Vettius Valens, Anthologies

Vettius Valens, Anthologies, Book I
the Ascendant in Capricorn 24°. Since the moon is in the hemisphere above the earth, I take the distance
from it to the Ascendant, which is very nearly 96°. To each 30° I assign 2 1/2 for a result of 7 1/2 days. I
add this to 92, and the sum is 99 1/2. /52P/ I count from the birth date forwards and arrive at Athyr 6.
Vice-versa from Athyr 6 to the birth date as done earlier; the total days are 266. The
conception was that number of days previous. If I do not want to add the 7 to 92, I subtract it from 273,
for a result of 266. I count this number back from the birth date. Calculating the moon, I find it in
Capricorn, in the Ascendant.
The moon at the nativity will indicate in which sign the Ascendant of the conception was located.
The moon’s degree-position at the nativity will also be the position of the Ascendant at the conception.
Other astrologers calculate the moon by doubling the degree-position of the nativity’s Ascendant.
Alternatively they take one-fourth of the sun’s degree-position at the birth and consider the /53K/ sign in
trine to the right of that point to be the Ascendant of the conception.
Therefore we will not go astray if we henceforth seek the answers for all nativities using the system
given above. Let this be the divinely compelling manner of our future method for solving nativities.
24K;22P. Seven-Month Children.
We will append another method to determine if the infant spends a full term in the womb, or less—in
which case premature death, miscarriages, difficult childbirths, and fatalities, as well as the birth of sevenmonth
children, will occur. The determination is as follows: in each case I note the date (month, day) of
the birth in the year prior to the nativity, and I calculate the moon. I note in which sign it is located.
Next I note the date (month, day) of the birth in the year following the nativity (i.e. two years ), and
again I calculate the moon. Having done so, I compare its position in the prior
year. If I find in both years that the moons are trine with the moon’s position at the nativity, I forecast that
the conception will be carried to term. If in both years the moons are square with the moon at the nativity,
the native’s gestation period will be the minimum factor, /53P/ 258 days. If the moon of the preceding
year is trine and the moon of the following year is square, he will be 269 days in the womb. Conversely if
the moon of the preceding year is square and the moon of the following year is trine, he will be in the
womb the same 269 days.
If the moon of the preceding year is square and the moon of the following year is turned away, he will
have an eight-month gestation period and will be stillborn. Likewise if of the first year is
trine and that of the second year is turned away, the infant will not survive. If in the two years the moons
are found to be in no aspect with the moon at the nativity, the infant will be still-born or will be aborted
with danger to the mother. If the moons of the two years are in opposition
and are in harmony, the infant will be of seven-month term. If /54K/ the moon of the preceding year is in
opposition and the moon of the following year is trine (i.e. with the moon at the nativity or with the
Ascendant), the infant will be of seven-month term. The same will be true if the moon is square. If the
moon of the preceding year is square and the moon of the following year is in opposition, the infant will be
of seven-month term. The sun has the same effect when it is in opposition to the sign in which the new
moon occurred.
The Ancients wrote about this topic, darkly and mysteriously. We have cast light on it.
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