Astrologia Gallicais divided into 26 books. After an autobiographical preface
and another preface advocating astrology, the books cover the following topics:
Book I: the true cognition of God from the light of Nature
Book II: creation
Book III: the division of the world into three regions—elementary, aetherial,
and celestial
Book IV: the extension and continuous quantity of created beings
Book V: space, place, and the vacuum
Book VI: motion and time
Book VII: the efficient cause
Book VIII: treats of the alteration of physical bodies
Book IX: mixed bodies
Book X: the experiences, sects, and principles of astrology
Book XI: the simple and primary powers of acting of the celestial
Book XII: the elemental and influential qualities of the celestial bodies
Book XIII: the proper natures and powers of the individual planets and fixed
stars
Book XIV: the first physical cause
Book XV: the essential dignities of the planets
Book XVI: the rays and aspects of the stars
Book XVII: the astrological houses
Book XVIII: the fortitudes and debilities of the planets
Book XIX: the elements of astrology
Book XX: the universal action of the celestial bodies with respect to them-
selves and to sublunary things
Book XXI: the active determination of the celestial bodies and the passive
determination of sublunary things
Book XXII: directions
Book XXIII: revolutions of nativities
Book XXIV: progressions and transits
Book XXV: the universal constitutions of heaven
Book XXVI: interrogations and elections
Morin’s astrology is based upon Aristotle’s philosophy and metaphysics. It
is geocentric. His work belongs to a period in Western astrology during which the
practitioners of astrology fell over themselves in order to appear rational and sci-
entific. Much space in Astrologia Gallicais given to the purging of astrology of
what Morin deemed irrational and erroneous procedures. He objected to the Ara-
bic usage of triplicity rulers and replaced it with another of his own devising. He
objected to the promiscuous and unregulated use of the universal significations of
the planets and introduced his own doctrine of local determination of the Pri-
mum Mobile, which he felt enabled the astrologer to make accurate predictions.
He stressed the importance of understanding the nature, analogy, and zodiacal
state of the planets along with their local determination by the astrological hous-
es in order to get an accurate understanding of their influence on sublunaryMorin, Jean-Baptiste (Morinus)
[466] THEASTROLOGYBOOK