Description
The Book of Aristotle
The Book of Aristotle is thought to be a lost work by Masha’allah, rediscovered by David Pingree and now available after 900 years of neglect. Found deep in the Muslim libraries of medieval Spain and translated into Latin in the 12th Century by Hugo of Santalla, it was immediately forgotten. The only two surviving copies were saved by the astrologer-magician John Dee. Now available in translation for the first time in any modern language, the Book of Aristotle presents a full treatment of nativities drawing extensively on Valens, Rhetorius, Masha’allah’s more complete version of Dorotheus, and a lost work by al-Andarzaghar which presents a complete method of annual predictions: solar revolutions, profections, transits, and more. It has previously unknown material from Dorotheus on Lots, friendship, and travel. Masha’allah’s carefully organized work breaks the delineation material into digestible chunks.
Masha’allah was a central figure in early Arabic/Medieval astrology. His life and work spanned the Persian, Jewish and Muslim cultures, and he bequeathed important works to the medieval West. The Book of Aristotle is a sophisticated work of Hellenistic-Persian natal astrology, and will be a standard text in the traditional astrologer’s library for years to come. Learning level: intermediate-advanced. (230 pages)
Abu ’Ali’s On the Judgments of Nativities
A student of Masha’allah, Abu ’Ali al-Khayyat produced this slim and handy guide to natal interpretation. It is especially suitable for beginners, and can be used side-by-side with the Book of Aristotle. This translation supersedes all previous ones, and Dr. Dykes’s Introduction explains in details some misunderstandings about the text, offering a new theory on its origin. Learning level: beginner. (106 pages)
