end with a conjunction of the outer planets in the end of the sign of Pisces, and a new period will commence with a fiery Trigon. Referred to the pole (i.e., according to right ascension), the new star belongs to the sign of Aries, where the new Trigon will also begin, and there will therefore be great changes in the world, both religious and political. The star was at first like Venus and Jupiter, and its effects will therefore first be pleasant; but as it then became like Mars, there will next come a period of wars, seditions, captivity, and death of princes and destruction of cities, together with dryness and fiery meteors in the air, pestilence, and venomous snakes. Lastly, the star became like Saturn, and there will therefore, finally, come a time of want, death, imprisonment, and all kinds of sad things. As it is not exactly known when the star first appeared, he follows the example of Halus, a commentator of Ptolemy (on the occasion of the appearance of a comet), and assumes that it appeared at the time of new moon, the 5th of November,[1] at 7h. 55m., for which moment he finds that Mars was the ruling planet. The places most affected by the star will be those in latitude 62° (in the zenith of which the star could be); but as the star belongs to Aries, its influence will be felt nearly over the whole of Europe, and particularly after the great conjunction (of April 1583) has added its great power to that of the star.
It will be seen that this prediction is only expressed in very vague terms, and we shall find, when we come to analyse
- ↑ No doubt he was right, as this would be a capital day for a celestial explosion to take place! The date and time of the first appearance was required to prepare the horoscope of the star in the usual manner (see below, Chapter VI.).
Cyprianus Leovitius, De Conjunctionibus Magnis, London, 1573; Kepler, De Stella Nova, 1606, p. 13 (Opera Omnia, ii. p. 623); Ideler, Handbuch der Chronologie, ii. p. 401. More about this in Chapter VIII.
