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Thanks for the links! I already found Ben's and Chris's blogs a few days ago and very much enjoyed reading both of them. These are without a doubt in my mind two of the emerging younger-generation scholars of traditional astrology who will have among the strongest positive impacts upon both astrological practice and the broader world's respect for astrology in their lifetimes. Keep up the great work!

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First of all I would like to congratulate Ben Dykes on his translation of Guido Bonatti?s Liber Astronomiae. All serious astrologers should be grateful for the dedicated work that he has put into this project.

The subject I would like to discuss is Bonatti?s description of the rule ?collection of light?, which appears on page 360 of Book 1. He writes,

??the ascendant was Sagittarius, 14?; and Jupiter in it, 15?; and the Sun (who was the significator of the Church position) in Gemini, 14?; and Saturn in Aries, in 18?. And each one was joined to Saturn, and [Saturn] himself collected the light of each??

The problem is that any planet in opposition to the Sun, in this instance Jupiter, will be retrograde. This means that Jupiter is separating from Saturn and not applying to it, therefore Saturn cannot collect the light of Jupiter. Consequently, this example is not a collection of light. It is hard to believe that such a well-respected astrologer as Guido Bonatti could have made such a simple mistake.

Lynn Thorndike in his History of Magic and Experimental Science, volume 5, pages 345-6, wrote regarding Johann Engel, also known as Johannes Angelus, regarding his book Astrolabium planum that, ?? the faculty of theology of the University of Paris condemned in part in its report to the Parliament of Paris. Later Tycho Brahe was to censure its astrology severely saying that there was scarcely one line of truth in it?.

Thorndike also wrote, ?According to Wickersheimer it was from 1489 to 1491 that he worked for Ratdolt at Augsburg as proof-reader?. As regards Bonatti?s Ten Tractates of Astronomy Thorndike wrote, ?Kobolt represented Engel as editing them, while Mittarelli made him the proof-reader of the astronomical and mathematical works, which were published by Ratdolt and Sanritter?. Is it possible that Engel was responsible for the error in the above example of collection of light?