occasus

Latin noun

Last edited: 2024-06-10
Primary meaning setting
Literal translation falling down
Variants
occasus
Edited by

descendant astrological place, cardinal point

et in quocumque signo CLXXXI pars fuerit inventa, in ipso signo vel parte geniturae constituitur occasus

‘and in whatever sign the 181st degree is found, in that sign or section of the chart is located the descendant, or setting’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 2.15.3

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Sicily
Date: ca. 334 CE

Firmicus Maternus. 1897. Ivlii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII, ed. W. Kroll, F. Skutsch. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner. 1.58


setting astronomical event

Secure spectat occasus siderum atque ortus et tam diversas concordantium vias; observat ubi quaeque stella primum terris lumen ostendat, ubi columen eius summumque cursus sit, quousque descendat; curiosus spectator excutit singula et quaerit.

‘Serenely it looks upon the rising and setting of the stars and the diverse orbits of bodies precisely balanced with one another. The mind observes where each star first shows its light to earth, where its culmination, the highest altitude of its course, lies and how far it descends. As a curious spectator the mind separates details and investigates them.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 1.0.12

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume I: Books 1-3. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 450. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. 10-11


opposite of a degree mathematical operation

Quodsi Mars in ipsa parte fuerit, vel in occasu partis, mulieris causa publica morte plectentur.

‘If Mars is in this degree or in the degree opposite, the native will be executed publicly because of a woman.’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 8.24.7

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Sicily
Date: ca. 334 CE

Firmicus Maternus. 1897. Ivlii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII, ed. W. Kroll, F. Skutsch. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner. 2.331


west cardinal direction

Sed ut ad id de quo agitur revertar, venti quattuor sunt, in ortum, occasum, meridiem septemtrionemque divisi

‘But to return to the subject which is being discussed: there are four winds, divided amongst the East, the West, the South, and the North.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 5.16.1

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume II: Books 4-7. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 457. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. 104-105


Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). occasus (Lemma #985). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/

Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). occasus (Lemma #985). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/

MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). occasus (Lemma #985). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/

Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) occasus (Lemma #985), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).

BibTeX
@misc{zodiac985,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {occasus ({Lemma} #985)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/985/},
}