THE PLANET OF WAR. 



301 



fields. For Mars has not blazed so fiercely in 

 our skies since 1845, nor will he so shine again 

 for forty-seven years, as during the last days of 

 August and the opening days of September. 

 Moreover, twice during his time of greatest 

 splendor his rays will be closely conjoined with 

 those of the malignant planet Saturn, the great- 

 er Infortune, as Mars himself is the lesser Infor- 

 tune, of astrological systems. 



The ruddy hue of this planet, justifying the 

 evil qualities attributed to it by nations believing 

 in planetary influences, has been noted from the 

 earliest times. The Greeks called Mars the fiery 

 planet ; the Hebrews gave to it a name signifying 

 " enkindled ; " the Indians called it Angaraka, 

 or burning charcoal, and sometimes Lohitanga, 

 or the red orb. Ruddy stars also were compared 

 with Mars, as the chief of all the ruddy stars — so 

 that the name Antares, given to the star which 

 glows like a fiery coal in the heart of the Scor- 

 pion, signifies that in ruddiness that star is a 

 rival of Mars or Ares. 



Recent researches among the ruins of Nin- 

 eveh have brought to light cuneiform inscriptions 

 relating to the celestial bodies, and among others 

 to the planet Mars. It would appear that a 

 treatise, in sixty books, called " The Observations 

 of Bel," belonged formerly to the public library 

 of Nineveh. Its date cannot have been later 

 than the seventeenth century before our era, and 

 the observations recorded in it extend over more 

 than 500 years, so that the earliest bore date 

 about 2540 b. c. One of the books was devoted 

 to the pole-star — not our present "pole-star, but 

 the star Alpha of the Dragon, at that time the 

 bright star which lay nearest the pole of the 

 heavens. Another book was devoted to Venus ; 

 a third to Mars. We find that even at the re- 

 motest time to which these records relate, that 

 is, more than 2,500 years before our era, the 

 planet Mars presided (as a deity) over the third 

 day of the week, the other planets ruling the 

 days in the order indicated by the present no- 

 menclature, the Sun presiding over Sunday, the 

 Moon over Monday, Mars over Tuesday (or Mar- 

 ch), Mercury over Wednesday (or Mercredi), Jupi- 

 ter over Thursday (or Jeudi, Jove's day), Venus 

 over Friday (or A r endredi), and Saturn, the 

 gloomiest and most malignant, but also the most 

 powerful of the planetary deities, over Saturday, 

 the sabbath-day, when, owing to his evil influ- 

 ence, no work could safely be undertaken. 

 Doubtless Tuesday was as rigidly set aside for 

 the initiation of all warlike enterprises as Satur- 

 day for the avoidance of all labor whatsoever. 



If only astrology had been a true method of 

 prediction, the discovery of the true nature of 

 the solar system would have brought within our 

 range much fuller information respecting the 

 other planets, and in particular the planet Mars, 

 than we are ever likely to possess. Astrologers 

 claimed such perfection for the principles of their 

 art, that the whole history of our earth might 

 have been predicted from the planetary configura- 

 tions alone ; and indeed they were very success- 

 ful in showing that all past events corresponded 

 with the aspect of the heavens when they oc- 

 curred. Now, if other planets thus influence the 

 fortunes of our earth, which is itself one of the 

 planets, it follows that each of the planets is in 

 like manner influenced by the positions and mo- 

 tions of the rest. But these can be quite easily 

 calculated. Therefore the fortunes of the in- 

 habitants of every planet can be determined, 

 and the entire past history of each planet can be 

 read by terrestrial astronomers. Only one cir- 

 cumstance must be ascertained teleseopically. 

 (At least so it appears to us, for we confess we 

 are not such adepts in the methods of astrologi- 

 cal divination as to be quite sure whether astro- 

 logical principles, properly applied, might not 

 have determined everything which the telescope 

 has revealed. As a mere matter of fact, astrol- 

 ogy discovered nothing of this kind. But that 

 is the merest detail.) It should be known how 

 a planet is posed in space, what are the pole- 

 stars of its northern and southern hemispheres, 

 and at what rate exactly it rotates upon its axis. 

 For the astrologer, in determining the future for- 

 tunes of his "native," or in calculating the na- 

 tive's past history, has to take into account the 

 aspect of the star-sphere at the moment of the 

 native's birth, as well as at the critical stages of 

 his career ; and to do this properly account must 

 be taken, of course, of the hour and of the posi- 

 tion of the pole of the heavens. 



We do, however, know fairly well the posi- 

 tion of the axis of Mars, and we know the length 

 of his day within the tenth part of a second, so 

 that if only astrology were a sound method of div- 

 ination, we might learn much of the past history 

 and of the future fortunes of this planet. As De 

 Morgan has remarked in an article on astrology 

 in the " Penny Cyclopasdia," "we have lost," in 

 the rejection of astrology, " a charming opportu- 

 nity of discovering what goes on in other plan- 

 ets." 



The astronomer who watches, during the ap- 

 proaching close approach of Mars, the slowly-ro- 

 tating lands and seas of the planet, can scarcely, 



