The Cribs of the Sky Queen

A good friend asked me if these Chronographies I was obsessed about have ever been translated.

As far as I am aware, they weren’t. There were “Chronographies” in English and German, but they were not the same thing.

But here’s a taste of what is there. This is chapter XXVII of the fourth part of D. Manoel de Figueiredo’s “Chronographia ou reportório dos tempos” (printed in Lisbon, 1603).

The (poorly revised) translation and whatever is within brackets are mine.

Chapter XXVII - On the Mansions of the Moon in the Twelve signs of the Zodiac.

Ptolemy assigned, in the twelve signs of the Zodiac, 28 mansions of the Moon [no he didn’t], in which she has different effects, starting the first one in 27 degrees and 57 minutes of Aries; and he proceeds, dividing them in unequal parts, as we see on the following table.

The First column is their number, the second, the signs in which they fall, the third the degrees and minutes, the fourth, their qualities, the fifth that they are useful for, and are good for; for that, we also need to know in which sign the Moon is in, and, this known, we will know in which mansion it will fall, and what the day is good for, and of which quality it will be, being New Moon, or Full, or quarter Moon [I omitted second and third columns, because the mansions are not now where they were then. For their current position, check Oscar Hofman’s book on Lunar Mansions… or Google it].

Table of the 28 mansions of the Moon, calculated in 1600.

1 - temperate — Go thy way and heal thyself;

2 - dry — Make way by water;

3 - moist — [blank];

4 - Moist/cold — Throw seed onto the earth;

5 - dry — Cure; move [the word D. Manoel uses is “caminha”, literally walk; but, as you’ll see, he means “go your way”, “move”];

6 - Temperate — Do not sow;

7 - moist — Sow; move by water;

8 - cloudy/temperate — Heal thyself; move by water;

9 - dry — Do not sow, nor walk;

10 - moist — Do not start way;

11 - temperate/somewhat cold — Sow and plant;

12 - moist — Build, plant, sow;

13 - temperate — Sow, plow, move;

14 - temperate — Cure, sow, plant;

15 - moist — Open wells, not pipes;

16 - cold/moist — Do not move, nor cure;

17 - moist — [blank];

18 - dry — Build, sow, plow, plant, sail;

19 - moist — Sow, plant, move, do not get aboard ship;

20 - temperate — [blank];

21 - temperate — Open foundations, build, sow;

22 - moist — Cure, sail;

23 - temperate — Move, cure;

24 - temperate — Heal thyself, do not move, sow;

25 - dry — Make way towards midday, towards the West, to war, build;

26 - dry — Take medicine;

27 - moist — Take purger, do not sail;

28 - temperate — Sow, cure, do not sail.

These preceding mansions during storms are very strong, mainly those in which the Moon is when it’s New Moon, or Full, or quarter Moon, because from her the conjunction takes its beginning in order to rain, or make clear weather, etc [it seems confusing, but the example makes it clearer].

Example: I want to know the New Moon in March, in which mansion it happened. I see in the lunarium which follows [in later chapters he presents a “lunarium”, a table for the positions of the Moon], and note she becomes new, for the year 1601, in 13 degrees of the sign of Pisces. I enter in the preceding table with 13 degrees of Pisces and find it falls in the 25th mansion, which stars at 6 degrees and 41 minutes of Pisces, by which I’m sure the thirteenth falls in the 25th mansion, which is dry; from whence I will say, the New Moon of March 1601 is dry, which happened in the fourth day of the same month, at five o’clock AM.

And thus we will proceed for the other days of the Moon we wish to know, and the same we will do for Full and Quarter Moons.

Moreover, we may also know every day in which mansion the Moon is, so we may also profit, on that day, of what the fifth column of the preceding table tells us.

Be warned that, if the number of the Moon is higher than the number of the mansion, she falls inside the one closer to such number; and if the number of the place of the Moon is lower, she stays in the precedent mansion, even if it starts, or falls, in another sign [again, don’t panic, it sounds nonsense, but he’s talking about something very simple].

