Sources and credits

Where everything comes from

Lazward shows its work. This page lists the manuscripts we reproduce, the texts our rules come from, and the software that does the arithmetic. If you spot an error, write to [email protected] and we will correct it here.

Images

All images are reproduced from museum open-access programmes that allow commercial use.

• Taurus, from al-Ṣūfī, Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-thābita (Book of the Images of the Fixed Stars). Iran, late 15th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund 1913, 13.160.10, p. 15. Public domain. Museum page
• The astrologer predicts a calamity for the newly born prince, from a Ṭūṭī-nāma. Mughal India, c. 1560. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962.279.52.b. Public domain (Open Access). Museum page
• Taqī al-Dīn and his astronomers at the Istanbul observatory (History page). Ottoman miniature from the Şehinşahnâme of Murad III, about 1581. Istanbul University Library, F.1404. The painting is in the public domain; the reproduction is a faithful photograph of a two-dimensional work. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
• Bahram Chubina meets a lady who foretells his fate, from a Shāhnāma. Probably Isfahan, c. 1330–40. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974.290.41. Public domain. On the home page we show the painted scene only, from the museum's full-resolution file, with the colours digitally cleaned (contrast, colour and noise only) and three small details set in gentle motion. No part has been redrawn or added. Museum page
• Demon in chains. Iran or Central Asia, c. 1453. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.63. Public domain (Open Access). Museum page
• Four captive demons. Iran or Central Asia, 1470–1500. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 68.175. Public domain. Museum page
• History map: coastlines from Natural Earth (public domain), via the world-atlas package; map drawn for Lazward.
• The nazar bead and the Lazward logo. Drawn by hand in vector for Lazward in 2026. Not AI-generated.
• Nazar bead photograph (Library essay "The blue eye"). Free stock photograph used under its licence; resized and lightly sharpened for this site. Photographer: credit to follow.
• The Lazward angel, who appears when you earn a station or a title. Drawn in vector for Lazward in 2026, after the winged angel Surush in the painting listed below. Not a copy of it.
• The angel Surush rescues Khusrau Parviz, from the Shāhnāma of Shah Tahmasp, fol. 708v. Tabriz, c. 1530–35. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.301.73. Public domain. Museum page
• King Solomon enthroned in the company of demons, angels, birds and animals. Allahabad, 1602. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, W.650.157A. CC0. Museum page
• The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, from a Fālnāma (Book of Omens). Qazvin, 1550s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 35.64.3. Public domain. Museum page

Texts behind the rules

Our rule library follows the classical authors directly: Abū Maʿshar's Abbreviation of the Introduction to Astrology; al-Bīrūnī's Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology; al-Qabīṣī's Introduction; the Picatrix (Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm) for the lunar mansions; and al-Ṣūfī's Book of the Fixed Stars for star names. Each reading cites the rule it used.

Software

Planetary positions: Astronomy Engine by Don Cross (MIT licence), accurate to about one arc-minute. Fonts: Cormorant Garamond, Source Serif 4, IBM Plex Sans and Amiri (SIL Open Font Licence), served from this site.

Privacy

Everything on this site is computed in your browser. We do not store birth data, we set no advertising cookies and we use no third-party trackers. To count visits we use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which sets no cookies, does not track you across sites and does not identify you; it tells us only how many people visited which page. If you join the app waiting list, we keep your email address, the language you chose and the basic technical record our email provider Buttondown makes at sign-up (IP address, approximate country and the page you signed up from), only to tell you when the app opens and to keep the list free of spam. You confirm the address yourself, every email has an unsubscribe link, and we never sell or share the list. To have your address deleted, write to [email protected].