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Anubion · Fragments §1

Calculating the Ascendant from the Sun and Moon

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

Based on Anubion's elegiacs, a method is described for calculating the position of the ascendant (horoscope) in both diurnal and nocturnal nativities using the positions of the Sun and Moon without other stars.

§1## ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΝΟΥΒΙΩΝΟΣ. Περὶ μοίρας ὡροσκοπούσης ὡς Ἀννουβίων ἐν τοῖς ἐλεγείοις.
## From the Works of Anubion. On the horoscopic degree as Anubion [writes] in his elegiacs.
Ὡρονόμον δὲ μάθοις ὥρην ἄτερ ἀστράσιν ἄλλοις σκεπτόμενος Μήνην καὶ μέγαν Ἠέλιον· ἡμερινῇ γενέσει μὲν ἀπʼ Ἠελίοιο, νοήσας οἴκου δεσπόζων ἔνθα βέβηκε θεός· κεῖθεν δὲ στοιχηδὸν ἀριθμηθήμεναι ἄστρα μέχρι Σεληναίης ἀστέρος ἱσταμένου· πάντα δʼ ἀπʼ Ἠελίοιο διέκβαλε τοῦτον ἀριθμόν, εἰς ὅ τι δʼ ἂν λήξῃ, κεῖθι καὶ ὡρονόμος.
You may learn the horoscopic hour without looking at other stars, by observing the Moon and the great Sun; in a diurnal nativity, [starting] from the Sun, having noted where the god who rules over its house has gone; and from there, count the signs in order until [you reach] where the star of the Moon is situated; and project this entire number from the Sun, and wherever it may end, there is also the horoscope.
χρὴ δὲ Σεληναίης προτέρης ἀνελέσθαι ἀριθμόν, ὥρην νυκτερινὴν σκεπτόμενον θέματος· εἰ δέ κεν Ἠέλιος ὀλίγας μοίρας ἔχῃ ἄστρων, χρὴ τετράγωνά θʼ ὁρᾶν καὶ διάμετρα τόπων.
But one must take the number starting first from the Moon, when considering the nocturnal hour of a nativity; and if the Sun should hold only a few degrees of the signs, one must also look at the squares and diametrical positions of the places.

Notes

  1. p.117Ὡρονόμον ... ὥρην — The phrase ὡρονόμος ὥρη refers to the ascendant (horoscope) or the exact hour of birth in astrological contexts. The optative μάθοις expresses potentiality ('you may learn').
  2. 90ἀριθμηθήμεναι — An aorist passive infinitive (Epic/Ionic form). It is used here as an imperative infinitive ('to be counted / count!'), which corresponds to the subsequent imperative διέκβαλε.
  3. 95διέκβαλε — Aorist imperative of διακβάλλω (or διεκβάλλω), meaning 'to cast out' or 'project'. In astrological contexts, this is a technical term for projecting a certain number of degrees or signs from a starting point to determine a location.
  4. 95Σεληναίης προτέρης — Dependent on the genitive-taking infinitive ἀνελέσθαι ('to take up/select'), meaning 'taking first from the Moon'. This refers to the astrological rule where, in a nocturnal nativity (νυκτερινὴν ὥρην), one begins the calculation from the ruler of the Moon's domicile, whereas in a diurnal one, it starts from the Sun's.

Cite this passage

Anubion, Fragments §1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg1126.tlg003.humanitext-grc1:1

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