Historical Review of Astrology

Astrology

Historical Review of Astrology

Astrology through the centuries in various cultures

2025-01-28 22:59

INTRODUCTION

"If we had not gazed upon the stars and the sun and the heavens, we would never have uttered any of the words which speak of the Universe. But now the sight of day and night and the months and turns of the years, have become gigantic and given us the perception of Time. And the power of investigating the nature of the Universe. And from this source we have drawn the Philosophy whose greater good has not been given nor will ever be given by the Gods to mortal man.

Plato – Timaeus (47 a,b)

Plato’s words remind us of the powerful influence that celestial phenomena have had on the development of rational man since the earliest times, when our primitive ancestors began to trace connections between what happens in the heavens and what happens on earth. As they were completely dependent for their survival on natural forces, over which they had no control, they were constantly faced with the reminder that the most powerful forces were far above them, in the sky.

The instinct of survival is deeply rooted in all living creatures and this motivates man's efforts to negotiate with any force superior to his own limited capabilities. Primitive man was unable to distinguish between the inanimate and animate phenomena of Nature. He synchronized his activities so that they coincided with the natural forces which he considered to be animate beings.

We have no way of determining exactly when primitives first made deliberate and methodical use of the stars as a calendar and compass. However, we have evidence that people in prehistoric times must have made this move. Before civilization reached western Europe, the inhabitants of Britain were among those who made very practical use of their astronomical knowledge, for example Stonehenge – the megalithic temple of the Sun – which was built on astronomical foundations and was not only a place of religious ceremonies, but also an astronomical observatory.

Indeed, according to some astronomers, it was also an astronomical computer used to predict the positions of the sun, the moon, and eclipses, if not for an unlimited period of time, at least for a few hundred years. In the Near East, called the cradle of civilization, the peoples responsible for the establishment of the most ancient civilizations organized them according to their astronomical knowledge and their astronomical beliefs. It must be taken into account that astronomy and astrology were closely linked in the minds of people living in pre-Christian times and up to the seventeenth century AD and that both were closely intertwined with the early religions.

It follows from this that it is no exaggeration to state that the practical application of astronomy – which is essentially astrology – has played a very important role in the development of civilization. We will find its stamp in the history of medicine and chemistry. It has fired the imagination of those who have given us some of the greatest works of art and has influenced the ideas of architects. And – to return to Plato again – it has directed the most profound researchers among the spheres of philosophy.

But before we go into a very brief history of astrology, it would be just as well to clarify for readers what the goals of astrology were – and what they are today.

Initially, the practice of astrology was based on the belief that human destiny was under the rule of celestial deities – who were ranked as superior to all other deities – and that man had no choice but to submit to the will of the gods. But today, no astrology expert would claim that “the stars rule humanity” but rather that, through the exercise of free will, man can bring his impulses – which appear in his horoscope – under control and thus cope better in any circumstance.

THE ROLE OF ASTROLOGY IN ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Astrology in Mesopotamia

The recorded history of astrology begins in Mesopotamia (now known as Iraq), when the first true civilization was founded by the Sumerians. The Sumerian kingdom developed in the delta, between the lower banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but, during its three thousand year history, was to spread over the entire Mesopotamian region and exert a powerful influence on other civilizations in the Near and Middle East, as well as the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Sumerians were a very intelligent and inventive people, with a deep knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. The knowledge they imparted to the peoples they conquered (and exterminated) was so advanced that, in Mesopotamia, astronomy and mathematics developed as true sciences from the very beginning. They were also the first to invent a method of writing: depictions on clay tablets were the first type of writing. But, as they spoke a language completely unrelated to that of their conquerors, or any other people in the Near East, translations had to be made, and these translations spread throughout Mesopotamia and beyond. A dictionary of Sumerian words and their Semitic equivalents was eventually compiled in the seventh century for the tribes and was also found by archaeologists in the ninth century. Since then, historians have concluded that much of what they attributed to later Mesopotamian civilizations had its origins in Sumerian sources.

