CIMA 63 Titel Inhalt

14
corresponding planet. Hence, the first ten days of Aries (21 to 30 March) are ruled by
the planet Mars. The illustration also includes another technical element, i.e. the two
geomantic figures associated to Aries, here Aquisitio and Puella. On the construction
and meaning of these figures, see section 3.1, below.
2.2. Some general characteristics of Aries (fols 51ra-52ra), especially the three decans
(fol. 51ra-51va) and the geomantic questions relevant to the sign (fols 51va-52ra). This
section also includes a short paragraph on the ‗good fortune‘ of Aries (fol. 52ra).
2.3. A short description of the child born when the Moon is in Aries (fol. 52rb).
2.4. Some general characteristics of Aries and ‗elections‘ (i.e. daily activities to be
undertaken or avoided) when the Moon is in Aries (fol. 52rb-52va).
2.5. Some general characteristics of Aries and a description of the child born in March-
April, i.e. when the Sun is in Aries (fols 52vb-53ra).
2.6. Other elections when the Moon is in Aries (fol. 53ra-53rb).
2.7. A description of the child born in March and general characteristics of the month
of March (fols 53rb-54va).
2.8. A description of the child born when Aries is rising (fol. 54va-54vb). This
paragraph includes a few words on each of the three decans of Aries.
2.9. A description of the new-born according to the ‗Buch Archandrini‘ (fols 55ra-
57vb). This section is divided into three parts: a general description of the child born in
each of the lunar mansions of Aries (fols 55ra-56vb) 4 ; some short prognostics for each
of the twelve houses of Aries (fols 56vb-57vb); and a general description of the child
born in Aries (fol. 57vb).
The lunar mansions are a subdivision of the sky into 28 equal parts of about 13 degrees
each, corresponding to the daily course of the Moon. They are superimposed to the
signs of the zodiac, so that each sign contains two mansions and one third of a
mansion. The Lunar mansions, unknown to the Greeks, are of Eastern origin and were
especially popular in Arabic astronomy and astrology, and they were used throughout
the Middle Ages with their Arabic names, in more or less corrupt forms. 5 In the
‗Tübingen Book‘, the names of the mansions are so corrupt that, in most cases, it is no
longer possible to recognize the original name. The most obvious ones include
Almescens (fols 65vb and 74rb, > al-Maysān), Alcoreton (fol. 88vb, > al-Kharātān),
4 Accidentally, only the first mansion of Aries (Albora) is taken into consideration here.
5 On the lunar mansions, see Paul KUNITZSCH, ‗Al-Manāzil‘, in Encyclopaedia of Islam. New
Edition, VI, Leiden, 1987, pp. 374-376 (reprinted in Id., The Arabs and the Stars. Texts and
Traditions on the Fixed Stars, and Their Influence in Medieval Europe, Northampton, 1989,
article XX, pp. 1-7). Charles BURNETT, ‗Lunar Astrology. The Varieties of Texts Using Lunar
Mansions, with Emphasis on Jafar Indus‘, in Il sole e la luna. The Sun and the Moon
[= Micrologus, XII], Firenze, 2004, pp. 43-133.