Contents
Origins
of Astrology
Mesopotamian
Astrology
Classical
Greece
From Egypt to India
and China
The
Romans
Arab
and Islamic Astrology and Astronomy
Astrology
and Astronomy in Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Astrology
and Christianity
Astrology
and the Arts, Medicine and Science
The
Revolution in Astronomy
The
Decline of Astrology
The
Revival of Astrology
References
Origins of Astrology
Pre 4,000 BCE
The origins of astrology could be
said to date back as far as 15, 000 BCE, to the Stone Age, when humans carved
markings into animal bones to record the lunar phases. Although a very basic
form of astrology, it is quite remarkable that from the time of our very first
existence we have found a relationship with the movement of the ‘stars’.
Even
before established civilisations, evidence exists that humans discovered a
relevant connection between at least one planetary body and our life on
Earth. The great megalithic monuments
found throughout Europe, most notably Stonehenge,
testify to this and research suggests that the people responsible for building
these magnificent structures would have had to possess astronomical and
mathematical knowledge equivalent to that of Renaissance Europe.
Although
we will probably never know what happened to the builders, their monuments,
constructed between 4, 000 - 2, 000 BCE, seem to have been used for predicting
celestial events, with evidence implying that it would have taken a communal
effort to erect the larger monuments indicating a structured society. These people had an understanding of life and
the Universe beyond anything expected of that time and their knowledge was
passed on to the first recorded civilisations in history.
Mesopotamian Astrology
c. 4,000 BCE - 0CE
The great civilisations that
developed around 4,000 BCE in the Mesopotamian lands, (presently Iraq), mark a
significant point in the historical timeline of astrology. Although predated by earlier cultures, it was
here that astrology spawned from the merging of mathematics, astronomy and
mythology.
These
civilisations required some method of regulating their lives, mostly to
determine the planting and growing of crops. The coherent cycles and motions of
the planets, namely the Sun and Moon, coinciding with the seasons and cycles in
nature itself permitted them to do just this.
Why
exactly each of the constellations, zodiac signs and planets came to have all
of their characteristics ascribed to them remains largely a mystery. However one of the first ever astrological
texts to be recorded - the Venus tablet of Amisaduqa c. 1, 600 BCE, created by
the Sumerian’s, already attributed beneficial links to Venus.
The
Babylonian Empire replaced the Sumerian cities c. 1, 830 BCE, a time when records
of the notable prophet/astrologer Daniel, who served the King Nebuchadnezzar,
can be found in the Bible. When the
Assyrians overthrew the Babylonian Empire around 1,000 BCE, they brought more
developments to astrology.
These
first civilisations were more concerned with using stars for divination than
with natal astrology, which had not been established. A whole collection of tablets containing
astrological predictions, dating back to around 1, 600 BCE, known as the Enuma
Anu Enlil, were preserved by the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (669-626 BCE). His library also contained the first known
star catalogue, the Mul Apin, dating from c. 687 BCE, so we know that these
people were already mapping out stars and constellations. Traces of the Enuma Anu Enlil have also been
recovered in Eastern Turkey, dating back to before 1360 BCE, indicating that
astrology had already begun to spread beyond Mesopotamia. The Assyrian King Nabonassar began keeping
the first detailed astronomical records around 747 BCE, although this is not a
concrete assertion but some form of record keeping did begin during this
period. Between the 7th and 5th
Centuries BCE, the first important step was taken with the subdividing of the
path of the Sun into the twelve separate sections, each indicated by a
constellation.
Around
600 BCE the Greeks also began to study astronomy. Pythagoras is believed to have spent time
studying in Greece,
between 569 and 510 BCE, where it is likely that scholars followed his
example. After the Persians invaded Babylon c. 538 BCE, major
developments occurred in astrology, such as the birth of the Zodiac signs
around 432 BCE, as opposed to the constellations and the first individual
horoscope to be drawn up c. 409 BCE. Then came Alexander the Great’s invasion
of the Mesopotamian lands in 331 BCE, which brought about an astrological
revelation, as both Greek and Mesopotamian cultures merged resulting in modern
astrology.
Astrology developed rapidly following this
period, with little evidence of exact details however certain dates can be
identified that give an idea of its progress.
The Babylonian’s created the ‘sexagesimal’ system responsible for the
12-hour day, which was also applied to the theory of great astrological ages,
based on multiples of 6, such as the coming Age of Aquarius. Natal astrology grew in popularity but the
use of an Ascendant and the houses were still quite rare. The first known ephemeris dates back to c.
