Study Notes: Valens Anthology

RohanMenon

Valens Horoscope #13

ASC = Cancer
Sun in Gemini (12th)
Mercury in Gemini (12th)
Moon in Capricorn (7th)
Venus in Cancer (1st)
Mars in Aquarius (8th)
Jupiter in Scorpio (5th)
Saturn in Aquarius (8th)

Lot of Fortune should be (by calculation) in Aquarius (9th).
Lot of Exaltation should be (by calculation) in Aries(11th).
Lot of Spirit should be (by calculation, roughly) in Leo (2nd)

First impressions. Look at that Saturn. In Aquarius, in his own domicile, conjunct Lot of Fortune. OTOH he is in the natal 8th, with Mars also there!

In any case sect Lord is the Sun, which is in the East in Gemini, with Cancer rising.

So trigon Lords, in order are Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter.
first part of life ruled by Saturn, in the natal 8th, conjunct Lot of Fortune, in his domicile, in his triangle, succedent. Conjunct Mars, trined by Mercury and the Sun from Gemini (the 12th). Saturn is the stronger in these aspects (via 'to the left' logic). Sextiled by Jupiter.

I read this as a mixed Saturn. In his domicile *and* triangle == good, but in the 8th == bad, and conjunct (by Sign) Mars and succedent. Ok more bad than good, at least natally. But *is* conjunct Lot of Fortune and is its lord, so that's pretty good. So. .. I can't judge if this is good Saturn or bad Saturn! But I think it is safe to say that this Saturn will be very important in the native's life.

second part of Life, ruled by Mercury. In the natal 12th, cadent. But in itsown triangle *and* domicile. Fifth from Fortune. Conjunct the sect light (in a horoscope giving position in degrees, check if combust/cazimi etc). Trined by Saturn *and* Mars (!) I think overall good, except for the cadency.

supporting Trigon Lord is Jupiter. In the 5th (Scorpio). Succedent, In his own triangle. Trined by Venus. Square Saturn and Mars. Again I can't judge.

But overall, the second part of life seems better than the 1st.

Lot of Fortune in the 8th (Aquarius) with Saturn and Mars. But the former is the Lord of the 8th, so I'd guess this is an overall good position. Still, the 8th.

Lot of Exaltation in the natal 10th (very good) 3d from Fortune, so relatively cadent.

Place of Prosperity is the 11th from Aquarius, which gives us Jupiter as the Lord. Natal 7th (so angular), opposed by Lord of the Ascendant and Sect Light Sun. Sextiled by Mars and Saturn.

I can't judge this chart, every planet and Lot seem to have positive and negative testimonies about equally. I think it comes down to the interplay between Mars and Saturn. Let's see what Valens says.

"This man, though born a slave, entered a noble family, attained political offices, and enjoyed honours. The rulers [Saturn Mercury] of the triangle of the Sun [Gemini Libra Aquarius] and of the Lot and the exaltation were found in their own domains and in aspect with Jupiter. Saturn and Mercury were unfavourably situated and so reduced his means and made him financially embarrassed."

No wonder I couldn't judge. Seems to have a down up down pattern. I desperately need to upgrade my natal chart analysis skills!
 

RohanMenon

Valens Horoscope # 14

ASC: Pisces
Sun in Aquarius (12th)
Moon, Jupiter in Scorpio (9th)
Mercury, Venus, Mars in Capricorn (11th)
Saturn in Cancer (5th)

Lot of Fortune: Sagittarius

Sun visible in the Eastern sky. So day birth.
Sect Lord Sun.
Sun in Aquarius: so trigon lords, in order, Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter.

First part of life ruled by Saturn. In detriment in Cancer (5th). Succedent, Not in its own trigon. 8th from Lot. Opposition form Mercury, Venus, Mars. Trined by Moon, Jupiter. I'm not sure if this hsould be evaluated to good or bad, but seeing the trine by the Lord,I'll give it a 'good' rating, though the day malefic Mars is in opposition.

Second part of life ruled by Mercury: In Capricorn (11th). Succedent, and 11th is a good house to be in. Not in its own trigon. Aspects: Conjunct Venus and Mars. Opposed by Saturn. 2nd from Lot of Fortune: Still not very good, but probably better than the first part

Supporting trigon lord: Jupiter. In Scorpio: (9th). Not in its own triangle.Cadent. 12th from Lot of Fortune. This isn't good at all.

