The Astrology Book

PARTS OF THEBODYASSIGNED TO THETRADITIONALPLANETS

Planet Body Part

Saturn Bones, knees, spleen, teeth

Jupiter Arteries, blood, lungs, ribs, sides, veins, reproductive seed

Mars Gall bladder, kidneys, reproductive organs, veins

Sun Left eye (women), right eye (men), heart, sinews

Venus Kidneys, small of the back, reproductive organs and seed, throat

Mercury Brain, hands, tongue

Moon Left eye (men), right eye (women), brain, bladder, stomach, bowels, womb

These planetary rulerships would be utilized either to delineate the effects

through house rulership, or to determine if a planet were particularly compromised in

the chart.

In the Arabic and Latin Medieval periods, the sixth house emerged as a focal

point for the delineation of illness. The ruler of the sixth house, and particularly its

debilities, could show something about the frequency and severity of illness, specifi-

cally when that ruler was afflicted by primary direction.

The periods of life were not primarily or exclusively a medical technique. They

were used to examine the predominant planetary influence of any given period, much

like the Vedic system of Dhasasor Bhuktis.

As for death, the sign of the eighth house was understood to have something to

do with the means or manner of death, although this was usually counted as the eighth

from the part of fortune, not the ascendant. In the extant horoscopes from the Hel-

lenistic period, references to death far outnumber references to accidents or disease.

Interrogations

The other primary system for using medical astrology involves interrogations,

which are better known as horary, event, and electional astrology.

The form of delineation is the same for the following two horary questions:

What is the cause of my illness? What will be the course of the disease (as for the

delineation of any event known as a decumbiture, which is a moment of health cri-

sis)? The following are examples of such moments:

An acute event, such as a heart attack, stroke, breaking a bone, or

being in a car accident

The time for checking into a hospital

The time that a diagnostic procedure is performed

The time that the patient is given a diagnosis

Waking up in the morning and finding that you are sick and cannot or

should not get out of bed

Medical Astrology

[436] THEASTROLOGYBOOK