308 BCE while zodiacal degrees were first implemented around 263 BCE. The last known cuneiform horoscope to be
written dates from 68 BCE and there is evidence to suggest that the Greeks were
casting horoscopes from around this time.
The first known one dates from 61 BCE, which was actually an event chart
for Antiochus I, a Mesopotamian Greek ruler who had the chart carved into a
cliff on Nimrud Dagh. And finally, the
first known natal chart to use an Ascendant dates from 4 BCE, around the same
time as the birth of Jesus.
Classical Greece
c. 800BCE - 0CE
During the second era of Greek
civilisation, c. 1, 000 BCE, astrology really got underway and several figures
made vital contributions that helped it to flourish.
Probably the earliest references to astronomy
and astrology are from the works of the poet Hesiod, c. 705 BCE, who often
commented on the movement of stars in relation to certain activities, such as
harvesting at the rising of a particular star.
Thales,
the founder of Greek astronomy (624 BCE) was most famous for predicting an
eclipse, probably around 585 BCE, which apparently signalled the end of a war
between the Medes and Lydians in Turkey. More importantly he founded the Ionian school
where many great philosophers studied.
One of those, Anaximander, first presented the theory of ‘planetary
spheres’, i.e., that the sky contained several spheres through which the
planets travelled, a theory that remained dominant in astronomical thought
until the 17th century.
Thales began looking for natural causes of celestial phenomenon rather
than just accepting mythology as an explanation.
Anaximenes (550 BCE), another significant
figure in the development of astronomy, is thought to have come up with the
idea of ‘macrocosm and microcosm’ (as above, so below); not much else is known
about his work.
Around
600 BCE the human race benefited greatly from such prominent figures as
Confucius of China, Lao Tzu of India and Zoroaster of Persia, each bringing
their own unique wisdom and philosophies to the world. In Palestine, Ezekiel established the systems
of thought that still dominate in major world religions today, while Pythagoras
(586 - 572 BCE), undoubtedly one of the greatest thinkers of all time, has
influenced the minds of others for centuries with his philosophies and is still
famous for his Pythagoras Theorem. He
successfully combined science and religion and even formed his own order, the
Pythagoreans. He also contributed a
significant theory on how the Universe could be explained by numbers and their
relationships, e.g. 1 is Oneness, 2 is duality, etc, which corresponds to the
very basic meaning of the houses in modern astrology.
Heracleitus
(500 BCE), a philosopher from Ephesus,
put forward the idea of two states of existence in the Universe, Being and
Becoming. From this comes the concept of
polarity and balance found in the negative and feminine signs of the zodiac,
which also has similarities to the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang. Around the same time Anaxagoras, a pupil of
Anaximenes, began studying the Moon’s surface, without the aid of a telescope,
noticing its irregularities and also confirming the Sun to be a burning
matter. He proposed that everything in
the Universe is permeated with a greater, higher intelligence as opposed to the
theory that everything has its own innate intelligence. This was an important turning point in the
thinking behind the reasoning of astrology because it raised questions about
whether the planets caused events to happen themselves or simply acted as
mediums for the will of this divine greater intelligence.
The next
notable character in Greek history concerning astrology was Empedolces,
c.495-430 BCE, whose theory emphasised the importance of the elements, in that
everything in the Universe consists of at least one or more or all of the four
elements.
Hippocrates,
c. 460 BCE, studied at a school on the island of Cos,
where he applied Empedocles’ theory of the elements to his work, relating them
to the four physical conditions of the human body, eventually giving rise to
medical astrology. Hippocrates believed
that the patient should be treated and not the disease, a concept which is once
again growing in popularity with Holistic therapies.
Plato
(c.428 - 348 BCE), a magnificent Greek philosopher associated with Pythagoras,
was possibly the most important individual behind the creation of the
astrological theory. His own work and
followers have always been fervent supporters of astrology, although they
continued to believe in the geocentric model, which Plato insisted upon. He described the stars as divine beings
created from the same material as humans and that it was our destiny to return
to be amongst them. He also reaffirmed
the theory of Anaxagoras that everything was interrelated, a ‘world soul’,
extremely similar to beliefs originating from the Eastern cultures. In his work Timaeus he stated that the
periodic conjunctions and oppositions of planets sparked fear and anxiety
amongst people, suggesting that there must have been astrologers capable of
calculating such movements at the time and that Plato himself was aware of this.