So, thus far I don't see what is eminent about this horoscope.

but
Lot of Fortune in Sagittarius. Natal 10th. This is *very* good. Sextiled by Sect Lord Sun. Lord of Fortune Jupiter is in the natal 9th though in aversion to the lot and 12th from the Lot.


Lot of Spirit (should be) in Gemini. Which is the natal 4th. Angular. With Lord Mercury in the natal 11th. Trined by the Sect Lord Sun.

The place of prosperity (11th from the Lot) is Libra. Which is the natal 8th (ugh). Squared by Mars, Venus, Mercury (lord of Prosperity).

I guess the eminence (since Valens includes this horoscope in a list of eminent nativities) comes from the Lots of Fortune and Spirit occupying the natal 10th and 4th, sextiled and trined by the Sect Lord.

so now let us see what Valens says.
"This man was a eunuch, a distinguished priest of the goddess.
The ruler [Jupiter] of the Lot happened to be in Scorpio, [the IX Place of] theGod. The rulers of the [diurnal] sect, Saturn and Mercury, were found in Good Daimon, but in opposition. Therefore he fell into a great many troubles and losses and quarrels with governors and king"

Hmm the third place (of the Goddess) is Taurus, trined by the Lord Venus. The 9th is quite strong and occupied by Jupiter, which would denote a man of religion. Very interesting. I didn't see any of this.

Phew that is the end of the examples supplied for Valens for the "evaluate trigon lords, and lots of Fortune, Spirit and Exaltation" idea. Now to try this on some friends' horoscopes.
 

Minderwiz

(wow 10 examples for one technique! Modern writers should learn from Valens)


Ascendant: Sagittarius
Sun, Mercury: Scorpio (12th)
Moon: Aries (5th)
Venus in Sagittarius(1st)
Mars in Leo (9th)
Jupiter in Pisces (4th)
Saturn in Virgo (10th)

Lot of Fortune: Taurus (6th)

....

Valens says

"Even when he was a child, the nativity inherited great property. The Place of Accomplishment was in Pisces, with Jupiter in its own house. Venus, the co-ruler of the triangle, the Lot of Fortune, and the exaltation, was exactly in the Ascendant"

How is the Lord of the Exaltation in the Ascendant? Sun is in Scorpio and Aries 19 is far away. The only way this can happen is if Valens is calculating the Exaltation from the Moon. That doesn't make any sense, since he is looking at the triangle of the Sun!

Must have something to do with both Moon and Sun being in the sky. Still, he doesn't explain why he chose the Moon to calculate exaltation from. (or if he did, I missed it)

The operative statement. by Valens, is:

Venus, the co-ruler of the triangle, the Lot of Fortune, and the exaltation, was exactly in the Ascendant"


Valens is saying that Venus is not only the co-ruler of the Trigon but also the ruler of the Lot of Fortune and the ruler of the Lot of Exaltation - that is Exaltation is in Taurus (not Leo).

That's because it's calculated by taking the Sun and counting to its Exaltation in Aries. AS we don't have degrees, this is effectively the same calculating the number of signs from Scorpio (Sun) to Aries (exaltation) and comes out as Six.

As the Moon also lies in Aries, the calculation of Fortune by day, does the same count - from Sun to Moon - and the same projection from the Ascendant - resulting in a count of six signs and a projection from Sagittarius to Taurus.

We know this is what Valens has done, because he explicitly puts Fortune in Taurus and the count from Sun to Moon or Sun to Aries, must both give the same result. Both lots are in Taurus.

Venus rules Taurus and is in Sagittarius,the Ascendant, therefore the ruler of the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Exaltation is in the Ascendant.

Sometimes it's a puzzle but you have to double check. Sometimes Valens or more likely editors or copyists get things wrong.
 

RohanMenon

yes you are right Minderwiz

I got confused because I was looking at another horoscope with ASC in Aries.
What you did here is perfect. Mea Culpa!
 

RohanMenon

Book 2. Section 24:
Rule:
In this section, Valens defines some Lots (Spirit, Basis, Debt, Theft, Deceit) and a bunch of if-then rules (if X is in Y and Ruler of X is situated thus and thus then... etc). I'm not sure I want to memorize these rules quite yet,(and some of them are operative at specific chronocatorships etc) so I'll just list the Lot calculations, with my own horoscope as a running example.

