A Hermetic Text on the Plants of the Zodiac1

translated by Ludwig Maisel

(Teaching) of Hermes to his pupil Asclepius about the plants of the 12 signs of the zodiac.

[Friedrich's text: Concise/abridged medical book of Hermes Trismegistos about

astrological influence of the stars handed over to his student Asclepius]

(The plant) of Aries (is) false dittany/salvia; of Taurus, vervain proper; of Gemini, holy
vervain; of Cancer, comfrey; of Leo, kuklôminon (“circular (plant)”). Of Virgo, (cat-)mint; of
Libra, scorpion-wort; of Scorpio, wormwood; of Sagittarius, pimpernel, both red and blue; of
Capricorn, monk's rhubarb; of Aquarius, edderwort/arum; of Pisces, birthwort.

Now, these plants need to be gathered and made into a drink (?2) when the sun is in Aries3, but
also when it is in each (respective) zodiac sign of each plant, and the moon is in trine aspect to
the sun or4 in the ascendant (lit. “the ascendental”); it must, in addition, be the day and the
hour of the ruler of the house of the zodiac sign5; and so you will be in high esteem, as the
teacher says, by natural means according to the cosmic (astral) influence.

1
Editions: Friedrich, [Pseudo-]Thessalos von Tralles, 1968; Pitra, Analecta Sacra et Classica V: Spicilegium
Solesmense, 1888, p. 291.
2
An appropriate meaning is not in the dictionaries.
3
According to Pitra's interpretation, the word "decan" is represented by the letter chi in the manuscripts; more
plausibly, and in the interpretation of the more recent Friedrich, not the letter but the symbol of Aries is intended
in the manuscripts.
4
Pitra has “and”.
5
For example, Capricorn is the house of Saturn: if the sun were in Capricorn, the procedure would have to take
place on a Saturday (Saturn’s, the seventh day), in the 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd hour. The first, and then every
seventh hour of a day always belongs to the planet whose day it is.