Of Parents [According to Egyptian Ptolemy]

last updated: 11/Dec/2021

Of Parents

Ptolemy follows the topic of Mother & Father of our lives. But I am almost sure that we could along and say that those associations are figure related especially if a person has 2 same sex parents, or, suppose the Sun and Saturn represents the father figure, instead of person with a penis in the relationship: “… We shall now, therefore, begin, following the order just stated, with the account of parents, which comes first. Now the Sun and Saturn are by nature associated with the person of the Father and the Moon and Venus with that of the Mother, and as these may he disposed with respect to each other and the other stars, such must we suppose to be the affairs of the parents.”

Parent

Planet/Association to

Father

Sun (by day) + Saturn (by night)

Mother

Moon (by night) + Venus (by day)

Now, not only will he discuss the grounds of possibilities of the parents of the native through ones’ chart/radix, but will include their fortune/wealth & length of life, which the last I see them as some sort of Spoilers of Life in your own picture of the skies, which they actually won’t indicate when, a specific/exact date, but he makes the picture clear, from short to long-lived scenarios. 

He begins with the Parent’s Fortune:

Parent’s Fortune

Scan/Observe

Overall

 

1. Conspicuously Brilliant

 

2. Conspicuous Happiness

 

3. Parent’s Obscurity

 

4. Moderate

 

5. Patrimony Intact

 

6. Useless and Harmful State  

“…Now the question of their fortune and wealth must be investigated by means of the attendance [participation with] upon the luminaries;

 

1. “… for when they are surrounded by planets that can be of benefit and by planets of their own sect [ex. let the Moon or Sun be conjunct with Venus in its own term and Mars in Venus terms and all these planets below the horizon], either in the same sign [let the Moon/Venus/Mars be in Taurus] or in the next following [let the Moon be in Taurus but Venus and Mars in Gemini], they signify that the circumstances of the parents will be conspicuously brilliant, particularly if morning stars attend [participate with/ rises with] the Sun and evening stars the [with the] Moon, while the luminaries themselves are favorably placed in the way already described.”

 

2. “…But if both Saturn and Venus, likewise, happen to be in the orient and in their proper faces [ex. let Venus be in the Decan of Venus; but the thing is that Saturn and Venus share no single Sign as Decans neither of them neighbors each, so for this configuration to really happen, Venus and Saturn must be at least 20° degrees apart – unless we see Saturn in terms with Venus perhaps? That would simple count as a conjunction of the planets], or at the angles [Asc/Dsc; Mc-Ic], we must understand it to be a prediction of conspicuous happiness, in accordance with what is proper and fitting for each parent.”

 

3. “…But, on the other hand, if the luminaries are proceeding alone and without attendants [lacking aspects to others bodies], they are indicative of low station and obscurity for the parents, particularly whenever Venus or Saturn [for example, let Venus and Saturn be in opposite signs and out of Sect] do not appeal in a favorable position.”

 

4. “…If, however, they are attended, but not by planets of the same sect, as when Mars rises close after the Sun [Mars Oriental to the Sun] or Saturn after the Moon [let Saturn be “behind” the Moon in Degrees], or if they are attended by beneficent planets which are in an unfavorable position [ex. let Venus be in Aries opposite Saturn or Jupiter in Virgo square Saturn below the Horizon] and not of the same sect, we must understand that a moderate station and changing fortunes in life are predicted for them.”

 

5. “…And if the Lot of Fortune, of which we shall make an explanation, is in agreement in the nativity with the planets which in favorable position attend the Sun or the Moon [ex. let Lot of Fortune conjunct Venus in terms with Venus while trine or sextile Sun/(or)Moon] , the children will receive the patrimony intact;”

 

6. “…if, however, it is in disagreement or opposition [ex. let Saturn be in terms with Mars while opposite Sun or Moon or both, and below the Horizon while square Mars in terms with Saturn], and if no planet attends [ex. let Venus and Jupiter be far away and no aspects whatsoever to the Sun or Moon, or the let them be alien/disjunct/aversion to them and to each], or the maleficent planets are in attendance [as already described above], the estate of the parents will be useless to the children and even harmful.”

 

Parent’s Length or Shortness of Life

Scan/Observe

Overall

 

1. Father

A) Long Life

B) Weak

C) Short-Lived or Liable to Injury

D) Rapid Death + Eyes Injuries

E) Peril of Death and Fever + Cutting

F) Death by Disease and Tumor

 

2. Mother

A) Long Life

B) Moderate

C) Short-Lived or Liable to Injury

D) Short-Lived or Liable to Injury

E) Rapid Death + Eyes Injuries

F) Death from Abortion + Cutting

G) Peril of Death and Fever

H) Peril of Death and Illnesses

I) Death by Uterine Ulcers & Cancer

 

Overall. “With regard to the length or the shortness of their life, one must inquire from the other configurations.

