they will be well -favoutl by women. The signs: he will be very beautiful instature,lbceyeslovely, ther>Ose large, with fine eyebrows; he will have a marl: on the rih. Thc cri tical periods of the god arethcllthyear.22nd.Jlst,46th,53rd.63rd.77th,8&h And he who is brought forth upon the: 5e(:(lnddecan wi ll separate hi s parcntsandwillbeinamietion andpovertyandhew illliveabroad and run into those hedoesnotexpocl.andhc will have an uplil\ingof soul. He will be wdl-favored by a companion and will experience a em and bluudshcd. And if one of the bendics should bear witne.~s to the ev il maners. it will undo it, and as he: advance$ in years he will be bener. He wi ll practice the arts of silvcr and gold or of money. The signs of this decan: He will be Wlow of face, the eyebrows wide. a mart will be found on his che5t, his back will be lean. 1be critical periods of the god wi ll be the 11th year, 19th, 21st. 32nd.46th, 5 1st, 61st,72nd,86th,91sl And he who is brought fonh upon the third decan will be raised wealthy and will be from great parents, acute, learned; and he will be in the publ ic service and will be a lord of life and death and close to kings . And he will be an exe•·utor of royal commands and campaign s And if the: dt:can should be witnessed by Zeus, it will make leaden, instructoR of kings, those wbo mflke citie~ ~object. But if the dccan 5hou ldbewitnes!.Cdby Kronosoradcgreeof Kronossbouldberi sing, it will cause a defection of the multitude and a loss of monecriticalperiodsofthegodarelhellthyear,l6th, 36th, 42nd, 51st, 67th, 72nd. Death will be sudden And the interstice makes him blameworthy in his early yellTS. But if it sbouldbe female. the disposition will be in companionship and community and she who sleeps with a great man will be loved. and she will be witll him when she is divorced from a fomler husband, and she willmeetwithafineend.

The twelfth-part Capricorn, which is taken for the knees. is the house ofKronos,exaltationofArcsaroond tbe28thdegrec,tropical, pcnaining to the winter, feminine. diurnal,' barren, obedient, amphibi ous, double-natured. semi -vocal. Andingeneral,itisverywet.Butinparticular,itsprecedingparts arescorchinganddestructive;thcmiddle parts,tcmpcrate; thcfollowing parts, productive of the movement nf storms; the northern and southern parts, very wetanddestructi.-e ToitwassubjtlCitheall..desolateCimmerianland Acconli ng to Ptolemy: India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Thrace, Macedonia, IUyria. But according to the inquiries of others, thepanstothewest and southaresubjecttoit: forthe rihs,theAegean Seaandthose dwe!ling

llround it.and Corynth; furthcwaistandlhebacl:,theGreatSca;for the tail , Iberia; for the head, Cyllenia, Tyrrenia; for the breast. the Tym:nian Sea; for the belly, middl e Egyp1, Syria, Caria. Tile boundaries, thus:

AgainthesevenfirstdegreesStiiOOngotaslot, And PhaethOn seven, Cythcreia twice four. ' PhaiOOnhas twice two, the lasthasAresequal to it

According to Ptolemy, thus: Aphrodite. 6; Hennes, 6; Zeus, 7; Kronos, sil{; Arcs. 5. The bright degrees oftherJ}idion are the 6th, 12th, 15th, 24th, 30th.

'Secp~~gc3,nutc2.

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'The three IJccans o f it: the first is Smar, the 5eeoml sro, the third l~rii. He who is brought fOfth upon the fit$\ will be the first chi ld or the firsr reared.prodent,deep, learned,good,onewhospeaksootfreelyand subjugateshis cnemies:wbcnhe isi n dangerhcwillbe~seroed by

