I just had a client who turned out to suffer from dyscalculia, but has no problem reading or writing. This made me wonder: is anyone aware of a traditional source distinguishing between different intellectual abilities -- in this case, reading/writing versus arithmetic, etc?

My client's first-house Mercury seemed OK to me, but he has a fairly nasty Saturn conjunct the Asc which seems to be responsible for most of the things that are wrong with his life. I wonder if it might somehow relate to the dyscalculia as well.

Martin Gansten wrote:I
My client's first-house Mercury seemed OK to me, but he has a fairly nasty Saturn conjunct the Asc which seems to be responsible for most of the things that are wrong with his life. I wonder if it might somehow relate to the dyscalculia as well.

Mercury and Moon are in aspect?

margherita

Ptolemy and Lilly use Mercury and the Moon to judge the quality of the mind. Abu Ali uses Mercury and the Lord of the ASC. Mathematicians, geometricians and accountants all fall under the rulership of Mercury and the Moon, according to Ptolemy. But so does writing. Also, "if connected with Mercury and posited in glory, Jupiter will render men fit for much business, fond of learning and of geometry and mathematics."

The significators of the mind will be modified by their aspects with other planets and the nature of the signs they are in.

Quickness of wit should be judged by connections between Mercury, Mars and the Moon (the Moon signifying changes and fast motion). Also, if Mercury and the Moon are quick in motion.

According to Lilly (CA p.545) " when Mercury is not afflicted especially of Mars, but is well placed and in an airy sign, especially Aquarius, and with the North or South Node, he renders most acute and witty men, and good Linguists, speaking many languages".

I haven't been able to find a specific distinction between reading/writing and arithmetic, so I don't think it's so clear cut. I suspect that such a problem would arise from the overall picture. If you could give us more information on the position of Mercury and the Moon, and their aspects, that would be great.

In modern astrology, Uranus has a connection with numbers and mathematics.

There is no aspect between the Moon and Mercury. For obvious reasons I won't be able to comment more on the particulars of the chart; but I would be very interested to hear if anyone has seen a traditional source distinguishing between linguists and mathematicians.

Hi Martin

I just came across what may be a relevant point, published as footnote 4 on p.45 of my text on Houses (Wessex ed). It talks about Jerome Cardan's association of Mercury with geometry and arithmetic, and the Moon with grammar and reads:

Cardan writes: ?The Moon signifies Grammar; Mercury Geometry and Arithmetic; Venus Music and Poetry, the Sun the Moral, and Jupiter the Natural World, Mars Medicine, Saturn Agriculture.? De Vita Propria, ch. xxxvii. Quoted in Jerome Cardan: A Biographical Study, by W.G. Waters (Lawrence & Bullen Ltd., London, 1898). These attributions (which demonstrate close affinity with the houses of planetary joy), are also explored at length in Book II pf Dante's Convivio.

According to this we would expect the Moon to be functioning more easily than Mercury, but of course the 1st house signifies the mind too, which is why Mercury 'rejoices' there' so maybe Saturn in the first is significant in the problem as you suggest.

All best wishes
Deb

If you need, this is the whole quote for Convivio.
In every case, according everybody Mercury with Saturn is a very good combination for mind, anyway without a chart it is difficult to say something....
margherita

As was stated above, then, the seven heavens nearest to us are those of the planets; next come two heavens above them, which are in motion, and one above them all, which is still. To the first seven correspond the seven sciences of the Trivium and the Quadrivium, namely Grammar, Dialectics, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astrology. To the eighth sphere, namely the Starry Heaven, corresponds natural science, which is called Physics, and the first science, which is called Metaphysics; to the ninth sphere corresponds Moral Science; and to the still heaven corresponds Divine Science, which is called Theology. And the reason why this is so must be briefly considered.

I say that the heaven of the Moon resembles Grammar because it may be compared to it; for if the Moon is closely examined, two things will be seen peculiar to it which are not seen in the other stars: one is the shadow in it, which is nothing but the rarity of its substance in which the rays of the Sun cannot terminate and be reflected back as in its other parts; the other is the variation of its luminosity, which shines now on one side, now on the other, according as the Sun looks upon it. These two properties Grammar possesses; for because of its infinitude the rays of reason are not terminated, especially in the particular of words; and it shines now on this side, now on that, insofar as certain words, certain declensions, and certain constructions are now in use which formerly were not, and many were formerly in use which will yet be in use again, as Horace says at the beginning of his Poetics, when he says: ?Many words shall be born which have long since fallen out of use.?

The heaven of Mercury may be compared to Dialectics because of two properties: for Mercury is the smallest star of heaven, because the magnitude of its diameter is not more than 232 miles, according to Alfraganus, who says it is 1/28th of the diameter of the earth, which is 6500 miles; the other property is that in its passage it is veiled by the rays of the sun more than any other star. These two properties are found in Dialectics, for Dialectics is less in substance than any other science, for it is entirely constituted by and contained within that text alone which is found in the Old Art and in the New; and its passage is veiled more than that of any science, in that it proceeds by a more sophistical and polemical mode of argument than any other.