Aristotle
(384-323 BCE), a pupil of Plato’s, did not share in all of his beliefs, namely
mythology and the world-soul theory.
Instead, he saw a Creator existing outside the Universe, which was more
acceptable to those who later raised the issue of free will. His discovery that motion was the primary
cause of change was a vital contribution to astrology and he also suggested
that the Sun’s movement coincided with changes on Earth, such as the
birth-death cycle.
Aristarchus
(310 BCE) first suggested the idea of the Sun being at the centre of the solar
system with all the planets and Earth orbiting it. This theory was initially rejected and had it
not been for the Roman writers, who made his work available to the Arab and
European worlds, it may have been forgotten altogether. In 280 BCE he formally introduced astrology
to Greece where Berossus, a
priest from Babylon, opened a school on the island of Cos.
Astrology rapidly caught on amongst the Greeks and many philosophers
proudly studied at the school on Cos, although
no official records exist until around 200 years later.
Hipparchus
(c. 190-120 BCE), often referred to as the ‘Father of Astronomy’, discovered
the Precession of the Equinoxes, a major breakthrough that caused a shift in
use between the Sidereal and Tropical zodiacs.
The Sidereal was more commonly used in Asia, based on the actual
constellations, while the Tropical zodiac remained popular throughout Europe based around the seasons. Hipparchus also invented latitude and
longitude, the co-ordinates that allow geographical measurements to be made; it
would be impossible to calculate natal charts without this development.
Towards
the end of the last century BCE, astrological texts vastly outweighed
astronomical texts, a reversal from the times of the Assyrian’s. This emphasis on astrology helped to develop
it further, with houses and different branches, such as natal and mundane. There is little evidence of who is
responsible for this period of major growth but by the time of Claudius Ptomley,
c. 150 CE astrology appears fully developed.
From Egypt
to
India and China
Astrology did not reach Egypt until
after Alexander the Great’s invasion around 322 BCE, although they did use the
Moon for divination as early as the 5th century BCE. The zodiac was not introduced until 250 BCE
but they did possess some astronomical knowledge before this time and were
aware of the importance of the stars, which is clear from the construction of
their Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza,
aligned with certain constellations.
However, their mathematics and astronomy were not as advanced as
Mesopotamian, which is probably why they didn’t develop their own astrology.
Their
most significant contribution was the introduction of decans, 36 star groups
used for time measurement since 1, 000 BCE.
These were incorporated into the Babylonian zodiac, resulting in the 10
divisions of each sign, which is depicted in the impressive Dendera
Zodiac.
The
library of Alexander discovered in the 3rd century BCE, became a
centre of astrological learning after Egypt was absorbed into the Roman Empire
c. 30 BCE.
Indian
civilisation, almost as old as Mesopotamian, did not record their history and
so it is very difficult to tell when astrology became a part of their
culture. Their mathematics was very
advanced, equivalent to that of the Sumerian’s; these two cultures were
probably in contact before 2, 000 BCE.
They also kept astronomical data, although not very precise and they did
not make the necessary connections between astronomy, mythology and mathematics
to develop astrology.
Indians
preferred the use of the Sidereal zodiac and focused more on the Moon’s nodes
and Lunar Mansions, 28 star groups associated with the Moon and each with their
own characteristics.
By the
late 5th century BCE, Indian astrological texts increased and the
Greek names for the zodiac, signs and planets were adopted. It is thought that India influenced Chinese astrology,
whose 28 hsui (houses) correspond to the 28 lunar mansions. As no scientific revolution occurred in India,
astrology has remained a part of their popular culture.
Chinese
astrology is vastly different and nowhere near as sophisticated as that of
other cultures, due to its isolation from the rest of the ancient world. However, they did develop the 28 hsui and 12
animal types, very similar to the 12 signs of our zodiac, from the
constellations surrounding the pole star.
Remarkable
similarities between Chinese omen texts and the Enuma Anu Enlil suggest that
there may have been contact with Mesopotamian culture. Some kind of similar thought process
concerning astrology developed in China
around the time of Christ, the same period as in Greece. The earliest known Chinese astrologer was Wei
Ning, c. 550 CE.
