Carmen astrologicum

Dorotheus (of Sidon.)

Astrology Center of America, Jul 30, 2005 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 192 pages

Dorotheus of Sidon, who appears to have lived in Alexandria, flourished in the first century AD. He wrote his Pentateuch (five books) on astrology in Greek, in verse. This translation, from 1976 by David Pingree, is from a fourth century Pahlavi (Persian) source. The first book is on the judgement of nativities. Book two concerns marriage and children. Book three is on the length of life. Book four is on the transfer of years, i.e., forecasting. Book five is on interrogations, i.e., electional astrology. In this book are the earliest known astrological charts. Dorotheus bases much of his interpretative methods on the triplicity rulers, by day and by night. All fire signs have the same rulers. All earth signs have their rulers, as do air and water signs. He uses Egyptian terms. He, like the Greeks of his day, also uses the Dodecatemoria, which are the twelfths of a sign. And many, many lots, all defined. For the first time in this edition: Pingree's Preface newly translated. An appendix with charts in modern format. A complete table of terms and triplicity rulers. A table to calculate Dodecatemoria. Newly reset to match Pingree's original 1976 edition. Written a century before Ptolemy, here is the mainstream of Greek astrology. It will handsomely repay study.

Contents

• FROM THE STARS ON THE JUDGMENTS CONCERNING NATIVITIES On the upbringing and condition of the native 1 The knowledge of the se...: 1
• The exaltation of the planets 162: 2
• Judgment concerning the matter of the upbringing of the native 163: 4
• The upbringing of natives and for whom there will be an upbringing or for whom an upbringing will not be known 165: 5
• Knowledge of the masculine and feminine hours of the nativity 167: 7
• The knowledge of how many will own the native if he is a slave 170: 11
• Knowledge of the lot of the father 174: 14
• Knowledge of the death of the parents of the native one of the two before his companion 176: 16
• Knowledge of whether the native will inherit his parents property or not 177: 18
• The lot of brothers 179: 19
• Knowledge of the matter of the fortune of the native and his: 22
• property and his illness 183: 23
• Knowledge of the division of the planets with regard to good and evil 183: 24
• On the knowledge of the excellence of fortune 189: 29
• The magnitude of fortune and property 190: 30
• This: 31
• The decline of status and disaster 193: 33
• Knowledge of masculine and feminine signs eastern and western and diurnal and nocturnal 196: 36
• FROM THE STARS ON THE JUDGMENTS CONCERNING NATIVITIES On marriage and children: 37
• The beginning of its beginning is from marriage 197: 39
• The lot of marriage 200: 40
• Knowledge of how many wives he will marry 204: 44
• Knowledge of the lot of wedding by day and by night 205: 45
• Knowledge of sodomy 206: 46
• Exposition of the matter of children 207: 47
• Knowledge of the lot of children 209: 49
• Lot of transit with respect to children 210: 50
• Knowledge of whether females or males are more numerous 211: 51
• Aspect of trines if one of the planets aspects another from trine 212: 52
• Quartile aspect 214: 54
• On the planets aspect from opposition 218: 58
• Aspect of the planets from sextile 221: 61
• If Jupiter is with one of the seven 222: 62
• Knowledge of the places of the planets 224: 64
• Arrival of the Sun in the places 225: 65
• Arrival of Jupiter in the places 226: 66
• Arrival of Mars in the places 227: 67
• Arrival of Venus in the places 229: 69
• Arrival of Mercury in the places 230: 70
• Arrival of Saturn in anothers house 231: 71
• Arrival of Jupiter in anothers house 232: 72
• Arrival of Venus in anothers house 233: 73
• On the arrival of the planets one of them in the house of another 234: 74
• THE THIRD BOOK OF DOROTHEUS WHICH HE WROTE WITH RESPECT TO THE HAYLAJ AND THE KADHKHUDAH WHICH ARE THE G...: 75
• The haylaj 242: 82
• THE FOURTH BOOK OF DOROTHEUS ON THE TRANSFER OF YEARS 1 The transfer of years 245: 85
• THE FIFTH BOOK OF DOROTHEUS ON INTERROGATIONS 1 Introduction 262: 102
• Judgement according to the crooked and the straight 263: 103
• The corruption of the Moon 264: 104
• One who wishes to build a building 267: 107
• Hiring and letting out 267: 108
• The buying of land 269: 109
• The buying of animals 270: 110
• If you want to ask from a ruler or from a man for a request or a gift or other than this 271: 111
• The courtship of a woman and what occurs between a wife and her husband when she quarrels and scolds and departs from her house publicly 275: 115
• A pregnant woman if her child will die in her belly 276: 116
• Debt and the payment for it 278: 118
• Departure from a journey 279: 119
• Buying a ship or building it 281: 121
• Commencing to build a ship 282: 122
• If a book or a message or a letter 286: 126
• Bondage and chains 287: 127
• Judgement about what may not be afterwards of a matter which one hopes for or according to this of things 289: 129
• Query about the sick 290: 130
• To know the condition of a sick man 291: 131
• To know when the property of the native will increase or decrease 292: 132
• Contents of Book Five continued: 136
• The runaway 307: 147
• The treatment of spirits 314: 154
• Illness as Qitrinus the Sadwali says 316: 161
• Table of dignities 169: 169
• Sexta: 180

About the author

David Pingree is Professor of the History of Mathematics at Brown University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Carmen astrologicum
• Author: Dorotheus (of Sidon.)
• Translated by: David Edwin Pingree
• Publisher: Astrology Center of America, 2005
• ISBN: 193330314X, 9781933303147
• Length: 192 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Astrology / General; Body, Mind & Spirit / Astrology / Horoscopes