Day Birth with

ASC = 24 Gemini 36
Sun = 26 Sag 02 (7th)
Moon = 28 Libra 24 (5th)
Mercury = 05 Sag 20 (7th)
Venus = 29 Capricorn 24 (8th)
Mars = 15 Pisces 12(10th)
Jupiter = 00 Sag 18 (7th)
Saturn = 05 Tarus 36 (12th)

Lot of Fortune = (Sun to Moon) projected from Ascendant = Ascendant - (57 degrees 38 minutes) = 26 Aries 58 (in the natal 11th).

Lot of Spirit = Same distance in the other direction from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + (57 Degrees 38 minutes) = 22 Leo 14.

Lot of Exaltation: (for Day Births) from Sun to 19 Aries = Ascendant + 118 degrees 58 minutes = 23 Libra 34

Lot of Basis = Fortune to Daimon projected from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + 115 degrees 16 minutes = 19 Libra 52

Lot of Debt = Mercury to Saturn, projected from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini + 150 degrees 16 minutes) = 24 Libra 52

Lot of Theft = Mercury to Mars, Project from Saturn = 05 Taurus 36 + 99 degrees 52 minutes = 15 Leo 28

Lot of Deceit = Sun to Mars, project from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + 79 degrees 10 minutes = 13 Virgo 46

Lot of Foreign Lands (!)= Saturn to Mars, project from Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 - 50 degrees 24 minutes = 6 Taurus 12. (hmm almost conjunct Saturn)
 

Minderwiz

ASC Taurus
Sun, Venus in Taurus (1st)
Moon in Aquarius (10th)
Mercury, Mars in Gemini (2nd)
Jupiter in Libra (6th)
Saturn in Cancer

It is hard to tell from the chart whether the Sun is above the horizon or not - since the Ascendant and Sun degrees are not given, only the sign - whether it is a day chart or night chart. Valens seems to be using the Sun as sect lord...

Valens quotes the Lot of Fortune being in Aquarius, with the Moon. The Sun is in Taurus so for the Lot of Fortune calculation we count from the Sun to the Moon by day, and then project in the same direction. Sun in Taurus, Moon in Aquarius. The count is clockwise (against the order of signs) and comes out as four signs. Project four signs from the Ascendant clockwise, and you reach Aquarius.

If it had been a night chart, the count would be from the Moon to the Sun (again four signs) but the projection would be anti-clockwise, that is in the order of signs. The Lot would have been in the fourth house of Leo.

So Valens gives us the information to confirm it's a day chart, because the Lot of Fortune couldn't be in the tenth in a night chart.

At the same time, as Daimon is the mirror image of Tuche (Fortune), if Fortune is in the tenth, Daimon (Spirit) must be in the fourth.


RohanMenon said:
ok i can't get a feel for this chart. If Valens hadn't placed this in a list of eminent nativities, I wouldn't think this is an eminent nativity at all. Except for Venus and Sun in Taurus and the 1st, there is nothing that I see hat inclines this nativity to eminence.

Well for Eminence we have:

Sect Light Angular in the Ascendant

Ruler of the Ascendant is also ruler of the Sect Light and othe Trigon Lord of Sect.

Ruler of the Ascendant is Angular in the Ascendant as well as being a Trigon Lord.

Second Trigon Lord is also Angular in the tenth (second best place in the chart)

Fortune is Angular in the tenth with the second Trigon Lord - which is the Moon, the other luminary.

Third Trigon Lord is in the post ascensional place to the Ascendant.

Against Eminance:

Ruler of Fortune is the malefic of Sect, is in in a Decline (third) and is averse to the Lot (sixth place from the Lot).

Out of Sect Malefic, Mars opposes the place of accomplishment.

The first part of life must be best, with the first Trigon Lord being the Ascendant ruler and not afflicted by either malefic and especially not by Mars the out of sect malefic.

The second part of life has the Trigon Lord trined by Mars (not squared as Moon is in Aquarius and Mars is in Gemini) but it's still a contact from the out of sect malefic, not as bad as a square or opposition but still a contact. But more particularly, the weakenig of the power of the Trigon Lord allows Mars, the out of sect malefic and third Trigon lord to ruing Accomplishment through its opposition Not obvious but you can see the reasons for his loss of wealth and influence.

