The 28 Mansions of the Moon
1. Mansion: al-Saratan, The Horns of Aries, 0* Aries to 12* Aries 51’
Related to the star on the left foot of Andromeda.
Signification: Ardent imagination, taste for occult sciences and changes in employment throughout life.
Make pentacles for journeys and for working of spells for love and hatred.
2. Mansion: al-Butain, The Belly of Aries, 12* Aries 51’ to 25* Aries 42’
Signification: Luck in life, maternal love, triumph over illness and determination in work.
MAke talismans for reconciliation with royalty.
3. Mansion: al-Turaija, The Many Little Ones, 25* Aries 42’ to 8* Taurus 34’.
Related to the Seven Sisters or Pleiades.
Signification: Favourable for sciences and for all who live outdoors, unfavourable for marriage and travel by water. Good for alchemical experiments and for working spells of love.
MAke pentacles for good fortune and happiness.
4. Mansion: al-Dabaran, The Eye of Taurus, 8* Taurus 34’ to 21* Taurus 25’.
Related to the star of the eye of the constellation Taurus, one of the Royal Stars of antiquity.
Signification: Favourable for work, manufacture and small trade. Unfavourable for real estate, building and everything having to do with mines.
5. Mansion: al-Haq’a, The White Spot, 21* Taurus 25’ to 4* Gemini 17’.
Signification: Favourable for travel and change of residence and for health and benevolence. Unfavourable influence on associations and collective enterprises.
Make talismans for good entertainment and official favours.
6. Mansion: al-Han’a, The Little Star of Great Light, 4* Gemini 17’ to 17* Gemini 8’.
Signification: Favourable for working spells destined to bring victory in wars. Indicates financial losses and is unfavourable for farm work.
Make talismans to establish bonds of friendship and affection and for successful hunting.
7. Mansion: al-Dira, The Fore-Arm of Gemini, 17* Gemini 8’ to 0* Cancer.
Signification: Favourable for lovers, friendships, earnings and healing. Unfavourable for law and justice.
Make takismans to obtain good things.
8. Mansion: al-Natra, The Crib or Gap, 0* Cancer to 12* Cancer 51’.
Signification: Favourable for love and friendship and for land travel.
Make talismans promoting the growth of crops and talismans against captives or captivity.
9. Mansion: al-Tarf(a), The Glance of the Lion’s Eye, 12* Cancer 51’ to 25* Cancer 42’.
Signification: It favours marriage and increases the force of personality in men, but in women it exercises a bad influence on marriage and makes them sullen, discouraged and unhappy. Unfavourable for journeys.
Make pentacles to separate from companions.
10. Mansion: al-Gabha, The Lion’s Forehead, 25* Cancer 42’ to 8* Leo 34’.
Signification: Favourable for studies, earnings and professional success as well as for love.
Make talismans for love spells an to cure illness; work spells intended to dispose of enemies.
11. Mansion: al-Zubra, The Lion’s Mane, 8* Leo 34’ to 21* Leo 25’.
Signification: Favourable for trade, wealth, marriage and travel. Unfavourable for health in women. Make talismans to increase trade and cast spells to enable prisoners to escape and to lay siege to fortresses.
12. Mansion: al-Sarfa, The Lion’s Tail, 21* Leo 25’ to 4* Virgo 17’.
Signification: Favourable to send messages, and to agriculture in general. It brings elevation in the life of people who serve another one.
Make talismans favourable to crops and to promote optimistic circumstances.
13. Mansion: al-Auwa, The Barker, 4* Virgo 17’ to 17* Virgo 8’.
Signification: It is a sign of benevolence and kindness and exerts a good influence on travel.
Make talismans for good trade and good crops and to gain the good will of the mighty. Spells increase the quality of relationships and dissolve sexual problems.
14. Mansion: al-Simak, The Spike of Virgo, 17* Virgo 8’ to 0* Libra.
Signification: Favourable to attract friendship and romance; to strengthen conjugal love and to restore health completely through medical treatment. Unfavourable in the first year of marriage and for journeys by land.
MAke talismans for separation and divorce.
15. Mansion: al-Gafr, The Covering, 0* Libra to 12* Libra 51’.
Signification: Attract and generate friendship, harmony and good relations. Unfavourable for journeys.
Make talismans to increase the success of finding material or intellectual treasures and work spells to protect friends and injure enemies.
