Springer

A Lutheran Astrologer: Johannes Kepler
Author(s): J. V. Field
Source: Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Vol. 31, No. 3 (1984), pp. 189-272
Published by: Springer
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41133735 .
Accessed: 13/06/2014 07:13
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Springer is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Archive for History of Exact
Sciences.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
A Lutheran Johannes
Astrologer: Kepler
J.V. Field
Communicated
by C.Truesdell
Contents
1. Kepler'sAstrology 190
Introduction 190
Astrologyin theMysterium Cosmographicum (1596) 191
De Fundamentis Certioribus
Astrologiae (1602) 195
Ad Keplerumparalipomena : theZodiac and itsparts 199
Observational astrology 201
Astrologicalaspectsand musicalconsonances 204
Harmonices MundiBook IV (1619) 207
The "Lutheran"astrologer 219
The declineofastrology 224
2. TranslationofDe Fundamentis AstrologiaeCertioribus 225
Translator's
preface 225
OngivingAstrology sounder
foundations 229
Dedicatoryletter 229
ThesesI-IV [Introduction] 232
V-XIV [The Sun] 232
XV-XVIII [The Moon] 235
XIX-XXXIV [Planets] 236
XXXV-XXXVIII [Aspects] 249
XXXIX-XLIV [Thesoul oftheEarth] 251
XLV-LI [Cyclesin thedisposition
oftheEarth] 254
LII-LXH [Meteorological for1602]
predictions 258
LXIII, LXIV [Eclipses] 261
LXV, LXVI [Theharvest] 263
LXVH [Diseases] 264
LXVIII-LXXIII [Politicalpredictions] 265
LXXIV, LXV [Nativities] 267
Conclusion 268
Bibliography 268

190 J.V. Field
1. Kepler's
Astrology
Introduction
Historians tendto classastrology as one of the occultsciences,thoughthe

exactmeaningof 'occult'is notusuallydefined. Thusastrology findsa placein
Thomas'sReligionand theDeclineof Magic (Thomas1971)and Shumaker's
TheOccultSciencesintheRenaissance (Shumaker1972).Yetthekindofastrology
thatKepler practiced hadlittleincommon withmagicandwitchcraft. Onemight
perhapscall it 'high'astrology, in recognition of itsbeingconcerned withlarge
scale matters (such as the and of
weather), by way distinguishingfromthe it
'low'astrology ofsoothsaying, therecovery ofstolengoods,etc.whichis discussed
by Thomas (1971). This distinction is not a sharpone,and it partlycutsacross
thedifferent division whichKeplerandhiscontemporaries madebetween natural
astrology (a partof sublunary physics, sinceit was concerned withtheeffects
oftheplanetsand starson terrestrial bodies,e.g. forming minerals in theEarth)
and judicialastrology (whichwas concerned withsuchthingsas choosingan
auspiciousdayto signa treaty, or breakone).Astrology, as taughtinthequadri-
was
vium, part of a complete philosophical system of the world,and it is to this
'high'tradition that Kepler's astrology belongs. 'Low' astrology seemsrather
to be partoffolklore, affected bythebeliefsystems ofthemorelearnedbutnot
partof themainstream of intellectual developments.
Throughout his life,Kepler was employed as a mathematicus, and as such
his dutiesalwaysincludedthe practiceof astrology. In Graz theyspecifically
includedthe production of annualcalendars,but Kepler continuedto write
calendarsevenafterhe leftGraz.(The secondpartofthepresent paperconsists
ofa translation oftheonlyone thatwas written in Latinand thusaddressed to
thelearned.)Moreover, itis wellknownthatKepler'stwomostfamouspatrons,
theEmperorRudolf II (b. 1552,reigned1576-1612)and thehardlylesscolour-
fulCountWallenstein(1583-1634)werebothpassionately interested in astro-
logy.
Kepler's own interest in astrology is apparentin his firstpublishedwork,
theMysterium Cosmographicum (Tübingen, 1596),wheretheobservational veri-
ficationsof theproposedcosmological archetype includeits abilityto account
foracceptedastrological phenomena such as the individualcharacters of the
planets.In fact, it seems to have been the shortcomings of the polyhedral arche-
type described in the Mysterium in
Cosmographicumexplaining astrological and
musicalphenomena thatfirstcausedKepler to modify his theory.His corres-
pondenceshowsthatthismodification was welladvancedby 1599,whenhe cer-
tainlystillhoped that Tycho's observations would eventually providebetter
confirmation of the astronomical part of the theory.
The ideas Kepler putsforward in his correspondence in 1599 are closely
similarto those printedmanyyears later in Harmonices Mundi Libri V (Linz,
1619),thoughin this laterwork the musical part of the archetype was also to be
extended to astronomy. The increased importance given to music and theinclu-
sion of astrological aspectsas 'harmonies'showsthe influence of Ptolemy's

A Lutheran Johannes
Astrologer: Kepler 191
Harmonica1, in whichmusicalconsonanceswereused to explainastrological

the
aspects, consonancesthemselvesbeingexplained In Kepler's
numerologically.
work,all theexplanationsare geometrical2
butit is clearthattheworkis seen
as a developmentof thatof Ptolemy,forwhomKepler seemsto havehad an
immense Astrology
respect. wasthusalwaysan integral partofKepler'scosmos.
in theMysteriumCosmographicum(1596)
Astrology
In theMysterium Cosmographicum Kepler presents and defendsthecosmo-

logicaltheorythatthe structure of the Copernicanplanetary systemis deter-
minedbytheproperties ofthefiveconvexregular polyhedra described inEuclid's
Elements. For ourpresent purposes, thefamousplatewhichillustrates ChapterII
oftheworkprovidesan adequateoutlineoftherelevant partsof the theory(see
Figure1): theexistence of exactlyfiveregularsolids(provedin Elements Book
XIII) establishesthatthereareexactly sixplanets, andtheratiobetween theradii
of thecircumsphere and insphere of each regularsolidservesto determine the
spacingbetweenone pairof adjacentplanetary orbs.
Havingfirstdescribedthe Copernican planetary systemand thensketched
outhistheory, Kepler givesa seriesofjustifications fortheprecisenatureofthe
theory, forexample,explaining theordering of the solidsbetweenthespheres
and the appropriateness of each particular solid to the planetswhoseorbs it
separates.The styleof thesejustifications is verycloseto thatof Plato's distri-
butionofthepolyhedra amongtheelements in Timaeus.As Kepler statesat the
beginning of thesemathematical justifications,theirpurposeis to removethe
objectionthattheremight be anyarbitrary element inhistheory3. It was,afterall,
foritsinclusionof arbitrary elements thatKepler had criticised thePtolemaic
description of theplanetary system in thefirst chapter of his work4.
The mathematical arguments occupyChapters III to VIII of theMysterium
Cosmographicum. They are followed on
by chapters astrology and numerology
whichconstitute observational testsofKepler'stheory. Forexample, inChapterX
hetakesitas wellestablished thatcertain numbers areofcosmological significance
andshowshowtheymaybe seenas characteristic ofthePlatonicsolids- arising,
forexample,as thenumberof sidesor facesor anglesof thebodies.The three
chapters of astrological
interest are Chapter IX, whichconcernstheastrological
charactersoftheplanets,Chapter XI, whichdealswiththeoriginoftheZodiac,
and Chapter XII, whichtreatsof astrological aspectsand musicalconsonances.
In fact,on closerinspection, Chapter XI turnsout merelyto deal withthe
positionandwidthofthebandoftheZodiacandto haveno specifically astrologi-
cal content. The twelve-fold divisionof theZodiac is dealtwithbriefly at the
of
beginning Chapter XII, and the treatment again has no specifically
astrological
content.
1 See Klein 1971 for Kepler's concernwith

obtaininga copy of this work.
2 See
Field, in press, 1982.
3
MysteriumCosmographicum, ChapterIII, KGW 1, p. 29.
4
MysteriumCosmographicum, ChapterI, pp. 15-17, KGW 1, pp. 18-19.

192 J.V. Field
Fig. 1. Planetary
orbsandregular fromKepler,Mysterium
polyhedra, Cosmographicum
(Tübingen,1596).Photograph of theScienceMuseum,London.
courtesy
In accountingfor the 'observed' astrologicalcharacterof each planet, in

ChapterIX of the MysteriumCosmographicum, Kepler associates each planet
withthepolyhedronwhichdetermines thespacingbetweenthesphereoftheplanet
concernedand the sphereof the planetwhichlies nextto it in the directionto-
wards the Earth. This leads to the correspondences
Saturn- cube
Jupiter- tetrahedron
Mars - dodecahedron
Venus - icosahedron
Mercury- octahedron.

A Lutheran Johannes
Keplermerely statesthathisprocedure seemsveryreasonable, without presenting

Since
anyarguments. astrology is concerned with the effectsof otherplanetsupon
theEarth,evenKepler's astrological theories werealwaysto someextentgeo-
centric-as herein thewaytheplanetsare relatedto theEarth.
Havingset up thesecorrespondences, Kepler now uses the mathematical
properties of the polyhedra, described in the earlierchapters,to explainthe
astrologicalcharacters of the planets. example,thefactthatthesolidscor-
For
to
responding Jupiter, Venus and Mercury all havethesameface,thetriangle,
is thecauseoftheirfriendship foroneanother5 ; andthefactthatthesquare,which
is characteristicof Saturn,beingthefaceofthecube,is also to be foundinside
theoctahedron, thebodyassociatedwithMercury, "makespeace betweentheir
habits"6;and Saturn'ssolitariness and love of solitudeis ascribedto the fact
thatitsangleis therightangle,notadmitting ofvariation, theonlyangleof its
class(whereasJupiter, by contrast, has chosen one from the largeclassof acute
The
angles)7. chapter consists almost of
entirely very brief assertionslikethese.
Sincetheastrological naturesoftheplanetsare forthemostpartratherless
ponderable thanthephysicalproperties of theelements, oftenbeingexpressed
in termsofhumancharacter traitsand humanrelations, Kepler's mathematical
explanations do noton thewholeseemas appropriate to hissubjectas Timaeus'
explanations didto thedistribution ofthepolyhedral shapesamongtheelements.
The styleof argument is, however, identicalin thetwocases,and it shouldbe
notedthat,like Timaeus'mathematical forms,Kepler's polyhedra,though
shownin hisdiagramsas lyingbetween theorbsof theplanets,haveno actual
existence in thephysicalworld.
Kepler'suse ofthepolyhedral archetype to accountforastrological aspects,
in Chapter XII oftheMysterium Cosmographicum, is a somewhat involvedaffair.
It startsby describing theratiosof lengthsof vibrating stringswhichwillgive
combinations ofnotesthatarepleasingto thehumanear,thatis,musicalconso-
nances.Particular consonant ratiosarethenassociated withtheindividual regular
solids.Kepler'sdescription ofhisschemestarts, disarmingly, withtheadmission
that"becausewe do not knowthecausesof thisrelationship it is difficultto
associateparticular harmonic ratioswithparticular solids"8.Mostof thereasons
Kepler givesinjustifying theseassociations appealto thedivisionssetup in a
circlebytheinscription within it ofa polygonconnected withtheregular solidin
question. As Kepler pointsout, the musical divisions a
of stringare likethedi-
visionsofthecircleof theZodiac by planetsthatare at aspectto one another9.
He has thusestablished a rather confused seriesof relationsbetweenpolyhedra,
aspectsand some,butnotquiteall, ofthemusicalratios.Therefollowsa certain
amountofspeculation as to whythereshouldbe consonances withno correspon-
dingaspect.No generaltheory is developed, but Kepler does attempt to distin-
guishthetypesof mathematical causethatmaybe expectedto giveriseto con-
5 KGW 1. D.35. 1.22.

6 KGW 1, p. 35, 1.28.
7 11.37-41.
KGW1, p. 35,
8 KGW 1, p. 41, 1.12 et seqq.
9 KGW 1, p. 41, 1.22 et seqq.

194 J.V. Field
sonancesand aspects.Thus,evenbeforehe had readPtolemy'sHarmonica (this

chapterendswiththeregretthattheworkis notyetprinted -whichwas notin
Kepler was alreadydissatisfied
facttrue10), withPtolemy'ssimpleequationof
consonances shown
withaspects, herein thediagramsuppliedbyGogava forhis
of thework(see Figure2).
Latintranslation
Fig. 2. Musical consonances and astrologicalaspects, fromPtolemy Harmonica,trans.

Gogava, Venice, 1562. Photographcourtesyof the BritishLibraryBoard.
The Mysterium Cosmographicum wentintoa secondeditionin 1621,and for

thissecondeditionKepler decidedthatratherthanrevising theworkchapter
bychapterhe wouldreprint thetextofthefirstedition,
merely addingnotes.The
resultis thatthesecondeditionoftheMysterium Cosmographicum is abouthalf
as longagainas thefirst.
Someofthenotesgivedetailedexplanations ofKepler's
of
changes mind, a fewpickup howlers ("beholda manifesthallucination ; eight
is nota factorof sixty"11),
butthegreatmajority merely referthereaderto the
otherworksin whichKepler has treated thematter
in handin a manner he now
regardsas morecorrect. The toneof suchnotesis ratherthatof pleasurein his
latersuccessthanone ofexplanation or apologyforhisearlierfailures.Thereis
no apparentinclination to take an indulgentattitudetowardshis earlywork.
Indeedone wouldhardlyexpectsuchindulgence on thepartof a manwhohad
10 Kepler's information
appears to have been drawn from Card ano De rerum
varietate(Basel, 1557); see Aiton & Duncan 1981. The editioprincepsof Ptolemy's
Harmonica was in Antonio Gogava's Latin translation,published in Venice in 1562.
11 Note on
ChapterX, KGW 8, p. 60, 1.32.

A Lutheran Johannes
provedcapableofwriting offhard-won results

withtheruthlessness showninthe
Astronomia Nova.
Keplerwrote39noteson theaccountofmusicalconsonances andastrological
aspectsin ChapterXII of theMysterium Cosmographicum, and thetotallength
of thenotesis rathergreaterthanthatof the originalchapter.This is hardly
since,as we shallseebelow,thematerial
surprising, ofthischapter had furnished
himwiththebasisforthecosmological theorydescribed in Harmonices Mundi
LibriV (Linz, 1619).
By contrast, theexplanation of thecharacters of theplanetsby reference to
thecorresponding regularpolyhedra, in ChapterIX of the Mysterium Cosmo-
graphicum, is onlylightlyannotated inthesecondedition. Thereis a generalnote,
sayingthatthischaptershouldnotbe takenas partofthemainworkbutas an
astrological digression,but Kepler nevertheless invitesthe readerto compare
hisreasonswiththosegivenbyPtolemyin theTetrabiblos and theHarmonica11.
The remaining two notesare bothshortand deal withpointsof onlyminor
importance as faras themainsubjectofthechapter is concerned.It wouldthere-
foreseemthatalthoughKepler had modified manyof his astrological ideas
sincewriting theMysterium Cosmographicum he stillbelieved,in 1621,thatit
was reasonableto explainthe'observed'powersof theplanetsin termsof the
mathematical entitiesinvokedto explainthespacingof theirorbits.As faras I
can discover,however, thereis no mention of thisidea in Harmonices Mundi
LibriV, in whichastrology is discussedalmostentirely in termsof thepowerof
aspects(see below).
De FundamentisAstrologiaeCertioribus(1602)
Kepler's dissatisfaction
withtheastrological partofhispolyhedral archetype
presumably accounts foritsomission from De Fundamentis Astrologiae Certiori-
an
bus, astrological treatiseand calendarwritten in the finalmonths of 1601.
The workdoes however containa briefmention ofa connection betweenastro-
logicalaspectsand musicalconsonances (in ThesesXXVI and XXXVII), with
thepromisethatthiswillbe discussedmorefullyin a future "book on Harmo-
nics"13.
De Fundamentis AstrologiaeCertioribus
was written afterthedeathofTycho
Brahe (24 October1601).Kepler's desireto obtainthenowvacantpostof Im-
perialMathematician no doubtcontributed to his decisionto writethe work
at thisparticular
time.One can,nonetheless, traceother,olderand moreintellec-
tuallyrespectable,originsforthework.
The dutiesofKepler's postas DistrictMathematician at Graz had included
thewriting of annualcalendars, containingastronomical information and astro-
logicalpredictionsoftheweather, theharvest,politicalevents,and so on. Kepler
had accordingly written suchcalendarsfortheyears1598and 1599.However,
12KGW 8, p. 59.
13Thisbookwas as Harmonices
Mundi
LibriF (Linz,1619);
eventually
published
seebelow.

196 J.V. Field
his opinionsabout the extentto whichan astrologer could legitimately make

predictions about these traditional subjects were not conventional. Indeed,he
regardedmuchof the usual contentof suchcalendarsas mere superstition.
We knowthisbecausehe choseto sayso in thededicatory letterswhichpreface
thecalendars. Each oftheseletters takesup abouta thirdofthebookletinwhich
it appears.14
Whenthecalendarfor1598waspublished, Maestlinseemsto havecriticised
Kepler's harshness (his letteris lost); Kepler protested thathe did not reject
astrology as a whole but wanted to reform it15;to which Maestlin repliedthat
he had notsupposedKepler rejectedastrology as a whole,buthad onlymeant
to suggestthatthe discussionof suchbasic matters was not appropriate in a
calendarand shouldbe reserved forthelearned16. Thisadvicedidnotapparently
deterKepler from writing hiscalendarfor1599inthesamestyleas thatfor1598.
It may,however, haveplayeda partin persuading himto writeDe Fundamentis
Astrologiae Certioribus.
This work,beingwritten in Latin,and thusaddressedto thelearned,may
legitimately be the subjectof straightforward comparison withKepler's other
Latinworks,addressedto a similarreadership. Moreover, it was notwritten as
part of a controversy- as was the later TertiusInterveniens (Frankfurt, 1610, in
German) - and it is concerned not with refutingthe opinions of others butwith
presenting andjustifying theauthor'sownopinions. In thisalso itresembles most
of Kepler's otherlearnedworks.
De Fundamentis Astrologiae Certioribus containsno defence ofthebasicprin-
cipleofastrology: thatcelestialbodiesaffect theEarth.It might seemthatCoper-
nicanism madethisprinciple lessplausible,sinceit madetheEartha planetand
thussuggested thatthe otherfiveplanetswereEarthlike. PossiblyKepler felt
freeto ignorethisproblem, secureintheknowledge thatmostofhisreaders would
not be Copernicans. Indeed,De Fundamentis Astrologiae Certioribus is notable
amongKepler'sworksfortheabsenceofpro-Copernican arguments as wellas for
an apparent acceptance of some kind of Aristoteliandistinction between celestial
and terrestrial bodies17.
The treatiseis dedicatedto Petr Vok Rožmberk(1539-1611),a cultured
patronofmanylearnedmen,including TychoBrahe.The dedicatory like
letter,
thoseofthecalendarsfor1598and 1599,is highly criticalofthecredulity ofthe
unlearned18. The criticisms are repeated, thoughin a lighter tone,in theintro-
ductory sectionsoftheworkitself(ThesesI to IV), afterwhichKepler turnsat
oncetotheSun- universally acknowledged as themostpowerful sourceofinfluence.
Its influence is described as beingexercised through theheattheSun transmits
14 These calendars are

reprintedin KOF I.
15 Kepler to Maestlin, 15 March 1598, letter89, 1.142 et seqq, KGW 13, p. 183.
16 Maestlin to Kepler, 2 May 1598, letter97, 11.47-61, KGW 13, p. 210.
17 See Thesis XXV and note 29 in Part 2 below, but note that Kepler gives an a
priori reason for therebeing six planets, in Thesis XXIV.
18 This letteris omittedin Meywald's translation(Kepler trans.Meywald 1942),
which also softensor misconstruesKepler's occasional condemnationsof traditional
astrological dogma and practicein the main body of the work.

A Lutheran Johannes
to theair surrounding theEarth(ThesesV to XIV). Kepler nextturnsto the

influenceof theMoon, which,he asserts,experience showsto be exertedupon
humours:theyswellas the Moon waxesand shrinkas it wanes(ThesisXV).
SincethisforcevarieswiththefaceoftheMoon (ThesisXVI) it seemsthatit is
associatedwiththelightoftheMoon(as theforceoftheSunwas associatedwith
sunlight),thoughKepler does notstatethisexplicitly.
The natureof theirlightis also the meansof distinguishing theindividual
charactersoftheplanets(ThesisXIX etseqq)andthusthenatureoftheir'forces'.
Kepler'sdiscussion ofthepossiblenaturesthatmaybe ascribedto theplanetsis
baseduponAristotle'sdiscussion
explicitly ofpairsofoppositequalitiesin the
Metaphysics, and Kepler pointsout in detailthemodifications he has madein
adaptingAristotle's accountto his own purposes.The possiblecombinations
ofqualitiesallowKepler to assigna number to theplanetsin somewhat thesame
way as the various natural motions allowed Aristotle to assign a number to
the elementsin his Physics(ThesisXXIV). Kepler is not,however, disposed
to regardthiscombinatorial archetype as necessarilyfundamental, and adds that
"othercausesmayhave beeninvolvedas well".
Sincetheindividual planetsshowindividual characters,Kepler believesthey
mustalso differfromoneanother physically,andheproceeds to attempt to deduce
thephysicaldifferences fromthe acceptedastrological characters (ThesesXXV
to XXX). Thisinvolvesa discussion ofthereflectivity ofsurfaces ofdifferent col-
ours, inwhich Kepler makes use ofa sketchy theory of therainbow which appears
to be derivedfromthatgivenbyAristotlein theMeteorológica (ThesisXXVII;
see noteson thispassagein Part2 below).The discussion ofthereflected lightis
balancedby a discussionof theintrinsic lightof each planet,in whichKepler
apologisesfor"arguingfrombodieswe mayhandleto celestialbodies",adding
thatthisseemsto be theonlywayhe can proceedifhe is to giveanyaccountat
all of thedifferencesbetweenplanets(ThesisXXX).
Afterhis discussionof thesematerialeffects, all causedthroughthe light
transmittedfromtheheavenly bodiesto theEarth,Kepler nextturnsto a formal
cause,whichhe regards as beingofan altogether noblerorder,namelytheopera-
tionof astrological aspects(Thesis XXXVI et seqq). As we havealreadynoted,
he connectsaspectswithmusicalconsonances. He also suggests, without further
elaboration,thatthemusicalratiosmaybe derivedfromplane regularfigures
(ThesisXXXVII).Thusfar,Kepler'saccountmight be seenas derivedfromPto-
lemy,butinthenextsection(ThesisXXXVIII) he notesthattheAncients related
aspectsand consonances, and pointsout explicitly thathe believesthatthere
are moreaspectsthanthereare consonances - claimingthatexperience has re-
peatedlyconfirmed his additionalaspects(whichinvolveanglesof 72°, 144°
and 135°)butgivingno details.Kepler has thuscommitted himself to seeking
separateexplanations for consonances and aspects,although (as we shall seelater)
hiscorrespondence in thisperiodshowsthathe had notas yetsucceededin his
attempts to do so.
In explaining
theefficacy of aspectsKepler is led to suggestthattheEarth
a
possesses soul.Forwithout onehowcoulditrespond to a geometrical configura-
tionofrays? Kepleriscareful torepudiate a hypotheticalchargethatsucha theory
is whollyoriginal,
butadmitshe is "givinga littlemoregenerality to ancientbe-

198 J.V. Field
liefs"(ThesisXLI). His laterandmuchfuller discussion ofthissoulinHarmonices

MundiBookIV nevertheless makesit clearthathe was awarethathis soul of
the Earthwas verydifferent fromthe Soul of theWorlddescribedby Plato
and otherancientauthors.
The eifectofaspectsis to stimulate theEarth'ssoulintomorevigorousacti-
vity(ThesisXLIII) butpredictions oftheextentand natureof thisactivity can-
notbe exactbecauseit is also affected by changesin theinternal disposition of
theEarth.Thuswholeyearsmaybe unusually cold,as was 1601,or unusually
dry,as was 1599(ThesisXLV). It is therefore clearthatKepler does noteven
hope that astrology alonewill everprovide accurate detailedweatherpredictions.
Thus,although he is indeedattempting to reform astrology,we shouldnotdraw
too closean analogybetween thisattempted reform and hisattempted reform of
astronomy. Thereis no astrological equivalent to thefamousdemandthatthe
predictionsofpositionsoftheplanetdrawnfroma modelorbitof Marsshould
showthesamedegreeof accuracyas theoriginalobservations fromwhichthe
modelorbitwas constructed19.
Aftera fairlylengthydiscussionof factorswhichmay affectthe general
dispositionof theEarth(suchas theshockof thesuddenintermission of light
at eclipses(ThesisXLVI) or cyclicalchangeswhichresemblediseases(Thesis
XLVII)), and of theplausibility of variousexplanations offeredby astrologers,
ancientauthorsand modernpeasants,Kepler finallyturnsto meteorological
predictions fortheyear1602.Theseareundramatic and entirelyconsistentwith
theprinciples he has enunciated. Frommeteorology Kepler turnsto diseases,
makingthe standardHippocraticconnection betweenthe two. He also links
motionsof thehumoursof thebody with aspectsbetweentheMoon and the
planetsortheSun(ThesisLXVII). His medicalastrology thusseemsto be entirely
conventional.
The following section,whichis concerned withpoliticalpredictions (Thesis
LXVIII), constitutes Kepler's sole discussionof natalastrology in thiswork
(withtheexception ofhisdismissal ofthepractice ofcasting horoscopes foryears
orseasonsinThesisXLIX). Thesoulis asserted to be affected bytheceles-
directly
tial configurations operating at themomentof birth,thebodilytemperament
being theresultof the subsequent effectofthesoul on itsbody,and bothbody
and soul remaining sensitive
particularly to configurations whichoccurred in the
birthchart.However,in thenextsectionKepler againemphasises thefollyof
lookingforspecificpredictions (ThesisLXIX), and thenmakessome general
forecasts(not all of them in origin),followedby a requestthathis
astrological
readersshouldlet himknowof anyobjectionsthattheywishto raiseagainst
his theories(objectionsto whichhe promisesto reply).Characteristically, he
concludestheworkwitha farewell in theformof a prayer.
19Astronomia Nova,ChapterXIX,KGW3, p. 177,1.37etseqq.We maynotein

passingthatthisdemandis,ingeneral, smallerrors
untenable: canbuildup intolarge
inuniversity
as isproved
onesinthecourseofcalculations- onNumerical
courses Ana-
lysis.

