CHAPTER IX

APHORISMS

   1.--The moon may be regarded as the giver and the taker of life; that is, the  moon acts as a medium in carrying the life forces from the sun  to  the earth and man, and the moon forces also eventually produce death.

   2.--When the moon is full, the tides are higher,  the bones are fuller of marrow,  and oysters are fuller than at any other time.   The temperature is then also highest in fevers.

   3.--During the first half of life, particularly in childhood the moon has greatest rule,  and during the latter half of life the sun has the strongest influence.

   4.--The moon has great influence over insane people,  that is,  lunatics, and over hysterical,  epileptic, and nervous patients.   These patients feel the changes of the moon very greatly; especially are they very restless during the full of the moon.   They should never sleep with the moon shining on them.

   5.--At the new of the moon the material forces are weakest.   The  period of the waning moon,  namely between the full and the new,  is strongest  for spiritual work, for at that time the influence of the sun is greatest.

   6.--Do not perform an operation when the moon is in the sign which  rules the part of the body to be operated upon.   Ptolemy says,  "Pierce not  with iron  that part of the body which may be governed by the sign  actually  occupied by the moon."

   7.--Operations performed at the exact change of the moon are rarely  successful.  Choose the time for an operation when the moon is waxing or, as it is commonly termed,  the light of the moon.   Do not operate when the sun is in the sign which rules the part of the body to be cut.

   8.--The moon revolves around the zodiac in about twenty-eight days.  Disease reaches a turning point every seven days.   Starting from the place  of the moon at the beginning of the illness,  a change may be expected in seven days  (the  square),  on the fourteenth day (the  opposition),  and  on  the twenty-first day (another square).

   9.--The moon rules acute disease, the sun chronic.

   10.--It  is well to watch the squares and the opposition of the  moon  to the transiting sun, Mars, and Saturn when operating.

   11.--The  moon has greatest rule over the health of the woman  while  the sun influences the health of the man.

   12.--From the new to the full moon stimulants produce the most effect and sedatives  are the weakest;  decrease the dose of the one and  increase  the other.

   13.--When the increasing moon is in good aspect to the radical Jupiter or Venus,  cardiac stimulation produces most lasting results.   Palpitation  is most efficiently treated when the moon is decreasing and aspecting the above planets favorably.   Apply heart stimulants with extreme care when the  moon is  evilly aspected to these planets and especially when it is dark or  waning.

   14.--Good aspects to the radical moon from the transiting Jupiter and Venus are very helpful.

   15.   Saturn when placed in the sixth house of the horoscope at birth has a tendency to lower the vitality.

   16.--The  sign in which the sun is at birth is a very vital  locality  in the horoscope, its influence varying according as it is cardinal, fixed,  or common.   Also the house containing the sun, be it cadent, succedent,  or an angle  is important.   From the strength of the sun you may often judge  the response which you will get from your patient.

   17.--Benefic aspects between the radical sun and Mars give great vitality and resistance to disease.   An evil aspect between the Sun and Mars is better from a health standpoint than no aspect at all.

   18.--Aspects to the Ascendant and the Midheaven are often unreliable  unless you are absolutely sure of the minute of birth,  and as clocks are frequently off time and there is much confusion in regard to different kinds of time, these two points should be used with great discretion.

   19.--Planets that are in critical degrees (See Simplified Scientific  Astrology,  page 81) have a greater influence either for good or evil than  in other degrees.

   20.--Certain  fixed  stars have a powerful influence on  disease.   Especially should the three following nebular spots be watched:   the  Pleiades, 29 degrees of Taurus;  Ascelli, 6 degrees of Leo; and Antares,  8 degrees of Sagittarius.

   21.--A  child with no aspect between the sun and Mars is subject to  many child's diseases.

   22.--A  patient with many planets in airy signs requires more air in  the sleeping apartment than others do; planets in fiery signs incline one to require much sunlight;  and people with planets in watery or earthy signs suffer from too much sunlight.

