ASTROLOGIA MUNDA - Classical Astrologer Weblog

Book IV – Astrologia Munda
Section IV – Chapter VI
on the appearance of comets; since all the learned in the works of nature do
unanimously conclude they are the fore-runners of much tribulation, alteration,
anxiety, and trouble, which I shall by and by more amply deliver unto you.
[Some Comets move, others again are fixed, How to judge their portences]
You are to take notice that some comets do move as the planets. And again,
others do not stir but are fixed, as are the other stars.
To judge of the accidents portended by comets, the place of their appearance in
the heavens is to be observed and what stars are in configuration therewith.
Also in what similitude they appear, and where they appear and
shine.
If they appear like swords, wars are threatened and destruction of mankind; like
flutes or haut-boys, it portends mischief to musicians; if in the middle of a sign,
to whore-masters, and women gamesters; in form of a triangle of quadrangle,
i.e. a trine of square aspect to any of the fixed stars, to wits and learned men. If
a comet appears in either of the Nodes, or those places which we commonly
call the Head and Tail of the Dragon, it proves infectious and pestiferous.
[The birth of our Saviour fore-known by the comet in Augustus his time]
We come now to show the events of comets or such things, as they are the forerunners
of. Yet I cannot but first let my reader know the strange foreknowledge
Sybilla Tiburtina had in this science, who from the apparition of that great and
famous comet 1 which was seen in Cæsar Augustus his time. 2
238
told the
Emperor that it pointed out a child born of a virgin, who should be greater than
he and therefore she exhorted him to worship and adore him, etc.
1 William's Comet Catalogue of 1871 identifies two -- one in 5 B.C. and a second in 4 B.C. Both are
described in detail in Chapter 7 of David Hughes' book The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer's
Confirmation. The comet of 5 B.C. (number 52 in Williams's Catalogue) was first seen between
March 10 and April 27, and was visible for 70 or more days. It was a «hut» comet, also called a
«sweeping star» or «broom star», and had a tail or rays. It was seen in Capricorn and there is no
mention of motion. It may have been a nova, but the description best fits a comet. In 4 B.C., a «po»,
or tailless, comet was noted in April 24 in Aquila. There is no way to know whether it was a comet or
nova. Incidentally, older references state that Halley's Comet was seen in 11 B.C., but modern
calculations identify it with one seen for 56 days from August to October of 12 B.C.
2 NOTE BY RAMESEY: in whose days and reign was our Saviour Christ born.