A Lutheran Johannes
Ad Keplerum paralipomena: the Zodiac and its parts
If Kepler's readerssenthimvastnumbers of letters fullof objections, their

lettershaveperished. In fact,itseemsunlikely thathugeexception wouldbe taken
to thetheories thatKepler putsforward: theyare mainlyAristotelian in spirit
(thoughtheyoccasionally differ from Aristotle over details) and it was not
unusualforastrologers to suggestthatsomemodifications shouldbe made to
astrologicaltheories(suchas therevisionof thenumber of aspectsthatKepler
proposeshere),sinceastrology was recognised as imperfect in its predictions.
The glaring objections to be madeagainstKepler'streatise refernotto what
itincludes,butto whatit omits.Themostnotableomission is thatofanydiscus-
sionof theZodiac- its signs,thehousesof planets(briefly dismissed in Thesis
XLIX), and so on. This omission has its counterpart in the summary treatment
of theZodiac in theMysterium Cosmographicum, and we knowfromKepler's
correspondence thatwhatwe are seeingin thepublishedworksis a merehint
ofwhatwas,in fact,an almostwholesalerejection oftheconventional wisdom,
mostof whoseintricacies had beencataloguedand codifiedby Ptolemyin the
Tetrabiblos.
Thisrejection is notmerely a consequence ofKepler'sCopernicanism. Helio-
centric cosmology did
presumably play part a in the eventual decline of astrology
by (amongotherthings)destroying beliefin thephysicalrealityof theZodiac,
butit destroyed it onlyin theindirect sensethatit contributed to theevolution
ofcosmological theories characterised in thetitleof Koyré'sclassicstudyFrom
theClosedWorldto theInfinite Universe (Koyré 1957).In theinfinite Universe,
starsweredistributed moreorlessuniformly andall theconstellation figures were
mereappearances.Kepler, however, believedthattheUniversewas finiteand
thattheSolar system helda privileged positionwithinit.
His rejection of anynaturalsignificance forthesignsof theZodiac is based
notuponrejecting thephysicalreality oftheapparentassociations of starsseen
in theconstellations (a realityitwould,in fact,havebeendifficult forhimto dis-
prove,though hedoesseemdisinclined to acceptit)butrather, at leastinitsearlier
statement, upontheartificiality of thetraditional beliefsand thediscontinuities
entailedbythem.For example,in a letterto Maestlin in 1598he notedthatif
Zodiac signsare used as measuresof triplicities (thatis, considered as vertices
ofequilateral triangles inscribed in the Zodiac circle)then "if Mars is at 29° 59'
ofAriesit is in itsowntriplicity, butifit is at 0° Γ ofTaurus[2' awayfromits
previousposition]it is in thetriplicity of theMoon and has different forces".
He adds,however, thathe doesnotrejectthetriangles defined by successive posi-
tionsofGreatConjunctions (ofSaturnandJupiter)20 (see Figure3). Thisdistinc-
tionseemsto be basedon thefactthatthesecondtypeoftriangle is an almost
exactequilateral triangledefined by actualpositionsof theplanets,whereasthe
firstis exactonlyas definedby thecentralpointsof thesignsthatcomposeit
(andis thusliableto abruptchangeas theplanetcrossesthedivision between two
signs).
20 Kepler to
Maestlin, 15 March 1598, letter89, 1.147 et seqq, KGW 13, p. 183.

200 J.V. Field
Fig. 3. The positionsof successiveconjunctions of Jupiterand Saturn,fromKepler,

De StellaNova,Prague,1606,p. 25. Theconjunctions takeplaceaboutonceeverytwenty
yearsandtheirpositions moveroundeachtimebya littlemorethan60°,so thatforlong
periods such conjunctionsalwaystakeplace in a particular set of signswhosecentres
aretheverticesofan equilateral
triangle(thatis,thesignsbelongtooneoftheastrological
namedafterone of theelements).
triplicities, Photograph courtesy of theScienceMu-
seum,London.
In hisletterto Maestlin,Keplerdoesnotenterintofurther detailsconcerning

thesignsof theZodiac and their possible for astrologer.is quitepossible
use the It
thatMaestlin was alreadyfamiliar withthesubstanceof his pupil'sthoughts
on thematter, so thata briefindication wouldsuffice. In anycase,theopinions
expressed in thisletterare consistent withthedetaileddiscussion of thenature
of triplicitiesand signspublishedeightyearslaterin De StellaNova (Prague,
1606).
The New Starof October1604had appearedcloseto a GreatConjunction,
henceKepler's including in hisbook a discussion of suchconjunctions and the
in
triplicities which theyoccur. In fact, it was on 17 December 1603(New Style)
thatthe conjunction had returned to the FieryTrigon(thetriplicity of signs
Aries,Leo and Sagittarius), an eventwhichwas believedto have takenplace
onlyeight times sincethe creation of theWorld21.Thustheappearance of the
New Star was potentially heavy with astrologicalsignificance.Kepler's final
chapterincludesarguments againstsomeof themorespectacular suggestions:
thattheIndiansare to be converted to Christianity,thattheMohammedans are
all to perish,thattheMessiahof theJewsis aboutto come,and so on22.He
makesno definite suggestionsof his own.In fact,a largepartof thebook is
takenup withrefutations or defences ofastrological tenetsrelatingto thetheory
oftriplicities,and mostoftherestis givenoverto discussions ofobservations of
thestar(forinstance, observations establishing that, like theNew Star of 1572,
21 De StellaNova,ChapterI, KGW 1, p. 157, 11.9-10.

22 De StellaNova,ChapterXXX, KGW 1, pp. 347-8.

A Lutheran Johannes
itis inthesphereofthefixedstars)andoftheories as to itsoriginandthematerial

of which it was formed.
The arguments whichKepler marshalls againstthebeliefthatthetwelve-fold
divisionof theZodiac is naturalare basicallyhistorical. He showsthatsucha
divisionmight haveseemedappropriate to primitive astronomers, sincethelength
ofthesolaryearisapproximately twelvelunations, andsuggests thattheinstitution
of twelveexactlyequal divisionswas the productof latermoresophisticated
mathematical astronomers23. In the following chapter,a similarly historical
argument is usedto establishthatthe names of the signsaretheresultofhuman
choiceand thuswithoutanynaturalsignificance24. Whereasthetitlesof these
twochapters taketheformof a question(whether suchand suchis natural)the
titleofthenextforthrightly statesitsconclusion : thatthenamingofthetrigons
aftertheelements is not fromthenatureof thingsbutfromhumanchoice25.
Kepler's argument largelyreliesuponshowingthelack of internal consistency
of thenomenclature, whereby, forexample,Aquariusis not a waterysignand
Taurusis feminine26. The realityof thetriplicitiesthemselves is, however, quite
anothermatter, as Kepler establishes in the nextchapter(ChapterVII). The
are definedby theoccurrence
triplicities of successive GreatConjunctions (see
Figure3) justas theroughtwelve-fold division oftheZodiacitself wasestablished
by theoccurrences of successiveconjunctions betweentheSun and Moon (i.e.
New Moons).The triplicities are thereforenatural,likethemonths.
As Simon(1975)hasnoted,thispartofKepler'sworkshowsan unambiguous
determination to distinguish betweenwordsand things,in a fieldwherethey
hadtraditionally beenconfounded (seeSimon1975,p. 444).Moreover, throughout
Kepler'sastrological workwefindthesameconcern withphysical realities
rather
thangeometrical constructs thatinforms his astronomy. In astrology he rejects
thepurelygeometrical whosevertices
triangles arethecentres of signs,in favour
ofthetriangles whosevertices are definedby conjunctions, whilein astronomy
herejects themathematically-constructed 'meanSun'andinsteadrefers hisplane-
tary orbitsto the actual positionof thebodyof theSun.
Observational
Astrology
Although Kepler's styleof reasoning

is closelysimilarin his astrology
and
his astronomy,we haveseenthat,evenin 1601,he did nothopethatastrology
wouldeverproduceanything morethanqualitative weatherpredictions, and
rathervagueones at that27. he did believethatexperience
Nevertheless, could
confirm theexistenceof newastrological
aspects28.
23 De Stella
Nova,ChapterIV, KGW 1, pp. 168-172.
2* De Stella
Nova,ChapterV, KGW 1, pp. 172-177.
25 De StellaNova,
ChapterVI, KGW 1, p. 177.
26 De Stella
Nova,ChapterVI, KGW 1, p. 178, 11.22-23.
27 See above and De Fundamentis
AstrologiaeCertioribusThesis XLV et seqq,
KGW 4, p. 31 et seqq.
28 Op. cit.in note
27, ThesisXXVIII, KGW 4, p. 18.

202 J.V. Field
Kepler givesno detailsofthisobservational in De Fundamentis

confirmation
but
Certioribus,
Astrologiae in Tertius
Interveniens 1610),a polemical
(Frankfurt,
workwritten in German,he claimsto havemadeweatherobservations overa
numberofyears,and quotessomeof themto provethata conjunction
ofSaturn
and theSun causescoldnessin theweather:
"In theyear1592,on 9 July,New Style,[sucha conjunction tookplace]in

Cancer, when I had notyetbegun to takenote.ButChytraeus writes thatthe
wholeSummer, at
particularly that was
specialtime, cold and In
wintry. 1593,
24 July,inthefirst partofLeo. Therewasgreatconfusion ofAspects.Forthe
Sun,Venusand Saturnwereat conjunction, Mars was at sextileto Jupiter
and,further, Mercury was movingbackfrombeingat opposition to Jupiter
to beingat trineto Mars.On 20,21 and22 Julytherewasmuchrainandhail.
The 23rdwas cloudy..."29.
Kepler citesseventeen such examples,givingvaryingquantitiesof detail,

thelast one datingfrom22 and 23 January 1609.Elevenexamplesconcernthe
monthsfromOctoberto January, whenone wouldnaturally expecttheweather
to be cold, or, in Kepler's terms,whenthe disposition of the Earthmade it
to influences
susceptible thatwouldcause an increasein cold. Kepler's success
in obtainingobservational of his beliefin the efficacy
confirmation of aspects
maybe partly of
dueto thesubjectivity thedata but another possibleexplanation
also presents aspectsareso numerous
itself: thatforanygivenchangeone could
almostcertainly findan appropriaterecentaspect.
This objectionto Kepler's meteorologicalinvestigationsin factoccurredto
one of hisregularcorrespondents, thephysicianJohannGeorg Brenggerwho
commented, in a letterto Kepler dated7 March1608:
"You saythatyouhaveconfirmed byexperience, inmeteorology,theexistence

aspectsquintile,biquintileand sesqui-
of the additional{extraordinários)
quadrature[corresponding anglesbetweenthe celestialbodies of 72°,
to
144°and 135°-see Figure4]. I myself shouldliketo see an exampleof this
material(hujusexperientiae
observational specimen), forwithsucha number
andvarietyofaspectsalwaysoccurring, so thatoneis unsuretowhichofthem
one shouldascribea changein theatmosphere, I do notknowhowI should
makean observational test(quomodo experimentům capeam),or evenwhether
I shouldfindit possibleto do so."30
Kepler repliedto thisletteron 5 April1608,givingBrenggerwhathe had

askedfor:
"I couldgivemanyexamples ofexperience inregard

(experientiae) tosecondary
aspects,butthereis no timeto describe
my observations . So,
(observations)
in 1600,whenfrom23 Apriluntil2 May, New there
Style, were no primary
29 TertiusInterveniens,
Thesis CXXXIV, KGW 4, p. 254.
30 Brengger to Kepler, 7 March 1608, letter480, 11.6-11, KGW 16, p. 114.

Johannes
A LutheranAstrologer: Kepler 203
Fig. 4. Correspondenceof astrologicalaspectsand harmonicratios,froma letterwritten

by Kepler to Herwart von Hohenburg (30 May 1599).
PtolemaicAspects: AB, conjunction (0°, undivided string)-used as an aspect by
Ptolemy, though he does not defineit as such;
CDE, sextile(60°, 1:5);
MNO, quadrature(90°, 1 : 3) ;
STU, trine(120°, 1:2);
XYZ, opposition(180°, 1:1).
New Aspects: FGH, quintile(72°, 1 : 4) ;
IKL, biquintile(144°, 2:3);
PQR, sesquiquadrature(135°, 3:5).
Photographcourtesyof Staatsbibliothek,Munich.
aspects[i.e.noneof thestandardaspects,fromPtolemy;see Figure2], and

Magini'stablesshowedSaturnand Jupiter to be at quintile,on 1 May there
was a veryheavyfallof snowbothin Pragueand in StyriaforFtrdinand's
wedding,and thejoustinghad to be cancelled(hastiludia impeditafuerunt).
Fromobserving theheavens,itwasfoundthatduring thesesamedaysSaturn
and Jupiter were72° apart[i.e. at quintile;see Figure4]. Tycho'sstudents
madethecheckon mybehalfwithTycho'squadrant."31
theexistence
It is notclearwhyKepler failedto confirm ofwhateveraspects
wererequiredto allowhimto setup a simplecorrespondence betweenaspects
andmusicalconsonances likethatgivenbyPtolemy.Perhaps,likemanya modern
astronomer he was moreopen to persuasionon somepoints
and cosmologist,
thanon others?
31 Kepler to
Brengger, 5 April 1608, letter488, 11.8-15, KGW 16, pp. 137-138.

204 J.V. Field
In anycase,in Tertius he saysthattakingdailyweather

Interveniens observa-
tionsovera periodofsixteenyearshas convinced himthatthereis notan exact
correspondencebetweenaspectsand consonances32. If itwas onlyaftersixteen
yearsof observations thatKepler cameto thisconclusion, thenit mustdate
from1609,sincehe seemsto havebegunhis weatherobservations in 159333.
In theintroductionto hisEphemeridesof 1618,as quotedin HarmonicesMundi
BookIV ChapterVI34,Kepler was to say thatthehadcometo thisconclusion
in 1608.
Astrological aspects and musical consonances
We haveseenthatin theMysterium Cosmographicum Kepler useshispoly-

hedralarchetype to set up somekindof relationbetweenthe ratiosof string
lengths thatdefine musicalconsonances andthedivisions ofthecircleoftheZodiac
that define astrological aspects.However, the firststagein thisprocedure is to
establish a geometrical originforthenumbers inthemusicalratios,andthefurther
linkwithaspects.seemsto be of lesserimportance35. Like Ptolemy,Kepler
apparently regards the consonances as prior to the aspectsand thustheprimary
elements thathis theorymustexplain.
This dominance of theconsonances persists in themodified versionsof the
theorywhichKepler describesin twoletters to Herwart von Hohenburgin
1599.In thefirst oftheseletters, written in May,he rejects hispublished account
of aspectsand suggestsan alternative whichfollowsPtolemy'sprocedureof
deriving themfrommusicalratiosamongthearcsintowhichthecircleoftheZo-
diac is dividedbybodiesthatare at aspectto one another (as shownin Figure2
above). Kepler accompanies his version of this with
theory a groupofdiagrams
whichshowtheZodiacopenedoutto resemble thestringofthetraditional mono-
chord(seeFigure 4).This scheme leadsKepler to suggesttheexistence of some astro-
logicalaspects not mentioned by Ptolemy, but which he hopesexperience may
confirm (as welearnfrom De Fundamentis Astrologiae ThesisXXXVII,
Certioribus,
thatit did)36.In thisletter, Kepler seemsto regardthemusicalratiosas merely
given,but a further letter to Herwart,written in August1599,containsa fairly
substantial attempt to explaintheirorigin37. Thisattempt is also clearlyinspired
by Ptolemy'sHarmonica in thatit is concerned withtheinscription of regular
polygons inthecircle(Ptolemy'sschemeis showninFigure2 above)butKepler's
description of histheory does notreallyamountto an explanation of it or even
an argument in favourof certainideas.It is no morethana seriesof assertions
addressed to a like-minded reader.Thesameis trueoftheparagraph thatfollows,
32 Tertius Thesis LIX, KGW 4, p. 205, 11.7-21.
Interveniens,
33 See
my previous quotation from TertiusInterveniens,
note 32.
34 KGW
6, p. 258, 1.26 et seqq.
35 I have discussed elsewhereKepler's use of geometryratherthan
numerology
in explainingconsonances; see Field, in press, 1982.
36 Kepler to
Herwart, 30 May 1599, letter123, 11.359-416, KGW 13, pp. 349-
350.
37 Kepler to
Herwart, 6 August 1599, letter130, 1.327 et seq, KGW 14, p. 29.

A Lutheran Johannes
inwhichKepler stateswhichpolygons hewillneedto exclude, andgivesgrounds

forexcluding them,such as that,in the case of the decagonand thepentagon,
thesquareofthesideofthepolygon is notcommensurable withthesquareofthe
diameter of thecircle38.However,he foundthathe couldnotconstruct a satis-
factory schemebythismethod, so helookedat thesizesoftheanglesoftheregu-
lar polygons concerned,thinking thathe mightbe able to excludeall thefigures
in whichthreeverticalanglescameto morethanfourrightangles"thoughit
is notclearwhyNatureshouldtakespecialaccountofthisproperty in setting
up
ratios"39.
Thisidea naturally led on to considering patterns ofpolygons fittedtogether
so as to covertheplanecompletely (tessellations),sinceifpolygonsare to form
a tessellationtheangleswhichmeetat eachofitsvertices mustadd up to exactly
fourrightangles40.Tessellationpatternsmake briefappearancesin several
Renaissancemathematical works,for instancein Dürer's Unterweysung der
Messung mit Zirkel und Richtscheit(Nuremberg, 1525), and some of them were
ofcoursefamiliar fromthepatterns on tiledfloors(hencetheirname),butKepler
seemsto havebeenthefirst personto makea systematic mathematical studyof
them.Thiswas eventually publishedin Harmonices MundiBookII, and found
its applicationin connection withastrological aspects.However,it makesits
firstappearanceas a possibleexplanation formusicalratios.
Thenextsectionoftheletter proceedsto attempt to explainaspectsbymeans
ofthesemusicalratios.Kepler statesat theoutsetthattheproblemis to explain
whyAstronomy, in regardto aspects,admitsfewerratios(betweenarcs of the
Zodiac)thanMusicwillallowbetween lengths ofstrings41. His attempts to explain
thisdiscrepancy do notlead himto look fora separateexplanation foraspects
butmerely involvegoingbackto first principles (as itwere)and lookingin more
detailat thedivisionofthecirclebytheinscription ofa regularpolygon.In two
otherletterswrittenintheSummer of1599,Keplergavesimilar, butrather more
cursory, accounts ofthe relationbetween aspects and musical ratios to Edmund
Bruce and to Maestlin42.
Although Kepler stillformulatestheproblemin termsofexplaining musical
ratiosandthenusingtheseratiosto explainastrological ones, thesetwo letters
to
Herwart do containall theelements whichwereto be reassembled to formthe
geometrical explanationsof musicalconsonances and astrologicalaspectsnearly
twenty yearslaterinHarmonices MundiLibriV.BythenKeplerhadreformulated
theproblem:musicalratiosarederived fromthosepolygons whosesidesaremost
closelyrelatedto thediameter ofthecirclein whichtheyareinscribed, whilethe
astrologicalratiosarederived fromthosepolygons whichwillfittogether to form
tessellationsor polyhedra.
It is notclearexactlywhenKepler decidedthatit was appropriate to give
38 Letter
130, 1.352 et seqq, KGW 14, p. 30.
39 Letter
130, 11.397-402, KGW 14, p. 31.
40 Letter
130, 1.419 et seqq, KGW 14, p. 32.
41 Letter
130, 11.573-576, KGW 14, p. 37.
42 Kepler to
Bruce, 18 July1599, letter128, KGW 14, p. 7; Kepler to Maestlin,
19 August 1599, letter132, KGW 14, p. 43.

206 J.V. Field
separateexplanations ofthemusicaland astrological ratios.A letter to Heydon,

written in October1605,mentions tessellations again, and refers also to fitting
polygons together to form polyhedra, but as in theletters of 1599 Kepler is pro-
posingto use thesemathematical factsto accountformusicalratios,and he still
apparently findsdifficulties in his theory43. Nevertheless, in January1607,he
tellsHerwart von Hohenburgthathe has alreadywritten up his theoryof
harmony "a few yearsago", but before publishing it he wants, God willing, to
resolvetheastronomical He
part44. proceeds give to a brief account of the plan
ofthework,whichis in fivebooks,butappearsto differ fromHarmonices Mundi
LibriV in thatthefirst twobooksconcern"thegeometrical figures fromwhich
Harmonicratiosarise" and "the HarmonicRatios or numbers", whereasthe
firsttwo booksof thepublishedworkare bothconcerned withgeometry -the
withinscribing
first polygons ina circle,andthesecondwithtessellations andpoly-
hedra.However,Harmonices MundiBook II is veryshort(22 foliopages in
KGW6) anditdoesnotseemimpossible thatinanearlier draft itmight haveformed
part of Book I. Moreover, it is also conceivable that the introduction and first
threechapters III
of Book might once have formed a separate book -and their
contents couldindeedbe summarised as "on HarmonicRatiosor numbers" -
but(andthisseemsto meto be crucial)thechapters do notdescribe theharmonic
ratiosthatfindexpression in astrological aspects(in Harmonices Mundi BookIV
andinthefourth bookintheplandescribed in 1607).Thusitseemsthatthework
alreadywritten in 1607,and apparently onlywaiting uponKepler'scalculations
ofplanetary orbitsforitspublication, stillfollowed Ptolemy'sexamplein using
consonances to explainaspects.
We haveseenthatby 1610,at thelatest,Kepler was convinced thathe had
provedby observation thattherewas nota simplecorrespondence between con-
sonancesand aspects45. However,thisdid notapparently convince himthatthe
twophenomena musthavedifferent origins, for,in thesamesectionof Tertius
Interveniensin whichhe statesthatthephenomena do notcorrespond, he never-
thelessgivesan explanationof the originof consonances whichseemsto be
intended to serveforaspectsas well46. One may,I think, reasonably imagine that
sincehe is writing forrelatively unlearned readers(theworkis in Germanbut
withitsnumerous technical termsin Latin)he mayhavesuppressed thefurther
mathematical detailsthatdifferentiate aspects from consonances, it does not
but
seemlikelythathe wouldomitto mention thattheformer havea verydifferent
geometrical cause - which they do in the theory described in Harmonices Mundi
LibriV.
Kepler's correspondence between1610 and the writing of the Harmonice
Mundidoesnotappearto containanyfurther discussion ofthearchetypal origin
of astrological aspects.Thus,sinceit seemshazardousto attempt to makeany
deductions fromthefactthatwe do finddiscussions of musicwithout reference
43 Kepler to Heydon,October1605,letter357, 11.179et seqq, KGW 15, p. 236

et seq.
44 Kepler to Herwart,endJanuary 1607,letter
409,11.237-238, KGW 15,p. 389.
45 See Tertius ThesisLIX, KGW 4, p. 205 et seq, and note32 above.
Interveniens,
46 TertiusInterveniens,
ThesisLIX, KGW 4, p. 203, 1.22 et seqq.

A Lutheran Johannes
we areleftwiththerather
to astrology, situation
unsatisfactory thatwhilea letter
writtenin 1599contains all
verynearly themathematical whichareapplied
results
to explainconsonances and aspectsin theHarmonice Mundi*1,we cannottell
preciselywhenKepler gavehis theorytheexactformit takesin thatwork.
HarmonicesMundi BookIV
Not onlydo themathematical resultsusedin HarmonicesMundiLibriV date

from1599,so toodoestheprojectofwriting a bookonworldharmony. In a letter
to Maestlin,Kepler proposesto call thisbook De harmonia mundi,butin a
toHerwartsomemonths
letter laterthetitlehasbecomeDe HarmoniceMundi*8.
Theletterto Maestlingivesa summary ofthecontents
oftheprojected work
thatrunsto about332 lines.Thisis veryinformal,butthecorrespondence with
theactualcontentsof Harmonices MundiLibriV is veryclose.To Herwart,
Kepler givesa verybriefbutmuchmoreformaloutlineof his "shortbook":
"Therewillbe fivebooksor chapters.

1. Geometrical,on constructible
figures.
on solidratios
2. Arithmetical,
3. Musical,on thecausesof harmonies
on thecausesof Aspects
4. Astrological,
5. Astronomical,on thecausesof theperiodicmotions"49.
WhenKepler decidedto assignseparategeometrical causesto musicalcon-

sonancesand astrological the
aspects, plan of theearlier
books oftheworkwas
changed a as
little, was their At
content. the very moment, fact,thecontent
last in
ofthelastbookwas changedas well:Kepler's discovery ofthelaw relating the
periods of theplanetsto the mean radiiof theirorbits50
enabled him to explain
notonlytheperiods(as promised in 1599)butalso theactualdimensions ofthe
orbits51. The finaltitlesof thebooksof Harmonices MundiLibriV thuslook a
littlelesslikea declaration oftheessential
unityofthesubjectsofthequadrivium
thandidthoseoftheearlierplan.As givenon theindividual titlepagestheyare:
BookI Theregular whichgiveriseto harmonic

figures theirorigin,
proportions,
theirclasses,theirrankand theirdifferences
in knowability
and demonstrability
[i.e. constructibility].
BookII Congruence
[i.e. fitting of harmonic
together] figures.
47 Kepler to
Herwart, 6 August 1599,letter130; see detailedreferencesin notes 36
and 37 above.
48 Kepler to
Maestlin, 29 August 1599, letter132, 1.139, KGW 14, p. 46; Kepler
to Herwart, 14 December 1599, letter148, 1.12, KGW 14, p. 100.
49 Kepler to
Herwart, 14 December 1599, letter148, 11.13-19, KGW 14, p. 100.
50 See Harmonices Mundi
BookV, ChapterIII, KGW 6, p. 302, 1.14 et seqq.
51 A
summaryof the method of calculation is given in Field 1982.

