Tuesday, January 19, 2010  Cazimi in Longitude & Latitude?  I
had an interesting question recently regarding the definition of
Cazimi (Kasmimi) found in Ben Dykes' wonderful translation of
Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae.  "And when it [the Moon] is with
the Sun in one degree, so that there are 16' or less between
them, both by latitude and longitude (which rarely happens), it
is said to be united, and then it is made strong, because it is
said to be in the Sun's forge, that is, in his heart. And many
of those dealing with the stars, and particularly in my time,
agreed in this, that when a planet is distant from the Sun by
16' or less, it is made strong, and it is said to be in the
heart of the Sun. Indeed I am in agreement with them, but not
purely and simply. Because for a planet to be in the forge or in
the heart of the Sun, it is necessary that it be distant from
the Sun by less than 16' according to longitude and latitude -
and this was the intention of the philosophers. Because if a
planet is distant from t