On the Nine Spheres of Heaven

by Peter Stockinger

The transmission of Arab and Persian astrology took place from as early as the middle of the 12th century. John of Seville, to name only one of the early scholars dedicated to support the survival of original source material, translated the works of famous astrologers like Alkindi, Albumasar, Messahala or Thebit ibn Qurra straight from the Arabic into Latin. Nevertheless it should take until the 16th century before the first astrological works were printed and published in the vernacular. Stöffler and Pflaum published their Almanach Teutsch in 1510 and Regiomontanus published his Kalendarius Teutsch Maister Joannis Küngspergers in 1512.

But these were only almanacs and calendars, including prognostications for the coming year. It took another 40 years before one of the earliest astrological textbooks in German, Astronomia Teutsch Astronomei, was printed. The book was published in Frankfurt am Main in 1545 by Enriaco Jakob zu Bath.

Although the name of the author is unknown, he tells us about the source material used to produce this volume.

“and although/about this astronomy/some books have appeared in print before/but nearly none (according to my humble opinion) has led so far and explained so much in German/than this which my very good friend/Hans Orth von Bacharach/lover of astronomy/in a very old handwritten book/for the good of all Germans/has sent me [presumably Enriaco Jakob, the printer and publisher of this work]/wherein you will find much/about comets/and other things which have never been printed in German before […]”

One part of the book gives a detailed description of the “36 heavenly images or pictures in heaven”. These are to be found in the eighth sphere of heaven. The theory of the celestial spheres can be traced as far back as to the theories of Anaximander and Plato. Later on Ptolemy refined the theory of the spheres and in the Middle Ages Christian and Muslim philosophers modified the system to include an outermost region, the empyrean, or dwelling place of God. The idea of the celestial spheres continued to have a great influence on the imagination of may scholars and famous authors like Chaucer or Dante.

In the following I provide a translation of the chapter On the Nine Spheres of Heaven, from Astronomia Teutsch Astronomei, 1545:

On the Nine Spheres of Heaven

Above the firmament is the ninth heaven or sphere/in the same heaven are God and God’s angels/and all souls who are just/This ninth heaven is called Empirium/that is the fiery heaven/because it is a secret place of mighty power/and it is hidden from the people on earth/[it is] the throne upon which deity is sitting/a heaven of the uppermost trinity called Thronus/or the highest chair/he is a true Emperor/and a King of all kings/and a Master of all rulers/and in this ninth heaven there is no star and no planet/because this heaven is adorned with the highest Light of the brightness of God/and it is adorned in a way/that nobody may talk or write about it.

The eighth sphere is called the firmament of heaven/and therein are all the stars according to their order/and the stars are equal to the twelve signs of heaven/and it is said about these same stars that they are in the order of the xxxvi pictures in heaven/which is called firmament/and this is turned around more mightily than all the other wheels of movement/and out of this fast rotation comes such mighty heat/that the stars and the air have too much heat in them caused by the heat and warmth/and therefore has God/who is the highest artificer above it/put another heaven/which is called crystal heaven/and this heaven has the shape and form of pure water/and frozen ice/stronger than a crystal/and the cold of this crystal heaven withstands the warmth of the fiery heat/[and] a wheel is turning there/and God has set the firmament amidst the waters/and separates the waters from the waters/and it should not be understood that the crystal heaven is a heaven in itself/otherwise there would be ten spheres/but there are only nine.

Below this sphere lies the heaven of Saturn/most cold and clear/equal to water or snow/or the nature of quicksilver/and the ice in this sphere comes from the force of its body/because Saturn is the coldest and driest/so that the heat of the uppermost sphere might not fall down/because it would bring harm/that the whole of the earth would burn/and this is why Saturn is put in the heaven/because he is the origin of coldness.

Therefore God has ordered the heaven or sphere of Mars/who is hot and dry/so that the earth would not be too cold/his influence is called Arsura/which is heat/which is most dry/and through his warmth God has placed Mars the planet.

But God recognised that there would be too much of this planet in the world/so God placed in between the planets Saturn and Mars/Jupiter and his sphere/he is one who is a taker and intermediary between Saturn and Mars/and therefore Jupiter is a moderate planet/mild and good/is of use to all people/and is always standing strong in the quarrel of the two evils.

Below Mars God has set the Sun/virtuous and in her sphere/amongst the planets the Sun is actually called father of the day/and prince of the planets/and enlightens up there as well as down here/and the light the Sun has/she takes from above from God/and then the Moon takes it from the Sun.

Below the Sun God placed Venus in his sphere.

Below Venus God placed Mercury with his sphere.

Below him God placed the Moon with his sphere/and she is the herald and identifier of all bodies/cold and moist/like the sea and the waters/and the menstruation of women.

Below the Moon there is no star or planet/only the whole width of the four elements in their order.

On top He put fire/and thereafter air/thereafter water/earth in fourth place/and in the middle of the Earth there is Hell/and therein are the cursed spirits for eternity/and the damned souls coming therein.