In time, Babylon became the main center of Mesopotamian civilization, and that is why the Babylonians were often cited as the source of astrological knowledge and practice. Because the vast amount of astronomical data that the Babylonians collected over the course of three thousand years was naturally put to astrological use.

Throughout its history, Mesopotamian civilization was based on a religious level. From the monarchy onwards, every member of society was included in the service of a pantheon of deities. The most important were the gods of the sky, the atmosphere and the waters of the earth, so vital to the Mesopotamians that they channeled the flow of the two great rivers into irrigation canals to produce an abundant harvest and provision. The other sky gods were the Moon god (who was much more important to the people who based their activities primarily on a lunar calendar than the Sun god) and a goddess identified with the planet Venus.

The priesthood devised a mythological account of the origin, formation, and organization of the Universe, which can be translated into purely astronomical terms. From this, we conclude that the Babylonians – who had only the crudest tools to assist them – were able, by purely visual observation, to predict accurately, within a fraction of a second, the length of the lunar month, to distinguish and classify most of the visible constellations of the northern hemisphere, and to locate the equinoxes and solstices of the year.

Indeed, the Babylonians plotted the sky in great detail and with great care. Although they practiced divination by other means and believed greatly in omens as important prophetic phenomena for the prosperity of the state and the well-being of the king, many of their observations and predictions referred to celestial phenomena and especially to the appearance and phases of the moon. They were able to predict eclipses but not with the degree of accuracy they showed in estimating the length of the lunar month. They were particularly versed in meteorological interpretations of celestial phenomena – necessarily, since their economy was agricultural.

The compilation of individual horoscopes did not interest them until their civilization was in its final stage. And by then, they had been influenced by Greek ideas.

Up to this stage – the fourth and third B.C. – they had chosen the twelve signs of the zodiac. Also, until then, the planetary gods appeared in their interpretation of the horoscope of anyone who sought their services. But it would be a mistake to imagine that their astrological interpretations were anything but cursory, giving very insufficient details of the characteristics and views of the people concerned.

We know very little about the Babylonian astrologers themselves. The most famous was Veros, a Babylonian priest in the service of Marduk in Babylon. He lived in the third century BC and eventually settled on the island of Kos where he supervised the teaching of astrology to students. The Hippocratic school of medicine was also located on Kos. We can assume that Veros contributed to and, at the same time, learned everything that was taught there.

Another famous Babylonian astrologer was Kintinu, who belongs to the fourth century BC. The only other known by his name was Namourianu who was active around 500 BC. All of them practiced astrological prediction.

The Babylonians were the first to establish watchtower temples in the Fertile Crescent (the area surrounded by Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria), and these temples must have had a magnificent view, as they were set on a flat landscape. They rose to a height of several hundred feet and were in the shape of stepped pyramids, usually with a sanctuary at the top and sometimes on the side. They usually had seven steps, each painted in the color assigned to the planet with which it was associated. The most famous of these pyramids was the Tower of Babel (Babylon): 200 tons of gold were used to decorate the temple at the top.

Although no complete zodiac sign is found in any Babylonian sculpture, boundary stones that marked land ownership reveal some of the zodiacal constellations – notably Capricorn, a goat-fish symbolizing the hegemony of the sky god Ea (or Enki) over the waters of the earth. Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Cancer are also depicted. In Babylonian sculpture, there are easily recognizable symbols of the Sun, Moon, and Venus.

Astrology in Egypt

The priests of Egypt had turned to astrological study since the fourth millennium BC, when the two Egyptian kingdoms were united. According to classical writers, they were believed to have been initiated into astrology by the Chaldeans (i.e., the Babylonians). They used their astronomical knowledge to regulate the all-important religious festival of the New Year, which was synchronized with the sunrise of Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens. The appearance of this star above the eastern horizon heralded the beginning of the Nile floods—as important to the Egyptians as the early, spring floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were to the Babylonians.

