4. “  And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years .”  13  Gen. i. 14. The signs which the luminaries give are necessary to human life. In fact what useful observations will long experience make us discover, if we ask without undue curiosity! What signs of rain, of drought, or of the rising of the wind, partial or general, violent or moderate! Our Lord indicates to us one of the signs given by the sun when He says, “It will be foul weather to-day; for the sky is red and lowering.”  14  St. Matt. xvi. 3. In fact, when the sun rises through a fog, its rays are darkened, but the disc appears burning like a coal and of a bloody red colour. It is the thickness of the air which causes this appearance; as the rays of the sun do not disperse such amassed and condensed air, it cannot certainly be retained by the waves of vapour which exhale from the earth, and it will cause from superabundance of moisture a storm in the countries over which it accumulates. In the same way, when the moon is surrounded with moisture, or when the sun is encircled with what is called a halo, it is the sign of heavy rain or of a violent storm; again, in the same way, if mock suns accompany the sun in its course they foretell certain celestial phenomena. Finally, those straight lines, like the colours of the rainbow, which are seen on the clouds, announce rain, extraordinary tempests, or, in one word, a complete change in the weather.

Those who devote themselves to the observation of these bodies find signs in the different phases of the moon, as if the air, by which the earth is enveloped, were obliged to vary to correspond with its change of form. Towards the third day of the new moon, if it is sharp and clear, it is a sign of fixed fine weather. If its horns appear thick and reddish it threatens us either with heavy rain or with a gale from the South.  15  πάντη γὰρ καθαρῇ κε μάλ᾽ εὔδια τεκμήραιο, πάντα δ᾽ ἐρευθομένῃ δοκέειν ἀνέμοιο κελεύθους, ἄλλοθι δ᾽ ἄλλο μελαινομένῃ δοκέειν ὑετοῖο. Aratus 70. Who does not know how useful  16  cf. Verg., Georg. i. 424: Si vero solem ad rapidum lunasque sequentes Ordine respicies, nunquam te crastina fallet Hora, neque insidiis noctis capiere serenæ. are these signs in life? Thanks to them, the sailor keeps back his vessel in the harbour, foreseeing the perils with which the winds threaten him, and the traveller beforehand takes shelter from harm, waiting until the weather has become fairer. Thanks to them, husbandmen, busy with sowing seed or cultivating plants, are able to know which seasons are favourable to their labours. Further, the Lord has announced to us that at the dissolution of the universe, signs will appear in the sun, in the moon and in the stars. The sun shall be turned into blood and the moon shall not give her light,  17  Basil seems to be confusing Joel ii. 31 and Matt. xxiv. 29. signs of the consummation of all things.

Καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς σημεῖα, καὶ εἰς καιροὺς, καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας, καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτούς. Ἀναγκαῖαι πρὸς τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον αἱ ἀπὸ τῶν φωστήρων σημειώσεις. Ἐὰν μή τις πέρα τοῦ μέτρου τὰ ἀπ' αὐτῶν σημεῖα περιεργάζηται, χρησίμους αὐτῶν τὰς ἐκ τῆς μακρᾶς ἐμπειρίας παρατηρήσεις εὑρήσει. Πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ ἐπομβρίας ἐστὶ μαθεῖν: πολλὰ δὲ περὶ αὐχμῶν καὶ πνευμάτων κινήσεως, ἢ μερικῶν ἢ καθόλου, βιαίων ἢ ἀνειμένων. Ἓν γάρ τι τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου παραδεικνυμένων καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῖν παραδέδωκεν εἰπὼν, ὅτι Χειμὼν ἔσται, στυγνάζει γὰρ πυρράζων ὁ οὐρανός. Ἐπειδὰν γὰρ δι' ἀχλύος ἡ ἀναφορὰ γένηται τοῦ ἡλίου, ἀμαυροῦνται μὲν αἱ ἀκτῖνες, ἀνθρακώδης δὲ καὶ ὕφαιμος τὴν χρόαν ὁρᾶται, τῆς παχύτητος τοῦ ἀέρος ταύτην ἐμποιούσης τὴν φαντασίαν ταῖς ὄψεσι. Μὴ διαχεθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκτῖνος ὁ πεπυκνωμένος τέως καὶ συνεστὼς ἀὴρ δῆλός ἐστι διὰ τὴν ἐπίρροιαν τῶν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀτμῶν κρατηθῆναι μὴ δυνηθεὶς, ἀλλὰ τῷ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ὑγροῦ χειμῶνα ἐπάξων τοῖς χωρίοις περὶ ἃ συναθροίζεται. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἡ σελήνη περιλιμνάζηται: καὶ τῷ ἡλίῳ δὲ ὅταν αἱ λεγόμεναι ἅλωες περιγραφῶσιν, ἢ ὕδατος ἀερίου πλῆθος, ἢ πνευμάτων βιαίων κίνησιν ὑποφαίνουσιν: ἢ καὶ, οὓς ὀνομάζουσιν ἀνθηλίους, ὅταν συμπεριτρέχωσι τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου φορᾷ, συμπτωμάτων τινῶν ἀερίων σημεῖα γίνεται. Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ αἱ ῥάβδοι, αἱ κατὰ τὴν χρόαν τῆς ἴριδος εἰς ὀρθὸν τοῖς νέφεσιν ἐμφαινόμεναι, ὄμβρους ἢ χειμῶνας ἐξαισίους, ἢ ὅλως τὴν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον μεταβολὴν τοῦ ἀέρος ἐνδείκνυνται. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ περὶ σελήνην αὐξομένην ἢ λήγουσαν οἱ τούτοις ἐσχολακότες τετηρήκασι σημειώδη, ὡς τοῦ περὶ γῆν ἀέρος ἀναγκαίως τοῖς σχήμασιν αὐτῆς συμμεταβαλλομένου. Λεπτὴ μὲν γὰρ οὖσα περὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν καὶ καθαρὰ, σταθερὰν εὐδίαν κατεπαγγέλλεται: παχεῖα δὲ ταῖς κεραίαις καὶ ὑπέρυθρος φαινομένη, ἢ ὕδωρ λάβρον ἀπὸ νεφῶν, ἢ νότου βιαίαν κίνησιν ἀπειλεῖ. Τὴν δὲ ἐκ τούτων σημείωσιν ὅσον τῷ βίῳ παρέχεται τὸ ὠφέλιμον, τίς ἀγνοεῖ; Ἔξεστι μὲν γὰρ τῷ πλωτῆρι εἴσω λιμένων κατέχειν τὸ σκάφος, τοὺς ἐκ τῶν πνευμάτων κινδύνους προορωμένῳ. Ἔξεστι δὲ τῷ ὁδοιπόρῳ πόρρωθεν ἐκκλίνειν τὰς βλάβας, ἐκ τῆς στυγνότητος τοῦ ἀέρος τὴν μεταβολὴν ἀναμένοντι. Γεωργοὶ δὲ, οἱ περὶ τὰ σπέρματα καὶ τὰς τῶν φυτῶν θεραπείας πονούμενοι, πάσας ἐντεῦθεν εὑρίσκουσι τὰς εὐκαιρίας τῶν ἔργων. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς διαλύσεως ἐν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις σημεῖα φανήσεσθαι ὁ Κύριος προηγόρευσεν. Ὁ ἥλιος μεταστραφήσεται εἰς αἷμα, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς. Ταῦτα σημεῖα τῆς τοῦ παντὸς συμπληρώσεως.