A Biography on Jean-Baptiste Morin By James
H. Holden
His reputation as an astrologer became
known quite early in court circles. After the imprisonment of the Bishop of Boulogne, he was personal physician to the Duke of
Luxembourg, then to the Duke of Effiat, and was
also summoned to be present as an astrologer at the birth of Louis XIV. Morin
stood in special favor with Queen Marie of His lifework, on which he had labored
more than 30 years, is the Astrologia
Gallica (“French Astrology”), which, in emulation of Junctinus
was intended to be the encyclopedia for learned astrologers. It is a massive
folio volume of xxxvi + 784 pages, with 39 tables and 80 example horoscopes,
and was printed at On the contrary, Morin rejects the
interpretation of the signs and the individual constellations according to
the celestial fables, the interpretation of the individual degrees (monomoirai),
the constellations rising in the decans, and a mass
of other Nugamente [“silly notions”] of the Arabs and
the Chaldeans. A planet in a sign exerts its influence
in a threefold manner: (1) through its
rulership or domination; (2) through its exaltation; and (3) through the triplicity
rulership, which follows strictly the 4 fundamental qualities. All these zodiacal dignities and forces are
anchored to the Primum Mobile, which is seen as an enormous space abounding
in power, that is divided into 12 sections. Accordingly, Morin also advocates the
division of the heavens taught by Regiomontanus and the geometrical division
of the celestial houses by means of fixed circles of position. In the 16th Book, he also works out in
detail in this connection that the directional motions are not physically
real, but only a geometrically designated motion, which is conveyed by means
of a projection of the point in the sky brought onto the Primum Mobile, on
account of which the individual motion of the stars remains here quite
outside of consideration. Hence, Morin also
rejects the Secondary Directions taught by Kepler and the Italian school. The essence of his teaching forms the
Art of Determination set forth in the 21st Book, to which he was perhaps led by the
coordinate system discovered by his friend Descartes. Instead of the many, often contradictory
rules of interpretation, there ought to be a single method of interpretation
from a fixed system for each department of life. These are the axes or leading principles of
his system: a) the status of the
pertinent planets in the zodiac (status
coelestis), and b) the status of the planets
with regard to the local horizon or in the celestial houses (status localis). The celestial houses according to Morin are
in themselves “empty geometrical spaces.”
First, through the planets standing therein, or through those ruling
the signs on the cusps; then, through position or domination the houses are
“determined” with regard to a definite department of life. H. Selva
translated this 21st Book of the Astrologia
Gallica into French (La théorie des determinations astrologiques
de Morin de Villefranche, 1897), and after him
the German astrologers Sindbad and Weiss in their
work Die astrologiashe
Synthese have treated in detail Morin’s
teaching on determinations. Consequently, it has also found many friends in modern
astrology. However, this teaching
stands or falls on the investigation of whether the allocation of the planets
to the sign’s and the rulership of the houses derived there from is “right”
or not. It is known that Kepler completely discarded this teaching on the determinations [“rulerships
of the houses”], likewise Trew and many later
astrologers. To which the inclusion of the new planets has brought much
confusion and a considerable number of new allocation systems. And because
Morin in strict deduction has made all astrological effects proceed from the
powerful last sphere,
the Primum Mobile, so with the downfall of this glass house of
spheres also his work collapses. [4] Here also enter his adversaries, especially Gassendi and Mersenne, who both
violently opposed the new scholastic astrology. NOTES Astrologers
mentioned in the article: Davison,
William (fi. 1635-1660) He was
of Scots descent but spent most of his life on the Continent. He settled
first in Junctinus (Francesco Giuntini,
1522-1590, of A Th.D. and Provincial of the Carmelite Order, he was the
author of an enormous work Speculuw Astrologiae [“Mirror of Astrology”] (Lyon, 1573; 2nd
ed. 1583) which contained the Greek
text of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos with a Latin translation and commentary
accompanied by an elaborate exposition of astrology based on Ptolemy and the
Arabic astrologers. It contains over 400 example horoscopes. Many of the
charts are given by Alan Leo in his Notable Nativities, but no translations
are available in modern languages except for a few short excerpts in French. Regiomontanus (Johann Mueller, 1436-H76, of
Kb’nigsberg) A famous
astronomer, mathematician, and astro~oger who
unfortunately died young. His tables of houses (publ.