Horoscopes – which were nothing more than hieroglyphic diagrams – had been found on cenotaphs, on coffin lids, on the ceilings of tombs and temples. These too are the horoscopes of the New Year. Their purpose was to be used as Maps for the souls of the dead, to make it easier for them to meet the Sun in his chariot, at the right time.

The oldest surviving horoscope model is that of King Nectanebus, who was born in 358 BC.

The only addition the Egyptians made to the astronomical knowledge of the Babylonians was a solar calendar. This was a marked improvement on the Babylonian (in fact, our modern calendar is based on it). It also appears that when they arranged the twelve signs of the zodiac, apparently in the seventh century, the Babylonians gave the Egyptian name of Ram to Mars and the Egyptian names of the God of Streams and Two Fishes to the constellations of Aquarius and Pisces.

Astrology could not be applied in Egypt in the form of compiling an individual horoscope before the civilization reached its end – that is, after the Babylonian occupation of the country in the seventh century BC.

Greek Astrology

Although Thales (639-546 BC), Pythagoras (569-470 BC), Anaxagoras (500-428 BC), Plato (429-348 BC) and Eudoxus (408-355 BC) all traveled to Egypt to study astronomical matters, only Thales apparently made use of his astronomical knowledge for astrological purposes, as he is said to have predicted the eclipse that determined the outcome of the struggle between the Medes and the Lydians in May 585 BC.

In fact, astrology only gained popularity in Greece as a result of Alexander the Great's raids into Asia and the resulting spread of the Hellenistic Empire and influence. After Alexander founded Alexandria in Egypt, the settlement of Greeks in that country introduced them to the popular stream of astrology in the third century BC.

However, it was a Greek born in Alexandria who wrote the first intelligible text, in the second century AD. This was the famous Tetrabiblos of Claudius Ptolemy. He systematized astrology, dividing the constellations into groups of four elements (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) and three qualities that described their functions. The “houses” of the horoscope (i.e. sectors referring to specific areas of activity and affinity) were another of Ptolemy’s discoveries. However, despite this, some surviving horoscopes drawn up by Greeks in the third century BC do not attempt any detailed analysis of the character or life prospects of the individuals concerned.

It must not be thought that in Greece, astrology was accepted without a critical spirit. In fact, opinions among the most eminent thinkers were divided. But it is clear that Plato must have believed in it. And it was a Greek poet, Aratus of Soli, who first composed a detailed description of all the known constellations of the sky in verse.

Astrology in Rome

The Romans were quick to adopt anything that came from the Greeks, and astrology in Rome flourished on a far grander scale than ever before. From the Roman emperors onward, anyone who could afford it was eager to obtain the pension of his horoscope. But the emperors had the right to banish astrologers from time to time when they were concerned for their own safety. However, the Emperor Augustus, after first banishing the professional astrologers, made his own horoscope known to the public and issued a coin with his moon sign (Capricorn) on it.

Astrology in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

After the fall of Rome, astrology suffered its first test. For with the development of Christianity, astrology came under critical scrutiny by the Church, which was understandable, because the new religion had to oppose its power against its pagan rivals – and especially, against the mystery cults which, above all, had their origin in Egypt.

But opinions about astrology were as divided among the church fathers as they were among the Greeks. Astrology had on its side the Biblical reference to the star of Bethlehem that announced the birth of the Savior. And in the end, the efforts of the clergy, led by St. Augustine, to suppress it failed.

Astrology itself was shrouded in superstition and many of those who practiced it were also involved in magic, so that, during the Middle Ages, no scientific progress was made and it suffered from a very dubious reputation in Europe. However, in the Byzantine Empire and in the Arab countries, the opposite happened. For it was from those areas that students sought knowledge. The Arabs in particular became skilled in mathematics which they applied to astrology, and in the creation of scientific instruments for astronomical purposes.

Many famous astrologers practiced their craft during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Reprints of their books on the subject are still available today in shops specializing in supernatural literature. Among these astrologers was John Holywood, a professor of mathematics who, in the third century, wrote the first astrological text in western Europe. At the same time, Pope Urban IO's priest and physicist – who was also a mathematician – devised a new system to separate the 'houses'. Another system was put into practice in the fifteenth century by a professor of astronomy named Johann Müller, known as Regiomontanus.

