John of Damascus, Exposition of Faith

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Exaltations: Aries for the Sun, Taurus for the Moon, Cancer for Jupiter, Virgo for Mercury, Libra for Saturn, Capricorn for Mars, Pisces for Venus The phases of the moon. Conjunction, when it occurs in the degree in which the sun is; †birth, when it is 15 degrees from the sun; rising, when it appears;† two crescents, when it is 60 degrees away; two half-moons, when it is 90 degrees away; two gibbous, when it is 120 degrees away; near full moons, which are also near bright, two, when it is 150 degrees away; full moon, when it is 180 degrees away. And we said two, one for waxing and one for waning. The moon passes through each sign of the zodiac in two and a half days. 22 Concerning Air and Winds Air is a most subtle element, both moist and warm, heavier than fire, but lighter than earth and waters, the cause of breathing and speech, colorless, that is, not possessing color by nature, transparent, translucent (for it is receptive of light) and serving our three senses (for through it we see, hear, smell), receptive of both heat and cold and of both dryness and moisture, of which are all the motions according to place: up, down, in, out, right, left, and the circular motion. Not possessing light of itself, but being illumined by the sun and moon and stars and fire. And this is what the scripture said, that ‘darkness was upon the face of the deep,’ wishing to show that the air does not possess light of itself, but that the substance of light is something else. And wind is the movement of air. And place also belongs to air; for the place of each body is its boundary. What contains bodies, if not air? There are different places from which the movement of the air occurs, from which the winds also have their names; and they are twelve in all. And they say that air is the quenching of fire or the vapor of heated water. Therefore, air is by its own nature warm, but it is cooled by its proximity to water and earth, so that its lower parts are cold, and its upper parts warm. Concerning Winds Wind is a mass of warm and dry exhalation moving around the earth. Winds blow from the summer sunrise, Caecias, Meses; from the equinoctial sunrise, Apeliotes; from the winter sunrise, Eurus; from the winter sunset, Lips; from the equinoctial sunset, Zephyrus; from the summer sunset, Argestes, or Olympias, which is also called Iapyx and Ergastes. Then Notus and Aparctias, blowing opposite one another. And between Aparctias and Caecias is Boreas; and between Eurus and Notus is Phoenix, which is called Euronotus; and between Notus and Lips is Libonotus, which is also called Leuconotus; and between Aparctias and Argestes is Thrascias, or Kerkias, as it is named by the inhabitants of the region. There are therefore twelve in all, of which the diagram is this: Summer sunrise, equinoctial sunrise, winter sunrise—Caecias, Apeliotes, Eurus, Meses, Euronotus, Boreas, Phoenix—North—Aparctias, Notus—Midday—Thrascias, Libonotus, Meses, Leuconotus, Kerkias, Lips—Summer sunset—Argestes—Winter sunset—Iapyx, Olympias—Summer sunset—Ergastes, Zephyrus. 23 Concerning Waters And water is also one of the four elements, a most beautiful creation of God. Water is an element that is both moist and cold, both heavy and tending downwards, easily diffused. And of this the divine scripture makes mention, saying: ‘And darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters’; for the deep is nothing other than much water, whose end is incomprehensible to men. In the beginning, therefore, the water was spread over all the earth. And first God made the firmament, separating between the water that is above the firmament and the water that is below the firmament; for in the midst of the deep of waters it was made firm by the Lordly command. Wherefore also God said for a firmament to be, and it was so. And for what reason did God place water above the firmament? Because of the most intense heat of the sun and the ether; for immediately after the firmament the ether is spread out. And the sun with the moon and the stars are in the firmament; and if water were not placed above, the firmament would have been set on fire by the heat. Then God commanded