208 J.V. Field
Book III The originof harmonicproportionsand the natureof and differences

betweenthingsappertainingto music.
Book IV The harmonicconfigurations of theraysof starsat theEarth,and their

the weatherand othernaturalphenomena.
effectin determining
Book V The mostperfectharmonyin the celestialmotionsand the originfrom

semidiameters
themof eccentricities, and periodictimes.
In fact,the "short book" planned in 1599 was publishedin 1619 as a very

orderlytreatiseof some 320 folio pages, whichdeducesfromgeometricaltruths
thenatureof themathematicalharmonicesthatKepler has foundin theUniverse.
He has foundmathematicalharmoniesin the same thingsas Ptolemyconsiders
in his Harmonica: musical consonances,astrologicalaspects and the motions
of the planets,and he is perfectlyaware of the closenessof the relationof his
own work to Ptolemy's. It is, in fact,immediatelyaftera discussionof the in-
adequacy of Ptolemy's Harmonica-for example,in its incorrectastronomy-
that Kepler makes the contrastwithhis own success in the famousboast that
"I have stolenthe golden vesselsof the Egyptiansto make fromthema Ta-
bernaclefor my God far fromthe confinesof the land of Egypt"52.
The orderin whichthebooks of HarmonicesMundiLibri V are presentedmay

at firstglance seem to have been dictatedmerelyby the need to provetheorems
beforeusing them.However,closer scrutinyrevealsthatthis is not entirelythe
case: the astrologicalbook, Book IV, uses geometricalresultsdirectly,not in
the musicalformwhichsome of themhave been givenin Book III, a factupon
which Kepler himselfremarks53,and the musical resultsof Book III are not
applied until Book V. It seems as thoughthe centralpositionof the book on
musicnot only appeared appropriatein a workconcernedwithmusicamundana
but also, since the musical book comes immediatelyafterthe geometricalones,
servedto emphasizethat the musical consonances,long seen as arithmetical in
origin,had now been given a basis in This
geometry. allows Kepler to see the
musicalratiosamongthevelocitiesof theplanetsas a consequenceof thefactthat
God is a PlatonicGeometer,whereastheymightotherwise perhapshave suggested
that He was somethingof a PythagoreanNumerologist54. Astrologicalharmony
was discussedbeforeastronomicalharmonybecause Kepler feltit appropriate
to leave untillast "the workof Creationwhichof all thingswas thefirstand most
perfect"55.
The mathematics whichformsthebasis of Kepler's explanationof astrological
harmoniesis to be foundin HarmonicesMundi Book II. In this book, Kepler
is concernedwithestablishinga hierarchyof regularpolygonsaccordingto their
52 HarmonicesMundi Book
V, Prooemium,KGW 6, p. 290, 1.4 et seqq.
IV, ChapterIV, KGW 6, p. 234, 1.32.
54 See note 35 above.
IV, Praeambulumet ratio ordinis,KGW 6, p. 209, 1.12.

A Lutheran Johannes
"sociability", thatis theircapacityto combinewithpolygonsof the same or

different kindsso as to formas "congruence", thatis a flatpattern whichwillcover
theplane(a tessellation) or a polyhedron whosevertices are all alike(a uniform
polyhedron). Thisconception ofa polyhedron as madeup ofitsfacesis theone
Plato usedin Timaeuswhenconstructing hissolidsfromthebasictriangles, but
in thepresentcontextKepler apparently regardsit merelyas a mathematical
convenience whichallowshimto develophis laborious,butrigorous, proofsby
exhaustion.
It is inHarmonices MundiBookII thatKeplergiveshisfirst published account
ofthetwostarpolyhedra hehaddiscovered, andtheoriginality ofhiswork,which
is thefirst systematic treatment of tessellations,has earnedit a placein histories
ofmathematics56. Nevertheless, whatever themathematical interest ofthework,
itis clearthatKepler'sconcernis notthatofa puremathematician investigating
theproperties of geometrical entities fortheirownsake.His first"conclusion"
is a ranking ofpolygons according to thenumber of"congruences" inwhichthey
can takepart.Therefollowsa second"conclusion"inwhichthishierarchy is
contrasted withthatproduced inBookI byconsidering thenumber ofstepswhich
wererequiredto construct the side of each polygonin a circle(thedegreeof
"demonstrability" of thepolygon)57. Sincethehierarchy established in BookII
is to be usedto explainaspectswhilethatof BookI is to explainconsonances,
thiscomparison between thehierarchies an echoofthePtolemaic
is clearly musical
that
theory guided Kepler's earlier work in astrology.
Aswehaveseen,astrology doesnotplaya veryimportant partintheMysterium
Cosmographicum, and the later notes Kepler added for thesecondeditionofthe
workin 1621suggest thatbythenhe regarded twoofthethreebriefastrological
chapters as irrelevant to themainpurposeofthebook.In contrast, theastrology
inHarmonices MundiLibriV is notonlymuchmoremathematically sophisticated
thanthatintheearlierwork,itis also an integral partofKepler'sdescription of
his schemeof universal harmonies (of whicha slightly modified versionof the
theory described intheMysterium Cosmographicum is alsoa part).A closerreading
ofHarmonices MundiLibriV confirms theimpression conveyed by thearrayof
titlesofitsindividual books: theastrology ofBookIV has muchthesamestatus
as theastronomy of BookV. Astrological aspects,liketheeccentricities of the
planetary orbits, are seen as the physical consequences of themathematical truths
described in theearlierpartof thework.
Although Kepler has abandonedanyattempt to explainaspectsbymeansof
consonances, henevertheless regards aspectsas beingnatural "harmonies", though
ina non-musical sense.In fact,in theintroduction to Harmonices MundiBookII
he drawsan etymological parallelbetweencongruentia, derivedfromtheLatin
verbcongruere, and theGreekαρμονία, derivedfromtheverbάρμόττειν which
likecongruere means"to fittogether"58. Like otherwriters on musicamundana,
Kepler is concerned withharmony in a widersensethanthepurelymusicalone.
It is in Harmonices MundiBookIV thatthiswidersensefirstbecomesrelevant,
56 See Coxeter 1975and Field 1979.

57 HarmonicesMundiBookII, sectionsXXIX and XXX, KGW 6, pp. 88-9.
58 HarmonicesMundi,BookII Prooemium, KGW 6, p. 67.

210 J.V. Field
and thefirst threechapters are accordinglyconcerned withtheproblemsof the

essenceofharmonies (in sensibleand abstract thesoul'sfaculty
entities), forper-
ceivingharmonies, and in what things harmonies be
may perceived (by God or
byMan). The fourth chapterdealswiththedistinctions to be madebetween the
musicalharmonies (consonances)considered in BookIII and the astrological
ones to be considered in thepresentone. Thesedistinctions areall "physical"
in thewidesensein whichKepler usestheword,thatis in something closeto
itsetymological sense, to mean "pertainingto Nature or to the way thenatural
worldworks"(thenatural worldbeingtakento include celestialas wellas terrestrial
phenomena) (seeJardine1979).The distinctions aresummed upsuccinctly in the
marginalnotes:"The harmonies in thisbook are narrower" (i.e. theydo not
interact as musicalharmonies do), "Theseharmonies concernangles","In the
formof arcs of the Zodiac", "Theyare not trulycelestial","but terrestrial"
(i.e. theyare perceived fromtheEarth,beinganglesmadeat theEarth),and so
on59.Harmonies areperceived by thehumansoul,and sincetheEarthappears
to respondto harmonies -that is, to astrologicalaspects -Kepler arguesthat
theEarthtoomusthavea soul60.As wehaveseen,hehadmadethissamesugges-
tion,on the samegrounds,manyyearsearlierin De Fundamentis Astrologiae
Certioribus (Augsburg, 1602)61.
Havingthusestablished thenatureoftheharmonies withwhichheisconcerned,
Kepler nextturnsto his geometrical explanationof them. Thisis contained in
Harmonices MundiBookIV,ChapterV62.The chapter is setoutin mathematical
form,as a seriesof definitions, axiomsand propositions, witha smallamount
oflinking text,very much in the manner of the geometrical workofHarmonices
Mundi Books I and II - or, indeed, Kepler's Dioptrice (Prague,1611).
Afterdefining whatis meantby an astrological configuration, and whatis
meantbydescribing it as powerful Kepler proceeds
(efficax), to statetwoaxioms,
uponwhich,he tellsus, thewholediscussion willdepend.Theyare:
"AxiomI
The arc oftheZodiac cutoffbythesideof a convexor starpolygonwhich
formscongruencesand is knowablemeasurestheangleof a powerfulconfi-
guration.
AxiomII
Theangleofa convexor starpolygonwhichforms andis know-
congruences
able is themeasureof theangleof a powerful
Configuration."63
Thesetwoaxiomsresemble theaxiomswhichrelatedknowable polygonsand

in BookIII, ChapterI, themaindifference
consonances beingthatthenewaxioms
59 HarmonicesMundi Book IV,
ChapterIV, KGW 6, pp. 234-235.
IV, ChapterIV, KGW 6, pp. 236-237.
61 Theses XL to XLIII, KGW 4, pp. 23-24, translatedin Part 2 below.
02 KGW
6, pp. 239-256.
DJKGW
6, p. 241. A "knowable" or "demonstrable"or "constructible"polygon
is one which can be constructedin a circle by means of straightedge and compasses.
Kepler discusses these constructionsin HarmonicesMundi Book I.

A Lutheran Johannes
givenotonebuttwoforms ofrelationship between thephysicallyrealisedharmonies

and theirgeometrical prototypes,through the arc cut offby the side and through
theanglebetweentwoneighbouring sides.
Theparagraphs whichimmediately followthestatement oftheaxioms,before
thefirstproposition, are concerned withexpanding themeaningof theaxioms.
In particular,
Kepler pointsoutthatthetwoaxiomsin factlead to thesameset
ofconfigurations. Thisis mosteasilyillustrated by reference to thediagramsof
aspectswhich occur later in the chapter, from which we can see thattheangle
subtended bythesideofa congruence-forming andknowable polygon at thecentre
of itscircumcircle is alwaysequal to theangleof anothercongruence-forming
and knowable polygon(forthesquareit is in factan angleofthesamepolygon)
(seeFigure5). Sincebothaxiomsgivethesamesetofaspectsitwouldappearthat
Keplerhascommitted themathematical solecism ofemploying twoaxiomswhere
one wouldapparently havesufficed. However,theuse of bothaxiomshas the
advantageof allowinghimto relateeachaspectto twopolygons, the"central"
one and the "circumferential" one. A decisionbetweenthe two mighthave
seemedunnecessarily arbitraryat thisstageoftheproceedings for,as weshallsee,
Keplerdoesnotseemto regardhisaxiomsas being,bydefinition, true,butrather
as reasonableassumptions thatmightbe susceptible of proof.
The seriesofpropositions whichimmediately followstheaxiomsis concerned
withestablishing therelativeimportance of the"central"and "circumferential"
polygonsfortheircorresponding aspect,and decidingwhichproperties of the
polygons should be considered as the
determining properties of the aspects.The
first
proposition looks back tothe : are
consonances"Aspects morecloselyconnect-
ed withthecircleand itsarcsthantheconsonances are"64.Thisis provedsimply
by considering therelationof each to its associatedcircle:
"theconsonances do not dependimmediately on thecircleand its arcs on

accountoftheirbeingcircular, buton accountofthelengthoftheparts,that
oneto another,
is,theirproportion whichwouldbe thesameifthecirclewere
out
straightened into a line65.
Whereas theAspects,
bydefinitionI, areangles,
whichthecirclemeasures withitsarcs,andinno otherwayexceptbyremaining
whatI havecalledit,thatis,bycontinuing to havea circular
shapeandto re-
maincomplete."66
Kepler adds thattheconsonancesdo not alwaysinvolvethewholecircle,

butsometimes onlyratiosof partsof it,whereasaspectsdo alwaysconcernthe
wholecircle.Thismixtureofphysicalandmathematical reasoning is characteristic
of mostof thepropositions,thoughtherelativeimportance of thetwocompo-
nentsvariesfromproposition to proposition.
For example,Proposition IV that
"Congruence of figuresis moreinfluential

than Knowability
in makinga
configuration
powerful"67
64 KGW6, p. 242,1.28.
65 Compare
Ptolemy's system,shownin Figure
2 above.
66KGW6, p. 242,1.35et seqq.
67KGW6, p.245.

212 J.V. Field
Fig. 5 a
Fig.5. Aspectsas giveninHarmonices MundiBookIV, Chapter
V. Photographs
courtesy
of theScienceMuseum,London.

A Lutheran Johannes
Fig. 5 b

214 J.V. Field
Fig. 5 c

A LutheranAstrologer:JohannesKepler 215
Fig. 5 d

216 J.V. Field
Fig. 5e

A Lutheran Johannes
is clearlymainlya matterof physics.The following that

proposition,
is a property
"Congruence of the Circumferential
ratherthanthe central
figure"
is entirelymathematical. Bywayofproof,Kepler asserts, quitereasonably, that

thecapacityto formcongruences is a property ofthefigure as a wholeand the
circumferentialpolygonis employed as a whole(i.e. thecirclegoesthrough all its
vertices)whereasthecentralpolygonhas onlyone of its anglesat thecentre68.
This straightforward mathematical insightprovidesthejustification forusing
the hierarchy of polygons definedbyconsidering congruences as a meansofde-
termining therelativestatusofaspects - onceKepler hasshown, inProposition VI,
thataspectsareto be seenas determined morebytheircircumferential thantheir
centralpolygon,and in Proposition VII, thatforthe circumferential polygon
congruence-forming is more important thanknowability of the side (and vice
versaforthecentralpolygon)69.
PropositionVIII is a partialconverse ofAxiomI, namelythatthearc of the
circlecutoff"bya figure whichdoes notformcongruences does notcorrespond
to an aspect.It is notclearwhyKepler didnotmakethisproposition an axiom.
he
Perhaps thought it too important to be assertedwithout His
proof? comment
on it is
"Beholdthecausewhy,although theknowablefigures
areinfinite
in number,
thoughof variousrank,yetaspectsare few"70.
However,it is of thenatureof axiomsto havejust thisimportance, as Kepler

had acknowledged afterstating
histwoaxiomsearlierin thischapter. Moreover,
though thetwoaxiomsI quotedarecalledaxioms,theseriesofpropositions which
followsthemdoesseemto havebeenat leastpartlydesigned tojustifyaccepting
themas true,andKepler'scomment onhisthirdaxiom(which appearsimmediately
afterPropositionVIII and statesthatthearcs of a circlewhosecorresponding
polygons areofhigherrankinCongruence andKnowability willgivemorepower-
fulconfigurations)begins"If thefirsttwo axiomsare acceptable(consentânea)
..."71. It therefore
appearsthattheword"axiom"does not meanto Kepler
quitethesameas itdoesto a modernmathematician, and seemsto havedoneto
Archimedes. Kepler'suse ofthewordin thischapteris rathercloserto Coper-
nicus'usagein theComment ariolus,where"axiom"apparently meanssomething
we shalluse as ifit weretruebutwouldliketo proveone day ifwe can72.
Havingstatedhisthird,andfinal,axiom,Kepler proceedsto listthetwelve
aspectswhoseexistence can be deducedfromtheaxioms,referring to theresults
68 KGW
6, p. 245, 11.35-38.
69 KGW
6, p. 246-250.
70 KGW
6, p. 250, 11.17-18.
71 KGW
6, p. 250, 1.23.
72 See Swerdlow 1973. Like
Kepler, Copernicus also shows no anxietyto reduce
his axioms to the minimumnumberor to ensure theirmutual independence.

218 J.V. Field
of BooksI and II forproofthatthepolygonsinvolvedare congruence-forming

andknowable73. Thenextgroupofpropositions,numbers X to XV,is concerned
therelative
withestablishing degreesofpoweroftheaspects,on thebasisofthe
noblenessofthecorrespondingpolygons in BooksI and II (i.e. using
established
setoutinAxiomIII). Keplerworksfromthestrongest
thecriteria aspects,oppo-
sitionand conjunction,
whichcorrespondto thediameterof thecircle74, to the
weakestconfigurations,
whichhesitate
"configurations between
powerand powerlessness, namelythe
24° arc fromthepentekaedecagon
and the 18° arc fromtheicosigon"75.
The lowestgradeofconfigurations whicharedefinitelyaccepted as aspectsis that

ofthedecile,tridecile,
octileandtrioctile (seeFigure5).
aspects76 This enumeration
of theeffectiveconfigurations,in order of decreasingpower -which resembles
the standardclassification of consonancesin musictheory -brings Kepler's
chapterto an end.
His following chapter, ChapterVI, returnsto thecomparison ofastrological
andmusicalharmonies, witha disussion ofthefactthatthereis notthesamenum-
berofaspectsas ofconsonances. As wehaveseen,Keplerhad alreadydiscussed
thephysical distinctionsto be madebetween thetwotypesofharmony (in Chap-
terIV). The new discussionis concerned withdifferencesin themathematical
formulation, whichweredictated bythephysical andhaveledtoaspects
differences,
whichdo notcorrespond exactlywiththeconsonances described in Harmonices
MundiBookIII. ChapterVI thusprovidesphilosophical justification for the
mathematical of
reasoning Chapter V. Kepler presumably thought he had better
showfirst thathismathematical methodwouldgivethedesiredresultand leave
philosophical arguments untillater.
The finalchapterof Harmonices MundiBookIV, Chapter VII, containsa
fairlydetaileddiscussionof the and
nature activities ofthesouloftheEarth(whose
existencewas suggested in ChapterIV)77.In neither of thesetwofinalchapters
ofBookIV is thereanydiscussion ofthepracticalbusinessofastrology78. Indeed,
in the firstsentenceof ChapterVI Kepler explicitly rulesout suchpractical
considerations, referringthe readerto thosealreadygivenin De StellaNova
(Prague,1606)79. Thus,although themaintitlepageofHarmonices MundiLibriV
describesthe fourthbook as "metaphysical, psychologicaland astrological",
73
PropositionIX, KGW 6, pp. 250-251.
74
PropositionX, KGW 6, p. 251. See Figure 5.
75
PropositionXV, KGW 6, p. 256. See Figure 5.
76
PropositionXIV, KGW 6, p. 254. See Figure 5.
77 KGW
6, pp. 264-286.
78
Similarly,the astronomyof HarmonicesMundi Book V is unrelatedto the usual
tasks of an astromer.
79 KGW
6, p. 257, 1.4 et seqq. The chapters to which Kepler refersare in fact
concernedwitharguingforthe power of aspects and the significanceof pointsof Great
Conjunctions(against Pico della Mirandola) : De Stella Nova, ChaptersVIII, IX and
X, KGW 1, pp. 184-197.

A Lutheran Johannes
and thetitlepage of BookIV reads
"On theharmonic of stellarraysat theEarth,and theireffect

configurations
on theweatherand othernaturalphenomena",
thecontentsof thebook are verylittlemorethana discussionof thetheoretical

foundationsof astrology.
It wouldseemthatthisrestriction of the scope of BookIV indicateswhat
Kepler takesto be theintrinsic
limitationsof his mathematicaltheory.In his
notesforthesecondeditionoftheMysterium Cosmographicum (Frankfurt,1621)
hesaysthatwhenhefirstwrotetheworkhehopedtoextend theuseofmathemati-
cal archetypes
to otherthings,buthis attempts to do so had taughthimthat
"theheavens,
thefirstof God's works,werelaid out muchmorebeautifully
thantheremainingsmalland commonthings"80.
Kepler's exemplarin constructing his geometrical archetype was certainly

Plato's Timaeus81, but,whereasPlato had givena mathematical descriptionof
thesublunary worldas wellas thecelestial,
Kepler foundhimself compelled to
applyan Aristoteliandistinction
and confinehis mathematical cosmology to the
heavens.Wemayimagine thathedidso withregret,sincehedoesnotseemtohave
believedthatcelestialphysicsshouldbe distinguishedfromterrestrial.However,
Harmonices MundiBookIV succeedsat leastin givingan a prioriaccountofthe
meansby whichcelestialbodiesexerciseinfluence uponterrestrial ones.It was
Kepler's sole contributionto themathematisation of terrestrial
physics-apart
fromhisdescription oftheclosepackingofequal spheres to explaintheshapeof
thehoneycomb (but not the in
snowflake) De Nive Sexangula(Prague,1611).
The "Lutheran" astrologer
Writingto Maestlin in March1598,in replyto a letterthatseemsnot to

havesurvived,Kepler defends theattackon astrologyhe madein hiscalendar
of159882.He givesdetailsofthepartsofastrological
doctrine
to whichheobjects
(mainlythosewhichdependuponsignsoftheZodiac)83andthenlikenshimself
to a theologian:
"ShouldI notdo rightly

to tryto convincethelearnedand thephilosophers
oftheeffect
oftheheavens? ThusI shoulddo as theJesuits
do: making many
emendationsthattheymaymakemencatholics.Fundamentally I do notdo
80
MysteriumCosmographicum, Frankfurt,1621, note on the title page, KGW 8,
p. 15, 11.14-18.
81 See Field 1981 and
Field, in press, 1983.
*z Kepler to
Maestlin, 15 March 1598, letter89, 1.142 et seqq, KGW 13 p. 183
et seq.: see also Caspar's note on 1.142. KGW 13. r>.400.
83 See the
passage referredto in note 20 above.

220 J.V. Field
that,forit is theywho defendall thenonsense(nugas)who are liketheJesuits.

I am a Lutheranastrologer,throwing awaythe nonsenseand keepingthe ker-
nel."84
As we have seen,what seemed'nonsense'and what 'kernel'did changeover the

years,so thatthe ConfessioAugustanaof Kepler's alleged astrologicalLuthera-
nism was more a collection of principlesthan a definitebody of dogma. As
Simon(1975, 1979)has shown,theseprincipleswerecloselyakinto thosegoverning
Kepler's astronomicalbeliefs.One such principlewas the demandthata theory
should accountforobservationswithan appropriatedegreeof precision:to five
minutesof arc for theposition of Mars, and ratherroughlywhen it came to
predictionsof the weather(since the weatherdependednot only upon aspects
operatingfromtheheavensbut also on such thingsas thelocal dispositionof the
Earth)85.Nevertheless, as we have seen,Kepler was convincedthattherewas a
of
body observational evidence thatprovedthat aspectsbetweencelestialbodies
did affectthe weather,even if predictionscould not be precise:in TertiusInter-
veniens(1610) he makes the veryreasonablecomparisonbetweenastrologyand
anotherhit-and-miss art, that of the physician86.It is, moreover,clear that no
general refutationof astrologywas a reasonablepropositionwhilethe influence
of the Sun upon the weather(in determining the seasons) and thatof the Moon
upon the sea (in causing the tides) were regardedas examplesof astrological
'force' in action.
Astrologershad always differed over minorpoints87.Thereare, forexample,
severaldifferent recognisedways of drawingout the twelveastrologicalhouses-
though thereis general agreementthat each representslife, money,brothers,
parent,children,etc.- and each astrologermarshallsargumentsin favourof his
favoritesystem.There are also disputesover the charactersof theplanetsand of
theeffects of aspectsbetweenthem.Kepler was thusnot exceptionalin proposing
reform.His reformsdo, indeed,seems to have been as radical as Luther's re-
formsof the Church,but he stops shortof the most radical reformof all: the
completerejectionof astrology(whicha not inconsiderablenumberof prominent
and learnedmenhad advocated88).As Kepler putsit on thetitlepage of Tertius
Interveniens, the book is a "warningto some Theologians,Physiciansand Philo-
sophers" that, in theirreasonable condemnationof superstitiousastrological
beliefs,"they do not throwout the baby with the bath water"89.
Kepler's attemptsto distinguish baby frombathwaterare certainlyrevealing
both of the principlesthat governedhis naturalphilosophyand of the method
84 Letter89, 11.173-178, KGW 13. d. 184.

85 See De Fundament is AstrologiaeCertioribus,
ThesisXLI V, KGW 4, p. 24,translated
in Part 2 below.
86 Tertius Thesis XII, KGW 4, p. 163.
Interveniens,
87 See Bouché-Leclercq
1899, Garin 1969, Shumaker 1972, Bowden1974, Web-
ster 1982, and Jenks 1983.
88 A few are discussed in Shumaker 1972.
89 ... nichtdas Kindt mitdem Badt außschütten.... Tertius
Interveniens,
Frankfurt,
1610, Title page, KGW 4, p. 147.

A Lutheran Johannes
oftheirapplication90. itseemsto methatinconcentrating

Nevertheless, attention
upon Kepler'sreforms ofastrology-and thus, as itwere,seeinghis Lutheranism
fromtheCatholicside-earlierstudieshavetendedto neglectanotherimportant
aspectofKepler'sastrology, namely themanner inwhichitfittedintohisconcep-
tionoftheworldas a whole,thatis,thepartit playedin hiscosmology. From
theProtestantpoint ofview I
(if may so call it) Kepler's astrologyappearsas an
integral
part of his pictureof theworld.
As a deeplyreligiousChristian, and a convinced Platonist, Kepler saw the
Universe as theoutward expression of the nature ofthe Creator. Man beingmade
in theimageofGod,wasalsoto someextent the and
like Universe, clearly capable
of understanding it in thesametermsin whichGod had designedit,namelyin
termsof Geometry. In fact,Kepler's Platonismextended to believing
that77-
maeuswasa commentary on thebookofGenesis.Thisbeliefis statedin so many
wordsin a marginal notein Harmonices MundiBookIV, ChapterI91.
In the Mysterium Cosmographicum, mostnaturalcomparisonis with
the
Timaeus, since Kepler, likePlato, is concerned withpolyhedra - and someof
his arguments echothosePlato putforward in Timaeuswhenassigning a poly-
hedronto each element. However,as we haveseen,evenin thisworkKepler is
alsoconcerned withthecosmological ideasPtolemyputforward inhisHarmonica.
And we knowfromKepler's correspondence thatevenbeforehe had given
up theideaofwriting further cosmographical treatisesas sequelstotheMysterium
he was
Cosmographicum alreadyplanning to write a book on worldharmony92.
The planforthisbook seemsalwaysto haveresembled thatof Ptolemy'sHar-
monica,including musical,astrological and astronomical harmonies.
Kepler rejectedthe numerological explanation of musicalconsonances that
formed thebasisof Ptolemy'swork(I havearguedthisin detailelsewhere; see
Field, in press,1982).He rejectedthe equationof musicalconsonanceswith
astrologicalaspects.He rejected muchofPtolemy'sastrological systemas wellas
all ofhisastronomical one.Moreover, mostimportantly ofall, Kepler regarded
hisownarchetype as cosmogonie, thatis,as themodelGod had usedin creating
theUniverse, whereasPtolemy'sdescription oftheUniversewas merely cosmo-
logical.As Kepler put it in a letterto Christopher Heydon in October 1605:
"Ptolemy hadnotrealisedthattherewas a creatoroftheworld: so itwas not
forhimtoconsider theworld'sarchetype, whichliesinGeometry andexpressly
in theworkofEuclid,thethrice-greatest philosopher (etnominatiminEuclide
philosophotermaximo)9'93.
despitetheseveryimportant
Nevertheless, pointsof difference
-all of which
Kepler explicitly -it
acknowledges94 is clearthatKepler's HarmonicesMundi
90 See Simon 1975 and 1979 on the first
point and Rosen, in press, 1982 on the
second.
91 KGW
6, p. 221.
92 Kepler to
Maestlin, 29 August 1599, letter132, 1.136 et seqq, KGW 14, p. 46.
93 Kepler to Heydon, October 1605, letter357. 11.164-167, KGW 15. d. 235.
94 For
example, in his comparison of his own work with that of Ptolemy in the
Appendix to HarmonicesMundi Book V, KGW 6, pp. 369-373.