hisown dcviccs.and hcwill sustain manylossesinhiscarlyyears;and he wi ll be inconstant with a woman. But if Zeus shou ld te.~ti fy to this decan, he will have gond timesand make discoveries, and he wi ll rule over many, and he will meet with a li lll"'end. 'Thesignsofthisdecan short in lleight. the chest broad: when wal king around his tendon s lf!Qve; he will have a black mart on the annpit. The critica l years of the godarethel st,4tll,9th. ll th.17lh.22nd,3 1st, 42nd,S6th,63rd,72nd, lllst,89th. And he wlloisbrought forth uponthcse(:ond lh:an will separate his pan:ntsbydeathand will dimini sh their estate and he wi ll suslain lossesandwilllive abrood:andbeingsubtleinhismanners.hewill be raised wi~ gn:at men; and lie r'ill make a livi ng,by means of wat~r. And he wtll not senlc down wnh a woman, or else he will be late m marrying and will be an object of slander over married women, widows. and slave.~: bu t after his e;orly y~. he will be benefited by a woman and will meet with a fine end. The signs of this decan: of due height andlarge, withcomelyeycs,thc noschigh.theeycsfullofdelight,but ill -dispo5cdand llot and ba!;e.lllecritical years are the 6th, 9th, l llh. 22nd,3lst.4l st,52nd,6Jrd.76th,8 1st And hewhoisbrought forth upon the thirddecan willbeofgn:at and noble paren1S, and will be raised with wealth and trusted with much:andhe"·illbe leamedanddeartomany.acute,withahatredof ltnaves.l iccntioos.easilychangcable: and he will be inconstant with a woman, but later he will be well -favored by bcr. and he will acquire much and rule over many. 1be signs of thi s decan: He will be sallnw: he will have a markun the left elbow and on the thighs. and he will live a short li fe with intensity. The critical periods of the god are the 4th year, 7th, 11th, 22nd, 33rd,46th, 52od. 63rd, 72nd. Death ..;n be inafon:ignland. And the interstice makes those wOO are expelled or devoured by

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The twelfth-part AqloUlriu.s, which is taken for the legs. is the house of

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Kronos; mascul ine, solid, vocal, rationa l, nocturnal,' human in form. Alld in gen~ral, it is frigid and wakry. But in particular, ill> precedingpartsareverywet:themilkllc,tcmpcrate; tllefollowingparts, windy; the nonhero parts. scorchi ng; the southern, snowy Subjcctloit: ... thcdimeofEgypt AndtheMiddleoftheRivers. 1 [Accordi ng 10 Ptolemy: ] Sauromatica. O;o;iana, Sogdiana, Anobia, Az:mia, Germanica. Hy part, the~ is subjecl to it: for the left hand and tbe breast. Syria: ulld e~ the righr hand , Euphrate.~ and Tigris; for the pitcher, Tanai~andtho!leriverslflowing ] IOthesouthandwesL Hennes got the seven fil"!lt a~ 101, then after him GQI: Cypris six degrees, thereaftt:r PhaetbOn did seven get, AndragingAresfiw,thelastfivc Kronosgot. According to Ptolemy: Kronos, 6: Hermes, 6; Aphrod.ite, 8: Zeus, five; Ares, 5. The bright degroes of this ~idion are tbe l i th, 17th, 20!h, 2.'ith,29th. hsthreedecans:thefirstPtiau.theSCCQndAue,thethirdPtebuou. He who is brought forth upon the firs! decan will be great, wealthy, learned, dear to many, one who speaks out fleely. with a hatred of knaves. arighteousjudge.andmanywillfleetohimforrefugcbe.."lion 23 of

Antiochus " TII~saurus.

1 Thati s, thesidoe ofacqual-sidcdpolygon

thMresu lllfromtakingthedegreesoflhestar twelvetimcsceases,after it ha~ been extended from the degru which the star occupie!; in the direction of the following ziJitWl, with each of the.~e z?JidW. hei ng rockonedby usat thi rty degrees.' I ':II.

Con~ming One'~. l,)wn

Face a':'d _C hariots and Throne:s 1

They say that Jthe Sfars1~ in their own faces wllcnevcrcach oftbcm shouldmai ntainthe. ligurationtotheSunor clsctllc Moon thotits househastolheir houscs.Fore.llamplc,"·henever thestarofAphrod itc ( for the sake of argument) should make an he~ago nal interval to the lights while being west relative tn the Sun and east rc lath·c to the Moon, in keeping with thcirhouses .1 Andtheysay thcyare intheirownchariotsandthronesandsuch likewhe~vcrrheyshould happentobeallil iatedwilhthcplocesin

which they ~ taken in !ICCOrdance with two or more of the ways set outcarlicr---thatis,by house,boo ndary, trigon.rising.'c:xaltation. 1 Then cspeciallytheyareattheirhighes t.•

1 Despite Piogru'•cdill.>rial noteto thi s !Cetioo,the method described has nOthing to do witlt chapter 21, Teuubibkn. ]Additional by RHl What Ptolemy di::!Cribesislhe 2 1h." wbdivisioninwhichoneiscono.:cmedonlywithlhesign of the twclftb.rart. The metltod given here is co11Cf!T1lcd with the degree "' well ail>los.

1 In Arabi~ astrology this dign ity wa< cal led Almug(a. our Greek translatioru; so far. the fillhdignity hasbr:en

• wralw. In all

~srod 11.1 pha.e(sometimeo phase:mdconfiguratiOll), but OUUJ. 1 Eilirhuias. 'Tupi!On 1 Dokidb. 1 POg&Uai.

25. Con