Medical Astrology, page 3

In the Foreword, the author writes, This work is a attempt to produce a useful astrological Encyclopaedia of Character, and, as far as data permit, of Disease.... Some reference might perhaps at this point be made to the study of the local zodiacal influences which are frequently mentioned herein. Even from the earliest times certain parts of the Zodiac, usually identified with nebulae or fixed stars, have been considered to possess peculiar powers. Medieval writers also published lists of degrees to which they assigned special names & qualities, such as azimene, pitted, smoky.... Recently Mr. Maurice Wemyss has published, in the pages of Modern Astrology, numerous articles dealing largely with degree-influences, treated in pairs of opposites - 0 degrees Aries-Libra, and so on - and it is now widely held that the study of the individual characters of degrees is one of the most promising fields of astrological research.... My own investigations in this direction, while stimulated by Mr. Wemyss's valuable work, are the results of original study. I am not prepared to say whether the influences in question are inherent in the degree, or for some reason originate in a wider zodiacal area. In some instances the peculiarity seems very local; in others much more extensive. In some cases it seems to derive from one degree only; in others, from a pair of opposite degrees; in others again, from the corresponding degrees in the four signs of the quadruplicity. In any event, the reality & value of these local effects are beyond question, although our knowledge of them is in its infancy. It should be noted that the values of degree-areas are often to be seen in progressions as well as in the natal figure. (pgs 5-6)

Sometimes known as Carter's Little Green Book. Often witty, always surprising, a book you will use forever. Includes six nativities of interest, and a table of local influences mentioned in the book.

Astrology Classics, 199 pages, paper.

Comment: These are the working notes of a medical doctor who made good use of medical astrology in his practice. He greatly simplifies the subject, and adds numerous original observations. An excellent book.

AFA, 179 pages.

Part 1:
1. Tha anatomical & physiological properties of the signs;

2. Rulership & qualities: Anatomy & physiology correlated to the zodiac; Pathological qualities of the signs; Physiological afflictions of the signs; Anatomy & physiology correlated to the planets; Pathological qualities of the planets; Astrological affinities of the sense organs

3. Sympathy & antipathy; 4. The science of right living; 5. The mentality; 6. The sixth house influence; 7. Preliminary steps in diagnosing; 8. Hints & helps for the healer; 9. Aphorisms; 10. Diagnosing from the hands & fingernails.

Part 2: Diagnosis from horoscopes:
11. A lesson in directing; 12. The ears; 13. The eyes; 14. The throat; 15. The lungs; 16. The heart; 17. The stomach; 18. The kidneys; 19. Sex; 20. The spine; 21. The liver & gall gladder; 22. Circulation; 23. Leprosy; 24. Paralysis; 25. The nerves; 26. The bones; 27. Spirit control; 28. The ductless glands; 29. Special conditions; 30. Insanity; 31. Asthma; 32. Cancer; 33. Rosicrucian healing; Index.

Comment: This is the result of 30 years research & healing by Max Heindel, his students & associates, and the woman who eventually became his wife, Augusta Foss Heindel. Many, many horoscopes illustrating specific diseases, all of which are discussed, often shrewdly. Suggested cures seem like platitudes and are strongly esoteric. In healing, the Heindels do not reveal their secrets. It will repay close study.

Rosicrucian Fellowship, 482 pages.

Contents:

About the author (a phlegmatic choleric)
Important note
Preface, by John Frawley

Part 1: The basics:
1. The humors & the elements in the body
2. Symptom & disease
3. Astrological anatomy

Part 2: Diagnosis & treatment:
4. Diagnosis: The deeper causes of illness
5. An imbalance of energy
6. Cosmic principles: Sympathy & antipathy
7. Treatment
8. The spiritual level: Hildegard von Bingen
9. Precious stones

Part 3: Operations, elections & prevention
10. Questions on operations & treatments
11. Medical elections
12. Prevention

Appendices:
A. Stars associated with blindness
B. How to spot body types

Epilogue
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Comment:

The first chapter, on Humors & Elements, is the best I have ever read on those subjects. Hofman has an outstanding grasp of the four elements: Yellow Choler (fire), phlegm (water), blood (air) and black choler (earth), their uses & purposes, how they interact, and much more. He gives eczema, ie sudden skin eruptions, as an example. This "obviously" has to do with yellow choler, ie, fire, but not always the way in which you think. If there is too much yellow choler, ie, fire, the excess will erupt (ie, burn through) the skin, but if there is an excess of phlegm, or water, the water can drive fire out of the body through the skin. Producing the same symptoms, but for a radically different reason. Modern medicine treats eczema with cooling (ie, anti-fire) creams & salves, but when the underlying problem is too much water - which Hofman says is often the case - the treatment backfires. Another example is cancer. Cancer is often the product of too much black choler (ie, earth, cold & dry), but when it is treated with modern cool & dry formulas, the result is often only temporary remission, as the underlying problem has not been dealt with at all.

