17. Astrologyc

Hence the head is subject in an absolute manner to astral influence, and evidences its several attractions by its diverse protuberances. The final word of phrenology is to be found therefore in scientific and purified astrology, the problems of which we bequeath to the patience and good faith of scholars. According to Ptolemy, the sun dries up and the moon moistens; according to the Kabalists, the sun represents strict Justice, while the moon is in sympathy with Mercy. It is the sun which produces storms, and, by a kind of gentle atmospheric pressure, the moon occasions the ebb and flow, or, as it were, the respiration of the sea. We read in the Zohar, one of the great sacred books of the Kabalah, that “the magical serpent, the son of the Sun, was about to devour the world, when the Sea, daughter of the moon, set her foot upon his head and subdued him”. For this reason, among the ancients, Venus was the daughter of the Sea, as Diana was identical with the Moon. Hence also the name of Mary signifies star or salt of the sea. To consecrate this kabalistic doctrine in the belief of the vulgar, it is said in prophetic language: The woman shall crush the serpent's head. Jerome Cardan, one of the boldest students, and beyond contradiction the most skilful astrologer of his time - Jerome Cardan, who was a martyr to his faith in astrology, if we accept the legend of his death, has left a calculation by means of which anyone can foresee the good or evil fortune attached to all years of his life. His theory was based upon his own experiences, and he assures us that the calculation never deceived him. To ascertain the fortune of a given year, he sums up the events of those which have preceded it by 4, 8, 12, 19 and 30; the number 4 is that of realization; 8 is the number of Venus or natural things; 12 belongs to the cycle of Jupiter and corresponds to successes; 19 has reference to the cycles of the Moon and of Mars; the number 30 is that of Saturn or Fatality. Thus, for example, I desire to ascertain what will befall me in this present year, 1855. I pass therefore in review those decisive events in the order of life and progress which occurred four years ago; the natural felicity or misfortune of eight years back; the successes or failures belonging to twelve years since; the vicissitudes and miseries or diseases which overtook me nineteen years from now, and my tragic or fatal experiences of thirty years back. Then, taking into account irrevocably accomplished facts and the advance of time, I calculate the chances analogous to those which I owe already to the influence of the same planets, and I conclude that in 1851 I had employment which was moderately but sufficiently remunerative, with some embarrassment of position; in 1847 I was separated violently from my family, with great attendant sufferings for mine and me; in 1843 I travelled as an apostle, addressing the people, and suffering the persecution of ill-meaning persons: briefly, I was at once honoured and proscribed. Finally, in 1825 family life came to an end for me, and I entered definitely on that fatal path which led me to science and misfortune. I may suppose therefore that this year I shall experience toil, poverty, vexation, heart exile, change of place, publicity and contradictions, with some eventuality which will be decisive for the rest of my life: every indication in the present leads me to endorse this forecast.