The Influence of the Stars

Part Iii. Physiognomy

TO WHICH ARE ADDED

CHAPTERS ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MOLES OF THE BODY ASTROLOGICALLY CONSIDERED,

THE MYSTICAL WHEEL OF PYTHAGORAS AND THE METHODS OF WORKING IT

FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED BY THE AUTHOR

ILLUSTRATED WITH TEN PLATES

LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., LTD. DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, SOHO 1904

Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. Words enclosed by square brackets replace the symbol, as it is not possible to represent the symbol itself in plain text.

"Ye stars which are the poetry of Heaven! If, in your bright leaves we read the fate Of men and empires--'tis to be forgiven, That in our aspirations to be great, Our destinies o'erleap this mortal state And claim a kindred with you; for ye are A beauty and a mystery and create In us such love and reverence from afar, That Life, Fame, Power, and Fortune have named themselves a star."

Byron.

CONTENTS

Part I.. Astrology

ASTROLOGY

CHAPTER PAGE

I. ASTROLOGY 4

II. THE ALPHABET OF ASTROLOGY 12

III. CONCERNING THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC 17

IV. OF THE NATURES OF THE SEVEN PLANETS AND OF THEIR ESSENTIAL AND ACCIDENTAL DIGNITIES 23

V. OF THE INFLUENCES OF THE SEVEN PLANETS 34

VI. CONCERNING THE TWELVE HOUSES OF HEAVEN AND THEIR POWERS 50

VII. AN EXPLANATION OF VARIOUS TERMS USED IN ASTROLOGY 54

VIII. OF THE FIGURE OF THE HEAVENS 59

IX. OF THE INFLUENCES OF THE FIXED STARS 65

X. OF THE EFFECT OF EACH PLANET IN EACH OF THE TWELVE HOUSES 70

XI. ON FORMING A GENERAL JUDGMENT ON A NATIVITY 76

XII. CONCERNING DIRECTIONS AND HORARY QUESTIONS 92

XIII. SOLAR HOROSCOPES 103

XIV. APHORISMS CULLED FROM THE WORKS OF PTOLEMY AND OTHER ANCIENT ASTROLOGERS 120

PART II.. Chiromancy

CHIROMANCY

XV. CHIROMANCY AND ITS ORIGIN 125

XVI. CONCERNING THE PRINCIPAL LINES IN THE HAND AND THE MOUNTS 129

XVII. THE LINE OF LIFE 137

XVIII. THE LINE OF HEART AND LINE OF HEAD 143

XIX. THE SATURNIAN LINE 150

XX. THE LINE OF THE SUN AND LINE OF HEALTH 155

XXI. ON THE RING OF VENUS, THE WRIST LINES AND THE LETTER M TO BE SEEN IN MOST HANDS 160

XXII. CONCERNING CHANCE LINES; THAT IS, LINES WHICH ARE SOMETIMES--BUT ONLY RARELY--SEEN ON ANY HAND 166

XXIII. CONCERNING THE FINGERS AND THUMB AND NAILS 169

XXIV. OF THE VARIOUS MARKS TO BE SEEN ON THE HAND 177

XXV. THE TRIANGLE, THE QUADRANGLE AND THE HAPPY HAND 182

Part III.. Physiognomy

PHYSIOGNOMY

XXVI. PHYSIOGNOMY 185

XXVII. THE FOREHEAD AND EYEBROWS 194

XXVIII. THE EYES AND EYELASHES 201

XXIX. THE NOSE 211

XXX. THE MOUTH, TEETH, JAW AND CHIN 221

XXXI. THE HAIR AND EARS 231

XXXII. THE SIGNATURES OF THE PLANETS 237

XXXIII. THE MOLES ON THE FACE 246

XXXIV. MOLES HAVING NO CORRESPONDING MOLES ON THE FACE 254

XXXV. THE ZODIACAL MARKS 258

XXXVI. CONCERNING ALFRIDARIES 263

XXXVII. CONCERNING THE WHEEL OF PYTHAGORAS AND THE METHOD OF WORKING IT 267

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

WHEEL OF PYTHAGORAS Frontispiece and Cover

THE EARTH To face Chapter VI.

NATUS. 9TH JANUARY, 1889 " " VIII.

FACSIMILE OF A MAP OF A HORARY QUESTION FROM LILLY'S "ASTROLOGY" " " XII.

PRINCIPAL LINES ON THE PALM OF THE HAND " " XVI.