   23.--With fixed signs on the angles and afflictions in common signs,  the native  overcomes disease;  when common signs are on the angles and the  afflictions in fixed signs, he is more apt to succumb to disease.

   24.--A well aspected sun when in the sign of Aries or Leo gives great vitality and an ability to throw off disease.

   25.--When people with Aries rising or the sun or Mars in the sign of  Aries at birth are ill, their temperature rises much higher than that of other patients,  and they suffer much more quickly from fever, for there is a tendency of the blood to rush to the head and to the skin.

   26.--An  affliction  between the Sun and Saturn or a square  between  the moon and the sun gives low vitality.  When  this  condition  is found in the horoscope  it is well during illness to watch the progressed moon in  aspect to these afflicted plants,  and also especially the transits of the new  and full moons.

   27.--Retrograde planets give very little help in disease.   Regardless of whether  they are in good or evil aspect,  their influence is  latent  until they turn direct; then we may look for their awakened influence.

   28.--Planets when they turn from retrograde to direct are slow in motion. Their influence while in this slow motion is not as vital nor as powerful as when they are swiftly moving.

   29.--Planets are strong when in signs of their own nature,  also when  in aspect to planets which are in compatible signs.

   30.--When the hour of birth is not known a fairly accurate diagnosis  may be  obtained  by using a flat chart, i.e.,  by placing Aries  on  the  first house, Taurus on the second, Gemini on the third, etc.

   31.--Saturn's influence is contracting, while Mars' is loosening.

   32.--The  sun  rules  the vital fluid which is  specialized  through  the spleen.   When the sun is afflicted at birth disease frequently occurs  when progressions of the planets afflict the sun.

   33.--When the radical sun or moon is within orb of the Pleiades in 29 degrees of Taurus, the Ascelli in Leo 6, or Antares in Sagittarius 8,  trouble with the eyes is indicated, especially if Saturn, Mars, or Uranus is also at one of these spots.

   34.--Mercury in the twelfth house, afflicted by the sun,  Saturn,  Uranus or Mars, also Mercury in Capricorn, the house of Saturn, when afflicted by a malefic will affect the hearing.

   35.--Watch  the malefic planets when they are placed in either the  sixth or  the twelfth house,  the sixth being the house which has rule over  sickness, and the twelfth having rule over hospitals and places of confinement.

   36.--It  is necessary to observe the antipathy between certain signs  and planets.   For instance,  the fiery Mars may be posited in the water Pisces, or the cold,  earthy Saturn in the fiery sign of Aries.  When a planet is in the sign of its detriment, it may especially become a menace to health.

   37.--The  place where Saturn is found in the horoscope is most likely  to be a weak place in the physical body, the place most easily affected by disease.

   38.--The  Lucifer  spirits from Mars aid in maintaining the heat  of  the blood by dissolving the iron,  a Mars metal,  and enabling the blood to  attract oxygen, a sun element.

   39.--A patient with the planet Mercury in square aspect to Saturn is  apt to suffer from gloom.   A cheerful,  sunny room should be chosen,  with rose colored walls.

   40.--The  sign  of Leo on the Ascendant with the sun  in  its  exaltation sign, Aries, gives abundant vitality and the power to throw off disease.

   41.--If  a disease is caused by an affliction of Mars,  we may  look  for help when the progressed moon reaches a good aspect of Venus.  When the disease is of a Saturnian nature, we may expect the greatest help when the moon aspects Jupiter.   Note the symbol of Venus, the higher octave of Mars,  and that of Jupiter, the higher octave of Saturn; in each case the latter symbol

is the inversion of the former.

   42.--If  the moon is in conjunction with Saturn at the beginning of  disease, we may expect that the disease will be of long duration.

   43.--Disease  related  to the moon is of an acute nature and  may  change within twenty-eight days, but when the disease is related to the sun,  it is of a more chronic nature and likely to be of longer duration and more  stubborn in resisting treatment.