Three Books of Occult Philosophy · 108 of 186

Book II, Ch. 34: Of the true motion of the heavenly bodies to be observed in the eight sphere, and of the ground of Planetary hours

Whosoever will work according to the Celestiall opportunity, ought to observe both or one of them, namely the motion of the Stars, or their times; I say their motions, when they are in their dignities or dejections, either essential or accidentall; but I call their times, dayes and hours distributed to their Dominions. Concerning all these, it is abundantly taught in the books of Astrologers; but in this place two things especially are to be considered and observed by us. One that we observe the motions and ascensions and windings of Stars, even as they are in truth in the eight sphere, through the neglect of which it happeneth that many err in fabricating the Celestiall Images, and are defrauded of their desired effect; the other thing we ought to observe, is about the times of choosing the planetary hours; for almost all Astrologers divide all that space of time from the Sun rising to setting into twelve equall parts, and call them the twelve hours of the day; then the time which followeth from the setting to the rising, in like manner being divided into twelve equall parts, they call the twelve hours of the night, and then distribute each of those hours to every one of the Planets according to the order of their successions, giving alwayes the first hour of the day to the Lord of that day, then to every one by order, even to the end of twenty four hours; and in this distribution the Magicians agree with them; but in the partition of the hours some do different, saying, that the space of the rising and setting is not to be divided into equall parts, and that those hours are not therefore called unequal because the diurnal are unequal to the nocturnall, but because both the diurnal and nocturnal are even unequall amongst themselves; therefore the partition of unequall or Planetaty hours hath a different reason of their measure observed by Magicians, which is of this sort; for as in artificiall hours, which are alwayes equall to themselves, the ascensions of fifteen degrees in the equinoctiall, constituteth an artificial hour: so also in planetary hours the ascensions of fifteen degrees in the Eclipicke constituteth an unequall or plametary hour, whose measure we ought to enquire and find out by the tables of the oblique ascensions of every region.