Part 3: Enhancing Durability and Oracular Power
With the celestial and chthonic gateways established in Part 2, Julianus now turns to matters of practical concern. The god has descended. The image is ensouled. But what helps to ensure the continuous presence and reliability? This section identifies the specific astrological conditions by which divine images are not only enlivened but granted stability and prophetic capability.
Statue of Selene, the Greek moon goddess, whose aspects were essential in Julianus’s astrological rules for enduring and spiritually potent image consecration.
Rule 6: Foundations in Fixed Signs and Favorable Moon in Image Consecration
Delay the enshrinement whenever the zodiacal signs are ‘fixed’ (στερεά) and ‘many rising’ (πολυανάφορα), the witnessing planets (οἱ μαρτυροῦντες) firmly support (στηρίζωσι) the inception, and the Moon’s contacts (αἱ συναφαί τῆς Σελήνης) are both numerous and favorable (καλαί).
Julianus begins with a condition that promotes permanence in the effects of the image. This rests on the selection of a moment that utilizes fixed signs and signs of long ascension. The former, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, are resistant to change and imbue the image with the resilience of their seasonal qualities. When the Sun is in the fixed signs, that season’s conditions are stable and will not change. The latter, Cancer through Sagittarius, are “many rising,” their ascensional motion slow and extended with many more stars, allowing the planets to remain influential for a longer period. This principle is echoed in the Picatrix centuries later.
The phrase “firmly support” (στηρίζωσι) likely refers to the sign’s angularity, which Julianus mentions later. The ascendant or eastern horizon is where the gods influence the beginning of things. The midheaven is the highest point in the heavens and closest to the upper world.
The Moon always plays a mediating role. As the nearest celestial body and transmitter of influence to the sublunar world, its condition is of utmost importance. Numerous and favorable aspects from the Moon indicate pathways for the gods to bestow beneficial influence. Each contact she makes has the potential to help or harm the operation.
Practical Application:
Select fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) to stabilize the election
Favor long-ascension signs (Cancer through Sagittarius) to extend durability
Time the ritual when the Moon applies to multiple benefic aspects
Avoid configurations in which the Moon receives hard aspects from malefics
Rule 7: The Role of Spear-Bearers: Attendant Gods in the Image
But when the houses (οἱ τόποι) or the planets that signify the god’s face (οἱ σημαίνοντες τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ) are seen to be under spear‑bearers (ὑπὸ δορυφόρων ὁρῶνται), the image already installed (ὁ ἱδρυθεὶς) will even bring forth another god (ἕτερον θεόν).
This aphorism expands the scope of astrological images. A single image may not be limited to a single god. Through doryphory, translated here as “spears” or spear-bearers, additional deities can inhabit the image in addition to the primary god.
Spear bearing planets are a Hellenistic concept where other planets function like guards. They can be envisioned as guards in a palace, standing at attention and holding a spear to guard the throne. In the astral realm, the planetary gods are eternally acting out the many stories in their myths. At times they’re battling each other, or making peace, alliances, or having sexual relationships. The spear-bearers are coming to the assistance of another god who they’ve made a temporary alliance with and can guard them from harmful astral light being cast at them or provide extra strength. Claudius Ptolemy in the first century says of them,
“For example, should the two luminaries be found in masculine signs and in angles, or even if only one of them be in an angle, they being at the same time specially attended by a doryphory (spear-bearer) composed of all the five planets; the Sun by such as are oriental, but the Moon by occidental, the persons then about to be born will consequently become kings or princes.” Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos
Plainly speaking, spear-bearers or attendants can be understood with four main points.
- Planets with attendants should be angular (1st or 10th houses).
- The Sun and Moon can best use attendants in the 1st or 10th houses.
- Planets in their domicile or exaltation, in any of the angular houses, can have attendants.
- Attendants ideally match the chart’s sect, like Jupiter and Saturn in a day chart, or Mars and Venus in a night chart. The Sun and Moon can act as attendants in some situations. The diurnal attendants rise or cast rays before the Sun and nocturnal attendants follow or cast rays behind the Moon.
When the significator planet has a spear-bearer, the image or statue will also emanate it’s influence strongly and presents a unique opportunity to bring the influence of multiple planets. The helpful influence of these attendants have a harmful counterpart. Besiegement, when a significator is flanked by malefics without the mediation of benefics, compromises the operation.
