William Lilly

“ In the first place, consider and admire thy Creator, and be thankful unto him, be thou humble, and let no natural knowledge, how profound and transcendent soever it be, elate thy minde to neglect that divine Providence, by whose all-seeing order and appointment, all things heavenly and earthly, have their constant motion, but the more thy knowledge is enlarged, the more do thou magnifie the power and wisdom of Almighty God, and strive to preserve thy self in his favour; being confident, the more holy thou art; and more neer to God, the purer Judgment thou shalt give. ”

“ If one demand of the Artist, of what condition, quality or stature the person quesited, or enquired of is, then observe the Sign of that house whereby he is signified, the sign wherein the Lord of that house is, and wherein the Moon is, mix one with another, and by the greater testimonies judge; for if the Sign be humane, aerial, that ascends or descends, and the Lord of that Sign or the Moon in any Sign of the same triplicity or nature, you may judge the Body to be handsome, and the conditions of the party to be sociable, or he very courteous, &c. ”

“ But alas! when iniquity abounded, and man gave the reins to his own affection, and deserted reason, then every Beast, Creature and outward harmful thing, became rebellious and unserviceable to his command. Stand fast, oh man! to thy God, and assured Principles, then consider thy own nobleness, how all created things, both present and to come, were for thy sake created; nay, for thy sake God became Man: thou art that Creature, who being conversant with Christ, liveth and reignest above the heavens, and sits above all power and authority. ”

“ See if Mars be in the 7th house, so that he be not in his owne house, then she hath none; if Saturn be there, she loveth one but lyeth not with him; if Jupiter be there, she hath much adoe to be honest; if Venus, she is a merry wag, and is thought to be wanton, but is not: if Mercury, she had a Friend but hath not now; if Moon be in the 7th, she as yet hath none, but she will have, and will be common: if Sun or North Node be there, she is chaste and hath no Friend: After the same manner you may judge of Friends, or of the man, when the woman propounds the Question. ”

“ If that the Lord of the 2nd or the Moon do promise substance by any aspect they have to each other, you must consider from what House the aspect is, or what House the Moon is Lady of, or if neither of these promise substance; see to the Part Of Fortune, what house it is in, and what House of Heaven the Dispositor is Lord of. If the Planet assisting or promising encrease of Fortune be Lord of the Ascendant, the Querent himself will by his owne diligence advance his owne Fortune ”

“ I find by experience, that the Moon in Sagittarius, afflicted by a Conjunction of Saturn, doth cause the Disease to proceed from Blood infected with choller and melancholly, and many times by too great paines-taking, or violent exercise, and cold thereupon taken. Upon the Opposition of the Moon and Saturn, for the most part the sick has a spice of the Gout, or some Tumour or Swelling in the Hands, or Thighes, or Feet &c. If Mars have any ill aspect to the Moon as well as Saturn at time of first falling sick, it proves a violent burning Feaver. ”

“ The Lord of the Ascendant, the Moon or Venus in fixed Signes, in aspect of the Fortunes, she is chaste; these being in aspect of the Infortunes, not chaste, chiefly with Mars; Sun or Moon beholding Mars, she is meretrix; Sun and Moon in no aspect, nor Mars with them, she is suspected a privy Harlot, rather privately wanton.
I must change all sonnes of Art to be sparing in delivering judgment upon these queries, rather to be silent; for as men we may erre, and so by delivering an unlucky judgment, be authors of much mischiefe. ”

“ Let a Sign ascend in a Nativity or Question, if the Ascendant be in those Degrees you see are called Light, the Childe or Querent shall be more fair; if the degree ascending be of those we call Dark, his Complexion shall be nothing so fair, but more obscure and dark; and if he be born deformed, the deformity shall be more and greater; but if he be deformed when the light degrees of a Sign ascend, the imperfection shall be more tolerable. ”

“ Had I found Jupiter either fortunating the cusp of the 5th house, or in any aspect to the Lord of the Ascendant, or unto Saturn, or if any reception had been betwixt Saturn and Jupiter or Jupiter and Mercury, or any collection of light from Mercury to Saturn, and that Planet so collecting had received Saturn or Mercury, I would not have been so peremptory; but when I found no one promising testimony, I gave my judgment in the negitive, viz. she should not conceive or ever have any children ”

“ The signifier of the question applying to infortunes, it is true; to a fortune, and not received of an infortune, it is false. Many have judged, that if the Moon be in the 8th, 6th or 12th, and apply to any Planet in a Cadent house, the Suspition is not true, or the report will hold long, but that it will be smothered and vanish to nothing: the Moon in Trine to Sun discovers all suddenly. ”

“ That if we find it well placed in the Heaven, in a good house, or in a good aspect of a benevolent Planet, we judge the Fortune or estate of the Querent to be correspondent unto its strength, viz. if it be wel posited or in an angle, or in those Signes wherein it’s fortunated, we judge the estate of the Querent to be sound and firm, if Part of Fortune is otherwayes placed, we do the contrary. ”

“ If you are ignorant of the nature and quality of the Treasure, or thing obscurred, then see to the Planet who signifieth the Treasure, and consider if he be Lord of the 7th house and examine his nature and property, if he be so; if he be not Lord of the 7th, joyne the Lord of the 7th in judgment with him, so frame a mixture for the quality of the thing. ”

