Sol Iovi coniunctus eiusdem condicionis [si] liberi sint a malis, patris nobilis et boni natum ostendunt et paterna custodiunt et nato bona significant et natus utilis fit et maxime, si in benevoli signo vel terminis locati sunt. ["The Sun in conjunction to Jupiter, being of the same sect, if they are free from the malefics, they indicate one born of a good and noble father and they preserve his inheritance and indicate good things for him, and he becomes effective, especially if they are posited in the sign or terms of a benefic."]
This configuration is seen in my chart, where the Sun is applying to Jupiter within less than 3º. In my case, they are definitely not "free from the malefics" because even if we discard the separating Sun-Mars conjunction and the separating Jupiter-Saturn sextile, the Sun is still applying to a sextile aspect with Saturn. The conjunction occurs in Libra, the house of Venus, so they are "in the sign of a benefic." Also, they both fall within the term of Mercury. In this case, Mercury is a benefic because it is trine to the Moon and sextile to Venus (but both of these aspects are separating). Valens characterizes this term of Mercury (the 7th through 11th degrees of Libra) as "gregarious, practicing a handicraft, mercantile, versed in letters and able to combine numbers; on the whole civilized, intelligent." But even though the conjunction falls in the places of benefics, the part at the beginning about all the good luck is significantly weakened by the Sun-Saturn sextile.
Sol Marti coniunctus in nocte propriis in signis vel <terminis> violenti natum ostendit et natos violentos temerarios audaces calidos periculosos vitae brevis violentae mortis. In die vero deteriora mala sunt. ["The Sun in conjunction to Mars by night when they are in their own signs or <terms> indicates one born to a violent (parent) and that those born are violent, daring, bold, passionate, dangerous, with a short life and a violent death. But by day these evils are mitigated."]
This situation is seen in my chart, which is indeed nocturnal and has the Sun within 4º of a conjunction with Mars (separating). But are the Sun and Mars "in their own signs or terms"? The Sun is not in its own domicile; in fact, Libra is the sign of the Sun's depressio. And the Sun has no terms, so that condition is not fulfilled. Libra is the house of Venus and its 6th degree (where Mars is posited) falls within the term of Saturn. So that condition is not fulfilled for Mars either, and the aphorism does not apply.
These interpretations interest me because conjunctions are notoriously difficult to interpret; indeed, in Hellenistic practice a bodily conjunction is not considered an aspect at all, but is an entirely separate phenomenon. While it may be true that only applying aspects are operative, you will note that the title of this chapter is "De separatione et conjunctione," which certainly implies that these interpretations can be applied to either. So I have included the second item in which the Sun is separating from Mars.
I really should mention that Beltrano and I have very different approaches to interpreting a chart. This was very noticeable back in the 1980s when we were in business together as "Beltrano's Parlour" on Lawrence Avenue in Chicago. Over the years, Beltrano has developed a sort of algorithm, a sequence of interpretive steps from which he never diverges. By contrast, I like to gather ideas and interpretations at random, so my interpretations are always done differently. I also like to sit and meditate over a chart, waiting to see what features will command my attention; sometimes I proceed very intuitively. This always made Beltrano nervous (he used to remind me that "the extant canon of astrological literature provides a wealth of interpretive tools; our only task is to apply them"). But Beltrano and I have come to a sort of rapprochement in recent years, since he discovered the "Narrative Mode" in the pages of Albohazen Haly filii Abenragel!
MARY BLISS
