VISIO QUARTA, cap. XCIII
The Winds Mapped on the Legs
The principal western and northern winds and their collateral breaths are located in the right and left legs, from thigh to ankle.
But in the hollow of the right knee, where the leg bends, the principal western wind is indicated; however, in the thigh and ankle of the same leg the breathing holes of those collateral winds are marked out. In the hollow of the left knee, too, the principal northern wind is noted; but in the thigh and ankle of that same leg its collateral winds are shown; and in the loins and foot of that leg the breaths of the collateral winds of those same winds are made manifest.
Twelve Winds, Twelve Bendings
God arranged the twelve winds in the twelve major bendings of the human body, linking arms to the east and south and knees to the west and north.
God, then, as was said above, marked the arrangement of the winds in the human body — namely in the bending of the arms, in the shoulder blades and in the hands, in the knees too, and in the loins and in the feet — in which there are twelve major bendings, just as there are also twelve winds. For the bendings of the arms, along with the limbs attached to them, indicate the eastern and southern wind with their collateral winds, as was said; but the knees, along with the limbs attached to them, show the western and northern wind with their collateral winds; and just as these limbs cling to the whole body, so also these winds stand by the firmament with their servants.
Tempered Winds, Tempered Work
The winds balance one another by their qualities and keep equal spacing, just as human limbs differ by equal measure and serve fitting work.
Each wind is tempered by the other through heat, cold, dryness, and moisture, and they fittingly perform their own duties, so that a person also works with his arms and hands at all things that his knowledge dictates. And just as these limbs differ from one another by an equal measure, so also the winds are distant from one another by an equal space.
The Harshness of the North Wind
The north wind's dangerous blast can damage fruit, wither trees, obscure the sun, and alter the moon's brightness.
In particular, the dangerous harshness and harmful blast of the north wind — which in summer sometimes damages the fruit with its cold moisture, withers the trees, obscures the sun, and alters the moon's brightness through its shifting heats —
Read the original Latin
Sed in poplite dextri cruris, ubi crus hominis incurvatur, principalis occidentalis ventus demonstratur; in femore autem et in talo ejusdem cruris spiramina eorumdem collateralium ventorum designantur. In poplite quoque sinistri cruris principalis ventus septentrionalis notatur; sed in femore ac in talo ipsius collaterales venti ejus ostenduntur; in lumbis quoque et in pede cruris illius flatus collateralium eorumdem ventorum manifestantur. Deus itaque, ut praefatum est, constitutionem ventorum in homine signavit, videlicet in flexura brachiorum, in scapulis ac in manibus, in genibus, quoque in lumbis et in pedibus, in quibus duodecim majores inflexiones sunt, quemadmodum etiam duodecim venti existunt. Flexurae etenim brachiorum cum sibi appendentibus membris orientalem et australem ventum cum collateralibus eorum, ut praedictum est, designant; genua vero cum appendentibus sibi membris occidentalem et septentrionalem ventum cum collateralibus ipsorum demonstrant; atque quemadmodum membra ista omni corpori adhaerent, ita etiam et venti isti cum ministris suis firmamento assistunt. Alter quoque per alterum calore, frigore, siccitate et humiditate temperatur, officiaque sua congrue exercent, ut etiam homo brachiis et manibus suis omnia operatur quae in scientia sua dictat. Et sicut haec membra aequali mensura a se differunt, ita etiam venti aequali spatio a se distant.
Specialiter de periculosa asperitate et noxio flatu aquilonis, qui in aestate interdum frigido humore fructus laedit et arbores arefacit, solem offuscat, et lunae nitorem per diversos calores immutat.
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