Practical Application:
Secure the god’s significator with angular, sect-aligned, and dignified planets acting as spear-bearers
Prioritize angular houses (1st and 10th) for spear-bearers
A properly supported significator may introduce a secondary or companion deity within the image
Avoid besiegement: configurations in which the significator is enclosed by malefics without benefic mediation
Rule 8: Oracular Influences: Hermes, Helios, and the Midheaven
If it is with spears (δορυφορηθεὶς) at the midheaven (μεσουράνημα) by Helios (Ἥλιος) and Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) while those two are in the ninth sign (ἐν τῷ θʹ ὄντων) and Selene (Σελήνη) is in aspect, the statue will be eminent in its oracles. But when Hermes is separating (Ἑρμοῦ ἀπορρέοντος), retrograde (ἀναποδίζοντος), afflicted in mute signs (ἐν ἀφώνοις κακουμένου) or will be harmed (ἢ κακοῦσθαι μέλλοντος), the oracles will stop.
This rule concerns oracular functions. The image’s capacity to issue communication from Helios depends on a configuration centered on Mercury (Hermes), the Sun (Helios), and the Moon (Selene). When Mercury is configured as the Sun’s spear-bearer in angular houses, specifically the 9th and 10th, and properly aspected by the Moon, the image becomes oracular. It should be noted that at the time the text was written (5th century), the midheaven was considered to encompass the 9th and 10th houses.
As the highest point in the sky, the midheaven was where a god had the most prominent place in the heavens. The ascendant was the initiation of an action and the exit from the underworld while the descendant was its entrance. The Imum Coeli, opposite the midheaven, was the deepest part of Tartarus and the seat of Hades.
The ninth house governs divine knowledge, prophecy, and dreams. For Hellenistic astrologers it also represented “the decrees of the god”. The tenth governs action, public appearance, and institutional authority and also represented “the actions of the god”. Hermes, the messenger of Helios, positioned in the ninth and attending him, enables messages to be transmitted. The Moon’s role, as always, is to mediate and funnel these influences into the world of matter. A separating or afflicted Mercury, especially when retrograde or placed in mute signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), interrupts or blocks attempts to obtain oracles through the image.
The words prophecy and oracle are popularly thought of as predicting the future, but its older meaning was much more encompassing. In ancient times, it encompassed a wide range of experiences. According to Iamblichus this included having dreams of a god or angel, performing divination using a variety of techniques, or all. The gods were in control of the divination performed, and the quality could be of a wide range of accuracy depending on how closely the theurgist’s soul was aligned to the divine. Predictions were not necessarily the objective; the development of the soul was.
Prophesying was also done by deliberately inducing altered states of consciousness, much like shamanic rites. This was done in hopes of encountering a divine being while having an out of body experience, lucid dream, astral projection or speaking in a type of trance mediumship. It encompassed a wide range of things that we now term extrasensory perception. When the person perceived divinity and told others what they encountered, they were speaking for that god. The temples of Asclepius and Hygeia were renowned for their shrines housing sacred statues that induced dream visions while sleeping in their presence that could heal people or show them an effective remedy.
This was among the most important functions of temple priests. The study of subjects that are now considered nonreligious in nature, like mathematics or grammar, were viewed by the ancients as divine. Grammar, for instance, was an attribute of Hermes or Mercury. Mathematics in its purest form was the study of the Demiurge. Temple priests spent every waking moment in devotion to one or more gods, studying, contemplating, meditating, and performing divination. A divine image that emanated a prophetic influence, essentially freezing an unusually rare and fortunate moment into an object, would be especially valuable for imparting inspiration and creativity in many endeavors.
Practical Application:
Place significator planets in the 9th house for oracular influences
Ensure the Moon applies to this configuration
Mercury must be direct, unafflicted, and not in mute signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) if the image is solar
Evaluate Mercury carefully in all cases where prophetic influence is desired
Julianus’s Rules Part 4: Avoiding Harm and the Final Arbiter of Fortune
Where Part 3 addressed the constructive conditions that enhance durability and oracular efficacy, Part 4 turns to the necessary work of safeguarding. Astrological consecration does not end with successful enshrinement; it remains subject to ongoing celestial influences—both benefic and adverse. In this concluding section, Julianus introduces diagnostic principles for identifying harmful configurations, interpreting the signs of diminishing efficacy, and recognizing the Part of Fortune as an important arbiter of the image’s longevity. Here, the focus shifts from activation to preservation, examining how divine presence may be sustained or jeopardized over time.
To understand the vulnerabilities that follow consecration and how to navigate them, continue on to Part 4: Avoiding Harm and the Final Arbiter of Fortune