Astrology; Medical misconceptions; Medicine -- History
The second—essentially more complicated—formula consists of three
concentric circles. Various words are inscribed between the first and
second circles, as in Fig. 1. Between the second and third circles, and
in the verticals, the numerals from 1 to 30 are disposed in a mystical
arrangement. Furthermore, these circles are not, as in Fig. 1, divided
into four quadrants, but into eight equal sections. At these points
in which the radii forming the sectors intersect the periphery of the
outermost of the three concentric circles, arched enclosures are raised
which also contain various words.
[Illustration: FIG. 2—CIRCLE OF PETOSIRIS
(After Bouché-Leclercq, p. 540)]
When it was sought, by means of the above-described figures, to
determine the medical future or the life and death of an individual,
this could be accomplished with the aid of the diagram represented in
Fig. 1 in such a manner that the duration of the disease in days, the
numerical value of the name of the patient, and the phases of the moon
were added, and the sum divided by 29. The result thus obtained was
interpreted by referring to the diagram. If this figure happened to be,
for instance, in the right upper quadrant, the patient, altho he would
recover from his illness, would live only for a very short period;
if this number was found in the vertical line, below the horizontal
diameter, the patient was destined to die after a short struggle.
Much more intricate was the use of the astrological apparatus
illustrated in Fig 2. Here the number of the moon’s day, and the
numerical values of the name of the patient were not added, but each
of these figures was separately looked for in the diagram. If the moon
figure was found in the lower, the figure for the name in the upper,
ends of the verticals—_i.e._, where δυσις ὑπόγειος, setting, and
ἀνατολὴ ὑπέργειος, rising, stand—the individual concerned, altho in
danger, finally recovered. If, on the other hand, the moon figure was
discovered in the upper, and the figure for the name in the lower, ends
of the verticals, nothing but evil was in store for the questioner, but
the misfortune appeared under the guise of fortune. If both numbers,
however, were at the upper ends of the verticals, the prospects were
favorable, but bad if both figures occurred below the horizontal line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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