Additional Notes on the Length of Life

appendix 1 Additional Notes on the Length of Life

1 Calculating the hyleg

The first step in the calculation of the length of life is the identification of the hyleg, that is, the giver of life.1 Generally speaking, the hyleg is often one of the luminaries, preferably the Sun in a diurnal nativity and the Moon in a nocturnal one. The chosen luminary has to fulfil certain conditions in order to be capable of functioning as hyleg, that is, as giver of life. These are usually related to the luminary’s placement in favour- able houses, and in adequate essential and accidental conditions. If neither luminary is suitable to be hyleg, the choice must fall on the ascendant, the lot of fortune or the degree of the lunation before birth (syzygy); this varies in diurnal or nocturnal nativities. The tables below summarize the method most commonly used in the medieval period. If none of the possible candidates has the required conditions, the nativity was considered without hyleg. This suggested a proneness to illness and therefore a prospec- tive shorter life. Method of evaluation for diurnal charts: it begins with the Sun, the first candidate for hyleg; if the Sun is in good conditions it is chosen and no additional calculations are necessary. If, however, it is in a bad condition (i.e. in detriment, in fall or in a weak house), the evaluation moves on to the next possible candidate in the list, the Moon. If the Moon is not in a good condition, it was necessary to determined if the nativity was conjunctional, that is, preceded by a New Moon, or preventional, preceded by a Full Moon. If conjunctional, it followed the sequence displayed on Figure 64; if preventional, in Figure 65. Sequence for nocturnal nativities: first the Moon, then the Sun; if neither of them is in a good condition, the sequence follows Figure 64 for conjunctional, or Figure 65 for preventional charts. Sequence for a conjunctional nativity. It is applicable to all charts preceded by a New Moon, both diurnal or nocturnal, as long as their luminaries were unsuitable for

1 The term hyleg, or hylech, form Arabic haylaj or hilaj, is the latinization of the Greek apheta, which conveys approximately the same meaning. For details see for instance Giuseppe Bezza, ‘Astrological Considerations on the Length of Life in Hellenistic, Persian and Arabic Astrology’, Culture and Cosmos, 2.2 (1998), 3–15; Ezra, Nativities, 257–258, 259, 263–264; Alcabitius, Introduction, IV.4–5, 111–117; Boudet, Lire dans le ciel. La bibliothèque de Simon de Phares, astrologue du XVe siècle, Bruxelles, 1994, 131; and North, Chaucer’s Universe, Oxford, 1988, 214–217.

figure 62 Diurnal: general rules for finding the hyleg in a diurnal chart

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figure 63 Nocturnal: general rules for finding the hyleg in a nocturnal chart

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figure 64 Conjunctional: finding the hyleg (for new moon preceding birth)

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figure 65 Preventional: finding the hyleg (for full moon preceding birth)

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figure 66 Ptolemy’s rules for finding the hyleg in a diurnal chart

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figure 67 Ptolemy’s rules for finding the hyleg in a nocturnal chart

Helena Avelar de Carvalho - 9789004463387 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 04:02:49PM via free access 392 appendix 1 hyleg. The first candidate is the ascendant; if in bad condition, the lot of fortune; if not suitable, the degree of the lunation preceding birth (in this case the New Moon). Sequence for preventional nativities. It is applicable to diurnal or nocturnal charts preceded by a Full Moon, if both luminaries were deemed unsuitable for hyleg. In this case, the first to be considered is the lot of fortune; then the ascendant, and finally the degree of the lunation preceding birth (the Full Moon).

2 Ptolemy’s Variant for Calculation the hyleg2

Like most authors, Ptolemy prioritizes the luminaries as hyleg (prorogator): in diurnal charts, the Sun, and if it is not suitable, the Moon; in nocturnal charts, the Moon, and if it is not suitable, the Sun. However, the luminaries are only accepted if they are in, what he calls, the ‘prorogative places’: the first, eleventh, tenth, ninth, and seventh houses. If the luminaries are not in these houses, he replaces them with certain planets as hyleg instead of following the usual alternatives, as explained above. In diurnal nativities he chooses as hyleg the planet that has more dignities in the places of the Sun, of the preceding conjunction, and of the ascendant; in nocturnal ones, the planet that has more dignities in the places of the Moon, of the preceding Full Moon, and of the Lot of Fortune. These planets also have to be in prorogative places to be considered as hyleg. Should they not be in these conditions, the ascendant is chosen in diurnal nativities. In nocturnal nativities, the ascendant is also chosen, but only if the lunation prior to birth was a New Moon, if it were a Full Moon the Lot of Fortune is chosen as hyleg. These methods are summarized in the diagrams below.

3 The alcocodem

Once the hyleg is identified it is possible to take the next step, that is, to determine the alcocodem (from the Arabic al-kadhkhudah), the planet that measures the length of life. For a planet to be selected as alcocodem it must conjunct or aspect the hyleg by any aspect.3

2 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, III.10, pp. 271–279. 3 The complete method, with slight variations, is explained by several authors. See for instance the already mentioned article by Bezza, ‘Astrological Considerations on the Length of Life’, and also Ibn Ezra, Nativities, 257–259, 263–264 for hyleg, and 112–115, 259–264 for alcocodem; Alcabitius, Introduction, IV.4–5, 111–117.

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The condition of the alcocodem is evaluated in order to ascertain how many years it is capable to give: if in very good condition, the alcocodem is able to give its greater years, in median condition, its median years, in weak condition, its lesser years (see table ‘Years of the Planets’). The calculation is then refined by the inclusion of the aspects to the alcocodem: conjunctions, sextiles, and trines from the benefics add years or months, while squares, oppositions, and conjunctions from the malefics subtract years or months from the number determined by the alcocodem. Still, the number obtained is not the length of life of the native, but only the natural duration of his vital force. If there are no difficult directions afflicting the hyleg around or after that time, life can be prolonged considerably by a moderated lifestyle and certain precautions. These conclusions are seen as possibilities and have to be confirmed by other predic- tive methods.4

4 Years of the Planets

Each planet is associated with a certain number of years: greater, median, lesser, or maxima, as explained in the table below.5 These periods are related to the geocentric astronomical cycles. table 38 Years of the planets

Years Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon

Greater 57 79 66 120 82 76 108 Median 43.5 45.5 40.5 69.5 45 48 66.5 Lesser 30 12 15 19 8 20 25 Maxima 256 426 284 1461 1151 461 520

4 The technique of combining the years of the alcocodem and the directions to potentially harmful places was disputed in the sixteenth century, by those wanting to expurgate astrology from the ‘Arabic superstitions’, returning it to the ‘Greek tradition’. As the alcocodem is not mentioned by Ptolemy in Tetrabiblos, it was seen as a late addition and thus contested. However, other Greek sources, unknown at the time, attribute years to the planets, as dis- cussed in Hasse, ‘Astrology. Ptolemy against the Arabs’, Success and Suppression, 262–265. 5 These are the values presented, with slight variations, by most sources. See for instance Albiruni, Instructions, 255, n.436–437, and Alcabitius, Introduction, II.5, 10, 15, 22, 28, 33, 38; 65–83.

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