Note that Mars is in the Second, so the place where he will do most badly is in his personal wealth. It's a variation of that same principle of House placement that Lilly raised with the Lord of the second. Have the second or it's Lord afflicted and there's going to be problems. In this case the second is afflicted by Mars' presence and the Place of Accomplishment is also afflicted by Mars' opposition. At some point things will go wrong financially.
 

RohanMenon

wow Minderwiz

That's a great analysis. When you lay it out like that, the reasons for his eminence, (and then loss of wealth) is very obvious.

I need to upgrade my analysis skills for sure.
Thanks!
 

Minderwiz

RohanMenon said:
Lot of Fortune = (Sun to Moon) projected from Ascendant = Ascendant - (57 degrees 38 minutes) = 26 Aries 58 (in the natal 11th).

Lot of Spirit = Same distance in the other direction from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + (57 Degrees 38 minutes) = 22 Leo 14.

Lot of Exaltation: (for Day Births) from Sun to 19 Aries = Ascendant + 118 degrees 58 minutes = 23 Libra 34

Lot of Basis = Fortune to Daimon projected from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + 115 degrees 16 minutes = 19 Libra 52

Lot of Debt = Mercury to Saturn, projected from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini + 150 degrees 16 minutes) = 24 Libra 52

Lot of Theft = Mercury to Mars, Project from Saturn = 05 Taurus 36 + 99 degrees 52 minutes = 15 Leo 28

Lot of Deceit = Sun to Mars, project from the Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 + 79 degrees 10 minutes = 13 Virgo 46

Lot of Foreign Lands (!)= Saturn to Mars, project from Ascendant = 24 Gemini 36 - 50 degrees 24 minutes = 6 Taurus 12. (hmm almost conjunct Saturn)[



You'll find that Valens doesn't make a great deal of the last four lots, at least in the context of the work as a whole. So don't worry too much about them.

Basis, Eros and Necessity are the ones he makes most use of and all his key lots are strongly based on Fortune and Spirit (well, exclusively based is a better phrase).

He's using Astrology to divine the interplay of chance and the directed mind - chance and choice if you like - that underlie the human condition and which may overcome what seems to be a bad chart or which can drag down a seemingly good chart.

For Valens, Astrology can get us close to the intentions of God but it cannot be 100% perfect. Using Astrology to examine the context of life and to try and make better choices is his aim but he knows that it doesn't give all the answers, all the time.
 

RohanMenon

I am a little conflicted about the if-then rules Valens introduces in every section.

On the one hand, I'm sure they have predictive value. On the other, there are hundreds of these, and short of memorizing the whole lot, I'm not very sure how to practically use them. Perhaps the right answer is to progaram them all into a computer, which given a chart, lists all the if-then rules that apply, and then perhaps we can sort them for applicability.

*Just this once*, I'll list all the rules in a section. (every section has more )


Section 24. Notable and Distinguished nativities. Also Ignoble and Debased Nativities.

Rule 1. If Sun and Moon are in operative places, and aspected by most of the rising planets, with no malefics in opposition, this is the nativity of kings or governors

Rule 2. If rulers of Sun and Moon are at angles, the same is true.

Rule 3. If the sign of the New Moon or Full Moon [1] or the ruler of this sign happens to be in the Ascendant or MC, the native will be fortunate.

Rule 4. If the Sun or Moon, or most of the planets are at IC, the native wil be rich, but the planets will involve him in hatred, lawsuits or slander, or ruin his life terribly.

Rule 5. If the Lot Rulers exchange places - Ruler of Lot of Fortune is in (the place of) Lot of Basis, the ruler of Lot of Basis [2] is in Lot of Diamon, and ruler of Lot of Daimon (I assume this is the same thing as Lot of Spirit) is in Lot of Fortune , the native is fortunate, royal, noted.

Rule 6. If rulers of Lots of Daimon and Basis are both in the place of Daimon, the native is fortunate and great hearted

Rule 7. If rulers of Daimon, Basis, and Lot of Fortune are in their proper places [3] the native is fortunate

Rule 8. If Daimon is conjunct the Sun and its ruler is rising, the native is fortunate

Rule 9. If Venus rules Daimon, Fortune, or Basis, and is rising, and in its proper place [4], the native is fortunate.