The
Romans
c. 200BCE - 529CE
Roman civilisation integrated astrology into their
everyday lives, introduced to their culture by a slave named Artiochus in the
2nd Century BCE and encouraged by more slaves arriving from the east. It had great influence over the public, to
the extent that it was expelled from Rome
in 139 CE.
The
first significant work was the Astronomica Manilius, inspired by Posidonious (a
stoic who taught at the Rhode
School) and astrology was
studied by the likes of Mark Anthony and Octavian, later Augustus, in 27 BCE.
Claudius
Ptolemy was the greatest figure in astronomy/astrology in the Roman world, c.
70 CE, creating two major texts, one being the Tetrabiblus, a collection of all
Mesopotamian and Greek work still popular today. It also helped to establish the Tropical
zodiac.
Galen
produced the next major advances in medical astrology, following Hippocrates,
whose system was used up until the 16th century.
Plontinus,
(230 CE), was the last major pagan philosopher whose Neo-Platonism philosophy
combined ideas from Plato and Aristotle and was favoured by Christians, while
Porphyry (232-304 CE) originated the house systems.
Christianity
became the main religion around 313 CE, adopting some astrology into its
beliefs, but largely rejecting it due to associations with pagan cults. However, Julius Firmicus Maternus, a
Christian convert and the last major astrologer in Rome at the start of the 4th
Century CE, helped to bridge a divide between the pagan and Christian
beliefs. He published his great work the
Mathesis, which was rediscovered in Medieval Europe.
In 410
CE, Rome was sacked by the Goths and astrology
went into decline over the following years, although continuing in Babylonia. Then in
453 CE, the Turks sacked Constantinople and by 529 CE the Emperor Justinian had
closed the Platonic academy in Athens, its
scholars moving to Mesopotamia or Alexandria and
the practice of astrology and pagan culture in Greece
and Rome
ceased.
Arab and Islamic
Astrology and Astronomy
Following the Roman Empire, the next significant catalyst in the
history of astrology came with the Arabs and Islamic astrology.
An Arabic horoscope
dates back to 18th August 531 AD, cast for the coronation of the
Sassanian Persian king Khosro Anosharwan. But it wasn’t until around 625 AD
that the varying cultures of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Jews and Indians all
came together under one large empire, following the conquest by Mohammed’s Arab
armies. Soon after, in 642 AD, nomads destroyed the great library of Alexander
and around 700 AD the Arabs, who used astronomy for navigation, began to study
the knowledge of the past, the Moslem scholars preserving the works of the
ancient Greeks.
Despite criticisms
from orthodox religions, Islamic astrology endured through three separate
periods, in Baghdad, Cairo
and Damascus between the 8th-9th
centuries, then again in Spain
between the 10th-12th centuries and finally from the 13th-14th
centuries in Persia.
A few of the key
figures during the first period are Abu Ma’shar (787-886 AD), who created the ‘Introduction
to Astrology’ that was still popular in Europe by the 12th century,
al-Farghani (c.847-861 AD), also known as Alfreganus and al-Biruni (973-1048
AD), whose work on astronomy and mysticism is being largely uncovered now. The
first set of planetary tables to be created since Ptolemy, the Hakemite Tables,
was created during this time by Ibn Junus in Cairo.
During the second
wave of Islamic astrology, in 10th century Spain, a flourishing Moslem culture, inspired by
the joint influence of Moors, Jews and Christians, saw the establishment of
three observatories in Toledo, Seville and Cordova. France, Germany
and Spain
all witnessed a revival in astrology at this time. Averroes (1126-1198), a
great philosopher, and the Jewish Maimonedes (1135-1204) supported Aristotle’s
homocentric spheres. Averroes also
argued that it is the symbolic meaning of planetary cycles that matter to
astrologers, which justifies the use of today’s geocentric astrology in a
heliocentric solar system. The Alfonsine Tables were also created, as ordered
by Alfonso X of Castile
(1251-1284), which remained the standard astronomical tables until Copernicus
in the 16th century.
Finally, the third
period of Islamic astrology occurred in Persia during the 13th-14th
centuries when, in 1259, Hulagu Kahn (son of Genghis Khan) established an
observatory, albeit short-lived, at Meghara where several astrologers gathered,
among them the noteworthy Juhanna Abu’l Farag. Another founder of an
observatory, this time at Samarkand (now central
Asia), was Ulug Begh c. 1420. Advances here
included the first star catalogue since Ptolemy and a set of new planetary
tables. This was around the time when astrology began to die down, only a few
from Persian and Turkish Empires continuing to study the subject.
