On the Role of Dodecatamoiria in Hellenistic Astrology
© 2010, Mar 11 Curtis Manwaring
The 13th part is symbolic of the Sun / Moon synodic cycle. This is because in the time it takes for Moon to come back to the same degree a month later, the Sun has moved forward one sign, so the Moon has to go through a 13th sign to reach conjunction with the Sun again. Both types of twelfth parts are reflective of the idea of having some part reflected within the whole and the whole reflected within the part. Hint: the lights are said to represent "one's all" in Valens (or "the whole"). Bonatti says that the Sun has power akin to being in one's own bounds in the Solar half of the zodiac (Leo - Capricorn) and the Moon has the same (Aquarius - Cancer). This is a clue that you are dealing with something that has a nature contrary to the nature of an arabic part (or lot). Robert Schmidt has some theories about the reasons for these and what they represent based upon Platonic metaphysics and has called these "the ascending path".
