The Sky Library · Mansion 21 of 28
Al Baldah
Al-Baldah · The District
Span17°08′34″ Sagittarius – 0°00′00″ Capricorn (tropical)
Determinant starsA nearly starless field marked by Pi Sagittarii (Albaldah)
An empty quarter of sky, roomy enough for almost any honest work.
A bare stretch of sky the Arabs called the district or the empty place, which Agrippa lists as Abeda or Albeldach and glosses as a desert. For all its emptiness he makes it broadly fortunate, open to the farmer, the builder and the traveller.
The Spirit of the Mansion
the square of Jupiter, 34 in every line
a small fire keeps the sill; on the far side, the pin at the heart of the plate answers a touch
Agrippa and the Picatrix transmit different names for the mansion spirits; both are given.
What the number square means
The grid is a kamea, one of the planetary magic squares from Agrippa's second book; every planet has one, from Saturn's three by three to the Moon's nine by nine. In a true square every row, every column, and both diagonals add to the same number, and Jupiter's adds to 34 in every line. Count any line and see. Practitioners engraved these on talismans as the planet's signature written in number, and the gilded cell marks this mansion's own number.
Elections in this mansion
- harvests
- gain
- buildings
- the good of travellers
- partings sought on purpose