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| Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Chapter
VII.—Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun,
moon and stars.
Fire is one of the four elements, light and with a
greater tendency to ascend than the others. It has the power of
burning and also of giving light, and it was made by the Creator on the
first day. For the divine Scripture says, And God said, Let
there be light, and there was light1712 . Fire is not a different thing from
what light is, as some maintain. Others again hold that this fire
of the universe is above the air1713
1713 Text, ὑπερ. Variant, ὑπο,
but this does not agree with the view of the author or the
ancients. | and call
it ether. In the beginning, then, that is to say on the first
day, God created light, the ornament and glory of the whole visible
creation. For take away light and all things remain in
undistinguishable darkness, incapable of displaying their native
beauty. And God called the light day, but the
darkness He called
night1714 .
Further, darkness is not any essence, but an accident: for it is
simply absence of light. The air, indeed, has not light in its
essence1715
1715 Basil, Hom.
2, in Hexaëmeron. | . It was,
then, this very absence of light from the air that God called darkness:
and it is not the essence of air that is darkness, but the
absence of light which clearly is rather an accident than an
essence. And, indeed, it was not night, but day, that was first
named, so that day is first and after that comes night. Night,
therefore, follows day. And from the beginning of day till the
next day is one complete period of day and night. For the
Scripture says, And the evening and the morning were one
day1716 .
When, therefore, in the first three days the light
was poured forth and reduced at the divine command, both day and night
came to pass1717
1717 Basil, Hom.
2, in Hexaëmeron. | . But on
the fourth day God created the great luminary, that is, the sun, to
have rule and authority1718
1718 Text, ἐξουσίαν:
variant. ἐξουσίας. | over the
day: for it is by it that day is made: for it is day when
the sun is above the earth, and the duration of a day is the course of
the sun over the earth from its rising till its setting. And He
also created the lesser luminaries, that is, the moon and the stars, to
have rule and authority1719
1719 Variant here also,
ἐξουσίας. | over the night,
and to give light by night. For it is night when the sun is under
the earth, and the duration of night is the course of the sun under the
earth from its rising till its setting. The moon, then, and the
stars were set to lighten the night: not that they are in the
daytime under the earth, for even by day stars are in the heaven over
the earth but the sun conceals both the stars and the moon by the
greater brilliance of its light and prevents them from being
seen.
On these luminaries the Creator bestowed the
first-created light: not because He was in need of other light,
but that that light might not remain idle. For a luminary is not
merely light, but a vessel for containing light1720
1720 Basil, Hom.
6, in Hexaëmeron. | .
There are, we are told, seven planets amongst these
luminaries, and these move in a direction opposite to that of the
heaven: hence the name planets. For, while they say that
the heaven moves from east to west, the planets move from west to east;
but the heaven bears the seven planets along with it by its swifter
motion. Now these are the names of the seven planets: Luna,
Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and in each zone of heaven
is, we are told, one of these seven planets:
In the first and highest Saturn
In the second Jupiter
In the third Mars
In the fourth Sol
In the fifth Venus
In the sixth Mercury
In the seventh and lowest Luna.
The course which the Creator1721
1721 Text, ὁ Δημιουργός.
Variant, ὁ δημιουργήσας. | appointed for them to run is unceasing
and remaineth fixed as He established them. For the divine David
says, The moon and the stars which Thou establishedst1722 , and by the word
‘establishedst,’ he referred to the fixity and
unchangeableness of the order and series granted to them by God.
For He appointed them for seasons, and signs, and days and years.
It is through the Sun that the four seasons are brought about.
And the first of these is spring: for in it God created all
things1723
1723 Basil,
Hom. 6, in Hexaëmeron. | , and even down
to the present time its presence is evidenced by the bursting of the
flowers into bud, and this is the equinoctial period, since day and
night each consist of twelve hours. It is caused by the sun
rising in the middle, and is mild and increases the blood, and is warm
and moist, and holds a position midway between winter and summer, being
warmer and drier than winter, but colder and moister than summer.
This season lasts from March 21st till June 24th. Next, when the
rising of the sun moves towards more northerly parts, the season of
summer succeeds, which has a place midway between spring and autumn,
combining the warmth of spring with the dryness of autumn: for it
is dry and warm, and increases the yellow bile. In it falls the
longest day, which has fifteen hours, and the shortest night of all,
having only nine hours. This season lasts from June 24th till
September 25th. Then when the sun again returns to the middle,
autumn takes the place of summer. It has a medium amount of cold
and heat, dryness and moisture, and holds a place midway between summer
and winter, combining the dryness of summer with the cold of
winter. For it is cold and dry, and increases the black
bile. This season, again, is equinoctial, both day and night
consisting of twelve hours, and it lasts from September 25th till
December 25th. And when the rising of the sun sinks to its
smallest and lowest point, i.e. the south, winter is reached, with its
cold and moisture. It occupies a place midway between autumn and
spring, combining the cold of autumn and the moisture of spring. In it falls
the shortest day, which has only nine hours, and the longest night,
which has fifteen: and it lasts from December 25th till March
21st. For the Creator made this wise provision that we should not
pass from the extreme of cold, or heat, or dryness, or moisture, to the
opposite extreme, and thus incur grievous maladies. For reason
itself teaches us the danger of sudden changes.