222 J.V. Field
LibriV is doselymodelledupon Ptolemy'sHarmonica, Astrological harmony

is thusan integral partofKepler'sworkas itis ofPtolemy's.It seemsto methat
Kepler showsthepreference whichhe so strangely attributes to Copernicus:
thewishtodepartas littleas possiblefromPtolemy95. Indeed,ifPtolemy'sname
had not,in retrospect, becomeso indissolubly weddedto geocentric astronomy,
one mightfairly describemuchof Kepler's naturalphilosophy as Ptolemaicin
its inspiration.Eventhefamousrejection of heliocentricversionsof Ptolemy's
model orbitsin the Nova
Astronomia is accompanied bythecomment thatPto-
lemyhad achievedadequateagreement withthe observations availablein his
time96.Keplerclearly feltthatthestandards hehimself wasapplying differedfrom
Ptolemy'sonlyin beingmorestringent in theirnumerical tolerances.
Kepler'sconcern withastrology is notperipheral to hiscosmological theories,
and therecan be no doubtthatit grossly misrepresents hisattitude to astrology
to suggestthathesawitprimarily as a wayofmaking money.However, astrology
wasa wayofmaking money. AndKepler,indeed,complains repeatedly andbitter-
ly of havingto use it as such-thus providing comforting quotations forthose
historianswhohavewishedto "defend"himforhavingbeenan astrologer. The
defenceis, in fact,fairenoughifthechargeis thatKepler sometimes practised
judicialastrology and thatin hisastrological calendarshe published predictions
whichgavemoredetailsthanhe reallybelievedhe couldjustify -an astrological
equivalent of the spuriousprecision found in astronomical tables.It is these,to
hismindillegitimate, usesofastrology to whichhe refersin his complaints that
Rudolf II, CountWallensteinor thepublicare wastinghistimebytheirde-
mandsforpredictions, butthatsatisfying themdoes at leastprovidehimwith
money.Astrological musica mundana was rather harderto sell.
Curiously enough,Galileo, who rejected Kepler's astrological explanation
ofthetides97, seemshimself tohavebeeninterested inoneofthepartsofastrology
whichKepler regarded withmostsuspicion:natalastrology. Galileo drewup
detailednativities,employing thedivisionoftheskyintotwelvehousesandusing
thepositions oftheplanetsinrelation to thesehousesto makespecific predictions
aboutthelifeofthesubjectofthenativity. The horoscopeforCosimoII Grand
Duke of Tuscany,mentioned in the dedicatory letterof the SidereusNuncius
(Venice,1610)is themostfamousof these98.However,Galileo did not only
respondto requests frompatrons;he also castthreehoroscopes forhimself, and
manyothersforhisfamily andfriends99. Someofthemseemto havebeendrawn
up in an effort to decidewhether thestarsreallydidaffect thechild-fromwhich
it wouldseemthatGalileo was notentirely insensibleto theastrologers' claim
thatthepredictive power of their
theorieswas confirmed by millenia of experience.
Galileo himself does notseemto havemadeanyattempt to publishhisastro-
logicalwork,and almostall of it stillremainsin manusript100.
95
MysteriumCosmographicum, ChapterXV, p. 51, KGW 1, p. 50, 11.31-34.
96 AstronomiaNova, ChapterXIX, KGW 3, p. 177, 1.37 et seqq.
97 Galileo Galilei
Dialogo, Fourth Day, Ed. Naz. 7, p. 486.
98 It is the
subject of an article by Righini (1976).
99 See
Ernst, in press, 1983.
loo
jyjysketchof Galileo's astrological beliefsand practicesis derivedfromthe

A Lutheran Johannes
In thepassagefromtheFourthDay oftheDialogo,to whichI referred above,

it is not entirely
clearwhichof Kepler's explanations of thetidesGalileo is
rejecting.Thestandard astrological
explanation,whichKepler apparently accept-
ed in 1601101,was thattheMoon influenced theoceanbecauseit was composed
of humours.By 1609Kepler seemsto haverevisedhis ideas,forin theIntro-
ductionto theAstronomia Novahe proposesthattheMoon actson thewaters
bytheforceofgravity102. However, "force"(actionata distance)
is itself
an astro-
logicalnotion,andso Galileo's rejection
ofKepler'stheory doesnotnecessarily
imply ofthispassageoftheAstronomia
ignorance Novaorwilfulmisunderstanding
ofit.Keplerhimself, however,seemsto haveseenthistheory as a matter ofordi-
naryphysics, forwhen he refers
to itinHarmonices Mundi Book IV, ChapterVII,
he saysthathe had suggested that
"thewavesare pulledby theMoon,likeironby a magnet,by a corporeal

virtueof unification
of bodies(virtute
corpóreaunitionis
corporunif'
(The lastphraseechoesCopernicus'definition of gravityin De Revolutionibus.)

Thisabandonment ofspecific influence
astrological infavourofa moregeneral
type of force may,particularlysinceit refers
to seem
magnetism, to connectthe
forceoftheMoonontheoceanwiththeforcebywhichtheSunmovestheplanets.
It is, afterall, a matter
of someinterest thatin hislaterworksKepler prefered
to describe theSunnotas thepossessorofan animamotrix butas exerting
a vis
motrix. He himself explainsthereasonsforthischangein one of thenoteshe
providedforthesecondeditionof the Mysterium Cosmographicum (1621):
"Formerly I believedthatthecauseof themotionoftheplanetswas a Soul,

imbuedas I was withJ.C. Scaliger'sbeliefsaboutMotiveIntelligences.
But
whenI reflectedon thefactthatthiscauseofmotionweakened withdistance,
and thatthelightoftheSunalso becamefainter withdistancefromtheSun,
I drewthe conclusionthatthisForce was something corporeal,thatis an
emanation(speciem)derivedfroma body,thougha non-material one."103
ThusKepler's rejectionofanimism can be seenas theresultofa wishto givea

mathematicaldescriptionoftheeffect
oftheSunon theplanets.Nonetheless, this
specific of
rejection an animamotrixin the Sun is notpartof a generalrejection
of animism:as we haveseen,Kepler's astrological theories
entaileda beliefin
thesouloftheEarth.In fact,hisreference
in theHarmonice Mundito theaccount
ofthetidesin theAstronomia Novais partofa passageinwhichhe suggests that
muchfulleraccountgivenbyErnst (in press, 1983). I am gratefulto Dr. Ernst forgiving
me a preprintof her veryinterestingpaper.
101 See De Fundament is AstrologiaeCertioribus,Thesis XVI, KGW 4, p. 14, trans-
lated in Part 2 below.
102 Astronomia
Nova, Introduction,f4r,KGW 3, p. 26. The passage is markedwith
a marginal note.
103
MysteriumCosmographicum,1621, ChapterXX, note 3, KGW 8, p. 113 and
J.C. Scaliger ExercitationesExotericae (Paris, 1557), Exercitatio 359.8, "De officio
intelligentiarum".

224 J.V.Field
ifthisaccountseemsunsatisfactory thereadermayprefer to thinkofthetidesas

thebreathing of theEarth, accommodated to the motion of theSun andMoon
as thesleepingandwakingofanimalsis accommodated to thecycleofnights
and
days."Particularly",he adds,"ifthereweresomeindicationof flexible portions
in theinterioroftheEarthwhichmightplaythepartoflungsor bronchi".He
does notthinksuchbreathing needentaila motionof thesurfaceof theEarth
by analogy with the motion of the diaphragm in thebreathing of animals104.
The decline of astrology
In thecourseoftheseventeenth century, astrology ceasedto be intellectually

This of
respectable. is, course, not to say that it ceased to be practised, northat
itsresults wereuniversallydistrusted.Thereis plentyofevidence to thecontrary.
However,as Capp (1979)has shown,in England,evenin thehumblealmanac,
astrologicalinformation was gradually displacedby othermoreobviously useful
material, suchas thedatesoffairs.The onelegacyofastrology to seriousnatural
philosophy seemsto havebeenthenotionof force:actionat a distance.(That
legacy was not,however, transmitted through Kepler, whoquiteearlyrejected
theastrological forceof theMoon as an explanation forthetidesand appealed
to magnetism to explaintheSun's effect upon the planets.)
ThatCopernicanism becamemorerespectable at thesametimethatastrology
becamelessso has beenregarded as suggestive byalmostall historians. However,
Kepler'scasepresents a problem ifwewishtobelievemerely thatastrology, being
essentially wouldnecessarily
geocentric, seemimplausible tosomeone whobelieved
theUniverse to be heliocentric.
It clearlydid notdo so to Kepler.Nevertheless,
his rejectionof theuse of thesignsof theZodiac is clearlypartlya reflection
of his Copernicanism in thathe recognised thatstarsseenclosetogether on the
sky neednot be closein space(see Koyré 1957). The Zodiac signs were thus de-
of
prived anynecessary reality,
physical and, as we have seen,Kepler in facttook
thefurther stepof regarding themas purelymatters of humanconvention105.
A furthermotivein Kepler'sreform ofastrology was,as Simon(1975,1979)
has shown,thedemandthattherebe somecauseassignedforastrological effects.
It seemsto methatitis rather revealingto consider thetypeofcausethatKepler
assignedtotheonlyformofastrological influence whichheseemstohaveaccepted
to theveryend,namelytheinfluence ofaspects.Thatcausewas harmony. It did
notactthrough themedium ofthelightoftheplanetsanditwasnotitself material
- as Kepler pointsouteveninhisbrieftreatment ofthesubjectinDe Fundamen-
tis AstrologiaeCertioribus106
'.'
Now,as wehaveseen,forKepler theastrological expression ofharmony was
partof a widercosmological
harmony. This musicamundana, however, depends
in Kepler's thought
upon anotherelement thatclasseshimwiththeOld Guard
thantheavantgarde:hisbeliefthattheUniverse
rather (or,at least,theobservable
104Harmonices MundiBook IV, ChapterVII, KGW 6, p. 270, 11.16-32.

105See above and De Stella Nova,
ChaptersIV and V, KGW 1, pp. 168-177.
106In ThesisXXXVI, KGW 4, p. 21, translated in Part2 below.

A LutheranAstrologer:
Johannes
Kepler 225
Universe)was finite,and thatthe Sun, withits systemof planets,held a privileged

position withinit. As Koyré (1957) has shown,Kepler believedhehad good philo-
sophicaland observationalgroundsforthisbelief(Koyré seems,however,to have
underestimated theweightof one of Kepler's observationalarguments;see Field
1981).In anycase, it is fundamentalto his cosmology,forhiscosmologicalmodels
are designedonly to describethe Solar system-which is no doubt why they
failedto appeal to later generationsof cosmologists,who increasinglysaw the
Sun as but one star in an infiniteUniverse.
Kepler's cosmologicalharmonyis too perfectto be extendedto otherplanetary
systemsaround otherSuns. It findsall the harmoniesin our one Solar system,
whose natureKepler provesto be the consequenceof God's determination that
theUniverseshall be as beautifulas possible.Indeed theCreatorappearsto have
no choiceonce he has decidedupon thiscriterion.(Kepler formulates hisdescrip-
tion in thesetheologicalterms,but if we transposetheminto the corresponding
termsfornaturalphilosophywe see thattheyreallyamountto the assertionthat
therewillonlybe one cosmologicaltheorywhichgivesan adequate accountof all
the facts.Kepler also made thisassertionin regardto astronomicaltheories.)107
Because of its dependenceupon the beliefthat the Universewas finite,Kep-
ler's metaphysicaldefenceof astrologywas ineffective. And thisdespitethe fact
it had formedpart of a cosmologicalmodelwhose astronomicalpartwas in very
good agreementwithobservation(see Field 1982) and that it was not animistic
but mathematical:an affairnot of angels but of angles108.It seems to me that
the exampleof Kepler does not in factprovideevidenceagainstthe theorythat
the riseof Copernicanismmade a major contribution to the declineof astrology.
Kepler was exceptionalin that the consequenceshe drew fromCopernicanism
did not lead him to believe that the Universewas infiniteand did lead him to
believethatthenew astronomymade it possibleto writea moreaccurateversion
of Ptolemy's Harmonicaas well as of the Almagest.His astrologicalsystemwas
part of a cosmologicalarchetypethatcould findno place in an infinite Universe,
whilethe parts of astrologyhe had rejectedamountedto verynearlythe whole
of traditionalastrology,and his reasonsforrejectingthemwerecloselyconnected
withhis Copernicanism.
2. Translationof De FundamentisAstrologiaeCertioribus
Translator'spreface
As Caspar & Hammer point out in their Afterwordto De Fundamentis

in JohannesKeplerGesammelteWerke,volume4 (Munich,
AstrologiaeCertioribus
1941),the work was writtenin Praguein thefinalmonthsof 1601 afterthedeath
of Tycho Brahe, whichtook place on 24 October. This is, however,not to say
107Mysterium Chapter1, KGW I, p. 15, 1.5 et seqq; see also

Cosmographicum,
Jardine1979.
108JohnHenry,privatecommunication,
1983.

226 J.V. Field
that the work was, by Kepler's standards,necessarilywrittenat unusual speed.

The annotationsto the Mysterium Cosmographicum, whichmake the second edi-
tion about 44 foliopages longerthanthe first(in the modernreprints, in KGW
1 and 8), wereapparentlytheworkof a week(Hammer,1963); and theDissertatio
cumNuncioSidéreo(Prague, 1610) (about 25 foliopages in KGW 4) was written
almostequallyquickly(Rosen 1965). Kepler's stylein thesetwo worksdoes not
differfromhis stylein othersin a mannerthat,to me, naturallyindicateshaste,
so it is withsome hesitationthatI put forwardthe suggestionthatthesometimes
obscurestyleofDe Fundamentis AstrologiaeCertioribus maybe attributable to the
speed withwhichthe work was written.Perhaps Kepler was, also, over-eager
to impresshis readers? Composing an astrologicalcalendar-with a learned
treatiseon astrologyby way of introduction -should probablybe seen (at least
partly) as a bid for attentionin highplaces and an advertisement of the writer's
competence to take up Tycho's former as
position Imperial Mathematician.
This mightaccount for some of Kepler's obscurities,whichseem to me to
be due, in the main,to a determination to leave nothingout and to his intermit-
tent fondnessfor extremebrevity -a quality he certainlyconsidereda literary
elegance,as witnesshis admirationforthe stylesof Persius and Tacitus (Caspar
1938). In translatingsuch passages I have triedto be as literalas possible,and
have explainedin my notes what I take to be the significance of the passage in
question. The notes thus providesomething of a commentary the firstpart of
on
Kepler's text (ThesesI-LI). The second part, the prognosticationfor 1602
(ThesesLII-LXXV), is uniformlyaphoristicin style,as are most astrological
calendars of the period.
In view of its latercareerin naturalphilosophy,theword visin Kepler's text
has alwaysbeen renderedas "force",even if the resultsoundedawkward.Simi-
larly,the word virtushas always been renderedas "power". I do not, however,
wish to implythat whateverseparationKepler may have made betweenthe
meaningsof thesewords (and he does appear to have made some) it necessarily
correspondsexactlywiththe later separationof meaningsbetweenthe English
words I have employedin my translation.
It is perhapsalso of interestthatin thistextKepler twiceuses thewordleges
to denotenaturallaws (ThesesXL VII and L). However,it should be notedthat
the laws in questionappear to be complementary to "periodicchange" and it is
thereforenot obvious that they are capable of mathematicalformulation.On
the otherhand, Kepler seemsto have regardedalmosteverything as capable of
mathematicalformulation (the Universebeinga reflection of God the Geometer
Who made it). Thushisfailureto use the word lex in referring to his aids to the
calculationof planetarymotionsmay merelyindicatethe low statushe accorded
them.
In De Fundamentis AstrologiaeCertioribus, as in his otherworks and in his
correspondence, Kepler seems to follow the convention thatall dates after1582
are New Style(Gregorian)unless otherwiseindicated.My notes followhis ex-
ample.
Everytimethat Kepler uses a Greek word, it has been printedin Greek in
the translation.
The textused forthis translationwas that publishedby Caspar & Hammer

Johannes
Kepler 227
(KGW 4), and I am indebtedto the notes of thateditionformost of the identi-

ficationsof personsand worksreferredto in the text.
I have, also, found it usefulto referto the German translationby Hans
Genuit: Überdie zuverlässigerenGrundlagen derAstrologie(Kassel, Rosenkreuz-
Verlag, 1975).
Fig. 6. Title page of De FundamentisAstrologiaeCertioribus(Prague, 1602).

Photographcourtesyof the BritishLibraryBoard.

228 J. V. Field
Acknowledgements. I am gratefulto ProfessorA. R. Hall forreadingthe firstpart

of this paper and an earlier draftof the translationof the Dedicatory Letter,and to
Dr. E. J. Aiton for readingthe drafttranslationof the rest of Kepler's treatise.Their
commentswere veryvaluable.
Much of the materialin the firstpart of this paper is derivedfrommy PhD thesis
(Field 1981 in the bibliography).In connectionwiththat part of my work,I am grate-
fulnot onlyto ProfessorHall, who was mysupervisor,but also to myfriendand former
colleague (at the Observatories,Cambridge,UK) the late Dr Arthur Beer.
I am indebted,also, to Ms J.Brody, Dr A. M. Duncan, Dr R. J. W. Evans and
Dr U. Keudel forhelp on various mattersas diverseas, forexample,pointsof Hunga-
rian historyand idiomatic usage in (modern) German.

A Lutheran Johannes
On Giving Astrology Sounder Foundations

A new short dissertationconcerningCosmology
With A Physical Prognosis For The Coming Year
1602 afterthe birthof Christ,
Addressedto philosophers
by
MagisterJohannesKepler
Mathematician
Discovertheforceof the Heavens,O Men; once recognisedit can be put to use.

That of whichwe are ignorantcan profitus nothing,
Only futilelabour is onerous: success bringsgain.
By your skill,O Men, discoverthe forceof Nature.
Praguein Bohemia
SchumannPress
To The Most Illustrious Lord, Lord Peter Wok Of Rosenbergk1,In Krum-

lau In Bohemia,Lord Of The Celebrated House Of Rosenbergk,Councillor
To The Holy Roman Emperor, My Clement Lord
Sir,in thefirstbook of De OfficiisCicero pointsout thatthatthereare now

greatspirits,and therehave been in the past manywho even as privatepersons
havesoughtafteror attempted certaingreatthings,evenwhileconfiningthemselves
withinthelimitsof theirown affairs2.Our fellow-German, Reinhold3, adapting
1 Peter Vok Rožmberk

(1539-1611), a culturedpatron of all the arts,was the last
of his family,which had played an importantpart in the political and social life of
Bohemia. He moved to Krumlov(Krumlau) on the death of his brotherVilém in 1592,
but in 1600 debt compelled him to cede this castle to the crown and he retiredto the
town of Třeboň (Trublau) (see Evans 1973).
2 Cicero De
Officiis,Book I, ChapterXXVI. As translatedby Cyrus R. Edmonds
(1865) the passage in question reads:
"One thingyou are to understand,that they who regulate public affairsperform

the greatestexploits,and such as require the higheststyleof mind, because their
businessis mostextensiveand concernsthe greatestnumber.Yet thereare, and have
been,manymenof greatcapacities,who in privatelifehave plannedout or attempted
mightymatters,and yet have confinedthemselvesto the limitsof theirown affairs
99
(Edmonds 1865, pp. 47-48).

3 Caspar & Hammer
(1941) have identifiedthe referenceas being to Melanch-
thon's letterto Grynaeus printedin his edition of Peurbach's Theoricaenovaeplane-
tarurn(Wittenberg,1535), reprintedin Reinhold's edition of the work (Paris, 1553).
Apart frombeingcast into indirectspeech,Kepler's quotation is, however,exact- run-

230 J.V. Field
this remarkto the studyof Astronomyin particular,urges that rightthinking

people shouldnot allow themselves to be deflectedfromthesestudiesbytheopin-
ions of the unlearned,who admireonly those arts thatbringfinancialgain. For
theseare worthystudiesand fortitude too is requiredin prosecutingthem,fortitude
whichstrengthens themindagainstthefoolishopinionsof thecrowdand despises
perversejudgements.As for what this excellentman said of both branchesof
Astrology,I havethoughtthattodayit applieschiefly to JudicialAstrology,which
is a part of Physics.Anyone whose duty it is to writePrognosticationsmust
especiallylook with loftydisdain upon two mutuallycontradictorycommon
attitudes,and guardhimselfagainsttwo lowly and abject emotions,the love of
glory,and timidity. For he who willplease thecrowdand forthesake of themost
ephemeral renown willeitherproclaimthosethingswhichNaturedoes not display
or even will publishgenuinemiraclesof Nature withoutregardto deepercauses,
is a spirituallycorruptperson. On the otherhand, thereare those who say that
fora seriousphilosopherto prostitute
it is not fitting thegood nameofintelligence
and the honour of scholarshipby involvinghimselfwithtopics that everyyear
are defiledby extremely trivialand inane soothsaying.By this action,theysay,
he inflames(as withtinder)thecrowd'sappetitefor marvelsand the superstitions
thatflourishin feeblewits.I acceptthattheseargumentsare persuasive,and ifan
honestman had no more urgentcause in mindtheyare of a kind to deterhim
fromthis kind of writing.But one whose reasoningfurnisheshim with such
[a motive]as the wise would approve surelymustbe accountedtimidif he were
to allow his encounterwiththeseirrelevant and inappropriateobjectionsto deter
him fromhis proposedcourse,throughfearof rumourand baseless detraction.
For, thoughthe majorityof teachersof this art are taken up withthe trifling
of the Arabs, it does not followthatthe secretsof Naturewhichthe artcontains
are eithertrifles themselvesor shouldbe rejectedalong withthetrifles. Rather,the
gems should be picked out of the mire, our worship of God enlightenedby the
of
proposed contemplation Nature, others inspiredby our example, and we
should strivethat those thingswhich may once have proved of some definite
usefulnessto mankindshall be brought,by everyendeavour,fromthe shadows
of ignoranceinto the open. And even if we do not at once achievesuccess(and
predictionsare vastlydoubtfulbecause of the greatconfusionamong [operative]
causes) this should make us redoubleour efforts, sincemeritis industry's
reward.
That manywill misusethis art to satisfytheirown cravingfor marvelsand to
confirmtheir own superstitionsdiscouragesme no more than- to take one
exampleamongmany- a good ruleris discouragedfromstorminga citybecause
he knowsit will cost him a fewsoldiers,whomhe would,indeed,have preferred
not to lose, ifthathad been possible.If anyoneobjectsthatthisworkis addressed
to the public at large,who are least likelyto draw profitfromit, I should liketo
ask him to bear in mindthatby no otherway than publicationcould we reach
out to theeducatedpersonshiddenhereand thereamongthecrowd.And,further,
we may observe(in orderto curethecrowd'scravingformarvels)whatphysicians
ningas faras "... anddespisesperverse in thepresenttranslation.

judgements" Kepler
seemsto be correct Melanchthon'sremarks
ininterpreting as referring
to bothbranches
of astrology.

A Lutheran Johannes
observein thesick,thatwe maymakeuse oftheunnaturaland perniciousappetities

of the crowdto get themto swallow(as medicine)suchadvice (disguisedas prog-
nostications)as may serveto removethisdisease of themind, and which other-
wisewe could scarcelyhavepersuadedthemtotake.Therefore, just as thephysician
is not as deliriousas the patientwhenin orderto administera medicinehe hu-
mours the deliriouspatientin word and simulatedaction, so I hope the right
mindedwillnot suspectme of anything underhandwhen,withthebestintentions,
I publiclyspeak to the crowd(whichis eager forthingsfutureand new) on the
subjectofwhatis to come.As forunfairjudges,who do notgo deeplyintomatters
even of thegreatestimport,and merelymock,iftheydo not leave untouchedthis
humbleprofessionalservice,so open to ridicule,I shall followthe poet's advice
and turnthe unseeingback of my head to them4.
I resolvedto dedicate my meditationson the comingyear (togetherwith a
veryinteresting discussionof celestialinfluences)to you, Most IllustriousLord,
as a triflingNew Year's giftbecause I am persuadedthatYour Highnessis a mag-
nanimouspatron to all learnedmen,and particularly thoselearnedin thesearts,
as is clearlywitnessedby yourconversationand by thefactthatyou extendedthe
hand of friendship to the famousand nobly-descended Tycho Brahe, a Phoenix
among astronomers,and then,afterhis death,extendedit to me also, withex-
pressionsof yourregretat his loss and goodwilltowardsmyself.And evidenceof
thisinterest is seeneveryday,sincethemembersof yourcourtincludethefamous
HermannBulder5, doctorof medicine,a greatloverof mathematicsand a man
of universallearningin studiesof thiskind,withwhomyou dailyconverseabout
thesematters.Accept,therefore, Most IllustriousLord,theseforecastsof natural
events,and compare themwith the political forecastswhichyou may make by
reason of your rank and your knowledgeof state affairs,to whichI frequently
make appeal. For only those who are concernedwithpoliticsin a rationalway
will be able to judge correctlythe successof this forecast.As for themarvels
relatingto natural phenomenaand natural philosophy,the philosopherswill
surelyclaim the rightto pass judgement.Farewell, may you enjoy a long and
comfortableold age, and may you pass a veryhappy New Year. I commend
myselfto Your Highness.
Your Highness'
obedientservant
MagisterJohannes Kepler
Mathematician.
4 PersiusSatires 61.
I,
5 HermannBulder was at theRožmberkcourt.Littleis knownabout
physician
himexceptthathe was an enthusiastic
collectorof Paracelsianmanuscripts
(see Evans
1973).SomelettersthatpassedbetweenBulder and Kepler are printedin theKGW.

