Levente László from Hungary has been publishing some important translations from the Greek, Byzantine and the Arabic traditions and being a subscriber of his work has certainly been a privilege because of the learning experience I have had over the past 18 months. If you have not been a patron of Mr. László’s work, I’d kindly recommend you to support his work because by doing so, we are not just supporting this particular translation project but we will also be unveiling some of the finest texts of our ancestors that are waiting to see the light in various libraries across Europe. Please let yourself be part of this history in making!
Link: http://horoiproject.com/
Medieval Horoscope from 'The book of birth of Iskandar"
When no Hyleg is found in the chart
There are various ways to determine the length of life and to understand the periods of threat to the life of the native in various traditions of astrology. Ptolemy’s directions of Hyleg is one of the most popular traditional methods which found its way into the medieval tradition where it got enhanced before dilution around the late medieval times notably coinciding with Bonatti’s period. In his translation of Shadhan’s discourses with Abu Ma’shar, László's first verse is about when no releaser or house-master is found in a nativity but the natives are long-lived.
“Shadhan said, '' I heard Abu Ma’shar say that ‘Beyond God, the entire life of the living creatures is the Sun and the Moon. For we find nativities that do not have releasers, but we do find the Sun and the Moon look at the AC in the configuration of a trine or a sextile, then, provided the AC is not harmed, the natives born with this fashion of nativities will live an exceptionally long life.”
To demonstrate this I have used three charts and the chart details are from Astro.com and are rated not less than A or A+.
Sharon Tate
Joyce Carol Oates
Steven Spielberg
Sharon Tate - No Planet is strong including the luminaries
Gemini was rising when Sharon Tate was born with Jupiter in the 1st house and ruler of the AC, Mercury in the 8th house with the Sun and Venus. In this diurnal nativity, sect light (the Sun) is placed in the 8th house which rules it out as a candidate to be the Hyleg. The Moon is also cadent and hence cannot be the Hyleg. The other hylegical places are 1st house, 11th house, 10th house, 9th house and the 7th house. We see that a planet is placed only in the 7th house which is Mars. Mars is placed in Sagittarius with no dignity, no triplicity, not in its own term or decan. The ruler of Sagittarius is in a whole sign-opposition but it doesn't aspect its own bounds in which Mars is placed.
Mars is obviously a weak hyleg for this nativity and played a major role in death which I discuss in my book on Firdaria. But then, Mars is the only candidate that is available in this chart. The ruler of Mars, Jupiter is placed in the 1st house of Gemini and gains directional strength. However, Jupiter is the functional malefic to Gemini rising natives and it cannot be said for sure that Jupiter is the life-giver and it is the same case with Mars. But Sharon Tate probably lived at least for 26 years probably because of Jupiter’s placement in the 1st house because all the other factors supporting long life are not very prominent.
The ruler of the AC, Mercury, is in the 8th house.
The Sun is placed in the 8th house.
The Moon is placed in the 3rd house.
Saturn is placed in the 12th house.
The points we have is to direct the AC or MC for a generalized opinion however, according to what Abu Ma'shar told Shadhan, despite the bad placements of Mercury (ruler of the AC) and Saturn (ruler of the 8th house-longevity), the native lived for 26 years. The Sun and the Moon are weakly placed except that we can argue that the Moon is placed in its joy but the Moon is the ruler of the 2nd house (Maraka) placed in the 3rd house (alternate house of longevity) that destroys the topics related to the house.
Sharon Tate died in August 1969 and below are the listings of the planets and their bounds during the event.
Mars - Mercury’s bound of Capricorn.
The Sun - Mercury’s bound of Aquarius.
Lot of fortune - Venus’ bound of Aquarius.
The Moon - Mercury’s bound of Virgo.
Mercury is the prominent time lord and it's the ruler of the AC placed in the 8th house with the Sun and Venus. Mercury in the nativity is placed in the bound of Jupiter which is the primary functional malefic for the Gemini rising natives. Mercury is weakly placed in the 8th house of longevity with no dignity by both placement and sign. Mercury squares the lot of death and is in conjunction with Venus (ruler of the lot of death).
Joyce Carol Oates
Oates was born when Aquarius was rising with Saturn in the 2nd house of Pisces which is not a very powerful placement in terms of longevity. The Sun is placed in the 5th house (succedent) and is also placed with Mars while the Moon is placed in the 12th house. There are no planets in the hylegical houses of the chart. This nativity is completed based on Jupiter’s placement in the 1st house which is the 2nd ruler and the 11th ruler marking a mutual exchange with Saturn. However, this benevolent influence to the 1st house is extremely significant in terms of positive assertion of the social status and the longevity of the native. Although Mars aspects the 1st house, the aspect is separated and the Sun in the 1st degree of Gemini is applying a trine to the AC which is one of the conditions mentioned by Abu Ma’shar to Shadan.
Steven Spielberg
Spielberg was born when Gemini was rising with Mercury in the 6th house of Scorpio in the nodal axis. Saturn, the significator of longevity is placed in its detriment and is also retrograde in the 2nd house of Cancer. This is a nocturnal chart but the Sun can be a candidate for being a Hyleg but the Moon is the primary candidate for nocturnal nativities. The primary indicators of longevity are badly placed and not dignified. The Sun is placed in the angular 7th house with Mars which is a blemish but it is aspected by the Moon and two natural benefits; Jupiter and Venus from the 5th house. Jupiter and Venus along with the Moon also aspect the first house and the Moon is applying to the AC. This is a very primary condition as mentioned by Abu Ma’shar to Shadhan.
Most of these techniques are still very nascent and reasonably fresh with scope for a lot of contemplations and intellectual exchanges. While we always say that we are living through the golden period of reviving astrological texts, it is also time we incorporated all these traditional techniques in practice to fine tune our ability to study the nativities.
Title image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USE_L15229_Horoscope_from_%27The_book_of_birth_of_Iskandar%22_Wellcome_L0025988.jpg
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