But the most famous of all was Michael Nostradamus, born in 1503 in Saint-Remy, Provence. He was a physician who practiced astrology. But his famous predictions seemed to be the result of a second look at astrological prediction because he gives no indication as to what astrological data might have caused them.

With the advent of the Renaissance, once again, the thirst for knowledge blossomed in Europe and this worked out to the benefit of astronomy, more than astrology because, this was the time of the great scientific revolution, when Copernicus proved that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around. And the Aristotelian claim to the contrary turned out to be a completely wrong conclusion. One would assume that this would undermine any belief in astrology. Because the astrologers had of course accepted the Aristotelian theory. In fact, it does not matter which body revolves around which – it makes no difference to the accuracy of astrological analysis and prediction. But scientists were not convinced by the above.

However, although many astrologers became famous after the Renaissance period, no further development in astrological technique took place from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, and once again, astrology gradually sank into decline.

Instead, it was the turn of astronomers to come to the fore as they benefited from much more well-documented equipment. The telescope had been invented by Galileo in the seventeenth century, so that a closer observation could be made of the constellations and planets and new phenomena were discovered around them.

After the Renaissance

Larger and better telescopes were built from the seventeenth century onwards. More detailed celestial maps could be drawn. Increasingly, scientific knowledge expanded the scope of astronomy, and public opinion became increasingly hostile to its twin sister, astrology.

The astrologer, once a respected and very powerful figure from antiquity to the Renaissance, came to suffer a growing loss of prestige in the West.

Astrology in the East and the New World

In antiquity, astrology had spread to the East as well as to the West. In India and China it acquired great importance, although the names of the zodiacal constellations and the observation techniques differed from those of the West. But in the Middle East and the Near East, astrology still retains its popularity (despite the fact that it was recently banned for a while in India). But this may have stemmed from a fundamental difference in outlook on life, between the peoples of the East and the West. We in the West have learned to think – if anything – very scientifically, with the result that religion has deviated greatly. In the East, however, the mentality is much more “spiritual”. And it is doubtful whether the progress of science will ever change this situation. For the peoples of the East, it is possible, at the same time, to accept scientific truth and to have a strong faith in beliefs that cannot be verified by scientific research. Astrology did not spread only in the Far East but also developed in America. The Maya in Mexico created a huge stone calendar that we can still see and which is filled with astrological symbols. From this they could predict eclipses and other astronomical phenomena, with a very high degree of accuracy. Again in Mexico, astronomical observatories are found that bear some resemblance to the stepped pyramids of Mesopotamia.

Astrology Today

Once again, astrology seems to be going through a phase of ascent and for the first time in centuries, it is attracting the interest of scientists. This is because scientists themselves are being forced to reexamine many of their ideas. New facts about the universe have been discovered. Theories about the Moon have been rejected since the astronauts set foot there and brought back samples of the lunar soil. In 1980, maximum interest was aroused by photographs sent back from NASA observatories showing a close-up view of Saturn.

Of special interest to astrologers is the scientific discovery of biological rhythms which can be recorded electrically, as they seem to have some connection with solar, lunar and planetary rhythms. It is known that the phenomenon of sunspot cycles has an effect (or we may say, a correlation) with economic fluctuations. The radiations coming from space are now known to have varying intensities, depending on the positions of the various stars. When the sun is below the horizon, none of the solar X-rays or ultraviolet rays can reach that region of the earth where the sun no longer shines. Certain planets appear to be transmitters of special radiations from space to the earth's surface.

The spirit of exploration is very much alive among modern, serious astrologers. And they have been busy applying the results that have come from their careful study of empirical data to verify their theories. Testimonies that support astrological theories and beliefs today receive much greater attention – even to the point that radio and television programs have a different slant than in the recent past, a few decades ago.

Konstantinos Tolis

Astrology