Sunday, October 17, 2010

Correspondences of Seven

I've been coming up with a table of correspondences for the number seven, which is core to "Septimus." This is what I have thus far.
  • Quality of Associated Signs: Each planet is associated with astrological signs as a "ruler." I've extracted the quality (fixed, mutable, or cardinal) of those signs.
  • Elements of Associated Signs: Each planet is associated with astrological signs. I've extracted the element (air, earth, water, fire) of those signs.
  • Humour: Each planet is often aligned with one of the four humours.
  • Roman Deity: Each planet is associated with a Roman deity.
  • Liberal Art: Dante Alleghri (yes, that Dante) associated each planet with a liberal art.
  • Mechanical Art: I've matched up the planets with the mechanical arts.
  • Probitate: I've also matched up each planet with a probitate.
  • Metal: Each planet has an alchemical association to a metal.
  • Primacy of Matter, Mind, and Spirit: Each planet has one of these three over another. For example, "Matter over Mind." You can extract it from the symbol for the planet.


SATURN

JUPITER

SUN

MARS

VENUS

MERCURY

MOON

Sign

Capricorn

Sagittarius

Leo

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Sign

Aquarius

Pisces


Scorpio

Libra

Virgo


Humour

Melancholic

Sanguine

Choleric

Choleric

Phlegmatic

Variable (Melancholic)

Melancholic

Dante's Virtue

Contemplatives

Kings

Theologians

Warriors

Love & Friendship

Good for Fame

Virtue

Vice

Sloth

Pride

Greed

Wrath

Lust

Lying

Envy

Metal

Lead

Tin

Gold

Iron

Copper

Quicksilver

Silver

Roman God

Saturn

Jupiter

Apollo

Mars

Venus

Mercury

Diana

Greek God

Cronus

Zeus

Helios

Ares

Aphrodite

Hermes

Selene

Quality: FIXED

X


X

X

X



Quality: CARDINAL

X



X

X


X

Quality: MUTABLE


X




X


Element: EARTH

X




X

X


Element: WATER


X


X



X

Element: AIR

X




X

X


Element: FIRE


X

X

X




Primacy (Over)

Matter

Mind

Spirit

Matter

Spirit

Mind

Mind

Primacy (Under)

Mind

Matter


Spirit

Matter

Spirit


Primacy (Not Present)

Spirit

Spirit


Mind

Mind

Matter


Liberal Art

Astronomy

Geometry

Arithmetic

Music

Rhetoric

Dialectic

Grammar

Mechanical Art

Agriculture

Architecture

Medicine

Armament

Fabric Making

Commerce

Hunting

Probitate

Riding

Jousting

Climbing

Fighting

Swimming

Dancing

Shooting


Most of the linkages are straightforward. I'll explain the ones that aren't directly from the classical sources.

The mechanical arts:
  • Agriculture: Saturn has a clear link to Agriculture. Heck, Saturn's symbol even looks like a scythe. This one is easy.
  • Medicine: The sun is associated with Apollo, the god of the sun. Historically, the sun has been associated with positive, healthful things like the healing arts.
  • Armament: This one wasn't perfect, but I thought a correspondence to Mars was appropriate. Traditionally, Hephaestus was the god of smiths. However, given the martial bent of Mars and the strong association with Fire, Mars is appropriate enough. I would prefer Fire + Earth.
  • Commerce: Mercury is traditionally associated with Mercatura.
  • Hunting: Diana, the huntress, is the patron of hunting. Easy.
  • Fabric Making: Traditionally, Athena is the goddess of weaving. However, she doesn't have a planetary association, although she is sometimes linked to Venus. I ended up linking it to Venus almost by default.
  • Architecture: This, like Fabric Making, was "left over" after I matched up all the other arts with their obvious associations. I paired it with Jupiter as Jupiter is associated with kingship, mind, and matter.
The probitates:
  • Riding: I linked this with Saturn due to the agricultural association. However, the Roman God of horses was Neptune which could lead to a weak linkage with the element of water, which would be a reason to put riding elsewhere.
  • Jousting: Linked with Jupiter. This was a "left over" as well and I dropped it here due to the linkage with kings. I thought about replacing it with Chess (tactics) as well.
  • Climbing: Linked with sun. This was also a weak association, based solely on the idea of vertical ascent. It isn't bad, though, as Helios was known for climbing across the sky in his chariot every day. It would also be appropriate to use "Poetry & Music" here as Apollo was well regarded as a patron of both.
  • Fighting: An easy linkage to Mars.
  • Swimming: I paired this with Venus primarily based on the strong presence of the element water. Venus is the only Phlegmatic planet and has the strongest association with water.
  • Dancing: This was matched with Mercury. Mercury was known for being fleet of foot as well as being very social, which is a nice match with dancing.
  • Shooting: The link between archery and the huntress seems straightforward and natural.

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