16. Mansion: al-Zubana, The Claws of the Scorpion, 12* Libra 51’ to 25* Libra 42’.
Signification: Favourable for buying and selling cattle, stock-breeding and speculation. Causes delay in journeys and marriages.
Make talismans to bring about financial increase and wealth.
17. Mansion: al-Iklik, The Crown of Scorpion, 25* Libra 42’ to 8* Scorpio 34’.
Signification: Favourable for marriage, friendship and general fortune.
Make pentacles for the strengthening of conjugal relations. Cast spells to help those who have been deceived.
18. Mansion: al-Qualb, The Heart of the Scorpion, 8* Scorpio 34’ to 21* Scorpio 25’.
Signification: Favourable for the protection of houses, curing stomach-aches and fevers. Unfavourable for mothers in labour.
Make talismans to expel serpents.
19. Mansion: al-Saula, The Tail of the Scorpion, 21* Scorpio 25’ to 4* Sagittarius 17’.
Signification: Favourable for hunting, curing menstrual disorders and personal ideas.
Make talismans for general luck, to facilitate birth and to protect from dangerous energies.
20. Mansion: al-Na’a’im, The Beam, 4* Sagittarius 17’ to 17* Sagittarius 8’.
Signification: Favourable for taming aggressive elements, for hunting and for construction. Use this Mansion to lay the first brick in the foundation of a building. Unfavourable for community wealth.
Make pentacles against illnesses and cast spells to work charms of enmity.
21. Mansion: al-Balda, The City, 17* Sagittarius 8’ to 0* Capricorn.
Signification: Favourable for travel, earnings and recovery from illness.
Make talismans to safeguard travellers, protect the house and increase your crops.
22. Mansion: Sa’d al-Dabih, The Fortunate of the Assassins, 0* Capricorn to 12* Capricorn 51’
Signification: Successful liberation from any kind of restriction. Unfavourable for marriage and loans of money.
Make talismans to cure sickness and to form bonds of alliance.
23. Mansion: Sa’d Bula’, The Good Fortune of the Aviator, 12* Capricorn 51’ to 25* Capricorn 42’.
Signification: Favourable for doctors, politicians and soldiers. Unfavourable for marriage, children and contracts.
Make pentacles for friendship and healing.
24. Mansion: Sa’d al-su’ud, The Star of Fortune, 25* Capricorn 42’ to 8* Aquarius 34’.
Signification: Favourable for marriage, enterprises and friendships.
Cast spells for the realisation of a wish.
25. Mansion: Sa’d al-ahbija, The Butterfly, 8* Aquarius 34’ to 21* Aquarius 25’.
Signification: Favourable for protecting houses and to strengthen buildings.
Make talismans to protect messengers and to protect trees and harvest.
26. Mansion: al-Farg al-muqaddam, The First Drawing, 21* Aquarius 25’ to 4* Pisces 17’.
Signification: Favourable for love and lovers, agriculture, marriage and trade. Unfavourable for overseas journeys.
Make talismans to promote love and find a life-partner, magical protection and protection of travellers.
27. Mansion: al-Farg al-mu’ahhar, The Second Drawing, 4* Pisces 17’ to 17* Pisces 8’.
Signification: Favourable for earnings, marriages, friendships and harvests. Unfavourable for travel, loans of money and real estate.
Make pentacles for crops, trade and friendship and against illness.
28. Mansion: al-Risa (Batn al-Hut), The Belly of the Fish, 17* Pisces 8’ to 0* Aries.
Signification: Favourable for business, travel, catching fish and conjugal happiness. Signifies loss of valuables.
Make talismans for crops and trade and make love-charms.
Apr 27, 2010 @ 14:33:15
Thank you for this post Peter!
In elections, would you consider them sidereally or in the exact degrees you give here?
Apr 27, 2010 @ 16:12:47
Dear Wroskopos,
in this posting I am dealing only with the Tropical Mansions as used by Agrippa and given in Picatrix. Mansions 1, 8, 15 and 22 begin with 0* Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, respectively.
Constellational Mansions were rather used for weather predictions and find more favour amongst the modern astrologers these days.
I personally prefer to work with the Tropical Mansions, but it is really up to anybody’s choice, which system to use.
Jul 09, 2010 @ 16:09:10
Very interesting reading, you are obviously a genuine scholar.
Each of the above mentions fashioning a talisman, but gives no direction as to what it might entail. Does the element need to be well aspected in ones birth chart?
Jul 09, 2010 @ 16:29:13
Hi Nigel,
thanks for your interest. To answer your question to your satisfaction, could you please clarify what you mean by element?