The heaven of Venus may be compared to Rhetoric because of two properties: one is the brightness of its aspect, which is sweeter to look upon than that of any other star; the other is its appearance now in the morning, now in the evening. And these two properties are found in Rhetoric: for Rhetoric is sweeter than all of the other sciences, since this is what it principally aims at; and it appears in the morning when the rhetorician speaks before the face of his hearer, and it appears in the evening (that is, behind) when the rhetorician speaks through writing, from a distance.

The heaven of the Sun may be compared to Arithmetic because of two properties: one is that all the other stars are informed by its light; the other is that the eye cannot look at it. And these two properties are found in Arithmetic: for by its light all sciences are illuminated, because all their subjects are considered under some numerical aspect, and in considering them we always proceed by number. For example, in Natural Science, the subject is a body in motion, which body in motion has in itself the principle of continuity, and this has in itself the principle of infinite number; and its foremost consideration is to consider the principles of natural things, which are three?namely matter, privation, and form?in which we perceive this numerical aspect. Number exists not only in all of them together, but also, upon careful reflection, in each one individually; for this reason Pythagoras, as Aristotle says in the first book of the Physics, laid down even and odd as the principles of natural things, considering all things to have numerical aspect. The other property of the Sun is also seen in number, of which Arithmetic is the science: the eye of the intellect cannot look upon it, because number insofar as it is considered in itself is infinite, and this we cannot comprehend.

The heaven of Mars may be compared to Music because of two properties: one is its most beautiful relation, for in counting the moving heavens, from whichever we begin, whether from the lowest or the highest, this heaven of Mars is the fifth and the middlemost of them all, that is, of the first, second, third, and fourth pairs. The other, as Ptolemy says in the Quadripartitus, is that Mars dries things out and incinerates them because its heat is like that of fire; and this is why it appears fiery in color, sometimes more and sometimes less, according to the density or rarity of the vapors which accompany it, which often ignite by themselves, as is established in the first book of Meteorics. For this reason Albumasar says that the ignition of these vapors signifies the death of kings and the changing of kingdoms, because they are effects of the lordship of Mars, and this is why Seneca says that at the death of the Emperor Augustus he saw on high a ball of fire. This is also why in Florence, at the beginning of its ruin, there was seen in the sky in the shape of a cross a great quantity of these vapors which accompany the star of Mars. And these two properties are found in Music, which consists entirely of relations, as we see in harmonized words and in songs, whose harmony is so much the sweeter the more the relation is beautiful, which relation is the principal beauty in this science, because it is its principal aim. Moreover, Music attracts to itself the human spirits, which are, as it were, principally vapors of the heart, so that they almost completely cease their activity; this happens likewise to the entire soul when it hears music, and the virtue of all of them, as it were, runs to the spirit of sense which receives the sound.

The heaven of Jupiter may be compared to Geometry because of two properties: one is that it moves between two heavens that are antithetical to its fine temperance, namely that of Mars and that of Saturn; consequently Ptolemy says, in the book referred to, that Jupiter is a star of temperate constitution between the cold of Saturn and the heat of Mars; the other is that among all the stars it appears white, almost silvery. And these things are found in the science of Geometry. Geometry moves between two things antithetical to it, namely the point and the circle?and I mean ?circle? in the broad sense of anything round, whether a solid body or a surface; for, as Euclid says, the point is its beginning, and, as he says, the circle is its most perfect figure, which must therefore be conceived as its end. Therefore Geometry moves between the point and the circle as between its beginning and end, and these two are antithetical to its certainty; for the point cannot be measured because of its indivisibility, and it is impossible to square the circle perfectly because of its arc, and so it cannot be measured exactly. Geometry is furthermore most white insofar as it is without taint of error and most certain both in itself and in its handmaid, which is called Optics.

The heaven of Saturn has two properties by which it may be compared to Astrology: one is the slowness of its movement through the 12 signs, for according to the writings of the astrologers, a time of more than 29 years is required for its revolution; the other is that it is high above all the other planets. And these two properties are found in Astrology: for in completing its circle (that is to say, to master this science) a very great span of time passes, both because of its handmaids, which are more numerous than those of any of the above-mentioned sciences, and because of the experience required in it for making proper judgments. Furthermore, it is far higher than all the others, since, as Aristotle says at the beginning of On the Soul, a science is high in nobility by virtue of the nobility of its subject and by virtue of its certainty; and this one, more than any of those mentioned above, is high and noble because of its high and noble subject, which regards the movement of the heaven, and high and noble because of its certainty, which is flawless, as coming from a most perfect and regular principle. And if anyone believes that there is a flaw in it, it does not pertain to the science, but as Ptolemy says, it results from our negligence, and so must be attributed to that.

Margherita, I almost put in my post above "perhaps Margherta will be able to tell us a bit more about that" - but then took the comment out as it didn't want to make you feel obligated. (But I was secretly hoping ...) This is great - thanks so much for your trouble !
Deb
Though I do have a hard time with the association of Mars to music

Thanks Margherita,

I love the Saturn quote. A nice quote for astrology generally.
I was wondering who/what Convivio was? I see from your blog its a publication of Dante!

Deb wrote:

Though I do have a hard time with the association of Mars to music

Heavy Metal?

Thanks very much, Deb and Margherita (though I remain unconvinced by several of these attributions). A bit of googling actually turned up some pages which connected Saturn with maths, but with no sources given, so they might just reflect the author's own feelings about the subject.