Rule 10. If its (??) [the Daimon's??) ruler is in (the place of Lot of ) Basis and conjunct the Moon, the native will be fortunate and distinguished.

Rule 11. If its (?? again what is 'it'?) ruler is in (the place of Lot of) Daimon and the Sun is conjunct it (whatever 'it' is!!) the native is distinguished, fortunate and dictatorial(!)

Rule 12. If Mars is found in Daimon and in the places of the Moon (Cancer? Cancer and Taurus?) with the Moon in conjunction, the native will be ruling, governing and distinguished

Rule 13. If Mercury is found in Daimon, rising, and with benefics in aspect, the native will get fortune from letters and education, have many friends, be renowned, be thought worthy of honours, gifts and high rank, and be called blessed by many.

Rule 14. If Jupiter rules Daimon (i.e Daimon is in Pisces or Sagittarius) ,with Mars in superior aspect, the native will not meet misfortune (but see the next sentence LOL) but be vigorous and distinguished. (and now the kicker!!). He will however meet with reverses, be ruined, and meet with arrest and exile.

Rule 15 . If the ruler (of Daimon) is in Daimon and rising with the Moon (??) the native will be fortunate, rich and generous.

Rule 16. If the Sun is in Daimon, in its own sect, and with the house ruler in the proper place, the native will be distinguished, elegant and have many friends.

Rule 17. If it (the Sun? in sect too?) is in another place, the native will be fortunate after the chronocatorship of its adversary (== Saturn??)

Rule 18. If the rulers of Daimon and Fortune are found in the place of Basis, with the house ruler in conjunction, the native will be illustrious and renowned.

Rule 19: If the rulers of Fortune and Basis are found in Daimon, with house ruler conjunct, the native will be great and fortunate

Rule 20. If rulers of Daimon and Fortune are rising in their proper places (again relative to what is the place 'proper'?) aspecting the Sun and Moon, the native will become famous and distinguished and associate with kings and priests.

Rule 21. If Venus rules Lot of Fortune or Daimon along with (so Venus conjunct?) Sun and Moon, and is not in its proper place (relative to the Lot?) but not in its proper place, the native will have hard luck, and ineffective in his efforts

Rule 22. If some of them (who? Venus, Sun, Moon?) are in their proper places, the native will be at court and associate with great men, and receive positions of trust, but will be grieved in the matter of women(!) and be childless(!)

Rule 23: If rulers of Fortune and Accomplishment do not happen to be in their own places, exaltations, triangles or degrees, then, even if they are at angles and not retrograde, they ruin nativities, especially when malefics are in aspect or opposition to these places.

If benefics happen to be at angles (to rulers of Lots? measured from the Lot?), rising, proceeding with proper motion, they make the native illustrious and famous.

Rule 24. If the stars follow an angle, the native lives off his own revenues.

Rule 25. If Accomplishment is afflicted, even if the Lots of Fortune, Daimon, and Basis are favorably situated [6], natives lose their property in the course of their youth.

Rule 26. If (lot of) Fortune is in an unpropitous place and afflicted, but (ruler of? ) Accomplishment is favorably situated, men will become powerful from youth

Rule 27. If rulers of Fortune or Accomplishment happen to be at IC, or in the 5th place, men will acquire prosperity and reputation in the course of their youth.

Rule 28. Even if Lot of Fortune and its ruler are favorably situated, if themalefics are in conjunction with or opposite to Accomplishment, when this place is not at an angle, and if they (LoF and place of Accomplishment) are alien to the nativity (== averse to Ascendant?) and in alien signs and degrees (??) they (who?) cause destruction of property.

Rule 29. When ruler of Fortune and ruler of Accomplishment are in opposition, even if they are benefics, they cause property to look like a mirage and be infirm, and at risk. If the rulers are malefics, they bring disaster.

Rule 30. If Accomplishment is opposite to Daimon, they bring failures of enterprises, loss and damage, if they don't have benefics in conjunction.

Rule 31. If the ruler of Accomplishment is opposed to (place of) Accomplishment, it makes wealth useless. If it (the ruler) happens to be malefic, so much the worse. If (the ruler is one of the benefics and) benefics are retrograde, they do the same thing, and in such circumstances they cause disasters. (Interesting, so a retrograde benefic, otherwise well situtated, can cause disaster just by opposing place of Accomplishment !)

