And Every Year These
Christian, Saracen, And Cathayan Astrologers, Each Sect Apart, Investigate
By Means Of This Astrolabe The Course
And character of the whole year,
according to the indications of each of its Moons, in order to discover by
The natural course and disposition of the planets, and the other
circumstances of the heavens, what shall be the nature of the weather, and
what peculiarities shall be produced by each Moon of the year; as, for
example, under which Moon there shall be thunderstorms and tempests, under
which there shall be disease, murrain, wars, disorders, and treasons, and
so on, according to the indications of each; but always adding that it
lies with God to do less or more according to His pleasure. And they write
down the results of their examination in certain little pamphlets for the
year, which are called Tacuin, and these are sold for a groat to all who
desire to know what is coming. Those of the astrologers, of course whose
predictions are found to be most exact, are held to be the greatest adepts
in their art, and get the greater fame.[NOTE 1]
And if any one having some great matter in hand, or proposing to make a
long journey for traffic or other business, desires to know what will be
the upshot, he goes to one of these astrologers and says: "Turn up your
books and see what is the present aspect of the heavens, for I am going
away on such and such a business." Then the astrologer will reply that the
applicant must also tell the year, month, and hour of his birth; and when
he has got that information he will see how the horoscope of his nativity
combines with the indications of the time when the question is put, and
then he predicts the result, good or bad, according to the aspect of the
heavens.
You must know, too, that the Tartars reckon their years by twelves; the
sign of the first year being the Lion, of the second the Ox, of the third
the Dragon, of the fourth the Dog, and so forth up to the twelfth;[NOTE 2]
so that when one is asked the year of his birth he answers that it was in
the year of the Lion (let us say), on such a day or night, at such an
hour, and such a moment. And the father of a child always takes care to
write these particulars down in a book. When the twelve yearly symbols
have been gone through, then they come back to the first, and go through
with them again in the same succession.]
NOTE 1. - It is odd that Marsden should have sought a Chinese explanation
of the Arabic word Takwim even with Tavernier before him: "They sell in
Persia an annual almanac called Tacuim, which is properly an ephemeris
containing the longitude and latitude of the planets, their conjunctions
and oppositions, and other such matter. The Tacuim is full of
predictions regarding war, pestilence, and famine; it indicates the
favourable time for putting on new clothes, for getting bled or purged,
for making a journey, and so forth.
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