232 J.V. Field
Thesis I
The public expectsa Mathematicianto writeannual Prognostications. Since

at the approachof thisyear,1602fromthebirthof Christour Saviour,I decided
not to panderto the public's cravingformarvelsbut ratherto do mydutyas a
philosopher,namelyto limitthe scope of such Prognostications, I shall begin
withthe safestassertionof all : thatthisyearthecrop of prognosticationswillbe
abundant,since, as the crowd's cravingformarvelsincreases,each day will bring
an increasein the numberof authors.
II
Some of what thesepamphletssay will turnout to be true,but most of it

timeand experiencewill expose as emptyand worthless.The latterpart will be
forgotten6whilethe formerwill be carefullyenteredin people's memories,as is
usual withthe crowd.
Ill
The natureof the cause is the same as that of the effect.In theirprophecies,
Astrologershave regardto causes that are partlyphysical,partlypolitical(for
the greaterpart,indeed,inadequate,and mostlyimaginary,vain and false) and,
fortherest,causes thatare completelynull (whentheyallow Enthusiasmto guide
theirpens). When theyare carriedaway by this,if whattheysay is truethe fact
mustbe attributedto chance- unless we are to believethat more oftenand for
the most part it is broughtabout by some higheroccult instinct.
IV
some by veryfew.
Some physicalcauses are recognisedby all [practitioners],
Moreover, there are manythings which exist in Nature but whichno man has
yetexplainedin termsof theircauses. And, of the causes of whichwe have taken
note, thereare some whose mode of operationand rationale(rationem)we all
of us understand,and otherswhose mode of operation,or mediatingcauses,
are understoodby veryfew people or by nobody at all.
The mostuniversal,powerfuland surestcause-which all men knowabout-

is the increaseand decreaseof the heightof the Sun at noon. Thus, the Sun is
6 Literally"written
on thewind".This idiomexistsbothin classicalLatinand in
colloquialGerman.

A Lutheran Johannes
at theWinterSolsticenear Christmas,thatis on 21 December,a littlebeforesix

in the afternoon,and it is at the SummerSolsticeon 21 Juneat halfpast ten at
night7.Thus the formerwill be markedby the cold of Winter,the latterby the
heat of Summer.
VI
The mode of operationof thiscause is clear fromwhatfollows.At Praguein

Bohemia the elevationof the pole is 50° 5' 45". The inclinationof the Ecliptic
is 23° 3 Γ 30" at thepresentepoch8,as measuredby thatPhoenixof Astronomers
the late Tycho Brahe. Thus in Winterthe Sun, whichis our source of heat, is
visibleabove the horizonfor only 7h 49 min. Thus it only warmsour air fora
shorttime,whereasformorethantwiceas long as thatit is hiddenbeneaththe
horizonand does not warmus. In Summer,on thecontrary, it remainsabove the
horizon,and continuesto warmus, for16h22 min,and is hiddenforless thanhalf
that time.
VII
Moreover,our air, and similarlyboth water and earth (insofaras it is an

element)will, if not warmedcontinuously,quicklyreturnto theirnatural state
and become cold. For Aristotle is mistakenin assertingthat air is naturally
hot9.
VIII
For whateveris partlymaterialis, insofaras it is material,by naturecold.

And whateveris potentiallyhot has thisnaturefromanimal force(a vi animali)
or innateforce(insita)or that forcefromwhichit came into being.
IX
Anotherand more importantreason why the Sun warms more when it is

highthan whenit is low is thatwhen the Sun is low it strikesour horizon ob-
liquelyand feebly,
whereaswhenit is highit strikesmoreat rightangles,and more
strongly.Why the immaterialray of the Sun should show the same property
7 New Style.
8 hoc saeculo.The
passagesuggeststhatat thisperiodKepler was not willingto
ruleoutthepossibility
thattheinclination
oftheeclipticmight
changewithtime.Tycho's
measurements are givenin TychonisBraheDani OperaOmnia,vol.II, p. 71.
9 Aristotle On andpassingaway,II, 3 (3OOa3O-331a6).
coming-to-be

234 J.V. Field
thatwe findin densematerialbodies whentheyare in collisionwithone another,

no-one has so far been able to explain.
Thus since at Praguethe Sun is about fourtimeshigherin Summerthan in

Winterit followsfromthisfactor,togetherwiththepreviousone, thatof theheat
whichcomes down fromthe Sun to the elementalregionon the longestday of
Summerno more than an eighthpart remainsin the shortestday10.
XI
Nor do we experienceall of thiseighthpartof theheatthatremainsin Winter.

For in WintertheSun is notfarabove our horizonand on accountof its obliquity
encounters(habet oppositum)more of our dense atmosphere(crassumnostrum
aerem). Now let us assume that the surfaceof the clear air (vapidiaëris) which
refractsthe Sun's ray, is, measuredperpendicularly upwards,at a distanceof
one Germanmile (it can hardlybe muchfurther, forit is not at the same height
as the materialwhichcauses twilightand refractsthe rays of stars)11.Then in
Summerthe Sun's ray encounters(objicietur)a one thousandand ninthpart of
density(crassities),in Wintera twenty-third.Thus in Winterthe Sun's ray is
threetimesweakeron thisaccount; and takingall threefactorstogether,hardly
a twenty-fourth part of the Summerheat remainsin Winter12.
10 That is, the Sun gives eighttimesmore heat over the course of the longestday
thanovertheshortest.In a contextso richin unquantifiablefactors,Kepler's calculation
is appropriatelycrude. He assumes,firstly, thatthe ratio 1 :4 in the heightof the Sun at
noon willchangetheamountof heat in thesame proportion,and, secondly,thattheratio
1 :2 in the lengthof the day (mentionedin Thesis VI) will change the amount of heat
in the ratio 1 : 2. (The methodof calculatingthe lengthof the day fromthe latitudeis
given in AlmagestII.3.) Multiplyingthese ratios gives 1:8 for the ratio betweenthe
amounts of heat the Sun gives on the days of the solstices.
11
According to Kepler's calculation in Ad VitellionemParalipomena (Prague,
1604), Tycho's observationsshowed that the distance to the upper surfaceof the air,
at Uraniborg,as measured by refraction,was not more than half a German mile (Ad
Vitellionem Paralipomena..., ChapterIV, PropositionXI, pp. 128-129, KGW 2, p. 120).
One German mile (4000 paces) is about seven and a half kilometers(about fourand a
half English miles) (see Alberti 1957).
12 As in Thesis X
(see note 10 above) Kepler assumes that the ratio betweenthe
amounts of heat forthe completedays will be the same as the ratio betweenthe heat at
noon on those days. The "amount of density"the ray encountersis proportionalto the
lengthof its path throughthe atmosphere.Kepler's calculation thus merelyinvolves
a certainamount of trigonometry. If we take the radius of the Earth to be 860 German
miles (the value given in Ad VitellionemParalipomena),Kepler's resultsappear to be
numericallycorrect.(860 German miles are equal to approximately6477 km, and the
modern value for the radius of the Earth is 6371 km, so Kepler's value is about 2%
too large).

A Lutheran Johannes
XII
Althoughthese threecauses are most in evidenceon the actual days of the

Winterand Summersolstices,it is not a necessaryconsequencethattheseshould
respectivelybe thetimesof greatestcold and heat. Indeed,thereis anotherfactor
(causa) which, for its part, makes the Wintermore intensefromabout the be-
ginning Februaryand the Summerfromabout the beginningof August. For
of
earthand water are thick bodies (crassa corpora)and cannot be made hot all
in an instant;and whenheated,in themonthof June,whentheSun is at its high-
est,theywill,on accountof thedensityof theirmatterand thesize of theirbodies,
retainfor some time the externalheat that has been forcedinto them(though
each nighttheywill emit some of it fromtheirsurface); and in this way they
willstoreup theheat of Juneafterit is past,and likewisethatof Julyand August.
The same thingapplies in reverseto the cold of Winter.
XIII
The same applies also to the secondhour of the day, whichis hotterthan the
twelfth hour,althoughthe Sun is beginningto go down13.For in thislattercase
the air has thesame effect
as theearthdid in the formerone. For air, beingrather
thin, can be alteredmore quicklythan earth,but stillnot instantaneously. How-
ever, this if
holds, not for the whole mass of the earth,at least for its surface.
XIV
On the same groundswe can predictthat on this account Septemberand

Octoberwill be warmerthan March and February,thoughthe lengthof the day
will be the same for both.
XV
The second physical cause to be taken into account in predictionsis the

Moon. For experienceshowsthatall thingsthatconsistof humoursswell as the
Moon waxes and shrinkas it wanes. This single effectdeterminesmany of the
predictionsand choices of auspicious times that are to be made in mattersof
Economy,Agriculture,Medicine and Seafaring.Natural philosophershave not
yet completelyunderstoodthe reason for this Sympathy.
13 The is presumablybetweenthesecondhourafternoonand thehour

comparison
ofnoonitself.Kepler appearstobelapsingintotheprofessional
astronomers'
convention
of takingnoon as the startof each day.

236 J.V. Field
XVI
Moreover,the Moon's power (virtus)is twofold,one part being monthly,

as I have mentioned,dependingon the changingface of the Moon, the other
part half-monthly,and on that account also half-daily,seen to exertits greatest
forcein whatPhysicianscall Crisesand in the alternatingtidesof the sea, which
will be consideredbelow.
XVII
Thus, on everyday in theCalendarthatthereis a New Moon, humours,since

theydepend on the Moon, will be diminished,and on the days of Full Moon
theywill be increased14.Moreover,just as at the points I have mentioned,so
even when the Moon is at the pointsof quadraturehumourswill be powerfully
moved.This is thestraightforwardand purelyastrologicalprediction;as forwhat
mightbe deduced by individualtechniques15,in concerninghimselfwith such
thingsthe Astrologerwould overstepthe bounds of his profession,to become
a farmer,a physician,a chemistetc. .
XVIII
Sometimes,however,it maybe usefulto givesuchpeople advice.For instance,

I suggestto the chemiststhat theymay findthe time of full Moon unsuitable
formeltingmetals,because theair is excessively
humid.If thisis so, thechoiceof
Aspects will be of great momentfor them.
XIX
The thirdphysicalcause to be takeninto accountin predictionsis thevariety

in thenatureoftheotherplanets,seenintheircolours16.Herewe shouldbe making
14 Kepler makesa briefreference to thispassage in TertiusInterveniens,Thesis XXX
(Frankfurt,1610, KGW 4, p. 172, 1.31 et seqq). In contrastto Kepler's usual practice,
thereare veryfewreferences to De Fundamentis AstrologiaeCertioribus in his otherworks.
15
Presumablythe special techniquesappropriateto particularcases.
10
Astrology,being concernedwith effectsproduced on the Earth, necessarilyre-
mains geocentric,and Kepler has lapsed into usingthe standardPtolemaicterminology,
countingthe Sun and Moon as planets (see also note 43 below).
It seems that at this period (late 1601) Kepler was already abandoningthe conven-
tional beliefthattheplanets(otherthan the Moon) were completelyself-luminous. Later
telescopic observations- which Kepler accepted immediately- confirmed that the light
of the planets was apparentlyall reflectedsunlight,takingits colour fromthereflecting
surface.However,since he believedthattheplanetsexertedtheirforcethroughtheirlight
(see Thesis XXI below), Kepler continuedto connectthe quality of the forcewiththe
colour of the light(see HarmonicesMundiLibri V, Linz, 1619, Book IV, ChapterVII,
p. 170, KGW 6, p. 279, 1.30 et seqq). See also Thesis XXV and notes20, 29 and 30 below.

A Lutheran Johannes
a mistakeifweweretodistribute thecustomaryfourqualitiesamongtheplanets17.
For coldand dryness are notdueto lightbutto itsabsence,as are otherrelated
conditionsperceived bythesoul(cognatae animaeaffectiones).
For cold and dry-
nessare at theirmostextreme wherethereis no light,no soul and thusalso no
heat.Thussincenothing comesdownto us fromtheheavensexceptthelightof
the starsit is clearthatcold and drynessdo notcomedownas such.
XX
We deduceboththevariousforces(vires)oftheplanetsand theirnumber in
a waythatis different fromand perhapsnotlesselegant thanthatinwhichAris-
totle deducedhis fourelements fromthecombinations of the fourqualities.
All varietyarisesfrompairsofopposites, andprimary varietyfromprimary pairs
ofopposites. In hisMetaphysics Aristotletakesas hisprimary pairofopposites
theSameand theDifferent, itbeinghisintention to dealwithmatters higherand
moregeneralthanGeometry. For me,theDistinction (Alteritas)amongcreated
thingsseemsto be foundin theirmatter, or on accountof it; and wherethereis
matter, thereis Geometry. ThuswhatAristotlecallstheprimary pairofoppo-
sites,havingno middleterm,thatoftheSameand theDifferent ; formypart,in
considering Geometrical thingsin a philosophicalmanner, I findthispairto be
primary, but to have a middle term, so thatwhat forAristotle was the one
termDIFFERENT weshallseparate intothetwoterms MORE and LESS. Conse-
quently, sinceGeometry provided themodelforthecreationofthewholeworld,
itis notimproper thattheseGeometrical opposites(haecGeométrica contrarietas)
shouldcontribute to theadornment oftheworld,whichis baseduponthevarious
forcesof theplanets{qui const ititin variatis
planetarum viribus)18.
XXI
ButsincethesetermsSame,Different, Equal, Moreand Less haveno signi-

ficancewhentheystandalone,wemustthinkoftheirsubjects.Nowthesubjects -
thatis naturalthings- ofwhichtheseproperties
are predicated,
are to be under-
stoodas follows.The mostwiseFounderhad decidedto construct a corporeal
World.Therefore, at thefirst,
whenHe conceivedCreationHe conceived Matter,
17 Aristotle's four
qualities (hot,cold, wetand dry)are distributedin pairs among
theelementsin On coming-to-be andpassingaway II, 3 (33Oa3O-331a6). Most of Kepler's
discussionof the qualities of the forcesof the planets is repeated,with more detailed
referencesto the work of Aristotle and others, in TertiusInterveniens(Frankfurt,
1610) Thesis XXXII et seqq (KGW 4, p. 172 et seqq'
18 Kepler had describedthe natureof the
geometricalmodel accordingto whichhe
believedthe world to have been createdin his MysteriumCosmographicum (Tübingen,
1596). The work contains a very short chapter (Chapter IX) relatingthe astrological
characterof each planet to this geometricalmodel. This chapter is discussedin thefirst
part of the presentpaper.

238 J.V. Field
whichfromMoses we knowto have been water,thatis, wet,yieldingand capable

of being moulded19.Thereforethis one thingis natural,that is Fluid (Humor).
But the Founderwas not satisfiedwiththe body of theworlduntilHe had made
it somewhatlike its Founder,in beingcapable of lifeand motion.Thereforethere
existsa second thing,namelyLife. Now sincewe are debatingthe forcesof the
stars,whichtheyexerton thingshere below, we must considerwhat it is that
comesdownfromthestarsto us. It is notmatteror actualbody.It is notoriginally
actual life,forthatall livingthingsalreadypossess,fromthe activityof the soul
whichis withinthem.This is to say thatthe starsdo not engender,but aid, so
theirpart is that of instruments. Thus they supply us with two instrumental
qualities,two thingsto add to the numberof two naturalthings,exertingforce
to make mattercapable of absorbingfluidand kindlingit to make it capable of
becomingwarm forlife and motion.Both theseforcestheyobtain and exercise
throughlight,whichtheyobtainand at the same timesend to us20.For theparti-
cular qualityof directlightis the qualityof warming,and that of reflected
light
is humidification21.
XXII
Thereforewe have two faculties-warming and humidification -in any of

threedegrees-Excess, Mean and Defect. Let us see what diversitymay be de-
duced fromthis. First the facultiesmay exist alone: Heat in Excess, Mean or
Defect22.Humidification in excess,mean or defect.From thiswe have six distinc-
tions.Then fromthecombinationsof boththefacultieswe have nine distinctions,
as is clear fromthe table givenbelow.
Thereforein all we havefifteendistinctions.
Now let us see whatchoicewe are
to make amongthemand whichof themare bynatureinadmissible(ασυστατοι)23 .
19 The Latin word translatedas

'capable of being moulded' is fictilis,for which
Lewis & Short give the classical meaning'made of earth',derivingit fromfingo.Since
Kepler, followingGenesis, is specificallyconcernedwith water,it seems possible that
he is relyingupon the etymologyof the word ratherthan on its significancein classical
Latin.
20 The verb obtinere,translatedhere as 'obtain', means 'to be in
possession of
as well as 'to gain possession of. Thus Kepler is not prejudgingthe issue of whether
planetarylightis reflectedor intrinsic.See note 16 above, and Thesis XXV and notes29
and 30 below.
21 Kepler's word's are Lucis enim
propriaqualitas, quatenuslux est, calfactio[sic]
est: lucis vero,quatenusreflectitur,guaiitas est, humectâtio (KGW 4, p. 16, 11.15-16).
22 As here,Kepler occasionallyfailsto distinguishthe facultyof heating(calefactio)
fromheat itself(calor). And similarlyin relation to humectatio.
23
Might Kepler's use of the Greek adjective άσύστατοςbe a reminiscenceof
Plato's use of the related noun σύστασις('construction')to describe the polyhedral
figuresof the elementsin Timaeus(55Q? In On coming-to-be and passing away, II, 3

A Lutheran Johannes
XXIII
First,it is not reasonable(aequum)thatanyexcessor defectshouldexistin iso-

lationwithoutanycompensating Thus fromthesix distinctions
property. obtained
fromsinglefacultiesfourare ruledout24.Indeed,meanheat(we assess it in regard
to the world,not in regardto its quantity)is assignedto the body of the Sun,
whose lightis purelyintrinsic;mean humidification is assigned to the Moon,
whose lightis purelyborrowedfromthe Sun and the stars.
XXIV
Next,it was not possible,either,to have morethan one excess or morethan

one defect.For excesses are a littleunnatural(a náturapaulo alienores)ifthey
do not have a defectto temperthem.So no Planet has been made such that it
carriesexcessor defectin bothfaculties.Therefore,
of thedistinctions
constructed
fromthe combinationsof faculties,thereremainseven25.In fact,of these,two
pairsare equivalent.For thereis thesame proportionbetweenexcess of heat and
mean of humidityas thereis betweenmean of heat and defectof humidity;and
the same betweendefectof heat and mean of humidityas betweenmean of heat
and excess of humidity.In the figurethesecombinationsshow theirequivalence
bymakingparallellines26.The sameappliesto combinedexcessesor defects.Thus
(33Oa32) Aristotle dismissesincompatiblepairs with the adjective άοννατος('impos-

sible').
The fifteendistinctivecharactersare:
1. Warmingin excess, 4. Humidifyingin excess,
2. Warmingin mean, 5. Humidifyingin mean,
3. Warmingin defect, 6. Humidifyingin defect;
7. Excess in warming+ excess in humidifying,
8. Excess in warming+ mean in humidifying,
9. Excess in warming+ defectin humidifying;
10. Mean in warming+ excess in humidifying,
11. Mean in warming-f-mean in humidifying,
12. Mean in warming-f-defectin humidifying;
13. Defect in warming+ excess in humidifying,
14. Defect in warming+ mean in humidifying,
15. Defect in warming+ defectin humidifying.
24 Kepler has ruled out the charactersnumbered
1, 3, 4 and 6 in note 23 above.
25 Kepler has now also ruledout thecharactersnumbered
7, 9, 13 and 15 in note 23
above,leavinghimselfwith thosenumbered2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 14, thatis, sevenpossible
characters.He refersto themas combinationsof facultiesalthough2 and 5 each involve
only one faculty.
26 The
figurein Kepler's text(shown in Figure7) appears to have been designedso
thatit could be set in ordinarylines of type.The name of each planet characterisedby
a particularcombinationof facultiesis writtentwice,the names runningparallel. For
example,if,forthesake of clarity,we show onlythepartof thefigurerelatingto Mercury

240 J. V. Field
Fig. 7. The powersof the Eplanets,fromKepler's De Fundamenüs. . .

Photographcourtesyof the BritishLibraryBoard.

Johannes
Kepler 241
the truedistinctions are fivein number,three27of themsimple,two, as we have

alreadyshown, as it were double, or ratherwithtwo names each, and one with
three28.And sincein the worldthereare also fiveplanets,threesuperiorand two
itis indeedreasonableto suppose(consentaneum)
inferior, thattheymayhave been
made in thisnumberon thisaccountalone (thoughothercauses may have been
involvedas well); moreover,nothingcould be moreapt than the distributionof
we have:
CalefaciendiExcessus Excessus Humectandi
mer
eu
ri
us
Mediocritas
Mediocr.
mer
eu
ri
us
Defectus Defectus.
In makingthisequivalence, Kepler is rulingout variouscomparisons betweenplanets.

For instance, he can saythatMercury is moreheatingthanhumidifying, buthe cannot
saywhether itis moreheatingthanVenus(whichis morehumidifying thanitis heating).
27 Sic. It shouldbe 'two'.
28 As in note26
above,variouscomponents ofFigure7 willbe isolatedforthesake
of clarity.
Thefirst doubleitemis thecharacter ofMercury, shownaboveinnote26. Thesecond
is thatof Venus.
CalefaciendiExcessus Excessus Humectandi

S
U
Ν
VE
Mediocr. Mediocritas
S
U
Ν
VE
Defectus Defectus.
The tripleitemis thecharacterof Jupiter.
CalefaciendiExcessus I U Ρ Ι Τ Ε R Excessus Humectandi

Mediocr. I U Ρ Ι Τ Ε R Mediocritas
Defectus I U Ρ Ι Τ Ε R Defectus.

242 J.V. Field
thesecombinations
of faculties
amongtheplanetsin themannershownin my
figure:
Excessus I V Ρ
Τ Ε R Ι Excessus
S mer SS
A eu Y R
;q Τ Ν ri A jç
.S VE V M us |
Sol. MlMediocr. I V Ρ Ι Τ Ε R % Luna.
Mediocritas}
•S? mer S R S §
U R eu Y Ν &
A Ν ri V
M YE us S
Defectus I V Ρ Ι Τ Ε R Defectus
The two 'simple' charactersare those of Mars and Saturn,whichhave been transposed
in Kepler's figure,where theyare shown as:
Calefaciendi Excessus Excessus Humectandi

S
A
Τ
U
Mediocr. . Mediocritas
R
Ν
U
S
Defectus Defectus
and
Calefaciendi Excessus Excessus Humectandi

S
R
A
M
Mediocr. . Mediocritas
S
R
A
M
Defectus Defectus
Caspar & Hammer (1941) note that a copy of De FundamentisAstrologiaeCertioribus

now in the UniversityLibraryat Munichcontainsan annotationin Kepler's handwriting
pointingout this error(KGW 4, p. 486).

A Lutheran Johannes
XXV
It followsfromthisthatthefiveplanetsdo notonlymakeuseoflightborrowed
fromtheSun butalso addsomething oftheirown-which,indeed,thereare also
otherreasonsto believe.For, ifmanyof thenaturalbodieson theEarthhave
intrinsiclight,whatis thereto preventothercelestialglobesbesidesthe Sun
having same?29Then,if theplanetslackedlightof theirown,theyshould
the
showa changing face,as theMoon does30.Finally,it is plausibleto consider
and
brightness twinkling as evidenceforintrinsic
light,andcloudiness
and stead-
inessas evidenceforillumination fromanothersource.
XXVI
We mustnow considerwhatit maybe thatcan distinguish theseforcesof

thePlanetsintoexcess,meanand defect. Thus, since wehave arguedthatlightis
borrowed byreflection
[i.e.thatsome ofthe lightof theplanetsis reflected
sun-
light]we mustaccountforthisdiversity of propertiesbyconsidering thevarious
waysinwhichlightcan be reflected,thatis howitis reflected
fromvariousdiffer-
entsurfaces. Now I am not dealingwiththetypeof reflection thattakesplace
fromthesurface ofa mirror,inwhichlightis reflected
fromanypointofthesur-
faceonlyto a singlepoint;rather,
I amconcerned withthekindofreflection that
we seefromanywall,evenonewithan unevenand roughsurface, whichreflects
incidentlightfromanyone ofitspointsovera complete hemisphere and imbues
thereflectedlightwithwhatever colourit mayitselfpossess.For thelightofthe
Moon comesto us in thislatterway,notin theformer- or we shouldneversee
a Moonwithhornsbutalwaysa smallroundimageoftheSun.ThustheGeome-
tricalarrangementofthesurface hasno effect,unlessitperhapsaccountsforthe
markings we observeon the Moon31.
29 For a
Copernican therewas a logical compulsion to regardthe other planets as
being similarin natureto the Earth, and Kepler neverseems to have found any diffi-
cultyin acceptingthe unityof terrestrialand celestialphysics.However, in this passage
he seems to be attemptingto combine this beliefwiththe Aristoteliannotion of some
particularkinship among 'celestial' bodies- again echoing the Ptolemaic inclusion of
the Sun among the planets. See note 16 above and Thesis XXX below.
30 In 1613 Galileo
proved,for those who chose to believe what he claimed to see
throughtelescopes, that Venus indeed showed phases exactlylike those of the Moon.
Until thenthe observedchanges in brightnessof the planet could have been ascribed to
intrinsicvariationin brightnessor theplanet'schangingdistancefromtheEarth. Kepler,
who did believeGalileo, seems to have abandoned the idea that the planets were self-
luminous. See notes 16 and 29 above and Thesis XXIX below.
31 The words translatedas "Geometrical
arrangement"are Geométricadispositio.
Kepler seemsto be arguingthatwe shouldthinkof thesurfaceofthe Moon as resembling
a rough bulgingwall ratherthan a convex mirror.Thus its overall spherical shape is
irrelevant,but small irregularities
may be responsibleforsmall featuresobservedon the
disc. He was to repeat this argument-going into more detail and givingreferencesto
Copernicus and Ancientauthors(particularlyPlutarch)- in Ad VitellionemParalipo-

