Astrology has been practiced in all ages of the world, but like every other belief, it has its cycles; these cycles varies with the intellectual freedom of man,—flourish as the human race becomes more enlightened, and as the human race rolls back into oblivion, Astrology and its devotees cease to exist, and the foundation of all science thus dies, temporarily, to await another tidal wave of advancement; again to rise and again to fall.
Astrology has always been studied with a view of penetrating into the futurity of the human race, and the length of life, the diseases which one will be subject to, and the time of sickness has undoubtedly been studied more and is better understood at the present time that any other branch of the science, but so little has been written and handed down to the present generation that we are greatly in need of a more modern work of reference upon the subject. The rules laid down by Lilly and Ptolemy have been copied by all later writers and we may say with a good degree of accuracy that about all that is generally known of Astrology can be found in the works of these two men.
In the present treatise the authors do not claim every paragraph to be original with themselves, but they do claim that such as has been gleaned from ancient authors and all original ideas has been placed in such language that the merest tyro may read and understand.
It has been our intention in the present treatise to give all that is generally known and confirmed by facts, both old and new ideas concerning Medical Astrology, in order to form a ready reference work for the professional astrologer, and at the same time, to be interesting and instructing for the beginner.
Many drugs have been omitted for the lack of space and proof as to their proper place in the list, which we hope will be added to and the list largely increased in the future.
The chapter on the "action of drugs" has been compiled from all sources, and the reader will find under this chapter the organs of the body acted upon principally, the time of action, and the principal characteristics of the different drugs most extensively used.
All drugs mentioned must be used in their homeopathic form, for he who believes in Astrology believes in the law of dynamic influence, therefore must believe in the dynamic force of chemicals.
Should the present work prove of benefit to those who peruse its pages and assist them in gaining a broader knowledge of Astrology, and at the same time, broaden the field of astrological knowledge the authors desires will be accomplished.
W. & H.
The ruler of health, commonly termed "Hyleg" is either the Sun, Moon or the Ascendant, and is found by the following method: after erecting the figure for the desired time, first, see if the Sun is located in the 1st, 7th, 10th or 11th houses of the figure, if so it must be taken for the ruler of health, but if the Sun is not located in these houses then look to the Moon, should it be in any of the above houses it will rule the health; but should neither Sun or Moon be found in any of the above houses, then the ascendant will rule the health. Again, should both the Sun and Moon be placed in the above houses we must judge by them both, but the most powerful one will have greater influence than the weaker. Should the Sun and Moon be of equal power, we then judge of the Sun in a male nativity and the Moon in a female nativity; but in the latter instance the afflictions of either the Sun or Moon will have a powerful influence in causing sickness, while the evil directions between the two are decidedly dangerous.
From an Astrological standpoint we look to the Sun, Moon and ascendant for indications of good or bad health, or as astrologers term it, the Hyleg—the giver of life. From the rules laid down by the ancient astrologer, and which are generally accepted by modern artists, we find that the 4th house rules the grave, or the end of life; the 6th house is termed the house of sickness; while the 8th house is the house of death. From the above we readily see that the 6th house and its ruler will assist in pointing out the kind of sickness which one will be affected by; therefore the 6th house and ruler are important factors and must not be overlooked in ascertaining the kind of disease one may be affected by. Should the ruler of the 6th house be posited in the 1st house, or rising at birth, and afflicting the ruler of health usually denotes a frail constitution and a great deal of tedious sickness during life, but does not necessarily indicate an early death unless other evil testimonies are found; should the ruler of health be located in the 6th house and afflicted we judge much the same.
The 8th house and ruler points out to