I have just read ibn Erzr's 120 aphorisms and found several term I don't recognize and can't find them in the chart. I hope someone can help me with this.

In 18. aphorism:

If a baleful planet should be east of the Sun, in a sign wherein it exerts an influence, and if no other unfavourable planet is in aspect with it, then it is better than the favourable one which scintillates or is retrograde.

He mentions a planet that SCINTILLATES. How can we see in a chart whether a planet scintillates or not?

In 83. aphorism:

The star in its aphelion is similar to a man astride his horse

and 88. aphorism:

The star in the house of its perihelion is similar to a man who falls from his greatness.

He talks of APHELION and PERIHELION, where aphelion is a position when a planets is farthest from Sun and perihelion when it's nearest to Sun.
How can we determine looking in a chart when is a planet in aphelion or perihelion?

it is better than the favourable one which scintillates or is retrograde.

I may be wrong, but by the context I think it mean "combust" or leaving combustion.

He mentions it again in 90.aphorism:

The star which scintillates is analogous to a man who is on the verge of death.

This is a very bad state, which can certainly correspond to combustion, but in 41. aphorism he says:

If a planet is beneath the brilliancy and is one of the superior, it will exert no influence: the same is true of the inferior. If they retrograde, their influence is worse than any.

Brilliancy, to me, can only be Sun and planet beneath it or combust has no real strength.
It wouldn't be unusual if he's speaking of the same subject in two different ways and both look like combustion, but are they, or am I misreading him completely?

It wouldn't be unusual if he's speaking of the same subject in two different ways and both look like combustion, but are they, or am I misreading him completely?

I'm not sure, but keep in mind, Ibn Ezra was a poet, and his prose often reflects that. He probably is referring to combustion

Tom

Hi Pera

Ezra explains what he means by this in chapter 6 of his Book of Reasons:

You should realise that the three higher planets undergo variations with respect to the Sun in sixteen ways:

One occurs when the planets are with the Sun, degree for degree, and minute for minute; then it is called the united planet, on condition that it be less than 16 minutes away, because if it should be greater than that it would scintillate.

Saturn and Jupiter scintillate between 16 minutes and 6 degrees when in the east, but Mars does not scintillate until it is 10 degrees away from the Sun. Then the planets enter the stage where they are ?under the brilliancy?, (aka ?Under beams?). I?m not sure if this terminology is a peculiarity of the Levy and Cantera translation of the text, which I have used, or whether Meira Epstein would agree that it is appropriate. We expect to be chatting at UAC so I?ll ask her about this when I see her.

The whole passage shows that it is based upon observational astrology rather than theorised parameters. I imagine the word to portray something like the ?diamond? effect we see when the Moon emerges from a total eclipse.

Thank you all for your helping me clear this up.