The Hermetica

SHELF III · The Figures

The Celestial Figures

Zodiacal men and horoscope diagrams — the astrological broadsides by which an older world read a person into the sky. (The star maps proper live next door, at The Firmament.)

The Zodiac Man — from the Très Riches Heures, The Limbourg brothers, c. 1416

c. 1416

The Zodiac Man

The body as a small sky, governed limb by limb.

Anatomical Man
The Bloodletting Man — from a physician’s almanac, German woodcut, maker unknown, c. 1550

c. 1550

The Bloodletting Man

How an older medicine reasoned, drawn on the wall.

The Melothesia — from an astrological-medical treatise, Engraver unknown, c. 1660

c. 1660

The Melothesia

The seven planets mapped onto the organs they ruled.

The Children of Saturn — from the Medieval Housebook, The Master of the Housebook (attributed), c. 1480

c. 1480

The Children of Saturn

A whole sociology drawn down from a single star.

The Children of Saturn
The Children of the Moon — from the Medieval Housebook, The Master of the Housebook (attributed), c. 1480

c. 1480

The Children of the Moon

Astrology as social portrait — the sky sorting humankind.

The Children of Luna
The Seven Planets — from a set of planetary engravings, Engraver unknown, c. 1530

c. 1530

The Seven Planets

The sky’s governors on parade, as classical gods.

Pegius’ Sheet of Nativities — from the Geburtsstundenbuch, Martin Pegius, 1570

1570

Pegius’ Sheet of Nativities

A worldview in which the heavens were a public timetable.

The Figure of a Nativity — from a book of astrology, Engraver unknown, c. 1647

c. 1647

The Figure of a Nativity

A whole discipline built to complete one ruled square.

The Twelve Celestial Houses — from an engraved nativity of Alexander the Great, Engraver unknown, c. 17th century

c. 17th century

The Twelve Celestial Houses

The sky drawn as a house with twelve doors.