The chapters on Astrological Anatomy & Diagnosis are fairly straightforward & similar to those in similar books, and are well-done here. Hofman emphasises that natal charts are useful only in terms of prevention & as a general guide to what the individual is capable of. For specific diagnosis, he insists on horary charts. When the question is asked, he says, that's when the problem is most pressing & the situation most clear. This is not the same as a decumbiture chart where the victim has ignored warnings until he has finally collapsed (ie, fallen ill) as a result. In an horary figure, Hofman says to ignore the 6th house, since the entire chart represents the affliction. In a decumbiture chart, to the contrary, the sixth house, and/or its ruler, identifies the trigger, ie, what laid us low.

In a medical horary (ie, Doctor, what's wrong with me?), the first house ruler is the querent's diseased body itself. We compare its humoral nature to sign it is in, as its discomfort by sign is often the reason for the illness. We then look at its dispositor to find out why it's uncomfortable. On pg. 41, Hofman gives the example of Mercury ruling the first house (he does not specify if Gemini or Virgo) in the sign Aries. Mercury, cold & dry, placed in a sign that is hot & dry. In this case, the ruler of Aries, Mars, is in Cancer. So the problem is too much water, ie, phlegm. Looking further, we see the underlying problem is that water is disturbing the functioning of Mars. He then directs our attention to Richard Saunder's Astrological Judgment & Practice of Physick where, he says, many practical remedies can be found. Hofman also deciphers Saunder's degrees of illness, a scale from 1 (minor) to 4 (incurable or fatal). Hofman works a great deal with Saunders' book.

His exposition of the diagnosis & healing techniques of Hildegarde von Bingen was entirely new to me. Much can be learned from this 12th century German mystic. More than I had imagined.

Hofman's is a book you must work with in order to get the best from it. The author is an experienced medical astrologer. The Preface, by John Frawley, is priceless.

Wessex Astrologer, 141 pages.

Contents:

Editor's preface

Catalogue of the Herbs and Plants appropriate to the several Planets.
General rules whereby to know under what planet every herb or plant is Governed
Rules concerning the gathering of herbs and plants at the right planetary hours.
Concerning numbers attributed to the planets with the reason thereof.
The way to find the Disease by the Sun or Moon afflicted.
To know the time of Death or Recovery by Critical Figure.
Judgment upon a Decumbiture Figure, and also upon acute and perperacute sicknesses.
Judgment upon another Decumbiture of a sick person
The Characters of the seven Planets : Twelve Signs; and the five usual Aspects; and by the houses of the Planets
The sick-mans glass, with the use of an Ephemeris
How to Erect a Scheme or Figure for any time given.
A Decumbiture Figure set for the time of my Friends falling sick : with judgment thereupon.
Observations concerning the Ascendant.
Brief Rules concerning long or short sicknesses and whether the Patient is like to live or die.
The bodily shape and infirmities attributed to the twelve Signs.
The bodily shape with the parts and members of the body together with the diseases which the planets generally rules.
Concerning the Moon of Mars or Sol afflicted in any of the Twelve Signs.
Concerning the Moon of Saturn or Jupiter afflicted in any of the Twelve Signs.
How to make Diet-drinks, or to extract the spirits of plants or Herbs.
How to make Syrups Glisters, Fumes, Fumigations, Cataplasms, Ointments, and Baths.
Of Purgation and the manner of Purging, Vomiting, Bathing, Sweating, Blooding, with some other additions necessary to be known.
A Catalogue of Choice herbs or plants, collected for the curing of all kinds of griefs or infirmities whatsoever, Alphabetically expressed
One cure done at Oxford, Anno Dom. 1658.
Another cure done at Oxford, Anno Dom. 1659.
One cure done at Tylehurst near Reading, Anno 1667.
The way to cure the Evil, commonly called the King’s Evil ; with an Example. Another kind of Evil and the Cure thereof.
Another kind of Evil which comes from Strong Sorcery or Witchcraft with the way of cure
A Boy suddenly struck dumb and so continued three years how cured.
How to make the Sympathetical powder with its application.
The Unguent its making and use.
Concerning Witchcraft and Sorcery, with the way of cure.
Some experimental Rules whereby to afflict the Witch.
The way to cure both Witchcraft and Sorcery.
Some notable Philosophical Secrets whereby to cure sundry distempers.
Two pretty secrets in Philosophy.
Some practical and experimental Rules whereby to give judgment Astrologically upon Thefts, Strays, Fugitives, Decumbitures of Sick Persons, Urines, or any other Horary Question
Concerning the calling forth of Devils out of such who are Possessed, and how performed by the Author.
Concerning Agues and Quotidian Infirmities with the way of cure thereof
Concerning all kinds of Madness, its cause and cure.
Postscript to the Reader.
A short Epistle to those who are Students and well willers to the Art of Astrology

Appendices:
List of herbs
The pre-Copernican world
Table of essential dignities
Azimene degrees
An excerpt from Astrological Judgement of Disease from the Decumbiture of the Sick, by Nicholas Culpeper, on Temperament
Glossary
An excerpt from Smith's Family Physician, on agues

Index

Comment:

March, 2010: In print and in stock! A titanic book.