244 J.V. Field
XXVII
The causesof thevariation (thecause of thequalityof there-

in reflection
flectedray)are thecoloursof thereflecting surface.HereI shouldliketo know
fromtheChemists whatit is thatproducesthediversity ofcoloursin terrestrial
bodies.As forthecoloursoftheRainbow,theydivideintotwoclasses:thefirst
arisesfromdarkening, or thetakingawayof light,thesecondfromrefraction
or
(a refractione),colouring. Each class beginsfromthelightitself[Le.unaltered
whitelight],or analogously (αναλογώ) white-colouredlight,whichlightoccupies
thecentralarc of theRainbowand as it weredividesit in two32.On one side
thelightdiminishes, on theotheritis refracted on bothitendswith
(refringitur);
black,thatis darkness. As it diminishes,
thelightbecomesfirst yellow(flava)33,
nextred,thenbrown(fusca)and finally black.The sameeffect is seenin clouds
whentheSun has setor whenit is aboutto rise;and in thelightof starsnear
thehorizon,and in EclipsesoftheSun,whenoureyes-theseatofthisillusion
(in quibusest haecJrallacia)
-are suddenlydeprivedof thelightof the Sun34.
Whenreflected in thefirst
(In reflexionis), stagethelightshowsgreen,laterblue
thenpurpleandfinallycompletely blackor obscured35. Thus,sincethisis the
mena (Prague, 1604) ChapterVI, section2 (p. 266 et seqq, KGW 2, p. 201 et seqq).
Galileo's telescopicobservations(Sidereus Nuncius,Venice,1610) later lent supportto
Kepler's argument.In his replyto Galileo (Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidéreo, Prague,
1610) Kepler refersnotto thesketchyaccountofthematterin De Fundamentis Astrologiae
Certioribusbut to the fullerone in Ad VitellionemParalipomena.In substance,Kepler's
argumentin both theseworksis identicalwiththatGalileo puts forward,in an entirely
different style,in the First Day of the Dialogo (1632).
32 Kepler's sentenceends ... quae quidem lux mediumIridis circulumobtinens,
eum in duo quasi secať (KGW 4, p. 18, 11.15-16).
33
Perhaps 'orange'?
34 Kepler seems to be -
thinkingof edge-contrasteffectsand retinalafterimages
though of course not in those terms.
35 Kepler's various theoriesof therainbow- in the
presentwork,in Ad Vitellionem
Paralipomena (Prague, 1604) and in his correspondence-have tempteda number of
scholars to explain his explanations,most notably Carl B. Boyer (1950 and 1959).
The theorydescribedin the presentwork is inelegant: it calls upon two separate
mechanismsfor the inner and outer parts of the bow.
On the redwardside of the bow, the colours are ascribed to the diminutionof the
light.Kepler does not discuss what it may be that causes the lightto diminishin this
way, but one may imaginethatobservationsof sunsets,or the slow fadingof the white
heat of a piece of iron in the smithy,mightsuggestthat a decrease in intensitycauses
lightto redden(it beingleftopen whetherthe reddeningis trulyin the lightor is merely
an effectcaused in the eye or by the facultyof sight).
Kepler's descriptionof what happens on the blueward side of the bow is made
more difficultforthe modernreaderby his apparentlyusing interchangeably words one
inevitably translatesas and
'refraction' These
'reflection', words now carryvery different
meanings,but it appears thattheirLatin originalsdid not do so for Kepler. His usage
of the words can presumablybe traced back to Aristotle's account of haloes and the
rainbowinMeteorológica,III, 3-4. Aristotle, who is consideringextramitted visual rays,
refersto themas beingsubjectto άνάκλασις. In the context,thisnoun is most naturally

Johannes
Kepler 245
orderof the colours of the Rainbow,it is reasonable to suppose (consentaneum)

thatthe same orderwill obtain in reflection so thatthe
as well (et in reflexione),
surfacewhichreflectsa ray most stronglyis a whiteone; nextcome greenand
yellow,thenblue and red,thenpurpleand brown; and the surfacewhichreflects
most weaklyof all is a black one36.
XXVIII
However,when black is brightlyilluminatedit sheds red light.This effectis

seenin steelmirrors,
wherethewhitecolourof thefaceand theblack of themirror
combineto givea reflected
imageof a ratherred face.Thus one would be entirely
translated as 'reflection',sinceAristotle is clearlydescribing visualraysbeingturned

back on themselves, theweakerones beingturnedback moreeasily(see particularly
Meteorológica III, 4, 373a35et seqq). However,the cognateverbάνακλάω, carriesthe
primary meaning of 'to bend' and could indeed be taken to referto eitherof the processes
we nowdescribeas reflection or refraction.In anycase. Aristotle'sexplanation of the
rainbowdependsuponhisassumption thatάνάκλασι; bywater,beingmoreforceful than
thatby air producescolours.
Kepler's explanation of therainbowis notas explicitas Aristotle's.We haveal-
readynotedthathe providesno cause fortheweakening of thelightin the redward
halfofthebow.Thesameis truefortherefraction/reflection whichis assertedto produce
thebluewardhalf.It is notevenclearthathe recognises thatwateris necessary forthe
formation ofthebow,anditseemspossiblethatthegradation ofcolourson theblueward
sidemaybe proposedas due to thesameprocessthatcauseslandscapeto appearbluer
withgreater distance(a phenomenon generally notedandexploitedbypainters sincethe
fifteenthcentury).
The absenceofanycauseforthecoloursof thebowis disturbing, as is theabsence
ofanyhintas to thereasonforitsshape.(Perhapsweareexpected to acceptAristotle's
explanation oftheshapeofhaloesand assume,as Aristotleseemsto do, thatthesame
arguments willhold forrainbows?)Butmoredisturbing thaneitherof theseomissions
is theapparentassertion thatthereis whitelightin themiddleof thebow,dividing the
redwardand the bluewardsides.One mightalmostsuspectKepler of takingdrastic
measures to getsevencoloursin hisbow: brown,red,yellow, white,green,blue,purple.
Newtonian hindsight mayalso suggest thatthewhitegetsusedup byrefraction/reflection
intogreen,blue and purple;but Kepler's accountdoes not seemcapableof bearing
suchan interpretation. I am mostinclinedto thinkthatwe shouldbe literal-minded in
our interpretation of Kepler's assertionthatthewhitelightoccupiesthecentralarc,
dividing thebow in two(theLatintextis givenin note32 above). The whitelightis,
I suggest,proposedas a mereline,an invisible geometrical boundarybetweenthetwo
visiblezones.PerhapsKepler thought thatthefactonedoesnotseea whitelinewas too
obviousto needto be statedexplicitly- or perhapshe thought itsinvisibilitywas implied
by his quasi!
In anycase,Kepler's description ofhistheory is verybrief, and itsprimary purpose
is notto explaintherainbowbutto providea basisfordeducingthecoloursofthesur-
facesof the planets.
36 Reflection is apparently
frommirrors proposedas an analogyto each of thetwo
processes producing therainbowrather thanan exampleofeither.Kepler assumesthat
thecolourswhichreflect morestrongly are thosefoundcloserto thecentreofthebow.

246 J.V.Field
in stating
justified thatMarspossessesa blacksurface, sinceitsrayis veryred.
Thusitsreflected is
light faint, andthus the planetdoes not humidify and
greatly,
is defective
in humidity. By thesame argument from colour and humidification,
we shallattribute to Saturna roughwhitesurface, becauseits colouris leaden;
andto Jupiter a redorpurplesurface, becauseitappearsa slightly reddish
yellow;
toVenusa verysmooth yelloworwhitesurface, sinceit is thefairest
ofthemall;
to Mercury a blueorgreensurface, sinceitappearssilvery, andowesitsbrilliance
moreto its twinkling or thedilutionof its brightnessthanto itscolour37.
XXIX
Now,theintrinsic lightofa planetvariesoverthesurface ofitsbody,whence

it comes,so thatit showsdiffering colours;butthedegreeoftheplanet'spower
to warmis derivedfromtheinternal structureofitsbody.However, thesurface
is a consequence of thestructure of thebody,so thatin thiswaythepowerof
humidification dependsto someextent uponthepowerof imparting heat.And,
clearly,if colourcan be transferred and propagated fromone bodyto another
by meansoflight,we maybelievethatthesameis trueof otherqualities -for it
is certainlytrueofheat.Henceitis reasonable thatforanypowera Planetshows
in its effecttherewillbe someanalogousdisposition in thebodyof thePlanet.
Ifthis[i.e.thestatement inthelastsentence butone]is so,itcanleadustowonder-
fulexercises ofourart.For example, I mightsaythatin Summer itis unhealthy
to stayin the neighbourhood38 of a wall illuminated by the Sun,becausethe
is
cement madeoflimewhich, since it can corrodeand eatintothings,imbuesthe
rayit reflectswiththissameproperty. However,thefirst thingthatseemsto be
associatedwithintrinsic lightis somedegreeof transparency. For if thereis
intrinsiclightin something, thelightis notattachedto thesurface buthas roots
reaching deepintotheinterior, as weremark in gemstones.Thusin orderforthe
lightto shinethrough werequiretransparency. Nonetheless, manythings actually
becometransparent by the action of heat and retainthat property39.
XXX
I hopephilosophers me forarguingfrombodieswe mayhandle

willforgive
For
to celestialbodies. they showthatthereis absolutely
themselves no variation
37 The colour of the the proportionof reflectedlightin the
surface,by determining
lightradiated by the planet (accordingto the scheme deduced fromthe structureof the
rainbowin Thesis XXVII) determinesthe degreeof humidification to be attributedto the
planet. Clearly,it is reallythe 'known' degreeof humidification whichhas been used to
assign a colour to the planet. The roughnessor smoothnessof the surfaceseems to be
involved only as a way of differentiating Saturn and Venus.
38
Reading in regionefor e regione(KGW 4, p. 19, 1.12).
39 Kepler seems to be
suggestingthat the intrinsiclightof a body has a warming
effect,and will thusmake the body transparent. Thus the transparency of such a body is
not a separate propertybut merelya consequence of the body's intrinsiclight.

Johannes
Kepler 247
to be foundamong bodies of the latterkind. Why should theycalmlyaccept in

celestial thingsthat variationwhich they considerbase and terrestrial?It is,
however,betterto give some account, not involvingany palpable absurdity,
than to be completelysilent[on the subjectof celestialbodies]. And I reallydo
not know whetherone mightnot rathersay that thereis somethingdivine and
celestialin the gemstoneof the carbuncle,whichconnectsits lightwithcelestial
light,insteadofsayingthatthereis somethingof theterrestrial elementsin the Sun
to make it give heat. Thus I shall say thatSaturnhas an excess of humidityand
is deficientin heat, and thatthe dispositionof its body is like that of ice (which
is also veryhumid,being water,and entirelylacking in heat), hence its white
surface; and hence,also, the internaldispositionof its body is ratherdense,and
not verytransparent.The Astrologerscall it cold and dry,which is almost the
same. However, since its influencegives wet Wintersthe planet should more
properlybe called humid. To Jupiterwe shall attributea body like a Ruby,
so that it may be verytransparent, to accountforitsabundantintrinsic light,and
even and red to account for its brightnessand colour. Mars will be likenedto
an incandescentcoal, fromwhichthehiddeninnerfireshinesout; forthe Astro-
logerssay, and experienceshows,that Mars possesses the power of a dry and
glowingflame.To Venuswe shallgivean amberbodywitha smoothyellow{flava)
surface,to account for its extraordinary golden (croceum)brightness;so it will
humidify more than it warms; propertywhichseems to requirea rathersoft
a
body40.Finally,Mercurywillbe comparedwitha Sapphire,or somethingsimilar,
suchthatitstransparency is sufficientforthesharpnessof itsown raysand allows
intrinsicratherthan externallight,because the planet'scombinationof qualities
is such that thereis more heat than humidity.
XXXI
On accountof theirborrowedlightor humidity we can take intoconsideration

the planets' emersionsor occultationsand oppositions41.Saturn,which is at
oppositionto the Sun on 11 May and at conjunctionwith it on 18 November,
willexerciseits humidificationto thefullon both occasionsbecause thenit shows
us a face fullyilluminatedby the Sun. It will exerciseit least on 11 Februaryand
9 Augustwhentheplanetis at thetwo pointsof quadrature.Jupiterwill humidify
most on 8 April whenat oppositionand on 26 Octoberat conjunction;and the
contrary[i.e. humidifyleast] on 8 Januaryand 6 Julyat the pointsof quadrature.
The same is trueof Mars (thoughin the smalldegreeto whichit has thisfaculty)
on 5 March at oppositionto the Sun, and the contraryon 9 Juneat quadrature,
40 mollusculum
corpus.I have been unable to findthe adjective in any dictionary,
and take it as a diminutivederivedfrommolluscus.Kepler seems to have had a typically
Germanic fondnessfor diminutives:the presentwork is called dissertatiuncula(again
a word not in Lewis & Short).
41 It is not clear
whyKepler should have omittedreferenceto the immersionof the
planet in the Sun's rays,since he mentionsits emersion(emergencefromthem)and the
period separatingthe two events (the planet's occultation).

248 J.V. Field
andso on at similarpointsin succession42.

Thereis something elsewhichmustbe
takenintoaccountforVenus,and also forMercury. For whenit is at superior
conjunction withtheSunon 15Mayitwillhumidify to itsfullest doingso
extent,
lessbothbeforeand afterwards; and thenextyearit willbe at inferior conjunc-
tionwiththeSunandwillhumidify least.In thesameway,Mercury willhumidify
littleon 4 January,30 April,29 Augustand 19 December.For, whenit is at
inferiorconjunctionwiththeSun,all thefaceilluminated by theSun is turned
upward. It will most
humidify on 9 March, 27 June and 19 October,whenit is
at superior withtheSun,and turnsitsilluminated
conjunction facedownward.
XXXII
It is a matter
fordoubt,whenwe also takeintoaccounttheirintrinsic light
and powerofwarming, whether theplanetsactmorestrongly whentheyarehigh
or whentheyare low. Astrologers choosehigh,physicistslow.Let us makethe
compromise thatinsofaras theyareseento subtenda largerangle(thatis when
theyarelow)thentheywarmmost, justbecausetheyareseenthatway43.
Thepower
thatis increasedby heightis due to a different
cause.
XXXIII
Whenwetakeintoaccountbothpowers, thatofwarming andthatofhumidi-

fying,we mustconsiderwhatsigntheplanetsarein.For boththeplanetsandthe
Moon operatemoststrongly fromCancer,becausein thatsigntheyare longest
abovethehorizon,and forotherreasonswhichwe considered at thebeginning,
whenwe weredealingwiththeSun.In thesameway,too,theyhavemorepower
as theyare further
to theNorth.Hence,fullMoonsneartheWintersolsticeare
morehumidthanthoseofSummer. Thusin Northern thisyearandfor
latitudes,
a fewyearsto come,thosepowerswhichwe havealreadydescribed as belonging
to Saturnand Jupiter,
and indeedthoseof Mars at theendoftheyear,willbe
weak,becausetheplanetswillbe in signsthatare low in thesky.On theother
hand,theirpowerswillbe correspondinglystronger in Southern latitudes.
XXXIV
We see thatit is whenplanetsmovemostslowlythattheyhavemosteffect,

and thisexplainswhytheyare so strong evenwhentheyare at
whenstationary,
42 inter
jectis et sequentibustemporibus
successive.That is, at successiveoppositions,
quadratures and conjuctions.
43 The terms
'high'and 'low' referring
to a planet'sgreateror lesserdistancefrom
theEarth,seemmoreappropriatein a geocentric planetarysystemthanin a helio-
centricone. However,as an astrologerKepler is concerned withappearancesas seen
fromtheEarth.

A Lutheran Johannes
Apogee44.In this,Mercury's stationis themosteffectual:

forthisplanet,being
at othertimesthefastestmoving, losesthemostmotion.And Saturn'sstation
becauseSaturnhaslittlemotion
hastheleasteffect, whichitloseswhenstationary.
Now,thestationof Mercury mainlystirsup winds,and in placessnowor rain,
in the formof abundantvapours.Thus we shall expectthesethingsaround
17January, 20 April,12 May,15August, 6 September,
and 9 and 31 December.
Butthemotionof Mercury is as yetnotwellknown,so it is notpossibleto be
absolutelycertainof theday in advance.
XXXV
The causes of futureeventswhichI have explainedso far,althoughthey

indeedhavemuchofthedivineaboutthem,arestillofa naturemorecloselyre-
sembling thatofmatter thanarethecauseswhichnowfollow.Fortheformer causes
actthrough somekindofflowoflightwhichextends downtothesublunary bodies,
a flowwhich,although it is notmaterial anddoesnottakeplacein time,is,how-
ever,not withoutproperties thatapplyto quantities45. For ittakesplace in a
straightline,is attenuated with increasingdistancefrom the heavenly body,in-
creasesor decreaseswiththechanging faceof theplanetthatis shining, is ob-
structedby the interposition of an opaquebodyand,on theotherhand,given
thevisiblepresence oftheheavenly body,actscontinuously.Nor isthistrueonly
in relationto one and thesameheavenly body,butit also appliesin comparing
twodifferent ones:thus,sincetheSunandtheMoon appearlargest, itis inthem
thatthesepowersaremostevident:intheothers, whose[apparent] diameters are
smallin comparison withthatof theSun and theMoon,suchpowersare very
weak,to thepointofbeingscarcely, or notevenscarcely,
perceptible.Thuseven
thecommonmassofAstrologers thevariation
almostneglects oftheseeffects in
themannerI havedescribed46.
xxxvr
Thusfollowsanothercause,whichconcernsall the planetsequally,is far
noblerthanthepreviousone,and excitesmuchmorewonder.For thiscause
has no flavourof materiality
but is concernedwithform,and notwithsimple
form butwithan animalfaculty,withintellectual withGeometrical
understanding,
thought.Itdoesnot drawits in
power straightlines
fromindividual
heavenlybodies;
insteaditassessestheraysoftwoheavenly intheEarth,
bodiesconverging judging
44 Since all the effects

operate throughthe lightreachingthe Earth fromthe planet
(see Thesis XIX above and Thesis XXXV below) one would expect them to be at their
weakest when the planet is at its greatestdistance fromthe Earth.
45 non ... sine
quantitatumdimensionibus.Perhaps 'not withoutthe propertiesthat
apply to quantifiablethings'.
46 Kepler's "even" is
presumablyconnectedwith his opinion, stated in Thesis III
above, that such astrologersusually invoke too many causes.

250 J.V. Field
whetherthey convergegeometricallyor non-geometrically (άλόγως)47;nor is

thiscause extinguished at the timeof New Moon, when no raysdescendto the
Earth,but thena rayis imaginedto descend;it is not obstructedwhenthe Earth
is interposedbetweenus and the heavenlybodies; but it makes themoperative
over the Earth even when theyare hidden beneath it. Finally, it acts almost
instantaneously,and when a Geometricalangle is changedinto one thatis non-
geometrical and non-harmonic(aloyov et ανάρμοστον) it falls into abeyance at
once, or veryshortlyafterwards, howevermuch the lightof the heavenlybodies
mayincrease.Sincethesefactsare mostthoroughly confirmed by experience,they
lead me to the beliefsI describein what follows.
XXXVII
Since God the creatorderivedthe structureof the corporealworldfromthe

formof body,whichis quantity,it is reasonableto suppose thatthepositions,the
spacing and the bulk of the bodies should bear to one anotherthe proportions
that arise fromthe regularsolid figures - as I proved in my MysteriumCosmo-
graphicum[Tübingen,1596] - and the motion of the bodies, whichare the life
of the world,theneithersound sweetlyin consonanceor workstrongly together,
whentheproportionbetweenthemis derivedfromtheregularplane figures.For as
a plane figureis an image of a solid,so motionis an imageof a body.Justas it is
impossiblethat thereshould be more than fiveregularbodies in Geometry48,
similarlythereare no morethaneightharmonicratioswhicharisefromcomparing
the regularplane figures,as I shall show anothertime,God willing,in mybook
on Harmonics49.
XXXVIII
Thus, sincethereare eightratioswhichdeterminethemotions,and the action

of the Heavens on theEarthis (as it were)a kindof motion,takingplace through
47 That
is, whetherthe angle between them can be constructed"geometrically",
i.e. using only a straightedge and compasses (the means permittedby Euclid). In Har-
monicesMundi Libri V (Linz, 1619) the constructibility of a regularpolygon(whichis
equivalent to that of its angle) is made a criterion
for whetheror not the figurecontrib-
utes to thearchetypeof theUniverse.However,in thislaterwork,it is notconstructibility
of the polygonwhichdetermineswhetherthe angle definesa powerfulconfiguration (an
astrological aspect) but ratherits capacity for formingeithera polyhedronor a flat
patternwhich entirelycovers the plane (a tessellation).See Part 1 above and Field,
in press, 1983.
48 Kepler had
already discoveredat least one more regularpolyhedron,but as its
faces were star polygons he regardedit as a secondarysolid, derivedfromtheregular
dodecahedron described by Euclid. See Field 1979.
49 The "book on harmonics"was eventuallypublishedas HarmonicesMundi Libri
Κ (Linz, 1619),and did,indeed,containa geometricalexplanationofconsonances,though
one that is rathermore sophisticatedthan is suggestedby the briefsketchKepler gives
here. See Part 1 above.

A Lutheran Johannes
theintermediary ofraysfrom bodieswhich

heavenly convergeintheEarthandmake
angles with one so
another, the Harmonic
eight ratios
willbe intothe
translated
sizes of theseangles.The Ancientsindeedacknowledged no morethanfive
(commonly calledAspects),namelyConjunction,
Opposition, Quadrature,Trine
and Sextile50.Butreasoning first to methatwe shouldadd threemore,
suggested
namelyquintile,biquintile and sesquiquadrature51,
whichexperience has since
repeatedly confirmed.
XXXIX
As to whytheeffect oftwoPlanetsshouldbe so strongly concentrated

at the
moments oftheseAspects, I canascribeittonothing otherthanan animalfaculty,
whichon theonehandis capableofGeometrical reasoning (whichmakesan As-
pect),and on the other has power over itsbody,in which theeffect
is noticed.
For theeffect is notproducedbecausetworaysjoin to forman angle.Thereis
an angleboththedaybeforeand thedayafteran Aspect,and tworaysalways
formsomekindofangle;theeffect onlyfinally occurswhentheanglecorresponds
to a Harmonicratioor figure(σχήμα)(Ptolemyspeaksof "configurations"
(σχηματισμούς)). Ratiosand figures in themselves.
are ineffective Andwhathap-
pens here is exactly the same as what happens when living move.If
creatures
anyonewereto saythatthethingsa livingcreature seeswithitseyescan make
itmove,without itsbeingnecessary forthisthatthereshouldbe an animalfaculty
inthebodywhichis moved,thenhe wouldbe a verystrange kindofphilosopher.
XL
Moreover,thisfaculty whichgivesforceto Aspectsis not in theheavenly

bodiesthemselves. For theseAspectswe havebeendiscussingoccurin theEarth
and aremerely a relationship
(σχέσις),notformal ofthemotionof
consequences
theheavenly bodiesbutconsequences oftheaccidental oftwoheavenly
positions
bodiesin relationto theEarth.Thus,justas thesoulwhichmovesthebodydoes
notlie in theobjectbutwheretheimage(species)of the objectis perceived,
so
50 The traditional
aspects correspondto differences in eclipticlongitudeof 0°, 180°,
90°, 120° and 60° respectively(see Figure2 in Part 1 above). Differencesin latitudewere
usually ignored,planetarypositionsbeing calculated fromtables ratherthan found by
observation.Since thedistancesof theheavenlybodies fromtheEarthare largecompared
with its radius, the angle betweenthe observed positions of the bodies are equivalent
to the angles betweenlines joining the bodies to the centreof the Earth.
51 Kepler's new
aspects correspondto angles of 72°, 144° and 135°.
AlthoughKepler is introducingaspects not used by Ptolemy, his concernto relate
aspects to musicalconsonances is clearlyinfluencedby Ptolemy's Harmonica,thoughit
appears thatat thistimehe had only indirectknowledgeof the work (see Klein 1971).
However,in HarmonicesMundiLibri V consonancesand aspects are notrelateddirectly,
but are derivedseparatelyfromdifferent geometricalpropertiesof polygons(see Part 1
above).

252 J.V. Field
it is necessarythat this force,whichmakes Aspects effective,must be inherent

in all sublunarybodies and in thegreatglobe of theEarthitself.Which is to say
thateveryanimalfacultyis theimageof God practising geometry(γεωμετρονντος)
in creation,and is roused to action by this celestialGeometryor Harmonyof
Aspects.
XLI
The hastymayimaginethatI am proposinga formnew to Philosophy,which

is not the case, exceptinsofaras I am givinga littlemore generalityto ancient
in connectionwiththeEarth,no-onewilldenythatits whole,
beliefs.For, firstly,
as beinga whole,has a noblerformthatthanwhichis recognisedin any clod of
earth.And its activitiesargue that this formis trulyakin to animal faculties:
theyare Engenderingmetals,keepingthe Earthwarm,and sweatingout vapours
to begetrivers,rainsand othermeteorologicalphenomena.These activitiesargue
that its formis not only conservative,as in stones,but trulyvegetative52.
XLII
However,this does not mean thatthe Earth mustincreasein size or change

its position. For its soul is not human,nor properlyspeakinganimal,nor like
thatof a plant,but of a particularkindwhichis definedfromits activities,as are
otherkindsof animalfaculty.And thesame reasoningthatcompelledtheAncients
to attributea thirdkindof soul to plantscompelsus to attributethisfourthkind
to the Earth.
XLIII
Nor is it absurdto suppose thatanimalfaculties,whichhave no capacityfor

discursivereasoning,should understandGeometry,and be moved by it as by an
object. There are acknowledgedexamplesclose at hand. The plasticfacultyof a
treedoes not reason,yet it followsthe Creator'sinstructionsto the full,in the
wayit ordersitsleavesforthebenefitofitsfruitand foritsdefinedpurpose.Indeed
its beauty,whichdependsupon number,is retainedin all its seeds. Most typesof
plantshow structures whichinvolvethe numberfive53.It is not derivedfromthe
52 A more detailed account of the soul of the Earth is givenin HarmonicesMimdi
Book IV, ChapterVII (see Part 1 above). Caspar (1940, p. 469) notes that Kepler had
discussed the soul of the Earth in his calendar for 1599. This calendar was reprintedin
KOF I, and will appear in KGW 11, part2, forwhichno publicationdate is as yetavail-
able.
53 The meaningof Kepler's word quinariumis fairlyobvious, but I have been unable
to findthe word in any dictionary.It is later translatedas 'five-ness'.
Kepler's account of the fruit'sinheritanceof the characteristics of its parenttreeis
apparentlyan early example of preformationism.

