COMETS.
“The hour arrived, and it became
A wandering mass of shapeless flame —
A pathless comet, and a curse,
The menace of the universe. ”
The influence of comets on the affairs of the world is a fact which has been handed down from remote generations, and it has been found that, at the times when large comets made their appearances, great calamities have fallen upon the world in the shape of violent earthquakes, pestilences and famine. For instance, with respect to the great comet of Halley, whose return occurred in the present year, 1910, it was found that from about two years previous to its approach earthquakes and electrical storms were frequent. According to the Astrologer Cardan, the rising or first appearance of these phenomena should be considered, whether presenting themselves at the time of eclipses or at any other time. They incite heated and turbulent dispositions in the atmosphere and in the conditions of men. It is said that the comet first appearing in the East signifies the rising of some eminent law-giver; in the midheaven, of some eminent king; but generally serious troubles when in the West. In Cardinal signs they denote the death of great men, in Fixed signs foreign wars and invasion, and in Common signs sedition and pestilence. Their position in regard to the twelve houses should also be considered, as they seriously affect the matters and things ruled over by such houses. Thus in the ninth house, scandal or detriment to religion, in the tenth or twelfth, pestilence or scarcity of corn; in the eighth house, many sudden and terrible deaths. The part of the Zodiac in which they first appear should also be noted; for the countries ruled over by such signs will suffer many serious troubles.
We are also told by great writers that “comets and fiery swords and such like signs are wont to be fore-runners of great changes in the world.” History records the fact that a comet in the form of a sword hung over
Jerusalem for a whole year, previous to the destruction of that city by the Romans. An illustration in later days is recorded in the case of the late Russo-Japanese war; for one of the comets of 1903 was discovered and appeared in the sign Aquarius; and we are informed by an old author on Astrology that comets appearing in the sign Aquarius presignify war and bloodshed, and that the events presignified usually became apparent when the Sun arrives at the degree influenced by the appearance of the comet; and it is remarkable to note that the Russo-Japanese war broke out within a week of the time when the Sun passed this particular degree in the following February.