Jul 09, 2010 @ 18:35:30
Hi Peter,
thanks for your reply.
Sorry poor choice of word, my apologies.
What I was meaning was, take for instance the first one; Mansion: al-Saratan, The Horns of Aries, 0* Aries to 12* Aries 51’.
Would Aries need to be well positioned in your birth chart for this to compliment (strike a chord) with the maker of the talisman?
I’ve read on renaissanceastrology.com/astrologicaltalismanchoose.html that certain talismans can have a detremental affect because
“the planet is afflicted by being in fall, detriment, combust or retrograde in your natal chart”, causing an allergic reaction to them”.
Many thanks,
Nigel.
Jul 10, 2010 @ 07:01:16
Nigel,
as these Talismans are Lunar ones, the most important points to observe are the essential and accidental dignities and debilities of the Moon at the time of the Talisman’s creation. What one would love to see is a rising, waxing Moon, not combust or under the Sun’s beams. Furthermore she should not make an applying conjunction, opposition or square with the Greater or Lesser Malefics, Saturn and Mars. All the other rules of electional astrology apply as well.
If Luna is debilitated in your chart, you might want to take care if you want to work with Lunar Talismans and should consider a gemstone reading beforehand. This would provide you with information about particular gemstones & crystals which may be used to balance the energy of debilitated Planets in the nativity. For more information about this, please go to “Astrological Services” on the top of the page.
Sep 21, 2010 @ 07:16:44
The Lunar Mansions are truly an intriguing and important aspect of astrology. I’ve had a wonderful letterpress chart made to assist student working with these mansions: http://tiny.cc/s2d7f
Apr 21, 2011 @ 09:32:58
I’m a novice at astrological magic (and astrology, for that matter), but not so much at astronomy … and I cannot help but wonder why the Mansions are based on a 28-day lunar cycle. The actual mean length of a lunation is about 29.5 days. It would seem like the eminently practical ancients knew this, yet decided to go with the incommensurable 28. Do you have any ideas about this?
Apr 21, 2011 @ 11:10:57
I don’t think that anybody knows why the ancients decided to use 28 Mansions. Fact is that there are a variety of different methods of locating the boundaries of these Mansions. The boundaries of the ones used in the tropical zodiac are regular, each is about 12 degrees and 51 minutes but on the other hand the constellational Mansions are based on the location of fixed stars and highly irregular in width. Maybe this has to do with the number chosen. If you should ever find anybody who can explain why there are 28 Mansions, please let me know as I would be interested to know, too.
Apr 28, 2011 @ 10:16:45
I think I know. While the lunar month (new moon to new moon) averages 29.5 days, the sidereal month (lunar orbit) is 27.3 days. Probably just rounding that up to 28. And the fact that it doesn’t come out even just gives more different combinations of moon phase and mansion.
Apr 28, 2011 @ 14:47:13
You might well be correct in your assumption. The Vedic Lunar Mansions are 27 in number (#28 is only used in horary astrology).
Aug 22, 2011 @ 03:10:40
Peter,
You have another list on another page, it starts with 19.26 Aries to 2.17 Taurus, is THAT list a constellational one? It numbers 28 also, but obviously doesn’t correspond to this list. Are these just different sources (Picatrix vs. Barrett for instance?). -Alan
Aug 22, 2011 @ 06:42:48
No, Alan, I don’t think that they are constellational. If you have a close look you will find that all the Mansions are roughly of equal size, between 12* and 13*. (Mansion #1, 13*01, Mansion #2 12*52′, etc) If they would be constellational there would be huge differences in size. Unfortunately we don’t know the source the Planeten Buch of Straubing used. (Straubing is the place in Germany where it was printed/published, by the way, so we don’t know the identity of the author/compiler either) If you look how Picatrix/Agrippa organise the Mansions, you will find out that they are structured to fit in with the moveable signs and therefore with the seasons (Mansion #1 from 0* Aries, Mansion #8 from 0* Cancer, Mansion #15 from 0* Libra and Masion #22 from 0* Capricorn). I have translated and published the table from the Planeten Buch particularly because it uses another logic, although I have not found out what the reason for it is.
Oct 11, 2011 @ 13:02:14
Tony Willis has made a synoptic view of many accounts of the mansions. I found it at toj.posterous.com. The posts start on December 18th (2010?), currently to be found on page 3 of the blog and not likely to move any time soon as the blog seems abandoned.
Melissa