Rule 32. If Mars is in conjunction or opposition to (the place of) Accomplishment, the native wastes his substance in pleasures and drink.

Rule 33. If Mars opposes the Ruler of Accomplishment, the native is extravagant.

Rule 34. The same is true if Ruler of Accomplishment is retrograde [5], not at an angle, or in another's degrees or house (which I interpret as saying having no essential dignity)

Rule 35. If the Lot of Debt is badly situated, or if its Ruler is square or opposite to it, with malefics beholding[6], (malefics) in opposition, or in superior aspect, this Lot makes nativities debtors.

Rule 36. If the rulers of the Lots of Fortune, Accomplishment, or Daimon are located in the Lots of Deceit or Theft, the native will gain his livelihoodfrom violence or crime, or from someone's help.

Rule 37. If Rulers of all these lots are in conjunction, they have the same effect.

Rule 38. If Rulers of Theft and Deceit are in conjunction with Lots of Fortune, Daimon or Accomplishment, the natives livelihood will be from these activities.

Rule 39. If benefics, especially in their own sect, and in their proper places, aspect these places, they give the native good moral tone. If malefics are in opposition or square, their interpretation must be carefully considered.


So....
learning all these rules is *not* going to happen.

I suspect there is an underlying 'core rules' from which all these can be derived, which has not been exposed/has been lost, or maybe astrologers in the past just did sit down and memorize all these rules. (and these are the rules from one section of one book!).

Short of having a computer check all this and surface the rules that match a given horoscope, I'm not sure how I'll use these rules in practical work.

[1] I assume this means that "if the native's horoscope shows a Full Moon or New Moon then ... " and not "prenatal Full or New Moon ... etc.. "

[2] What exactly does the Ruler of Basis do? How is it different from Lot of exaltation in signification?

[3] with respect to what? Ascendant? Fortune?

[4] again relative to what? the ruled Lot?

[5] Hmm Valens seems to consider retrograde a very serious debility, all by itself. Interesting.

[6] Is 'beholding' the same as 'aspecting'?
 

Minderwiz

They're not rules but they are statement which illustrate principles. Most of those principles we've already come across.

Angular placements are best, such as:

The luminaries angular

The Lots angular

The Lot rulers angular


Exchanging places is good (This is what in Medieval times began to be called Mutual Reception).

So Mutual Reception between, say, the rulers of Fortune and Spirit is very good.

Planets in their own rulerships (proper places) are stronger than those which are not.

The ruler of the Lot of Basis (or other Lots, in the place of the Lot of Fortune or Spirit are strengthened.

Being ruled by benefics, especially the benefic of sect and especially benefics which are rising from the Sun, rather than setting into it, or being retrograde, is good.

Being maltreated/afflicted by Malefics is bad, especially if the malefic is the out of sect malefic and the affliction is through square or opposition.

Even if the malefic is the malefic of sect and the aspect is trine or sextile, there may be some problems.

Alien places are the Detriment of the planet in later periods. So the Sun in Aquarius is in an alien place.

For your individual queries at the end:

[1] is the pre-natal lunation (either Full or New Moon) it can be used in the length of life calculation

[2] Basis is the foundation on which the nativity is based. It gives some indication of eminence, especially as it is related to both Spirit and Fortune. The Lot in a good place and its ruler in a good place are indicators of a strong nativity. As you might by now realise, Basis is always below the horizon in he lower hemisphere. Placed in the fourth of fifth is very good. Placed in the sixth is weak, especially if it is also averse to the Lots from which it is derived.

[3] It simply means their in one of their own rulerships.

[4] Ditto

If you remember the basic principles (and these are also often applicable to Lilly or even modern Astrology) the 'rules' can be understood, without trying to memorise them.

[5] Retrogradation is never good. It's a form of maltreatment.

[6] Beholding means seeing and our word aspect is derived from the Latin word meaning to view/see or behold. You will find that even as late as Lilly, the word 'behold' was still in use in this context.

Lastly, remember Valens is not writing in English, and therefore has no knowledge of English syntax and rules of grammar. The translator has a difficult job to steer between being faithful to the Greek text that he or she has access to and to impose his or her own desire to make the translation readable, at the risk of distorting or changing the Greek meaning.

Added to this there are the obvious problems encountered in copying, in interpolations made at a later date by someone else. The latter can usually be spotted by by a good translator, but it does require a high level of skill.