So, then, it is the sun that makes the seasons, and
through them the year: it likewise makes the days and nights, the
days when it rises and is above the earth, and the nights when it sets
below the earth: and it bestows on the other luminaries, both
moon and stars, their power of giving forth light.
Further, they say that there are in the heaven twelve
signs made by the stars, and that these move in an opposite direction
to the sun and moon, and the other five planets, and that the seven
planets pass across these twelve signs. Further, the sun makes a
complete month in each sign and traverses the twelve signs in the same
number of months. These, then, are the names of the twelve signs
and their respective months:—
The Ram, which receives the sun on the 21st of
March.
The Bull, on the 23rd of April.
The Twins, on the 24th of May.
The Crab, on the 24th of June.
The Virgin, on the 25th of July.
The Scales, on the 25th of September.
The Scorpion, on the 25th of October.
The Archer, on the 25th of November.
Capricorn, on the 25th of December.
Aquarius, on the 25th of January.
The Fish, on the 24th of February.
But the moon traverses the twelve signs each month,
since it occupies a lower position and travels through the signs at a
quicker rate. For if you draw one circle within another, the
inner one will be found to be the lesser: and so it is that owing
to the moon occupying a lower position its course is shorter and is
sooner completed.
Now the Greeks declare that all our affairs are
controlled by the rising and setting and collision1724
1724 Text, συγκρούσεως.
Variants, συγκράσεως
and συγκρίσεως. | of these stars, viz., the sun and
moon: for it is with these matters that astrology has to
do. But we hold that we get from them signs of rain and drought,
cold and heat, moisture and dryness, and of the various winds, and so
forth1725
1725 Basil, Hom.
6, in Hexaëmeron. | , but no sign whatever as to our
actions. For we have been created with free wills by our Creator
and are masters over our own actions. Indeed, if all our actions
depend on the courses of the stars, all we do is done of
necessity1726
1726 Nemes., de Nat.
Hom., ch. 34. | : and
necessity precludes either virtue or vice. But if we possess
neither virtue nor vice, we do not deserve praise or punishment, and
God, too, will turn out to be unjust, since He gives good things to
some and afflicts others. Nay, He will no longer continue to
guide or provide for His own creatures, if all things are carried and
swept along in the grip of necessity. And the faculty of reason
will be superfluous to us: for if we are not masters of any of
our actions, deliberation is quite superfluous. Reason, indeed,
is granted to us solely that we might take counsel, and hence all
reason implies freedom of will.
And, therefore, we hold that the stars are not the
causes of the things that occur, nor of the origin of things that come
to pass, nor of the destruction of those things that perish. They
are rather signs of showers and changes of air. But, perhaps,
some one may say that though they are not the causes of wars, yet they
are signs of them. And, in truth, the quality of the air which is
produced1727
1727 Text, ποιουμένη.
Variant, ποιούμενον. | by sun, and
moon, and stars, produces in various ways different temperaments, and
habits, and dispositions1728
1728 Basil,
Hom. 6, in Hexaëmeron. | . But
the habits are amongst the things that we have in our own hands, for it
is reason that rules, and directs, and changes them.
It often happens, also, that comets arise.
These are signs of the death of kings1729
1729 Text, θάνατον
δηλοῦντα
βασίλεων.
Variant, θανάτων
βασίλεων: also
θάνατον, ἢ
ἀνάδειξιν
σημαίνουσι
βασίλεων. | , and they are not any of the stars that
were made in the beginning, but are formed at the same time by divine
command and again dissolved1730
1730 Basil, Christi
Nativit. | . And so
not even that star which the Magi saw at the birth of the Friend and
Saviour of man, our Lord, Who became flesh for our sake, is of the
number of those that were made in the beginning. And this is
evidently the case because sometimes its course was from east to west,
and sometimes from north to south; at one moment it was hidden, and at
the next it was revealed: which is quite out of harmony with the
order and nature of the stars.