The Moslem
scientists used astronomy to assist in philosophical and astrological studies
and didn’t make many significant advances in astronomy or astrology. However,
they meticulously preserved the knowledge of the past and contributed their own
wisdom, developing techniques such as the Arabic Parts.
Astrology and Astronomy in
Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in Europe, a time
often pessimistically referred to as ‘The Dark Ages’, when civilised societies
and learning were obliterated, it is believed that the first Frankish and
Gothic Kings would have had connections with astrology. A prevailing monarch in
Saxon England, Edwin, King of Northumbria, c.616-623 AD, is known to have used
a Spanish astrologer, named Pellitus, to obtain information on his war with the
Celtic British. Principle works, such as
the ‘Etymologiae of Isidore’, ‘Bishop of Seville’, containing discussions on
divination and Boethius’ ‘Consolation of Philosophy’ on a Neo-Platonic worldview
were kept in monistic libraries. It is believed certain monks from the Celtic
Church of Ireland were in contact with the Coptic Church in Egypt, up until around 624 AD and
therefore would have been aware of the debates into the relationship between
astrology and Christianity.
With the advent of
Christianity, in particular the Roman Catholic Church, Pagan learning and
knowledge was condemned by Church fathers, eager to stamp out any other
religious faith other than their own.
Augustine himself rejected his previous Gnostic teachings, including
astrology, to follow the masses and the ideas of the new Christianity, despite
the fact that Greek texts still remained, supported by scholars such as Bede
(672-735 AD), an English monk, who was familiar with the works of the Roman
Pliny regarding a spherical Earth that orbited the Sun. But such astronomical
discoveries were put aside and many chose to believe instead that the Earth was
a scale model of the Tabernacle of Moses, an idea originally put forward allegorically
by Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 AD), but now taken literally by
Christians. A merchant seaman, Cosmas,
who later became a monk and produced the ‘Topographica Christiana’ in the mid
6th century, further encouraged the idea of a flat Earth. Augustine’s views were also probably
influenced by the Neo-Platonic idea of a corrupted Earth (the World of
Becoming) and a perfect Heaven (the World of Being) existing beyond the fixed
stars, originally suggested by Heracleitus and later translated into Christianity.
Astrology came to
the fore again, in Western Europe, around the
770s AD. An English monk, Alcuin (b. 735 AD), taught by a pupil of Bede’s named
Egbert, met the future Emperor Charlemagne, who founded the Holy Roman Empire
and was a skilled astrologer himself. Alcuin went on to find the first great
medieval school, at the Abbey of St. Martin near Tours. Astrology is likely to have featured
prominently in his teachings and many respectable Frankish Princes, Dukes and
Counts had personal astrologers during this time, with evidence that priests
were even teaching the subject.
The onset of new
learning and studying in Western Europe
encouraged the search for more in-depth astrological texts, coinciding with the
flourishing of civilization in Moorish Spain.
Gerbert, who later became Pope Sylvester II (999-1003 AD), inquired
about astrological texts in Spain and travelled there himself to discover the
Mathesis of Julius Firmicus Maternus, contacting Lupitus of Barcelona, who
translated Arab works of astrology into Latin. Other translated Arab works
included the Introduction to Astrology by Abu Ma’shar and the publication of
the first astrological book (between 1010 and 1027 AD), the Lieber Planetis et
Mundi Climatibus, probably written by Gerbert and published after his death. At
the beginning of the 12th century the first mention of Indian
astrology was brought by John of Spain, another translator, and then in 1138 AD
European astrology was firmly established by the publication of Plato of
Tivloi’s first Latin translation of the Tetrabiblos.
The 11th-13th
centuries saw the thriving of ecclesiastical schools, following the
rediscovering of the Greek classics, in particular those of Aristotle and was
named the Age of Scholasticism. The first European universities were founded; Chartres in France
and Oxford in England, while the greatest minds
of the time contemplated the issues surrounding astrology, such as Peter
Abelard (1079-1142 AD), Abelard of Bath (11th-12th
centuries) and Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253 AD). Astrology became a fundamental part of
everyday life yet, no doubt, their Christian faith conflicted heavily with many
aspects of astrology, particularly the idea that the planets could exert
greater control over humans than God. Even so, Gothic cathedrals built during
this period reflect, in their architecture, the importance of a belief in
celestial harmony, for example, the Zodiac window in the Chartres Cathedral.
