The Book of the Composition of Alchemy (published on February 11, 1144)

I thought it might be interesting to look at the day this book was published, to see what was in the heavens. The text of the book can be seen here.

I arbitrarily chose 9 am on the day in question, just to see what pops up. Of course, due to the Julian calendar date in 1144 being out by 7 days to our later Gregorian calendar, this day shows up, in our present time, as February 18th. There are two inconjuncts, perhaps indicative of the two cultures at work in Spain around that time: Islam and Christianity.

Moon Inconjunct Uranus

With this aspect you must learn to control sudden outbursts of emotion that occur at difficult times when you least expect it. Also your present home life may not be a stable situation in which you can grow up emotionally secure and confident. A particular incident when you were very young may have given you the feeling that you can’t count on anything or anyone for support. Later in life, you may try very hard to get away from anything that reminds you of your earliest childhood, even if your childhood has not been difficult. You just feel that you have to get away and go somewhere else.

You should be encouraged to express your inner feelings and release the tensions that build up within you. In this way you will not be hurt by energies that you aren’t aware of in yourself.

Venus Inconjunct Neptune

This aspect means that your attitudes about love and affection are very idealistic, as will become clearer later in life. Also it can be a sign of creative artistic ability if there are other indications of creativity in your chart. And, of course, you must begin the appropriate training while you are young.

This aspect will work out with the fewest problems if you get a great deal of emotional support from your parents and other loved ones. You are willing to serve, help and assist those you love, but you may honestly feel that you don’t deserve to be loved unless you are forced to serve your loved one in some way. This is because you feel that loving someone requires you to make sacrifices and to deny your own needs and that love may not necessarily make you feel good and warm.

(I leave it to you, the reader, to decide which aspect relates to which religious outlook.)

I am reminded, though, that the second inconjunct sounds very much like the concept of “Courtly Love” from the Age of Chivalry (1170 – 1220). Hmm.