Ὑψώματα· Κριὸς Ἡλίου, Ταῦρος Σελήνης, Καρκῖνος ∆ιός, Παρθένος Ἑρμοῦ, Ζυγὸς Κρόνου, Αἰγόκερως Ἄρεως, Ἰχθύες Ἀφροδίτης Τὰ σχήματα τῆς σελήνης. Σύνοδος, ὅτε γένηται ἐν τῇ μοίρᾳ, ἐν ᾗ ἐστιν ὁ ἥλιος· †γέννα, ὅταν ἀποστῇ τοῦ ἡλίου μοίρας ιεʹ· ἀνατολή, ὅτε φανῇ·† μηνοειδεῖς δύο, ὅταν ἀπέχῃ μοίρας ξʹ· διχοτόμοι δύο, ὅταν ἀπέχῃ μοίρας ϟʹ· ἀμφίκυρτοι δύο, ὅταν ἀπέχῃ μοίρας ρκʹ· πλησισέληνοι, αἳ καὶ πλησιφαεῖς, δύο, ὅταν ἀπέχῃ μοίρας ρνʹ· πανσέληνος, ὅταν ἀπέχῃ μοίρας ρπʹ. ∆ύο δὲ εἴπομεν, μίαν αὐξούσης καὶ μίαν ληγούσης. ∆ιὰ δύο ἥμισυ ἡμερῶν παρέρχεται ἡ σελήνη ἕκαστον ζῴδιον. 22 Περὶ ἀέρος καὶ ἀνέμων Ἀήρ ἐστι στοιχεῖον λεπτότατον ὑγρόν τε καὶ θερμόν, τοῦ μὲν πυρὸς βαρύτερον, τῆς δὲ γῆς καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων κουφότερον, ἀναπνοῆς καὶ ἐκφωνήσεως αἴτιον, ἀχρωμάτιστον ἤτοι ἐκ φύσεως χρῶμα μὴ κεκτημένον, διειδές, διαφανές (φωτὸς γάρ ἐστι δεκτικόν) καὶ ταῖς τρισὶν αἰσθήσεσιν ἡμῶν διακονοῦν (δι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ ὁρῶμεν, ἀκούομεν, ὀσφραινόμεθα), δεκτικὸν θάλψεώς τε καὶ ψύξεως ξηρότητός τε καὶ ὑγρότητος, οὗ πᾶσαι αἱ κατὰ τόπον κινήσεις εἰσίν· ἄνω, κάτω, ἔσω, ἔξω, δεξιά, ἀριστερὰ καὶ ἡ κυκλοφορικὴ κίνησις. Οἴκοθεν μὴ κεκτημένος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων καὶ πυρὸς φωτιζόμενος. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὃ εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ὅτι «σκότος ἦν ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου», θέλουσα δεῖξαι, ὡς οὐκ οἴκοθεν ὁ ἀὴρ τὸ φῶς κέκτηται, ἀλλ' ἄλλη τίς ἐστιν οὐσία ἡ τοῦ φωτός. Ἄνεμος δέ ἐστι κίνησις ἀέρος. Καὶ ὁ τόπος δὲ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐστί· τόπος γάρ ἐστιν ἑκάστου σώματος ἡ τούτου περιοχή. Τί δὲ περιέχει τὰ σώματα, εἰ μὴ ἀήρ; Εἰσὶ δὲ τόποι διάφοροι, ὅθεν ἡ τοῦ ἀέρος γίνεται κίνησις, ἐξ ὧν καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι τὰς ἐπωνυμίας ἔχουσι· δώδεκα δὲ οἱ πάντες εἰσί. Φασὶ δὲ τὸν ἀέρα σβέσιν πυρὸς ἢ ἀτμὸν ὕδατος θερμανθέντος. Ἔστι γοῦν ὁ ἀὴρ κατὰ μὲν τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν θερμός, ψύχεται δὲ τῇ γειτνιάσει τῇ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὴν γῆν, ὡς τὰ μὲν κάτω μέρη αὐτοῦ ψυχρὰ εἶναι, τὰ δὲ ἄνω θερμά. Περὶ ἀνέμων Ἄνεμός ἐστι πλῆθος θερμῆς καὶ ξηρᾶς ἀναθυμιάσεως κινούμενον περὶ γῆν. Ἄνεμοι πνέουσιν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς θερινῆς καικίας, μέσης, ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς ἰσημερινῆς ἀπηλιώτης, ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς χειμερινῆς εὖρος, ἀπὸ δύσεως χειμερινῆς λίψ, ἀπὸ δύσεως ἰσημερινῆς ζέφυρος, ἀπὸ δύσεως θερινῆς ἀργέστης ἤτοι Ὀλυμπίας, ὁ καὶ Ἰάπυξ καὶ ἐργάστης. Εἶτα νότος καὶ ἀπαρκτίας ἀντιπνέοντες ἀλλήλοις. Ἔστι δὲ μέσος ἀπαρκτίου καὶ καικίου βορέας, εὔρου δὲ καὶ νότου μέσος Φοῖνιξ, ὁ καλούμενος εὐρόνοτος, μέσος δὲ νότου καὶ λιβὸς λιβόνοτος, ὁ καὶ λευκόνοτος, μέσος δὲ ἀπαρκτίου καὶ ἀργέστου θρασκίας ἤτοι κέρκιος ὑπὸ τῶν περιοίκων ὀνομαζόμενος. Εἰσὶν οὖν οἱ πάντες ιβʹ, ὧν ἡ διαγραφή ἐστιν αὕτη· Ἀνατολὴ θερινή, ἀνατολὴ ἰσημερινή, ἀνατολὴ χειμερινή-καικίας, ἀπηλιώτης, εὖρος, μέσης, εὐρόνοτος, βορέας, Φοῖνιξ-ἄρκτος-ἀπαρκτίας, νότος- μεσημβρία-θρασκίας, λιβόνοτος, μέσης, λευκόνοτος, κέρκιος, λίψ-δύσις θερινή- ἀργέστης-δύσις χειμερινή-Ἰάπυξ, Ὀλυμπίας-δύσις θερινή-ἐργάστης, ζέφυρος. 23 Περὶ ὑδάτων Καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ δὲ ἓν τῶν στοιχείων τῶν τεσσάρων ἐστί, ποίημα θεοῦ κάλλιστον. Ὕδωρ ἐστὶ στοιχεῖον ὑγρόν τε καὶ ψυχρὸν βαρύ τε καὶ κατωφερές, εὐδιάχυτον. Τούτου δὲ μνημονεύει ἡ θεία γραφὴ λέγουσα· «Καὶ σκότος ἦν ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος»· ἄβυσσος γὰρ οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ ὕδωρ πολύ, οὗ τὸ τέλος ἀκατάληπτον ἀνθρώποις. Ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν οὖν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐπεπόλαζε. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα διαχωρίζον ἀναμέσον τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος· ἐν τῷ μέσῳ γὰρ τῆς ἀβύσσου τῶν ὑδάτων ἐστερεώθη τῷ δεσποτικῷ προστάγματι. Ὅθεν καὶ στερέωμα εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐγένετο. Τίνος δὲ χάριν ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος ὕδωρ ὁ θεὸς ἀπέθετο; ∆ιὰ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τοῦ αἰθέρος θερμοτάτην ἔκκαυσιν· εὐθέως γὰρ μετὰ τὸ στερέωμα ὁ αἰθὴρ ἐφήπλωται. Καὶ ὁ ἥλιος δὲ σὺν τῇ σελήνῃ καὶ τοῖς ἄστροις ἐν τῷ στερεώματί εἰσι· καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐπέκειτο ὕδωρ, ἐφλέχθη ἂν ὑπὸ τῆς θέρμης τὸ στερέωμα. Εἴτα προσέταξεν ὁ