A Lutheran Johannes
treeintothefruitbymaterial necessity (it is impossible to preserve thisfive-ness

in sucha derivation),butrather by communication of the plasticfaculty thatthe
planthas theinborn five-nessof its characteristic beauty.However,thisuse of
reason[sc.apparent useofreason]is rather lowlyandnotgreatly to be wondered
at, sincethe facultyremainswithinitselfand passeson thefive-ness whichit
contains.I shallgivea moreappropriate The
example. peasant does not reason
abouttheGeometrical proportion which one musical note bears to another. Yet,
all thesame,theexternal Harmony ofthestrings penetratesthrough thepeasant's
ears intohis mindand makeshimrejoice- not indeedbecauseof the regular
mixing ofthenotes,notbecauseofthesoothing caressgivento theears(foroften
violentsoundshurttheearsyettheirconsonance nonetheless givespleasure),nor
on accountof anyothercausethatanyonehas so farbeenable to find,but on
accountofthissinglefactthat,as I shallshowinmyHarmonics, someGeometrical
relation(ratio) connectstheformto the musicalconsonances;thisrelationis
familiartoeverything elseintheworld,particularly tosouls,andwasindeedcalled
harmony by some of the Ancients. Drawn on by theseexamples,as if we were
mounting a flightof steps,let us dareto go to thetopand believethatthereis
withintheEartha vegetative animalforce,and in theanimalforcesomekind
of senseofGeometry, as a form,and due to thefactthatthisforceis a kindof
animalfaculty. And althoughthisforceis alwaysat workit is stimulated most
whenit is fedwiththiskindof nourishment of Aspects.Thus,just as theear is
arousedbya consonance, so thatitlistenscarefully, andso hearsthatmuchmore
(seekingpleasure,whichis the perfection of sensation), similarly the Earthis
stimulated bytheGeometrical convergence of vegetative rays(forwe havenoted
thattheywarmand humidify), so thatit concentrates diligently,or to a greater
extent,uponitsvegetative work,and sweatsout a largequantity of vapours.
XLIV
of Aspectsare modified
The effects to someextentaccording to thedifferent
naturesof thePlanets,explainedabove.ThustheEarthwill be affected in one
wayby a Geometrical combination of Saturn and Mars, which are contraries,
and in anotherbya combination ofJupiter and Venus,whichare similar.This
happensin muchthesamewayas we observethatall purgatives causea motion
of humoursin a man'sbowels,but Rhubarbparticularly affects
bile.(For if a
facultyrecognisesGeometry willit notalso recognise colourand otherqualities
in therays?)However, thegreatest variation[intheresponse toAspects]is dueto
thedispositionofthebodiesactedupon,particularly theEarth,whichis different
in different
placesand at differenttimes.For when,forexample,in Springhu-
moursare abundantintheNorthern hemisphere becauseoftheincreasing height
oftheSun,as explained above,theneventhelightest Aspect,ofanyPlanets,will
spurthatfaculty in theEarthintoactionand it willsweatout a quantity ofva-
to
pours engender showers. At another time or placea farstrongerAspectdoes
indeedstimulate theEarthbutsincematerialis lackingit produceslittleresult.

254 J.V. Field
XLV
At thispointwe must,in addition,consideranothercause,notyetacknow-

ledged[sc.bymostastrologers?], ignorance ofwhichthrows Astrologer'spredic-
tionsintoviolentconfusion.For,as inmantherearecertain cyclesofthehumours
whichmakea mansuddenly, without apparentcause,subjecttoa certain -
feeling
at timeshe willbe merry withouttheaid ofmusic,at othersthereis no pleasant
thing that can turnhim away from sad thoughts- so, in thesameway,we must
that
recognise apart from Aspectsthere areothermorepowerful andmorelasting
causeswhichbringit aboutthata wholeyear-a timeforwhichno Aspectcan
last- is heldin thegripof humours andexcessivecold; and thenyou maysee
thatwhenever Aspectsoccurtheymovequantities
eventhelightest ofrainorwind.
Sucha yearwas this1601.In another yearthereis so much drynessthaton a day
of Aspectsnothingcan be discerned exceptsmall clouds or smoke insteadof
vapours. Such was the year1599.
XLVI
I leaveto one sidetheproblemofwhether thisveryobviousvariation is due

to Eclipsesof the Sun and Moon (whichmustlikewisebe accountedAspects,
thatis as conjunctions and oppositions)54. It wouldbe necessary to establish
that
theanimalfaculty the
of Earth, which I have discussedat such is
length, violently
disturbed by thesuddenintermission of light,experiencing something likeemo-
tion,and persisting in it forsometime,a phenomenon whichTheophrastus,
whois notalwaysfanciful, seemsto havenoticed55. If youdo noteithergivethis
as a cause or,rejecting all causes,ascribethisordinary of natureto the
activity
specialprovidence of God, thenyou will not be able to explainwhyit is that
eclipses are so important as omens.
XLVII
It is morereasonableto supposethatin thiscase whathappensto theEarth

is likewhathappensto livingcreatures, apartfromtheirbeingmortal,so that
becauseof itsinternal dispositionthereare cyclicalchangesin itshumoursand
itas itweresuffers Ifthisis so,thelaws(leges)andperiodsofthecycles
illnesses.
shouldbe investigatedbycollatingobservationsmadeovermanyyears,something
whichhas notyetbeendone.Caesiusattributes somepartinthisto thenineteen
54 An eclipseoftheSuncan occuronlyat New Moon,whentheMoon is at conjunc-

tionwiththeSun.An eclipseoftheMooncan occuronlyat Full Moon,whentheMoon
is at oppositionto theSun.
55 The reference appearsto be to Paracelsus- TheophrastusBombastusvon
Hohenheim(c. 1493-1541)-but it has so fareludedmorepreciseidentification(see
Caspar & Hammer1941).

A Lutheran Johannes
yearcycleoftheMoon,andwe cannotentirely rejecthisopinion56. For mariners

saythat thegreatesttidalmovements of thesea come back to thesame daysof
theyearafternineteenyears;and the Moon, whichgovernshumours,seems
suitedtoplaya partinthisbusiness,
whichinvolves an excessordefectinhumours.
XLVIII
But a thirdveryplausiblecausealso commends itself:thatmanyof thedis-

turbancesof sublunary nature,whichas I have said occurindependently of
Aspects,maybe drivenby harmonicmotionsofthePlanets.For if an angle
whichbearsa certainrelationto thewholecirclehas an effect,whyshouldnot
thesamebe trueof themotionsoftwoheavenly bodieswhicharein suchpropor-
tionto oneanotheras correspondsto a musicalconsonance,so that,ifone body
traverses
an equaldistancemorequicklythantheother,the otheris slowerin a
Harmonic proportion? Indeed,theseproportions
varyandarenotoftenharmonic,
forthesamePlanetat timesmovesmorequicklyat timesmoreslowly.However,
thesethingshavenotyetbeenconfirmed byexperience,noris thereyetanyway
of investigating
theharmonies57.
XLIX
TheAstrologers seekouta thoroughlyinanecauseforthisgeneraldisposition

of yearsby lookingto theentranceof theSun intoAries,forthefourseasons
theyuse thefiguresforthecardinal
points,andforthemonths thefigures
forthe
NewMoon- all ofthisas ifa periodoftimewerea fixedthinglikea man,whose
BirthChartwe mayreasonably examine,and notrathera portionofthecelestial
motions- or as iftheEarthwerepreparedfora newseasonat a precisemoment58.
56 Caspar & Hammer(1941) notethatGeorg Caesius (1542-1604)wrotea
large
numberof calendars,whichKepler valuedfortheirinformation about weather.The
twothatI havebeenable to examine(fortheyears1585and 1602,bothpublishedin
Nuremberg) in a stylesimilarto thatKepler adoptsinThesesLII to LXII
giveforecasts
ofthepresent work.Caesiusfollowshisforecasts withsectionson eclipsesand diseases,
againin a mannerlikeKepler's in thepresent work,considerable weightbeinggivento
terrestrial
causes.Indeed,Caesiusgoesfurther thanKepler in notsuggesting anydirect
astrologicalinfluence
uponthecourseofdiseases-thoughsincetheyareconnected with
theweather(in Hippocraticstyle)thereis an indirect astrologicalinfluence.
57 Kepler seemsto be
sayingthattheorbitsof theplanetsare notyetknownsuf-
ficiently
accurately.Mightthisbe an indirect pleato Tycho'sheirs,whoat thistimewere
stilldenyingKepler accessto Tycho's books of observations? Tn Harmonices Mundi
Book V ratiosof speedsof planetsare usedas partof themusical-polyhedral archetype
whichdescribes thestructure
ofthesystem oforbits.Theyplaynopartintheastrological
theoryof BookIV. See Field 1982and Field, in press,1982.
58 Kepler is thetraditional of drawingup thebirth
censuring astrologicalpractices
chartofa yearas ifitwere'born'at themoment oftheSpringequinox(theentryofthe
Sun intoAries),ofdrawing up birthchartsforseasonsas iftheywere4born'at equinoxes
and solstices,and ofmonthsas iftheywere'born'at New Moon.Thefirst oftheseprac-

256 J.V. Field
The Earth will be affectedby the Aspects of the figureof the Springequinox,
if thereare any,but onlyon thatday; on precedingand followingdays it will be
ones and different
affectedby the different ones again whichoccur on each parti-
ticeswas notconfinedto popularastrologers(practisingwhatI have called'low' astrology):

in his ephemeridesfortheyears 1611 to 1630 Antonio Magini (1555-1617) put the birth
chart of each year on the title page of the appropriateset of tables (see Figure 8).
Fig. 8. Horoscope of theyear 1617,fromMagini Ephemerides. . . ad annum1630,Venice,

1616. Photographcourtesyof the Science Museum, London.

A Lutheran Johannes
cularday.However, in this,almostthesoleconcernofsomeAstrologers, thereis

nothing more unseemly than their distributingtwelvehouses among the seven
Planets,showing a childish credulity thatis beyondall solidPhilosophical reason,
devising dominations, and instantaneous in theexerciseof empire,
vicissitudes
as iftheywereconsidering an assembly ofmen.Fromthishas arisenall Magical
andAstrological superstition. Let us concede thatthereis a certainplausibility
in someof thedistribution, as in thecase of Saturn,whichis giventheWinter
signs.However,the causes of theplausibility aredifferent[fromthosethatare
alleged],and theinanity [oftheseastrologers' appearsat onceinother
reasoning]
cases,suchas thatof Jupiter. However,thissillypartofAstrology has already
beenrefuted indirectly,on physicalgrounds, bytheAstrologer Stöfler(to avoid
appealingto the testimony of the hostilePico della Mirandola)59; in fact,
experience refutesit every day, sincein so manycenturies theyscarcely knewthe
correct timeforanyequinox,as TychoBrahe has shown60. Let themproduce
thefigures forthe cardinalpointsforpast yearsand comparethemwiththe
effects[thatwererecorded]. I shallshowthemthattheyhad mistaken thetime
[oftheequinox]and thatthetruefigures showqualitiescontrary to thoseofthe
yearthatfollowed -to employthisinaneinterpretive method.In the coming
year,theSun entersArieson 20 Marchjust afterSunset,whenJupiter is rising
in Libra.The astrologers willthinkGeminiis rising, from thePrutenic Tables61.
However,nothing of generalsignificance can be deducedfromthis.For Jupiter
willinfactexertitsforceon 8 April,whenit is at opposition to theSun.Andon
10 and 11 May Saturnwillfollow,becauseon thatdayit is at opposition to the
Sun.
Now in thismatterI do not rejecttheopinionsof themostancientauthors

Hesiod,Aratus,Virgil and Pliny,and thoseof present who use
day farmers,
theannualrisings
ofheavenlybodiesandthefacesoftheMoon,justatthemoment
whentheybecomevisible(or certainly notlongbefore)as a wayofjudgingthe
59 See JohannesStöfler (1452-1531)Expurgatioadversasdivinationum XXIII

annisuspiciones (Tübingen,1523).GiovanniPico della Mirandola (1463-1494)re-
jected astrologycompletely- see his Disputationes
adversus Astrologiam divinatricem
(Bologna,1485,and ed. E. Garin, Florence,1946,2 vol.).
60 In Astronomiae InstaurataeProgrymnasmata, PartI (ed. J.Kepler, Prague,
1602)(Tychonis Brahe ... vol.
OperaOmnia, II, p. 16).
61 The TabulaePrutenicae
(Tübingen,1551) of ErasmusReinhold (1511-1553)
werestillin commonuse. Tycho had noted theirincreasinginaccuracy in the 1570s.
Kepler's owncalculations are basedon Tycho'sobservations.The problemforastrolo-
gersis thata smallerrorin thepositionoftheSunontheeclipticcorresponds to a large
errorin theastrologer's determinationofthemomentof birth(whichuses solar time)
resultingin a birthchartwhichmaybe verydifferent, sinceitdependsupontherelation
ofthesignstothelocalhorizonatthemoment ofbirth.
Thehalfdegreeerrorsinthevalues
foundfromthePrutenicTables at thisperiodwouldcorrespond to an errorof twelve
hours in the estimateof the momentof birth.

258 J.V. Field
future temperament of theatmosphere. Theydo notconsiderit on accountof

themagicalfigure oftheheavensnoras a causeoffuture conditions(forin other
yearstheyhaveregardto a different omen),butas an indicationof theEarth's
generaldisposition at thatmoment, a disposition
theyexpectto remainthesame
fora littletime.I maintainthatwe areignorantoftheperiodicchangesandother
laws (leges)governing thisdisposition.
LI
It has, however,beenthoughtthatthe successive changesin these overall

qualities[intheEarth]occurwithina shorttime.For Peasants(whoof all men
knowthisbestbyexperience) whentheysee a hotSummer expecttheWinterto
be veryhard.AndifsomepartoftheWinter warm
staysunnaturally theyexpect
a correspondinggreaterdegreeof cold in thelaterpart.Thus thisyear,since
Wintersetin ratherlate,Springwillbe latein compensation,
in accordancewith
the largenumberof Aspectswhichwilloccurat thattimeof theyear.
LII
I havegivena survey ofthemostimportant causesthataretakenintoaccount

in Astrologers' predictions; theremainder of myworkwillbe mainlytakenup
withactualpredictions. First,inthemonths ofDecember, January andFebruary,
Saturnand Marswillbe at Sextile,forlongerthanis usual.For it happensthat
at thistimeMars is stationary, and Saturnalwaysmovesslowly.Therewillbe
violentcommotion and it is quitecertainthattherewillbe something excessive
in thestateoftheatmosphere. As to exactly
whattheexcesswillconsistin,it is
notso easyto say.For,in orderto do so, we shouldneedto speculate aboutthe
generaldisposition oftheEarth,in thefuture, a matter in whichit seemsto me
wehaveas yetno theory to relyupon.Thisdisposition is morepowerful thanthe
variationin theoperationof Aspectsdue to theparticular forcesof thePlanets
involved.If therewereonlytheone Aspectto be considered, I shouldpredict
extreme cold due to exhalations of snow.But,becausemanyAspectsoccurto-
gether, I thinktherewillbe so muchcommotion on accountofthere
(particularly
beinga stationof Mars) thattheatmosphere willbe heatedby theverywarm
vapoursexcreted fromthebowelsof theEarthand thesnowwillalmostmelt,
makingmostroadsimpassable62. On 4 January theconjunction of theSun and
Mercury willgivesnoworwinds,according tothegeneral dispositionoftheEarth.
Around10 and 11 January thereare six verypowerful Aspects.Purewarmth,
and rainmingled withsnow.Towardstheend of themonththereis nothing to
predict from the Ancient Aspects, though from the newones the21st,withJupiter
and Venusat Quintile,willbe breezyand hot,as faras Winterpermits. The
24th,withSaturnand theSun at Quintile, willbe cold,withsnowor rain.The
62 Mars,whichis excessively
warming XXIVandnote28 above),is at its
(Thesis
mostpowerful, it at
since is station XXXIV).
(Thesis

A Lutheran Johannes
willbe sharp,withkeenfierce
28th,withMarsand theSun at Sesquiquadrature,
winds,and will in
bring snow.Let thosewho are mindedto testthevalidityof
thenewAspectstakenoteof thesedays.
LIII
February aboundsin old and newAspects.At first theconjunction of Venus

and Mercury willbringturmoilto theconditionof theatmosphere. For their
influencesare aboutas contradictory as thoseof Saturnand Mars,as we have
seenabove63.I speakthisfromexperience, whichbearsamplewitnessthata
configurationof theseplanetsbrings tumult;perhapsit is also due to the fact
that,sincetheirspeedsare verynearlyequal,theyseparate slowlyandexerttheir
fora longtime.Indeed,theymayevenbring
influence thunder. From11 to 23Feb-
ruary therewillbe no realcalm. Eitheritwillsnow if
heavily, the1lthturnsout
coldbecauseSaturnand theSun are at quadrature, or it willrainheavily,
if,as
I am moreinclinedto believe,thewarmth lastsas longas that.
LIV
Februaryhad 21 AspectsofthesixPlanets(theMoon movesso quicklythat

it playsalmostno partin Aspects).Marchis endowedwithtwenty. Thusit will
be moreturbulent thanbefore,
sincetherearealso otherreasonsforitsbeinglike
that.Therewillbe thunder in thefirstpartof themonthbecausetheSun and
Mars are at Opposition,thoughMars' latitudedetractsfromthe forceof the
Aspect64, buton theotherhand,theclusteringofAspectsadds forceto it. Thus
therewillbe unnatural warmth. From 13 March I predictthiswill changeto
wintry cold, and fromthenon therewill be continualcold windsand snow
mingled withrain.
LV
I expecta normalApril,hotat first,sinceMarsand theSunareat Biquintile,

and rainat leasttwodaysbeforeand afterfullMoon,forall theplanetsare at
Aspectto oneanother. Therewillbepersistent rainfromthe13thto the16th.Then
heat,and aboutthe24thexcessiveheat,whichwillbreakin thunder, sincethe
Sunand Marsareat Trine.At theendofthemonththerewillagainbe showers.
The beginning of May seesthereturn oftheroughand thundery conjunction
ofVenusand Mercury, unlessthedifference in theirlatitudes
saps itsforce.The
sizeofthisdifferenceis notquitecertain,as thedayalso isnot,sincethecalcula-
tionis as yetinaccurate On
(vitiosum). the 10th,11thand 12ththerewillbe cold
63 Thesis XXIV and notes 26 and 28 above.

b* It was not usual to
regard the (ecliptic) latitudes as making any contribution
to any aspect. Kepler mentionslatitudesagain in the next thesis (LV).

260 J.V. Field
rain,and perhapssnowin themountains, and theatmosphere willbe unhealthy.

Butwitha clearskyfrostis stillto be feared.For,apartfromtheAncientAspects,
wehaveone ofthenewones: Saturnand Marsareat Quintile. Therefollowsthe
mostdelightfull
mildness,withmoisture. At theend [ofthemonth]therewillbe
thunderand showers.
LVI
Sincewe do notknowthecause of theoveralldispositions of years,I must

writeofSummer as ifthestateoftheEarthin thisnextyearweregoingto be the
sameas intheonejustpast.IfAstrological predictions abouta parti-
(conjecturae)
cularyearprovemistakenI thinktheyshouldbe treatedwithindulgence, such
is ourignorance ofthecauses.For suchpredictions cannotbe regarded as point-
less,becausetheydeal withmatters thatare,undisputedly, ofthegreatestutility,
and becausetheymaybringto lightall thatis stillhidden.ThusI judgethatthe
beginning ofJunewillbe hotand clear;and thatafterthefullMoon therewill
be dangerous agitation,floodsand frequent If thegeneraldisposition
lightning.
oftheEarthwereto inclineto dryness therewouldbe no danger.On theother
hand,ifitinclines to humidity therewillnotbe lightningbutcontinualcoldrain.
Thesecondhalfofthemonthis markedbyAspectsinvolving stationaryPlanets.
Therewillbe agitation. I shouldthinkit likelythatthewholemonthwouldbe
rather cool,on accountofthequantity ofhumidity,exceptthatthewholeofthe
year 1601 has already been like If
that. thewhole yearwereto inclineto dryness,
thedryness wouldbe thatmuchgreaterin thismonth.
LVII
Julymustbe adjudgedsimilarly,andwiththesameambiguity. Forithaseigh-

teenAspects.Sincethereareroughly 150Aspectseachyear,we notethatthisyear
theyareconcentrated inthesixSummer months.The1st,2nd.5thand 6thwillbe
moderate, windyand showery. The 8thwillbe rainyand cold,the9thand 11th
windy.Butthe12th,13thand 14thwillbe troubled bytheConjunction ofVenus
and Mercury, whichis repeatedfourtimesthisyear.Therewillbe hugestorms.
The 18th,19thand 21stwillbe unsettled,withthunderand showers.Thenthere
willbe clearskiesandgreatheat,forat thebeginning
ofAugustJupiterand Mars
willcometogether.
LVIII
In Augusttherewillat lastbe somecalm,and heat.On the5ththerewillbe

rain,and on the9th.Aroundthe15ththerewillbe coldrain,withthunder.
After
thattherewillbe heat,and on the 19thgreatagitation.

Johannes
Kepler 261
LIX
Septemberwill be normalat first.On the 11ththerewill be rain and clouds;

the 15thand 17thwill be damp. But the 20thwill be verymuchtroubledby the
Conjunctionof Saturnand Mars. If warmthdominatestherewill now be fearful
storms.But iftheyearis generallydamp,therainsthatgatheron thosedays will
makethemovercast,and cold. Therewillbe manyclouds.The 27thwillalso bring
clouds. The otherdays will be normal.
LX
On the 5th of October therewill be cold rains. For the rest,the condition
of thismonthwill depend on that of the precedingSeptember.For, as we have
said manytimes,it makes a greatdifference in whatconditioneach monthfinds
the Earth.The 3rd,9th and 27thwillhave rainstorms. The 28thand 29thwill be
loud withwindsand rain; butI thinkheatwillovercomethem;althoughthenature
of certainwinds is verycold, because of the regionsfromwhich theyblow.
LXI
November,too, will be fairlytypical.The 5thwill be troubledwithhail and

sharpwinds.The 15thwill be changeableand warm,because Jupiterand Venus
are at Sextileat thistimeof theyear.The 18thwill have rainsor, if it wereto be
clear,thefirstfrost.But I do notbelieveWinterwillsetin yet.For at theend ofthe
monthJupiterformsa configuration withMars and Venus,so we shall see days
that are warm,and rainstorms,withwinds,whichmay make it cold here and
there.
LXII
Let us takethebeginning ofWinterto be 3 December,a day ofsnowand clouds,

though not particularlycold. From then on the weatherwill be clear, since no
Aspects are at work, and because of theirabsence the cold will be moderate.
On the 15th,snow. And on the 19thnot settledcold but strongwindsand rain-
storms.At Christmas,Saturn and Mars are at Sextile,whichwill reinforcethe
cold; latertheSextileof Venus and Mercurywillmakean additionalcontribution
of snow.
LXIII
I have passed over the configurations

of the Moon withthe Planets,for the
reason mentionedabove65. However, for reasons that have been explained66,
65 At the
beginningof Thesis LIV above.
66 See Theses XLVI and XLVII above.

262 J.V. Field
we mustnot neglectits conjunction(congressus)withthe Sun, beforethe begin-

ningofthenewyear,whichcauses a Solar eclipse,and thepair of fullMoons which
giveLunar eclipsesin oppositepartsof thesky-one at 17° 48' of Gemini,whose
onsetherein Praguewas observedto occur at 5 hr7 minon 9 December,and its
end at 8 hr33 min,in verygood agreementwithTycho's calculation67;and the
otherwill occuron 4 June1602at 13° 32' of Sagittarius,beginningat 4 hr 52 min
afternoon, beneaththe horizon,so thatthe Moon willrisecompletelydark,and
endingat 9 hr 16 min68.1 observedtheonsetof theSolar eclipseon 24 December
[1601] at 1 hr 17 min. The centrewas at 2 hr42 min at 2° 53' of Capricorn,its
depthbeingtendigitsfromtheNorth69.The Sun setbeforetheend of theeclipse.
This Eclipse is verynoteworthy, since if Eclipsesdo have powerit will have very
pronouncedEffects,particularlyin the North, where its depth was greatest.
However,I thinkwe have no information as to whether,or how, it will affectthe
year thatfollowsit. For Ptolemy's rulesare ill-defined,and notin close conformity
withNature70.In 1598a verydeep eclipsetookplace in Pisces.When,in thefollow-
ing September,the Sun came to the oppositesign,Virgo,therewas copious rain.
In 1600 therewas an Eclipse in Cancer. When the Sun returnedto Geminiand
Cancer,boththatparticulartimeand the whole of the subsequentSummerwere
damp. Let thoselearnedin thesemattersconsiderwhetherit would be legitimate
to deduce thatthe significance of thiseclipse [of 24 December 1601] will appear
only in December 1602 and the Winterthatfollows,and thatI shouldread it as
an indicationof extremecold. For if Eclipses exercisetheirforcethroughthe
constellationfigure(for in admittingthe apparentphenomenonof the Eclipse
it seemswe also admitthe apparentphenomenonof the constellationin whichit
occurs71)thenall threeeclipseswillaffectthe rays of Jupiterand Mars; so they
indicatethatwe mustexpectthemisfortunes associatedwithJupiter, suchas heat,
and corruptedhumoursand the misfortunes that arise fromsuch things.
LXIV
AnotherEclipse of the Moon will be visiblein the West on 28 November.

Accordingto Tycho's calculation,herein Prague it will startalmost at sunrise,
67 Dates are as usual New

Style, and times are measured from noon. There is a
descriptionand discussionof theseobservationsin Ad Vitellionem Paralipomena,Chap-
terXI, ProblemXXI (KGW 2, pp. 316-317).
68 Observationsof this
eclipse are analysedin Ad Vitellionem
Paralipomena,Chapter
XI, Problem XX (KGW 2, pp. 313-314).
69 That the
is, eclipse was partial,the Moon passingto the North of the Sun, and at
the centreof the eclipse the limb of the Moon reached a point ten twelfthsof the way
across the diameterof the Sun. Kepler describes observationsof this eclipse in Ad
VitellionemParalipomena,ChapterXI, ProblemXIII (KGW 2, pp. 306-307).
70 nee naturaeadmodum
conformia.See Ptolemy TetrabiblosBook II.
71 The
eclipse (of the Sun) is not an objectivephenomenon,but merelya function
of the position of the observer.This positionalso definesthe constellationin whichthe
eclipse is seen, since the position of the Earth in space definesthe direction in which
we see the Sun (i.e. its place in the Zodiac at the time of the eclipse).

