Physiological Equivalents
Astrologers have studied relationships between different parts of the body and their health or illness since ancient times. Comparing horoscopes with peoples' physical appearance and ailments follows simple correspondences between parts of the body, planets, signs, and houses.
Planets
- Sun: Heart, circulation
- Moon: Stomach, breasts, bodily fluids, mucous membranes, mental health
- Mercury: Spinal cord, nervous system as "body information system", breathing organs
- Venus: Renal system, kidneys, veins, skin as a sensory organ
- Mars: Male sexual organs, muscles, blood, arteries
- Jupiter: Liver
- Saturn: Skeletal frame, teeth, hair, skin as body's boundary
- Uranus: Nervous system as transmitter of stimuli
- Neptune: Pituitary gland
- Pluto: Sexual organs, large intestine, rectum
Signs
- Aries: Head
- Taurus: Mouth, throat, neck, and esophagus, (and sometimes shoulders)
- Gemini: Trachea and lungs, shoulders, arms and legs
- Cancer: Breasts, chest, stomach (and sometimes abdomen)
- Leo: Heart, spine, circulation
- Virgo: Small intestine, abdomen
- Libra: Lumbar region, lower back, kidneys, bladder, skin as an organ of contact
- Scorpio: Sexual organs, large intestine, pelvis, rectum
- Sagittarius: Hips and upper-thighs, liver
- Capricorn: Skeletal frame, knees
- Aquarius: Lower leg, ankles
- Pisces: Feet
Medical astrology also accepts a close correspondence between houses and signs of the same number. For example, both Aries as the first sign and the first house of the horoscope rule the head.
According to the German astrologer Ulrike Voltmer, "in reality, everything is in everything: all the astrological principles are present throughout the whole body. Oxygenated (Mercury-Gemini) blood (Mars-Aries) pulses (sun-Leo) through the whole body which burns (Mars-Aries) and converts sugar (Jupiter) into energy. The nutrients (Mercury-Virgo) in the blood are used to nourish the cells (Venus-Taurus) and promote cell growth (Jupiter). The body is detoxified (Venus-Libra) and waste expunged (Pluto-Scorpio). The nervous (Mercury and Uranus) and lymphatic systems (moon-Cancer) permeate bodily tissue. ... The idea of associating individual organs and parts of the body with particular astrological principles is based on their specialised functions."
See also
Weblinks
- Astrological Physiognomy from Ptolemy to the Present Day (Bernard Eccles, 2002)
- Working Paper on Astrological Physiognomy (Regulus Astrology 2010/ 2011; PDF)
- astrofaces (Research study with photographs)
Notes and References
- ↑ Made between 1411 and 1416. The signs of the zodiac correspond to each part of the body, starting with Pisces, the feet, and working up their way to the head, with Aries, the ram, that has sacred connotations. In each top corner are painted the arms of the Duke of Berry. Each area is complemented by four Latin inscriptions describing the properties of each sign according to the four complexions (hot, cold, wet or dry), the four temperaments (choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic) and the four cardinal points: "Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are warm and dry, choleric, masculine, Eastern" in the upper left; "Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are cold and dry, melancholy, female, Western" in the upper right; "Gemini, Aquarius and Libra are hot and humid, sanguine, masculine, Southern" in the lower left; "Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are cold and wet, phlegmatic, feminine, Northern" in the lower right
- ↑ Medieval illustration
- ↑ Medieval German illustration
- ↑ Modern astromedical illustration