1490, and reprinted several times over the next
century) became standard in Kepler,
Johannes (1571-1630) Best
known as the astronomer who formulated “Kepler’s
Laws of Planetary Motion,” which are the foundation of modern astronomy, he
also practised astrology in his younger days. He
issued a few almanacs, wrote some small tracts on astrology, and interpreted
charts for several clients, the best known of whom was the famous Prince Wallenstein (1583-1634). Interestingly, he is here
identified as one of the authors of Secondary Progressions (usually ascribed
to Placidus). Selva, Henri (b. 1861) The
pseudonym of a French astrologer of the turn of the century who translated
Book 21 of Morin’s Astrologia Qallica and published
original works of his own. He is credited with reviving interest in Morin’s
astrological techniques. Sindbad (Friedrich Schwickert,
1857-1930) A
well-known German astrologer who embraced Morin’s theory of Determinations
and was co-author of an elaborate astrological treatise (Bausteine
der Astrologie
[“Foundations of Astrology”]; 5 vols., 1926-7). Part of this work is
available in English translation. Weiss, Adolf,
M.D. (fl. 1920-30) A German
medical doctor and astrologer who collaborated with “Sindbad”
on the astrological work mentioned above. Trew (or Treu),
Abdias (1597-1669) Astrologers mentioned in the Notes: Ptolemy,
Claudius (2nd century A.D.) The
famous Alexandrian scientist who wrote on astronomy, optics, geography,
astrology, and other subjects. His Tetrabiblos [“Four Books”] is a sketchy
summary of Classical Western Astrology that became extremely popular because
of the author’s great prestige and his famous name (he was often supposed to
have been a king of Firmicus Maternus, Julius
(4th century A.D.) A Roman of
senatorial class, a lawyer by profession, who wrote a lengthy astrological
treatise in Latin, the ~thesis [“Mathematics”--but understood as “Astrology”
because of the mathematical calculations involved in calculating a chart],
about 335 A.D. This book has survived nearly intact (some chapters are
missing) and is now available in English translation. A chapter is devoted to
the Thema Mundi. Paul of An Alexandrian writer who composed a short
textbook called Introduction to Astrology, based on early sources. The last
chapter contains a version of the Thema Mundi, which differs in some particulars from the one
given by Firmicus. Bibliographical Note: The article on Morin de Villefranche
is my translation of the German text on pp. 272-5 of Wilhelm Knappich’s Qeschichte
der Astrologie
[“History of Astrolgy”] (Frankfurt am Main, 1967).
The portrait of Morin is from the same book. I have added the words in square
brackets, the footnotes, and the end notes. James
H. Holden [1]
Latin for “Prime Mover.” Under the
old geocentric view, which Morin steadfastly adhered to, the universe
consisted of a set of concentric crystalline spheres. Each of the planets was attached to one,
and the outer one was conceived to move through the action of some force and
to impart its motion to the inner spheres. Hence, it was called the “prime
mover” because it moved the others. These astronomical theories antedated the
laws of gravitation and motion proposed by [2]
That is, the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. [3]
Latin for “Horoscope of the World.” This is a chart devised by the founders
of Classical Western Astrology to represent the nativity of the earth itself.
Firmicus Maternus devotes
a chapter of his ~thesis to it, and it is also given in a variant form by Paul of
Alexandria in his Introduction to
Astrology. In this chart, Cancer rises, the Sun is in Leo, the Moon in Cancer, and
each of the planets in one of the signs it is co~only
said to rule. Morin,
then, chose to derive
the sign rulerships from this chart rather than
from the meteorological reasons given by Ptolemy. [4]
This is a reference to the
triumph of the
Copernican or heliocentric theory, which ultimately did away with the concept
of nested crystalline spheres. The assertion of the historian that Morin’s
system is untenable because he derived it from a false astronomical theory is
illogical. Morin’s system of astrology is independent of the theoretical
foundation he postulated for it, just as the action of a magnet is
independent of any particular field theory of Physics. The system stands or falls on its ability
to provide an accurate interpretation of a horoscope, not on the astronomical
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