 

1.A. “For in the father’s case, if Jupiter or Venus is in any aspect whatever to the Sun and to Saturn, or if Saturn himself is in an harmonious aspect to the Sun, either Conjunction, sextile, or trine, both being in power, we must conjecture long life for the father; if they are weak, however, the significance is not the same, though it does not indicate a abort life.”

1.B. “…If, however, this condition is not present, but Mars overcomes the Sun or Saturn, or rises in succession to them, or when again Saturn is not in accord with the Sun but is either in quartile [square] or in opposition, if they are declining from the angles, they merely make the fathers weak”,

1.C. “…but if they [Mars or Saturn or both] are at the angles or rising after them [the angles], they make them short-lived or liable to injury: short-lived when they are upon the first two angles, the orient and the mid-heaven, and the succedent signs, and liable to injury or disease when they are in the other two angles, the occident and lower mid-heaven, or their succedent signs.”

1.D. “…For Mars, regarding the Sun in the way described, destroys the father suddenly or causes injuries to his sight;”

1.E. “…if he thus regards Saturn he puts him in peril of death or of chills and fever or of injury by cutting and cauterizing.”

1.F. “…Saturn himself in an unfavorable aspect to the Still brings about the father’s death by disease and illnesses caused by gatherings of humors.”

 

2.A. “In the case of the mother, if Jupiter is in any aspect whatever to the Moon and to Venus, or if Venus herself is concordant with the Moon, in sextile, trine, or conjunction, when they are in power, they signify long life for the mother.”

2.B. “…If, however, Mars regards the moon or Venus, rising after her or in quartile or in opposition, or if Saturn similarly regards the Moon by herself, when they are diminishing or declining, again they merely threaten with misfortune or sickness;”

2.C. “…but if they are increasing or angular, they make the mothers short-lived or subject to injury.”

2.D. “…They make them short-lived similarly when they are at the eastern angles or the signs that rise after them, and liable to injury when they are at the western angles”.

2.E. “…For when Mars in this way regards the Waxing Moon, it brings about sudden death and injury of the eyesight for the mothers;”

2.F. “…but if the Moon is Waning, death from abortions or the like, and injury from cutting and cauterizing.”

2.G. “…If he regards Venus, he causes death by fever, mysterious and obscure illnesses, and sudden attacks of disease.”

2.H. “…Saturn regarding the Moon causes death and illnesses, when the ,Moon is in the orient, by chills and fever;”

2.I. “…when she is in the occident, by uterine ulcers and cancers.”

After the Spoiler of the two most dramatic & tragic events of our lives [length of life of our parents] at astrological level, Ptolemy continues: “We must take into consideration, also, with reference to the particular kinds of injuries, diseases, or deaths, the special characters of the signs in which are the planets which produce the cause, with which we shall find more appropriate occasion to deal in the discussion of the nativity itself, and furthermore we must observe by day particularly the Sun and Venus, and by night Saturn and the Moon.

Parents & Method of Derived Houses form the Nativity: “For the rest, in carrying out these particular inquiries, it would be fitting and consistent to set up the paternal or maternal place [Saturn and Moon at Night & Sun and Venus at Day] of the Sect as a horoscope [starting point/Asc] and investigate the remaining topics as though it were a nativity of the parents themselves [For example, let in a person’s chart Venus in Libra be good etc. Count on from that sign Venus is in as the Ascendant, and decipher from there], following the procedure for the investigation of the general classifications, both practical and casual, the headings of which will be set forth in the following.”  

When Things Shall Occur: “…However, both here and everywhere it is well to recall the mode of mixture of the planets, and, if it happens that the planets which rule the places under inquiry are not of one kind but different, or bring about opposite effects, we should aim to discover which ones have most claims, from the ways in which they happen to exceed in power in a particular case, to the rulership of the predicted events. This is in order that we may either guide our inquiry by the natures of these planets, or, if the claims of more than one are of equal weight, when the rulers are together [for example, let Venus conjunct Moon and Sun and Jupiter], we may successfully calculate the combined result of the mixture of their different natures; but when they are separated; that we may assign to each in turn at their proper times the events which belong to them, first to the more oriental among them and then to the occidental. For a planet must from the beginning have familiarity with the place about which the inquiry is made, if it is going to exercise any effect upon it, and in general, if this is not the case, a planet which had no share whatsoever in the beginning can exert no great influence; of the time of the occurrence of the event, however, the original dominance is no longer the cause, but the distance of the planet which dominates in any way from the Sun and from the Angles of the universe.”

References

Tetrabiblos Ptolemy’s four books of the influence of the stars [or the Quadripartite Mathematical Treatise] translated from the Greek paraphrase of Proclus by j. m. Ashmand – [London, Davis and Dickson; 1822]

Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos. Translated by F. E. Robbins. Loeb Classical Library 435. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1940.

Porphyry The Philosopher – Introduction To The Tetrabiblos & Serapio Of Alexandria; Astrological Definitions (Translated from the Greek by ] James Herschel Holden, M.A.)