Read my Preface for a general overview.
A pdf extract on Brief Rules concerning long or short sicknesses and whether the Patient is like to live or die.

From the back of the book:

Contrary to modern beliefs, the medieval world was not one of superstition and ignorance. True, they lacked what we know as science, but on the other hand, they were in possession of a coherent philosophy of life, handed down to them from the Greeks and Romans, which had been further hammered out in a thousand ways over the course of centuries. When luck was with them (the period was, above all, poor), medieval peoples were surprisingly successful in dealing with the problems of everyday life.

With minds open, we come to the medieval world as if it was a strange alien planet. Because their philosophy was different, their observations were different, and, therefore, their solutions were different. Some were good. Some were not. The best of them are worthy of our attention, for they can teach us much.

Joseph Blagrave (1610–1682) was a country doctor who lived in Reading, England, in part as he lacked the license that would let him practice openly in London. Fundamentally, he was an astrological herbalist. To this, he brought an eclectic mix of observation, experimentation, folk knowledge, and his own unique genius. Free of modern conceptions, he was able to view and treat the diseases of his day in ways that were revolutionary.

Blagrave uses planetary hours to harvest herbs in the hour of the planet which rules it. So, for example, Angelica, which is ruled by the Sun, is harvested in the first hour after sunrise on Sunday. Nightshade, ruled by Saturn, is harvested in the first hour after sunrise on Saturday. Onions, ruled by Mars, are harvested in the first hour after sunrise on Tuesday. Such plants and herbs are supercharged. They exude the energies of the planet which rules them. Astrological medicine hinges on astrological definitions of the ailment, as in what planet caused the injury, which then determines the plant which has the same - or the opposite - planetary energy. It is therefore essential that plant has the maximum amount of the appropriate planet's energy. Such is the fundamental basis of Blagrave's practice.

The book starts with a list of herbs & plants, sorted by planet. In general this is similar to what you will find in Culpeper's Herbal, though with variations. Blagrave assigns numerical values to the planets (Mars gets the numbers 2, 4, 7 & 9, the Sun gets 1, 3, 4, 10 & 12) & seems to assign specific numbers to specific plants, but the exact passages are missing & were presumably deleted by the author in advance of the original publication, as there is a large gap in pagination, which is present in the very first edition, as I've had direct reports. My guess is that he ran out of money and rationalized the omission because he had earlier published an herbal (which, in fact, he had). Blagrave's complete system is numeric: You have a number for the plant, presumably a number for the disease, you then match these up to the appropriate planetary number. I would very much like to see Blagrave's herbal reprinted, but it is extremely rare.

With virtually every cure, Blagrave starts with an amulet of three solar herbs, tied in a bag & put around the neck. By "around the neck" is not meant a choker. The herbs will naturally come to rest on the breast-bone, which is to say, directly on top of the heart itself. Which, in esoteric terms, strengthens the heart chakra. Blagrave knew, from experience, that strengthening the heart accomplished half the healing all by itself. With super-charged herbs, this is still the most sage advice.

Among a vast array of techniques, Blagrave uses amulets, poultices, herbal teas (diet-drinks), alcohol infustions (brandy), various exotic minerals (Roman vitriol), colonics & more. Unknown to modern science, he used living plants to externalize ailments & heal remotely, passages which still astonish me.

This is an entirely reset, new edition. My primary source was a microfiche (of a badly worn copy) which has been circulating for some years. There are two problems with it: One, it is missing a leaf, ie, the original pages 38 & 39 (poor pagination, for those of you who caught that). Mr. Philip Graves, of Sweden, graciously supplied the missing text from his second edition. There is also a three-word lacunae on the original page 168. Again, Mr. Graves was most helpful. This is, therefore, the first complete edition of Blagrave's book in perhaps three centuries.

In addition to my Introductory notes, where all of this is expanded upon, I also included a variety of appendices. Among them, a complete list of the plants and herbs mentioned in the text, Culpeper's delineations of temperament, taken from his Astrological Judgment of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick, a comprehensive glossary of terms used in the book, a bibliography, and an extract from the Smith's Family Physican on agues, from 1873. Smith's is a most useful book, essential to traditional doctors. It is still in print, you should go to Amazon and get a copy.

Update, April 2011: I have puzzled out two more details from the book: Pg. 112, shrunken sinews is polio. In Blagrave's day there were many harmless strains of the disease, which conferred immunity from the rare serious strain. Modern hygiene wiped out the harmless strains, leaving the serious ones. Which is to say that for about three-quarters of a century, up to the introduction of vaccines in the late 1950's, polio was endemic. (I myself got some of the very first injections, years before they were available as sugar cubes.) Blagrave's treatment was similar to that of Nurse Kenny.

And at last I have the definition of "glister". This is the same word as clyster, which is an enema. Blagrave, however, uses them as high colonics.

Astrology Classics, 268 pages.