Example: I find the Moon in five degrees of Leo. I enter in the tables, for Leo, and find the ninth mansion finishes in 10 degrees and 49 minutes of Leo. I will say the Moon is inside the ninth mansion, although it stars in Cancer, and so with the rest, observing that the end of one mansion is the beginning of the next one, that is, the first mansion ended in 27, at which the second stars.

This Fourth Part is about “rustic astrology”: prognostication of the weather from signs in the sky (not only celestial signs — conjunctions, stars, etc — but clouds, color of the sky, and things like that. Here, he could have quoted Ptolemy as his source :-) ), tips for physicians, judgment of eclipses, and other things useful for common people.

I decided to look for other old sources for Lunar Mansions in Portuguese, and found another wonderful source.

A GIGANTIC work (the Tome in question — there are four of them — has almost 800 pages) called “Divertimentos Eruditos para os Curiosos de Notícias Históricas, Escolásticas, Políticas, Naturais, Sagradas e Profanas” (Erudite Entertainment for Those Curious about Historical, Scholastic, Natural, Sacred, and Profane News”), written by an Augustinian Friar named João Pacheco.

It was published in 1738.

Fr. João makes one of the most comprehensive, unabashed, and vigorous defense of astrology — including judicial astrology — that I have ever read.

He even includes the possibility of horary into his defense (although he condemns Zahel’s “vain curiosity”.

But I’m not talking about him now because of this apology (read and approved for printing by the Santo Ofício — yep, I keep saying the Inquisition has nothing on me for a reason), but because he also mentions the lunar mansions, giving their names, positions, qualities, significators, and what is better do (or refrain from doing) during them.

I am not translating all of the mansions (maybe in another newsletter), but two of them should be included here (I’ll explain why after them).

Tome II, Treatise I, Chapter II, Article XI, Period I (yes, I know).

“The 8th mansion of the Moon was called Anatrachi, that is, Manger, or the Asses, in 20 degrees and 57 minutes of Cancer. It is moist and temperate of nature. Its significator is Venus. Good for cutting dresses, wear new clothes for the first time, take medicines, and make voyages by the sea”.

“The 9th mansion was called Alcarph, that is, The Head or the Eye of the Lion, in 10 degrees and 19 minutes of Leo. Its nature is dry. Its significator is Mercury. Bad for voyages, medicines, and wear new clothes for the first time”.

D. Manoel and Fr. João agree the 8th mansion is good for moving around, and the 9th is not. The good friar adds that the first is moist, signified by Venus, and good for traveling by the sea, a thing that one should not do during the 9th.

I am stressing that because these mansions, according to Oscar Hofman (“The Lunar Mansions Guide”), between 3o11’ and 16o02’ Leo (Al Natrah, the 8th) and 16o02’Leo and 28o54’Leo (Al Terf, the 9th).

Well… if I didn’t screw up the timing, that unfortunate underseas voyage to see the Titanic ruins started when the Moon was at the end of the 8th mansion, and the submergible imploded when it was in the 9th.

No, I don’t think the Mansions of the Moon are an accurate prediction tool for sea disasters, or for any other kind of disaster… but I thought it interesting.

For what it’s worth, he were having an exceptionally hot and sunny end of Fall/start of Winter where I live (I was taking my kids to the beach, every day, in June, a thing not really common around here)… until the Moon left the 14th mansion (Al Simak according to Hofman, Azimech according to Fr. João), of “temperate nature”, whose significador is the Sun (Hofman says Venus/Mars), and according to our friar is good for “everything: sowing, planting, going to hunts, etc”, and entered the 15th, Algarpha (Al Ghafr in Hofman), “moist in nature; its significator is Venus; mediocre; make wells, but not travels”.

The temperature dropped drastically, and it’s cloudy and moist. Instead of jumping waves with my kids, I’m inside, writing this letter and having coffee.

(The 16th mansion is cold and moist, and Fr. João says nothing good [happens] in this mansion. I don’t expect good weather anytime soon).

That’s it for now. If you find my mental wanderings on the wonderful world of astrology fun, consider subscribing and sharing with people.

Stay safe.