THE LINE OF LIFE " " XVII.

CHANCE LINES ON THE HAND " " XXII.

VARIOUS MARKS ON THE HAND " " XXIV.

THE HAPPY HAND " " XXV.

THE PLANETS' PLACES ON THE FACE " " XXVII.

ALFRIDARY TABLE " " XXXVI.

FOREWORD

Of all subjects that have at any time engaged the attention of the world, there is none more ancient than astrology. In the East--where it first arose at a period of very remote antiquity--it still holds sway and in every part of the world (especially among the learned) it reigned supreme until the middle of the seventeenth century. That it not only ruled the daily actions of individuals but swayed the councils of princes, is shown by the records of every nation that has a history (and by none more fully than by that of England); yet the present generation seems never, until quite lately, to have cared to inquire on what basis this belief could have been for so many ages supported. During the past ten years, however--possibly from a reaction growing out of the realism by which we have been so long oppressed--a new interest in these old-world beliefs has sprung up and it is to satisfy that interest that this book (containing the results of many years' study) was written.

Chiromancy and Physiognomy are both based on astrology and are, therefore, quite in place as the second and third parts of a work treating of the influence of the stars. Many of the modern writers on Chiromancy seem disposed to deny its affinity to astrology, with which it is, however, inseparably connected. Dr. Saunders, in the preface to his exhaustive work on Chiromancy and Physiognomy, published in 1671, and dedicated to his friend Lilly, the great astrologer, says: "For our more orderly proceeding with the body of this work, it is in the first place necessary to be observed that there are seven planets, named Stellæ Errantes--wandering stars--which have each of them its separate character as they are used in astrologie; the which stars have great power over inferior bodies and do, each of them, govern some part or other of man's body and they especially have their material existence in the hand and without astrology Chiromancy could not subsist and be subservient to true wisdom."

Now, why, in the face of this and many other equally forcible words among the old-world authorities, do the modern writers try to force their own crude theories upon us? To drag the time-honoured study of Chiromancy into the turmoil of nineteenth-century existence and--by robbing it of its mysticism--to strain it into unison with the realism of modern thought, strikes the earnest student with the same sense of incongruity as would the hanging of a carnival mask over the mystically calm features of an antique statue.

ROSA BAUGHAN.

November, 1904.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS

ASTROLOGY

"To doubt the influence of the stars is to doubt the wisdom and providence of God."--TYCHO BRAHE.

CHAPTER I.

That a certain power, derived from æthereal nature, pervades the whole earth, is clearly evident to all. Fire and air are altered by the motions of the æther, and these elements, in their turn, encompassing all inferior matter, vary it, as they themselves are varied, acting equally on earth and water, on plants and animals. The Sun, not only by the change of the seasons, brings to perfection the embryo of animals, the buds of plants and the springs of water, but also, by his daily movement, brings light, heat, moisture, dryness and cold.

The Moon, being of all the heavenly bodies the nearest to earth, has also much influence, and things animate and inanimate sympathise and vary with her. By her changes rivers swell or are reduced, the tides of the sea are ruled by her risings and settings, and animals and plants are influenced as she waxes or wanes. The stars also produce in the ambient many impressions, causing heats, winds and storms, to the influence of which earthly things are subjected. The force of the Sun, however, predominates, because it is more generally distributed; the others either co-operate with his power or diminish its effects. The Moon more frequently does this at her first and last quarter; the stars act also in the same way, but at longer intervals and more obscurely than the Moon. From this it follows that not only all bodies which may be already in existence are subjected to the motion of the stars, but also that the impregnation and growth of the seeds from which all bodies proceed are moulded by the quality in the ambient at the time of such impregnation and growth. When, therefore, a person has acquired a thorough knowledge of the stars (not of what they are composed, but of the influences they possess), he will be able to predict the mental and physical qualities and the future events in the existence of any one whose actual moment of birth is accurately given to him. But the science of astrology demands great study, a good memory, constant attention to a multitude of different points and much power of deductive judgment; and those persons who undertake to cast horoscopes without possessing these qualities, must necessarily make frequent mistakes in their judgments, which, perhaps, accounts for much of the disbelief which exists as regards the power of astrology; but it is unfair to blame the science for inaccuracies which are only the result of the ignorance of its exponents. No one should attempt to pronounce judgments on the influence of the stars without having first given years of study to the subject; and even then, unless he should have been born under certain influences, he will never become a proficient astrologer.

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