VISIO SECUNDA, cap. XVII
The Leopard Wind from Pure Ether
The east wind rises from pure ether in the form of a leopard, fierce yet quickly turning gentle, drawing its ferocity from black fire and its gentleness from ether.
Above the head of the image already described, in the sign of pure ether, you see what looks like a leopard's head breathing out from its mouth, as it were, a blast from itself; this signifies the principal east wind coming from pure ether like a leopard approaching — not that this wind in its own form actually is a leopard, but because, like a leopard, it has the ferocity of a lion without understanding, and, like a leopard, it is gentler and weaker than a lion, so this wind rises in the ferocity of fear, and then, turned toward gentleness, it quickly ceases blowing. For it draws its ferocity from the upper black fire, but its gentleness from the pure ether in which it rests.
The Crab and Stag Collateral Winds
From the leopard's mouth curve two collateral winds: a crab on the right reaching toward the south with unstable, shifting gusts, and a stag on the left reaching toward the north with swift, brief blasts.
And also on the right side of the same mouth, curving outward a considerable distance into the shape of a crab's head with two pincers, as though with two feet, is formed [a wind]; because, extending toward those regions, the same wind assumes the nature of a crab there. But on the left side of its mouth, curving likewise for some distance into the shape of a stag's head it ends, because in those regions it imitates a stag, which is swift. For from the mouth of this crab's head, as it were, another blast going out proceeds as far as the midpoint of the space between the leopard's head and the aforementioned lion's head; because, following the nature of a crab, the collateral wind, rising, produces its gusts, like a whirlwind, in an uneven way, so that it runs about now here, now there, in instability — like a crab that now moves forward, now backs up — and so it reaches as far as the midpoint between the east and the south. But from the mouth of the stag's head, as it were, another blast coming forth extends as far as the midpoint of the space between the leopard's head and the bear's head; because, following the nature of a stag, another collateral wind, proceeding, sends out strong and swift noises in its blowing, and in this quickly ceases — just as a stag strikes hard and runs fast, and does not long continue in this — and in this way it holds its course, hurrying, as far as the midpoint between the east and the north.
Equal Lengths and Moral Meaning
The blasts from the leopard to the crab and stag, and from those heads to the midpoints with the lion and bear, are of equal length, and these heads breathe toward the human image as a moral sign.
And the blast that proceeds from the right side of the leopard's mouth as far as the crab's head, and the blast also from its left side as far as the stag's head — [these] go forth; and the blast from the crab's head extends as far as the midpoint of the space between the leopard's and the lion's heads; and likewise the blast from the stag's head stretches as far as the midpoint of the space between the leopard's and the bear's heads — they are of equal length, because the principal east wind extends from each side to the collateral winds at equal length, and these collateral winds reach their limits toward the south and toward the north with the same length. This is why those heads breathe in the wheel toward the image of the human, and here is the moral description of their meaning.1
Read the original Latin
Supra verticem vero praedictae imaginis in signo puri aetheris, quasi caput leopardi ex ore suo velut flatum emittens vides, quod principalem orientis ventum de puro aethere, velut leopardum venientem designat, non quod ventus iste in forma sua ut leopardus sit, sed quia ut leopardus ferocitatem leonis absque scientia habet, et ut leopardus lenior et debilior leone est, sic ventus iste in ferocitate timoris exsurgit, ac deinde in lenitatem versus flare cito desistit. Nam de superiore nigro igne ferocitatem, de puro autem aethere in quo est lenitatem habet. Et etiam in dextrali parte ejusdem oris se aliquantum in longum recurvans in caput cancri cum duabus forficibus quasi cum duobus pedibus formatur, quia ad partes illas idem ventus tendens, naturam cancri sibi illic assumit; in sinistrali autem parte oris ipsius aliquantum etiam in longum regirans in caput cervi desinit, quoniam in partibus illis cervum qui velox est imitatur. Ex ore enim capitis hujus cancri quasi alius flatus exiens usque ad medietatem spatii, quod inter capita leopardi et praefati leonis est procedit, quia secundum naturam cancri collateralis ventus surgens flatus suos ut turbo dissimiliter profert, ita ut interdum hac interdum illac in instabilitate discurrat, sicut cancer qui nunc procedit, nunc retrocedit, et sic usque ad medietatem quae inter orientem et austrum est pervenit. Sed ex ore capitis cervi, velut alius flatus veniens usque ad medietatem spatii, quod est inter caput leopardi et ursi tendit, quoniam juxta naturam cervi alius collateralis ventus procedens, in flatu suo fortis et celeres strepitus emittit, et in hoc cito cessat, quemadmodum cervus fortiter pungit, et celeriter currit, nec in hoc diu durat, talique modo usque ad medietatem, quae est inter orientem et septentrionem properando se continet. Et flatus qui a dextra parte oris leopardi usque ad caput cancri procedit, flatus etiam a sinistra parte ipsius usque ad caput cervi exit; flatusque qui ex ore capitis cancri usque ad medietatem spatii inter capita leopardi et leonis ex tantis tendit; flatus quoque qui ex ore capitis cervi usque ad medietatem spatii quod inter capita leopardi et ursi est prolongatur, aequalis longitudinis sunt, quia principalis ventus orientalis ex utroque latere suo ad collaterales sibi ventos aequali longitudine extenditur, ipsique collaterales venti tam versus austrum, quam versus septentrionem eadem longitudine ad fines suos pertingunt.
Quare capita ista in rota ad imaginem hominis spirent et moralis descriptio significationis eorum.
Notes
- 1 ↩The verb 'spirent' is morphologically ambiguous (indicative vs. subjunctive). Given the preceding context of the winds' physical action and the explanatory 'Quare', it is rendered here as a factual indicative ('breathe'), though a final or consecutive subjunctive sense ('so that they may breathe') is syntactically possible.
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