A Lutheran Johannes
whentheMoonis setting. Sincethiseclipseoccursbelowourhorizon,as too does

theEclipseof theSun whichwillbe seenin theWeston 19 June,whatis there
aboutit to stirup tragicexclamations? People makethemselves look foolish
whentheyclaimthatit is a portent thatthereare so manyeclipsesin a single
year-as iftherewerenotfourorfiveeveryyear,ifweincludeall thatarevisible
fromanypartoftheEarth.ThesepeoplearemisledbytheEphemerides recently
published by Origanus, in which he calculatedall the that
eclipses take place
all overtheGlobe,whichsomeofhispredecessors werenotin thehabitofdo-
ing72.Otherwise, we shouldperhapsnot have heardcriesof woe about these
eclipseswhich occurbelowourhorizon;forthosewhoare makingthecriesare
lostin futilewonderat whattheytaketo be something newin the skywhen
it is reallyonlysomething newin Origanus' method.
LXV
One is on veryunsuregroundin sayinganything abouttheharvest. For be-

causeitinvolves naturalthings (all know of God's Providence) theharvestpartly
dependson accidentalcauses,and partlyon the generaldisposition of years,
mentioned above73;and theformer causesare,bytheirverynature,notpredict-
able,whilethelattercause is as yetstillnotunderstood. The parts[ofthesky]
whichAstrologers assignto grain,wine,oil andwheatforthepositionofJupiter
in thechartofthecardinalpoint74, thesearethewildestofdreams.You inquire
why no wine willbe this
forthcoming year?Becausetheyearwascoldand damp.
Whoever hasforeseen thelatterfacthas foreseen theformer onefromthatalone.
Why was the restof the harvest plentifulin some places and scantyin others?
Becausefromsomeinternal and,as I havearguedabove,as yetsecretdisposition
of theEarthsomepartsof thegroundweredampand theSummeradequately
fine,whereasin otherplacestherewas dryness, whichis unfavorable to crops,
and it was followedbyearthquakes75. Sometimes, indeed,theyearis good,but
suddenly, oneday,frostor a hailstorm damagestheuplands,or a floodthelow-
lands;and thishappensonlyovera smallarea,according to thedirectionofthe
wind.Thusthenatureofthewindsis ofgreatimportance. Andinthisregionhere
thewindsare forthemostpartveryunsettled. Thusit is theheightof stupidity
to lookforothercausesoftheseeventsinthefigures forthecardinalpoints,when
obviouscausesforthemare beforeoureyes.And lest,as a newcomer, I should
seemto be attacking theart[ofAstrology], I appealto theauthority ofCardano
and Tycho76.
72 David Origanus Novaeannorum XXXVI (1596-1630),Frankfurt,
Ephemerides
1599.
73 ThesisXLV.
74 That is, 'houses'in the 'birthchart'fortheyear(ThesisXLIX).
astrological
75 Hot weatherwas
commonly supposedto cause earthquakes,
so in thiscase they
arepresumably adducedas furtherevidenceofheat,ratherthanmentioned as a further
hazardto thecrops.
76 Girolamo Cardano De Subtilitate LibriXXI (Nuremberg, 1550),Book XVI,
p. 311etseqq,andLibelliQuinque, I: De Supplemente Almanachetc(Nuremberg, 1547),

264 J.V. Field
LXVI
I shall take into account the one cause, namelystorms,since we are as yet
unsureabout the others77.In Southernregions,an earlySpringwill bringout
buds on thetreesbeforetheirtime,and whiletheyare stilltender,theintemperate
weatherof the succeedingMarch will damage them.At ourown latitude,nothing
normallycomes out as earlyin theyearas that,sincetheweatheris usuallycold,
witha Northwind. The Springwill be favorableforcrops, but thereare risks
on 10,11 and 12 May, as mentionedabove78.Junepresentsa threatto the vine,
whichwill be in flower,forthenand in the followingmonth,July,therewill be
widespreaddamagefromexcessivehumidity or hailstorms.August,Septemberand
Octoberseem favorableforwine,so long as the grapesremainon the vine,and
also favorable for grain. However, there will be a risk around 20 Sep-
tember.
LXVII
As for diseases, all physiciansknow that when the atmosphereis disturbed

our bodies are also disturbed.Since thereare indicationsthatthe Winterwill be
changeable,therewillalso be manydiseases,particularly at thebeginning ofMarch
and May. Moreover,sincethe Summertoo appears to be disturbed,theAutumn
followingit will be veryfull of corruption,on account of the comingtogether
of Saturn and Mars, and therewill be manyAutumndiseases,plague in some
places whereit is broughtby a harmfulwind; particularly if one takes account
of the Eclipsesin the mannerwe have discussed.I have mainlypointedout those
days whichwill be troubledby numerousAspects. They will bringdiseases in
suitablydisposed subjects,and will be more difficult days forthosewho are al-
readyill. When a man has alreadytaken to his bed, or whenharmfulhumours
are already movingto and fro in his body, then indeed one cannot continue,
as I have so fardone, to neglecttheconfigurations of the Moon withthe [other]
planets, particularlywith the Sun. For these configurations more particularly
affectand move humours(as witnessthat huge Chaos of humours,the Ocean),
and I shall not denythatit is usefulto considerthemin medicalmatters.Let the
physician,if he can, refrainfromtreatinga seriouslyweakenedpatientwhenthe
Moon is in a powerfulAspect. For everyAspect is of itselfa naturalpurgation.
But ifstrongpurgesare needed,lethim,on thecontrary, choose powerfulAspects.
Indeed, the whole businessof Crises dependsupon the returnof the Moon and
its configurations with the Planets, and it is vain to seek explanationsfor it
elsewhere.
Aphorisms 111 and 112, p. 292. Tycho Brahe De Nova Stella (Copenhagen, 1573)
(TychonisBrahe ... Opera Omnia, vol.1, p. 43).
77 That
is, the other causes discussed in the previous thesis (LXV).
78 Thesis LV.

A Lutheran Johannes
LXVIII
In mattersofpoliticsandwaran Astrologer clearlyhasan opinionto express,

assuming thatI amcorrect inwhatI saidabove,inconnection withthefoundations
ofAstrology, aboutthecorrespondance betweensoulsand theconfigurations in
theheavens.For whenstrongAspectsare at work,everykindof soul,whatever
itsnaturalformof operation, iftheAspectis fa-
is alertand lively,particularly
miliarto theindividualconcerned fromhis birthchart.Thissympathy is notdue
to thetemperatment ofthebody,as whentheheavensaffect theatmosphere, the
atmosphere affects
thetemperament ofthebodyandthetemperatment ofthebody
affectsthesoul; on thecontrary, thesympathy is directly
between thesoul and
theheavens,becausethe soul is akinto lightand Harmony, and afterwards it
transforms itsbodyalso. And,sincemanis a socialanimal,soulswillassociate
mostcloselyforpublicpurposeswhentheraysoftheplanetsare associatedwith
oneanother, in theheavens.Moreover,
geometrically, thisbusinesscan be hand-
led moresuccessfully ifthereis an accordamongthebirthchartsof thosewho
(in Tycho'sphrase)havetheirhandon thetillerof thepublicfate.
LXIX
Butitis reallytheheight offollyto lookforpredictions aboutspecificmatters,

suchas thosewhocravemarvels seekin Calendars.WhatI havesaidin regardto
meteorology applieshereas well; nothing canbe lookedforfromAstrology except
theprediction ofsomeexcessintheinclination ofsouls,whatthisinclination will
lead to in future is determined
realities by man'sfreewill(arbitrium) in political
matters - formanis theimageof God, not merely theoffspring of Nature- as
wellas byothercauses.Thuswhether therewillbe peaceorwarinsomeparticular
region is a matter forthe judgement thosewhoareexperienced
of in politics,
for
theirpowerofprediction is no lessthanthatoftheAstrologer. Forthestatehas a
will(morem), if I maycall it such,no less [significant in thismatter]thanthe
influence oftheheavens.Ifthereiswar in someregion,itwillbe on thefollowing
daysthatthesoulsof thesoldiersand thecommanders willbe readyforstrata-
gems,fights, skirmishes and othermovements: 12 January;5, 14and24 February;
5 and 14 March;5 and 25 April;4, 12 and 31 May; 9 and 21 June;8, 13 and
19 July;1,9, 15,25 and 30 August;20 and 27 September; 3 October;5, 18 and
30 November;25 December.For experience confirms this[effect].
LXX
Thereseemto be no signsin theheavensofmovements thatareuniversal or

verynoteworthy or entirelynew,sinceSaturnand Jupiter do not formany
thisyear79
configuration theheavens
; although areonlyone,albeitthemostgeneral,
cause and signof greatmovements.
79 AspectsbetweenSaturnand Jupiter
(whichoccurrelatively sinceboth
rarely,
planetsmoveslowly)wereconsidered
particularly Kepler
powerful. considereditsigni-

266 J.V. Field
For sublunarythings,thereare othermore specificand genuinesigns,which

it is not an Astrologer'sbusinessto foresee.Thus, let us considerthe earthquake
whichin September1601 shook an area not accustomedto earthquakes,namely
the Rhine and regionsnearby.They say it was felteven in Milan (Insubriam).
It is not fromAstrologythatI make thisstatement, sincethereis no starforearth-
quake, butfromobservationof theworld,and of all ages, fromwhichwe see that
movementof armamentsand men's souls usuallyfollowearthquakes.
LXXI
At most, we may add fromAstrologyfour thingsthat are of outstanding

significance:the Eclipse of the Sun in 3° of Capricorn,the Sextileof Saturnand
Mars at station,whichwill last foralmostall of Januaryand February,and will
returnin June,the Conjunctionof Jupiterand Mars at the end of July,and the
Conjunctionof Saturnand Mars in September.First,we know fromexperience
thatunderthesetwo conjunctionssouls are benumbed,fearfulor tensewithex-
pectationof newthings,a situationwhichhas greatinfluenceon a largeassembly
ofmengatheredtogether in one place,incliningeitherto a successfulenterprise orto
as
disaster, experience of war bears witness. The disaster at Eger in '96 happened
at an Oppositionof Jupiterand Mars80; the weddingat Paris took place when
Saturnand Mars were at Conjunctionin Scorpio in 157281.I thinkit would be
profitablefor the Masters and Governorsof the people to bear thisin mind as
theygo abouttheirbusiness.Rulingovera crowdrequiresgreatskill,and an under-
standingof the thingswhichlower public morale. Wheresoeverpeace and calm
are to be preferred,and thereis a riskof civildiscord,let therebe no assembliesin
August and September-let thembe dispersed,by an earlyremovalof the causes
of discontent,or let some new matterbe proposedwhichwillchangethedirection
of men's thoughts.If any bold deed is to be undertaken,whichmay be aided by
spreadingfear,let it be done in August; if it requirespersevering effort,let it be
in September.If the enemymakes an attackin thesemonths,let the defencebe
made withmeansto lowerhis morale.For it lies in our powerto affecthow these
thingsturnout; it is not a matterof completenecessity, as witnessan outstanding
example in the past year.
ficantthattheNew Star of 1604 appeared whenJupiterand Saturnwereclose to conjunc-

tion; see De Stella Nova (Prague, 1606, KGW 1).
80 The
city of Eger, In NorthernHungary,had been heroically(and successfully)
defendedagainstthe Turks in 1552, but it was capturedby MohammedII in 1596. The
storyof thesetwo sieges has forHungariansthe same kind of importancethatthe story
of the defeatof the Spanish Armada has forthe British.The Turks wereto hold the city
until 1687.
81 The massacreof St Bartholomew'sDay took place on 24 August 1572, duringthe
celebrationsattendingthe wedding of Henry of Navarre to Marguerite de Valois.

A Lutheran Johannes
LXXII
Furthermore, it is of greatassistanceforan armyto admireand believein

itscommander, foreveryvictory is a consequenceoftheimpulseofthesoul.And
if,by someadverseconsequence of his birthfigure,theleadershouldfallinto
there
disrepute, willbe a doubledanger, from thearmy's imaginingsand fromthe
fortune Thus,sincetheconjunction
ofbattle. ofSaturnandMarsoccurswhenthese
planetsarearisingoverPoland,and theSolareclipsewillbe deepestin Muscovy
and Poland,and sincethereis alreadywarin thoseparts,1 thinkthattheseare
signsofdisasterforthatregion;andifstimulation fromthebirthfigure becomes
strong,itwillbringon disaster.If,meanwhile, a securepeaceis established,
there
willbe absolutelyno dangerfromtheeffects of theheavensalone.
LXXII
Thirdly, theConjunction to whichwe havealreadyreferredis of significance

to ournativelandas well,forsincetheconjunction is ofsuchlongdurationthe
willbe determined
detailsofitseffects notbytheheavens butbysublunary causes.
For,though theSunseesandwarmseverything, itdoesnotbringforth vegetables
exceptwheretheyaresown.All thesame,on accountoftheearthquake and birth
figures82,and the of
Eclipse theSun,which affected
the state
ofthe Sun in France
{Gallia) and Spain,we shallexpectsomething unusualin Swabia,Switzerland,
theregionof Milan(Insubria)and thenearbypartof France.
LXXIV
I havementioned as wellas theconjunction

theSextile83 ofJupiter and Mars
becausetheyhaveconnections withthebirthfigures of somepeoplein public
life(πολιτενούσας).
The birthfigureswillactpowerfully
thisyear,to happyor ill
effect in accordancewiththeirindividual
(as God permits), character.However,
thefiery planetMarsmayharmsomenaturalthings, iftheyare notveryrobust,
sinceit lingersfora longtimein Virgo,and beingat opposition to theSun in
Marchwillbringtroublein anyNativity.
LXXV
I knowit is usualforAstrologersto predictfromtheConjunction ofJupiter

and Mars(which takesplacein 17°ofLibra)thatwe shallsee thedeathof some
outstanding
military ifthepositionof theconjunction
leader,particularly plays
82 Genèses, of important
presumably people;see ThesisLXXII aboveand Thesis
LXXIVbelow.
83OfSaturn and Mars,seeThesisLXXI above.

268 J·V. Field
an important partin the birthfigure of sucha one.Lestthisshouldlead us to

slandertheheavens,by asserting thattheyhavebeenso framedas to killmen,
letus explainitinanother way.Forthetruth ofthematter is thatsincethisAspect
is fiery in itsnature,and involvesbright planets,experience bearswitnessthatit
is also associatedwithnoblefamilies. Andsincealmosteverymotionofthebody
or soulor itstransition to a newstateoccursat a moment whenthefigure ofthe
heavenscorresponds to itsbirthfigure is
(which usually a matter only of certain
correspondences in detail),ithappensthatsomenotablemenwillbe mostgreatly
movedbytheseAspects,and otherslikethem,sinceso manysuchmenwerealso
bornundersuchAspects.Now thismovement leads to disasterforthosewho
are ill disposed,butin thesamewayit drawson to greatthingsthosewhoare
stronger byreasonoftheirage or stateofhealth.We mayseeeachofthesealter-
nativesthisyear,but thereis no necessity forthemto occur.
CONCLUSION
ThiscompleteswhatI thinkone maystateand defendon physicalgrounds

concerningthefoundationsofAstrology
andthecoming year1602.Ifthoselearned
in mattersof Physicsthinkthemworthy of consideration,and communicate to
metheirobjectionstothem,forthesake ofelicitingthetruth,I shall,ifGod grants
me theskill,replyto themin myprognostication forthefollowing year.I urge
all who makea seriousstudyof philosophy to engagein thiscontest.For it
concernsour worshipof God and thewelfareof thehumanrace. Meanwhile,
I prayfromthedepthsofmysoul,through Christourmediator, thatforall and
foreach thecomingyearmaybe a veryhappyone.
FINIS.
Bibliography
Aiton & Duncan (1981)

See Kepler trans. Aiton & Duncan (1981).
Alberti (1957)
Alberti, H. J. von, Mass und Gewicht,Berlin, 1957.
Aristotle
Meteorológica,trans. H. D. P. Lee, Heinemann (Loeb), 1962.
On coming-to-be and passing away, trans.E. S. Forster, Heinemann(Loeb), 1965.
Physics,trans. P. H. Wicksteed & F. M. Cornford, Heinemann (Loeb), 1970.
Brahe, Tycho
AstronomiaeInstauratae Progymnasmata,ed. Kepler, Prague, 1602 (reprinted
Brussels,Culture et Civilisation,1969).
TychonisBrahe Dani Opera Omnia, ed. J. L. E. Dreyer, 15 vols, Copenhagen,
1913-1929.

Johannes
Kepler 269
Bouché-Leclercq(1899)
Bouché-Leclercq,Α., U Astrologie Paris,1899(Reprinted
grecque, Culture
Brussels,
et Civilisation,
1963).
Bowden (1974)
in Astrology:the EnglishReformers,
Bowden,M. E., The ScientificRevolution
PhD thesis(Yale University),
1558-1686,unpublished 1974.
Boyer(1950)
Boyer,C. B., "Kepler's Explanationof the Rainbow". In AmericanJournalof
Physics,18, 1950,360-366.
Boyer(1959)
Boyer,C. B., TheRainbow: NewYork & London,1959.
to mathematics,
frommyth
Caesius,Georg
auffdas JarMDLXXXV,Nuremberg,
Astrologicum
Prognosticon 1584.
Prognosticon ... auffdas JahrMDH, Nuremberg,
Astrologicum 1602.
Capp (1979)
and thePopularPress,London,1979.
Capp,B., Astrology
Cardano, Girolamo
Basel, 1557.
De Rerumvarietate,
Caspar (1938)
Caspar,M., Kepler,ed. & trans.C. D. Hellman, London& New York,Abelard-
Schumann, 1959.(OriginalGermanedition:Stuttgart,1938.)
Caspar (1940)
in KGW 6.
Caspar,M., Nachbericht
Caspar & Hammer(1941)
and notesto De Fundamentis
Nachbericht in KGW 4.
Certioribus
Astrologiae
Coxeter (1975)
In: Vistasin Astronomy,
Coxeter,H. S. M., "Keplerand Mathematics". vol. 18,
1975,661-670.
Dürer, Albrecht
derMessungmitZirkelundRichtscheyt,
Unterweysung 1525.
Nuremberg,
Edmonds(1865)
or Moral Duties,trans.C. R. Edmonds,London,
Cicero'sThreeBooksof Offices,
1865.
Ernst (in press,1983)
e della profesianel pensierodi Galileo e di
Ernst,G., "Aspettidell'astrologia
Campanella".In Novitàcelestie crisidel sapere,eds. P. Galluzzi & W. R. Shea,
in press,1983.
Evans (1973)
Evans,R. J.W., RudolfII and his world,OxfordUniversity
Press,1973.
Field (1979)
Field, J.V., "Kepler's Star Polyhedra".In: Vistasin Astronomy,
vol.23, 1979,
109-141.

270 J. V. Field
Field (1981)
Field, J.V., Kepler's GeometricalCosmology,unpublishedPhD thesis (University
of London), 1981.
Field (1982)
Field, J.V., "Kepler's Cosmological Theories: theiragreementwith observation".
In QuarterlyJournalof the Royal AstronomicalSociety,23, 1982, 552-568.
Field (in press, 1982)

Field, J.V., "Kepler's Rejectionof Numerology".In Occultand Scientific
Mentalities
in the Renaissance,ed. B. Vickers, Cambridge UniversityPress, in press.
Field (in press, 1983)

Field, J.V., "Cosmology in the work of Kepler and Galileo". In Novità celestie
crisi del sapere, eds. P. Galluzzi & W. R. Shea, in press.
Galileo, Galilei
Le Opere di Galileo Galilei, Edizione Nazionale, ed. Favaro, 20 vols, Florence,
1890-1909. (Reprintedwith additions in the 1930s and 1960s.)
Garin (1969)
Garin, E., "Magic and Astrologyin the Civilisationof the Renaissance". In Science
and CivicLife in theItalian Renaissance,trans.P. Munz, New York, 1969(firstedition
in Medioevo e Rinascimento,Laterza, 1966).
Hammer (1963)
Nachberichtin KGW 8.
Jardine (1979)
Jardine,N., "The Forging of Modern Realism: Clavius and Kepler against the
Sceptics".In: Studiesin theHistoryand Philosophyof Science,vol. 10, 1979, 141-173.
Jenks (1983)
Jenks,S., "Astrometerologyin the Middle Ages". In Isis, 74, 1983, 185-210.
Kepler, Johannes
JohannisKepleriOpera Omnia,ed. C. Frisch, Frankfurt,1865. Abbreviatedto KOF.
JohannesKepler GesammelteWerke,ed. Walther von Dyck, Max Caspar et ai,
Munich, Beck, 1938- . Abbreviatedto KGW.
Kepler, trans. Απόν & Duncan (1981)

JohannesKepler.MysteriumCosmographicum. The Secretof the Universe.The second
editionof Kepler's work,reprintedwithtranslationby A. M. Duncan and introduc-
tion and commentaryby E. J. Aiton, New York, Abaris Books, 1981.
Kepler, trans. Genuit (1975)

Überdie zuverlässigerenGrundlagender Astrologie,trans.H. Genuit, Kassel, Rosen-
kreuz-Verlag,1975.
Kepler, trans. Meywald (1942)

Kepler Concerningthe More Certain Fundamentalsof Astrology[trans. Edmund
Meywald] New York, Clancy Publications Inc., 1942.
Kepler, trans. Rosen (1965)
Kepler's ConversationwithGalileo's Sidereal Messenger,trans.E. Rosen, New York
& London, 1965.

A LutheranAstrologer:JohannesKepler 271
KGW, see Kepler JohannesKepler GesammelteWerke.

Klein (1971)
Klein, υ. "JohannesKeplersBemühungenum die Harmonieschriftendes Ptolemaios
und Porphyrios".In: JohannesKepler Werk und Leistung,Linz, 1971, 51-60.
KOF, see Kepler JohannisKepleri Opera Omnia.

Koyré (1957)
Koyré, Α., From the Closed Worldto the InfiniteUniverse,Johns Hopkins, 1975.
Magini, Giovanni Antonio

Ephemeridescoelestiummotuum...ab anno Domini 1611 usque ad annum1630 ...,
Venice, 1616.
Origanus, David
EphemeridesNovae annorumXXXVI (1596-1630), Frankfurt,1599.
Peurbach, Georg
Theoricaenovae planetarum,ed. Melanchthon, Wittenberg,1535; ed. Reinhold,
Paris, 1553.
Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni
Disputationesadversus Astrologiamdivinatricem,
Bologna, 1495; and ed. E. Garin,
Florence, 1946 (2 vol).
Ptolemy, Claudius
Tetrabiblos,with trans,by Robbins, Heinemann (Loeb), 1971.
Ptolemy, trans. During (1934)

PtolemaiosundPorphyriosüberdie Musik. Von IngemarDuring.(German trans,of
theHarmonicaof Ptolemywithnotes based on the commentary of Porphyry.)Göte-
borg, 1934. (Göteborgs Högskolas ârsskrift.bd. 40, no. 1.)
Ptolemy, trans. Gogavinus (1562)
Harmonica,trans. Gogavinus, Venice, 1562.
Reinhold, Erasmus
Tabulae Prutenicae,Tübingen, 1551.
RiGHlNi(1976)
Righini, G.. "L'oroscopo galileano di Cosimo II de'Medici". In AnnalidelVIstituto
e Museo di Storia della Scienza di Firenze, 1, 1976, 29-36.
Rosen (1965), see Kepler, trans. Rosen (1965).
Rosen (in press, 1982)
Rosen, E., "Kepler's attitude toward Astrology and Mysticism". In Occult and
ScientificMentalitiesin theRenaissance,ed. B. Vickers, CambridgeUniversityPress,
in press.
Scaliger, Juuus Caesar
ExercitationesExotericae,Paris, 1557.
Shumaker (1972)
Shumaker,W., The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance, Universityof California
Press, 1972.
Simon (1975)
Simon,G., "Kepler's Astrology:The Direction of a Reform". In: Vistas in Astro-
nomy,vol. 18, 1975, 439-448.

272 J. V. Field
Simon (1979)
Simon,G., Kepler astronomeastrologue,Paris, 1979.
Stöfler, Johannes
XXIIII anni suspiciones,Tübingen, 1523.
Expurgatioadversus divinationum
Swerdlow (1973)
Swerdlow, N., "The Derivation and First Draft of Copernicus' PlanetaryTheory:
A Translation of the Commentariolus with Commentary".In: Proceedingsof the
AmericanPhilospohicalSociety,vol. 117, 1973, 423-512.
Thomas (1971)
Thomas, K.. Religionand the Decline of Magic, London, Weidenfeld& Nicholson,
1971.
Webster (1982)
Webster, C, From Paracelsus to Newton,Cambridge UniversityPress, 1982.
Science Museum
South Kensington
London
(ReceivedSeptember29, 1983)


Springer

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Springer

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Lutheran Astrologer: Johannes Kepler

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Historians tendto classastrology as one of the occultsciences,thoughthe

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Harmonica1, in whichmusicalconsonanceswereused to explainastrological

In theMysterium Cosmographicum Kepler presents and defendsthecosmo-

1 See Klein 1971 for Kepler's concernwith

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

In accountingfor the 'observed' astrologicalcharacterof each planet, in

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Keplermerely statesthathisprocedure seemsveryreasonable, without presenting

5 KGW 1. D.35. 1.22.

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

sonancesand aspects.Thus,evenbeforehe had readPtolemy'sHarmonica (this

Fig. 2. Musical consonances and astrologicalaspects, fromPtolemy Harmonica,trans.

The Mysterium Cosmographicum wentintoa secondeditionin 1621,and for

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

provedcapableofwriting offhard-won results

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

his opinionsabout the extentto whichan astrologer could legitimately make

14 These calendars are

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

to theair surrounding theEarth(ThesesV to XIV). Kepler nextturnsto the

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

liefs"(ThesisXLI). His laterandmuchfuller discussion ofthissoulinHarmonices

19Astronomia Nova,ChapterXIX,KGW3, p. 177,1.37etseqq.We maynotein

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Ad Keplerum paralipomena: the Zodiac and its parts

If Kepler's readerssenthimvastnumbers of letters fullof objections, their

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Fig. 3. The positionsof successiveconjunctions of Jupiterand Saturn,fromKepler,

In hisletterto Maestlin,Keplerdoesnotenterintofurther detailsconcerning

21 De StellaNova,ChapterI, KGW 1, p. 157, 11.9-10.

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

itis inthesphereofthefixedstars)andoftheories as to itsoriginandthematerial

Although Kepler's styleof reasoning

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Kepler givesno detailsofthisobservational in De Fundamentis

"In theyear1592,on 9 July,New Style,[sucha conjunction tookplace]in

Kepler citesseventeen such examples,givingvaryingquantitiesof detail,

"You saythatyouhaveconfirmed byexperience, inmeteorology,theexistence

Kepler repliedto thisletteron 5 April1608,givingBrenggerwhathe had

"I couldgivemanyexamples ofexperience inregard

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Fig. 4. Correspondenceof astrologicalaspectsand harmonicratios,froma letterwritten

aspects[i.e.noneof thestandardaspects,fromPtolemy;see Figure2], and

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

In anycase,in Tertius he saysthattakingdailyweather

Astrological aspects and musical consonances

We haveseenthatin theMysterium Cosmographicum Kepler useshispoly-

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

inwhichKepler stateswhichpolygons hewillneedto exclude, andgivesgrounds

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

separateexplanations ofthemusicaland astrological ratios.A letter to Heydon,

43 Kepler to Heydon,October1605,letter357, 11.179et seqq, KGW 15, p. 236

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Not onlydo themathematical resultsusedin HarmonicesMundiLibriV date

"Therewillbe fivebooksor chapters.

WhenKepler decidedto assignseparategeometrical causesto musicalcon-

BookI Theregular whichgiveriseto harmonic

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.56 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 07:13:12 AM

Book III The originof harmonicproportionsand the natureof and differences

Book IV The harmonicconfigurations of theraysof starsat theEarth,and their