“ Beware in all Judgments, when the Significator of the question is either Combust, or in Opposition to the Sun, he will then signifie nothing of the matter, no good, nor is be able to bring anything to perfection. ”

“ Love good men, cherish those honest men that cordially Study this Art: Be sparing in delivering Judgment against the Common-wealth thou livest in. Give not judgment of the death of thy Prince; yet I know experimentally, that Reges Subjucent Legibus Stellarum marry a wife of thy own; rejoyce in the number of they friends, avoid law and controversie: in they Study, be Totus in Illis that thou maist be Singulus in Art; be not extravagant or desrious to learn every Science, be not Aliquid in Omnibus ”

“ If Fortune be in the 8th, it’s an argument no mortality or much destruction of men will follow, or will there be many men wounded, or their wounds difficult to cure; no great slaughters, fights, flights, or any set Battles will be betwixt the Armies on either part: but if Saturn be therein Retrograde, many prisioners will be taken, much ruine and destruction, much poverty and plundering will succeed. ”

“ For as much as Venus significatrix of the Quesited is no manner of way afflicted either by Mercury who is Lord of the eight in the figure, or by Mars who is Lord of the eight as to the Ascendant of the quesited, and that the seperation of the Moon was good, viz. from a Dexter of Jupiter, and her next application to a Conjunction of Sun, upon the Cuspe of Medium Coeli, I judged the absent Brother was alive and had no manner of casualty happened unto him, but was in good health. Having judged the man to be alive, there needs no proceeding to judgment of the rest of the first Quere. ”

“ If the Planet signifying death is either Venus or Jupiter, you may assure the Querent, he or she shall dye a fair death: and observe what Diseases they or either of them in the Signe they are in doe signifie, and what part of mans body they represent in that Signe, and you may certifie the Querent, that the disease or infirmity he or she dye of, will be of the nature of the Planet, and in that part of the body they signifie in that Signe. Usually, good Planets in the 8th, a fair, gentle death; malevolent ones, either strong Feavers, or long continued Sicknesses, and much afflicting. ”

“ Usually an Infortune in the Ascendant blemishes the Face with some Mole or Scarre according to his nature, for the 1st house signifies the Face, the 2nd the Neck, the 3rd the Arms and Shoulders, the 4th the Breast and Paps, the 5th the Heart, &c.. and so every house and Signe in order, according to succession; for what Signe soever is in the Ascendant, yet in every Question the 1st house represents the Face: Many times if the Moon be in Conjunction or Opposition of the Sun, the Querent hath some blemish or the like near one of his Eyes ”

“ In every Figure you set, the place of the Planets ought to be rectified to the hour of the setting the Figure, especially the place of the Moon, because of her swift motion; in the Planets you need not be scrupulous, but take whole degrees without sensible error, or indeed any at all: this I mean in Questions; but in Nativities, you are to have the places of them exactly to degrees and minutes; and above all, the motion of the Sun to minutes and seconds, because by his motion we set the yearly revolutions of Nativities. ”

“ I find the Vitals much afflicted when Moon is in Gemini, at the time of any ones Decumbiture, and the sick inclinable to a Consumption; with such the Pulse is rare and little, afflicted with frequent sweatings, Simptomes of the Spleen, and the Disease more troublesome in the night then in the day; if Mars, together with Saturn, at the same time afflict the Moon, most Authors hold, the sick will not live above ten dayes, unlesse the favorable aspects of Jupiter or Venus intervene, and then after a long time, the sick may recover. ”

“ When Saturn is in the Signe of the fiery Triplicity, as Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, he usually signifies Hectick-Feavers. If he be in Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces, the cause and matter of the Disease growes from some cold and moyst cause or matter, or distemper; and this more assuredly if Venus or Moon, who are moyst Planets, have together with him and signification in the Disease, the matter then afflicting or cause of the disease is more grosse and vicious with long Paroxismes, with ebbing and flowing of the Disease. ”

“ If the Sun be under the earth, and Venus above, and behold the Ascendant with Sextile or Trine; the woman or wife shall be received, but with some importunity and delayes, with much adoe, and a great deale of labour, and all her Neighbours shall take notice of it. If the Moon be encreasing in light, and in any good aspect to the Ascendant, she shall returne, but with much solicitation. ”

“ The Sun hath never any latitude.
In the next column to the Sun you find Venus and then Mercury, with the title of their Latitude:
Now if over any of the Planets you find S.A. or D. it tels you that Planet hath Septentrionall or North latitude, and is either ascending or descending, as the letters A. or D. do manifest. In the fourth line you see Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Mercury, Moon, North Node; now you must observe ever, the South Node is in the opposite signe and degree to the North Node, though he is never placed in the Ephemeris. ”

“ Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, are Orientall of the Sun, from the time of their conjunction with him, untill they come to his Opposition: from Whence untill again they come to conjunction, they are said to be Occidentall; to be Orientall is no other thing then to rise before the Sun: to be Occidentall is to be seen above the Horizon, or to set after the Sun is down: Mercury and Venus can make no Sextile , Square, Trine or Opposition to the Sun: their Orientality is when they are in fewer degrees of the Sign the Sun is, or in the Sign preceding ”