It must be understood, then, that the moon derives its
light from the sun; not that God was unable to grant it light of its
own, but in order that rhythm and order may be unimpressed upon nature,
one part ruling, the other being ruled, and that we might thus be
taught to live in community and to share our possessions with one another, and to be
under subjection, first to our Maker and Creator, our God and Master,
and then also to the rulers set in authority over us by Him: and
not to question why this man is ruler and not I myself, but to welcome
all that comes from God in a gracious and reasonable spirit.
The sun and the moon, moreover, suffer eclipse,
and this demonstrates the folly of those who worship the creature in
place of the Creator1731 , and teaches us
how changeable and alterable all things are. For all things are
changeable save God, and whatever is changeable is liable to corruption
in accordance with the laws of its own nature.
Now the cause of the eclipse of the sun is that
the body of the moon is interposed like a partition-wall and casts a
shadow, and prevents the light from being shed down on us1732
1732 Text, διαναδοθῆναι:
variants, διαδοθῆναι
and δοθῆναι. | : and the extent of the eclipse is
proportional to the size of the moon’s body that is found to
conceal the sun. But do not marvel that the moon’s body is
the smaller. For many declare that the sun is many times larger
even than the earth, and the holy Fathers say that it is equal to the
earth: yet often a small cloud, or even a small hill or a wall
quite conceals it.
The eclipse of the moon, on the other hand, is due to
the shadow the earth casts on it when it is a fifteen days’ moon
and the sun and moon happen to be at the opposite poles of the highest
circle, the sun being under the earth and the moon above the
earth. For the earth casts a shadow and the sun’s light is
prevented from illuminating the moon, and therefore it is then
eclipsed.
It should be understood that the moon was made
full by the Creator, that is, a fifteen days’ moon: for it
was fitting that it should be made complete1733
1733 Sever.
Gabal., De opif. mundi, III. | . But on the fourth day, as we
said, the sun was created. Therefore the moon was eleven days in
advance of the sun, because from the fourth to the fifteenth day there
are eleven days. Hence it happens that in each year the twelve
months of the moon contain eleven days fewer than the twelve months of
the sun. For the twelve months of the sun contain three hundred
and sixty-five and a quarter days, and so because the quarter becomes a
whole, in four years an extra day is completed, which is called
bis-sextile. And that year has three hundred and sixty-six
days. The years of the moon, on the other hand, have three
hundred and fifty-four days. For the moon wanes from the time of
its origin, or renewal, till it is fourteen and three-quarter
days’ old, and proceeds to wane till the twenty-ninth and a half
day, when it is completely void of light. And then when it is
once more connected with the sun it is reproduced and renewed, a
memorial of our resurrection. Thus in each year the moon gives
away eleven days to the sun, and so in three years the intercalary
month of the Hebrews arises, and that year comes to consist of thirteen
months, owing to the addition of these eleven days1734
1734 Ibid. De
opif. mundi, III. | .
It is evident that both sun and moon and stars are
compound and liable to corruption according to the laws of their
various natures. But of their nature we are ignorant. Some,
indeed, say that fire when deprived of matter is invisible, and thus,
that when it is quenched it vanishes altogether. Others, again,
say that when it is quenched it is transformed into air1735 .
The circle of the zodiac has an oblique motion and is
divided into twelve sections called zodia, or signs: each sign
has three divisions of ten each, i.e. thirty divisions, and each
division has sixty very minute subdivisions. The heaven,
therefore, has three hundred and sixty-five degrees: the
hemisphere above the earth and that below the earth each having one
hundred and eighty degrees.
The abodes of the planets.
The Ram and the Scorpion are the abode of
Mars: the Bull and the Scales, of Venus1736
1736
VidePorph., de antro Nymph. | : the Twins and the Virgin, of
Mercury: the Crab, of the Moon: the Lion, of the Sun:
the Archer and the Fish, of Jupiter: Capricorn and Aquarius, of
Saturn.
Their altitudes.
The Ram has the altitude of the Sun: the Bull, of
the Moon: the Crab, of Jupiter: the Virgin, of Mars:
the Scales, of Saturn: Capricorn, of Mercury: the Fish, of
Venus.
The phases of the moon.
It is in conjunction whenever it is in the same
degree as the sun: it is born when it is fifteen degrees distant
from the sun: it rises when it is crescent-shaped, and this
occurs twice1737
1737 Text,
δίς. R. 4 has
δεύτερον. | , at which
times it is sixty degrees distant from the sun: it is half-full
twice, when it is ninety degrees from the sun: twice it is
gibbous, when it is one hundred and twenty degrees from the sun: it is
twice a full moon, giving full light, when it is a hundred and fifty
degrees from the sun: it is a complete moon when it is a hundred
and eighty degrees distant from the sun. We say twice, because
these phases occur both when the moon waxes and when it wanes. In
two and a half days the moon traverses each sign.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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