With the
translation of yet more Greek texts, societies views became more Aristotelian
in nature, whose system was more compatible with Christianity than Plato’s by
suggesting that the planets were merely agents of God’s will. Roger Bacon
(1214-1294 AD), an accomplished scientist (regarded as Europe’s first) and
astrologer, put forth the argument that the Earth was simply one planet in a
vast universe, while Albertus Magnus (1193- c.1280 AD) and his pupil Thomas
Aquinas (1227-1274) explored and speculated on the philosophical matters
relating to astrology. Aquinas suggested that the starts rule the body, while
God rules the soul, an apparent resolution for the ongoing conflict between
astrology and Christianity. Johannes Campanus (c.1297 AD), a prominent
mathematician of the age, devised a new house system and John Duns Scotus,
leading scientist and founder of the Scotus School of philosophy, approved of
astrology.
Astrologers set up
private practices during the 12th century and by the end of this
century they were astrologers in England,
Richard Trewythian being the first known practitioner with a practice in London specialising in
horary astrology, although unheard of until 1442. The public began making
demands for practical astrologers, Guido Bonatti (c. 1210 AD) being one such
key practitioner who produced the textbook the Liber Astronomicus, which became
a classic. Bonatti also worked for the well-known Italian noble Guido de
Montefeltro, elected to consult his astrolabe and texts to signal when de
Montefeltro’s armies should march.
It wasn’t long,
however, before criticism of astrology emerged following the new philosophy of
‘Humanism’. The major critics were Nicholas Oresme (1320-1382 AD), Henry of
Hesse and Pico della Mirandalo (1463-1494 AD) who exploited both the dependence
astrology had on authorities to teach the subject and the low quality of
practitioners. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499 AD), a traditional astrologer,
engaged in a debate with Pico that was probably the first time astrology in Europe had to defend itself.
During the first
half of the 15th century, astrological works could be distributed in
their hundreds, even thousands, following Guthenburg’s invention of printing
with moveable type, establishing the world of mass media. In 1469 AD the first
almanac was printed and by 1490 AD, also partly due to new universities, almanacs
were becoming available in Eastern Europe in counties such as Germany, Poland
and Hungary.
The following two
centuries saw enormous success for astrology, including employment at courts
with the likes of the Italian Jerome Cardan (1501-1576 AD) casting the chart of
Edward VI of England, Queen Elizabeth’s personal astrologer, John Dee
(1527-1608 AD) and the founders of modern astronomy Tycho Brahe, Johannes
Kepler and Galileo Galilei working as court astrologers in Denmark, the
Hapsburgs and the Medici respectively.
John Dee was also a
distinguished astronomer, mathematician, geographer and navigator and one of England’s
greatest Renaissance scholars, as well as being one of the founder’s of the
English secret services. Dee had quite an creative nature, attempting to
develop a national library, inventing the term ‘British Empire’ and becoming
involved in espionage, science, occultism, necromancy and alchemy.
In 1566 Lucus
Gauricus predicted the death of King Henry II and so his wife, Catherine de
Medici, queen of France,
employed the renowned Michael to check on his predictions. Nostradamus (1503-1566 AD), born in St Remy
in Province, is probably the most famous astrologer of all time. His parents
converted to Christianity, to avoid Jewish persecution but Nostradamus pursued
a successful career in astrology and medicine and this, along with his
unconventional approach, provoked jealousy and even hostility from his rivals
who eventually accused him of heresy n 1538 AD. After being called to appear
before the Inquisition, he went into hiding and travelled through France and Italy for the next six years
studying healing. After several years he began concentrating more on occult
work and writing and by 1550 AD he had begun issuing an annual almanac, then in
1555 AD he completed the first part of his popular book, the Centuries. This is
the work that brought him to the attention of queen Catherine de Medici. It is
rumoured that he met a young monk, Felix Peretti, in Italy who went on to become Pope
Sixtus V in 1585 AD - twenty one ears after Nostradamus’ death. And ironically
Sixtus V issued the first Papal Bull prohibiting court astrologers.
In 1572 AD, Tycho
Brahe (1546-1601 AD) made his most famous prediction based upon the appearance
of the New Star, which was in fact a supernova. He specified that there would
be disruption between 1592 and 1632 AD, a prince would be born in the north,
conquer Germany
and disappear by 1632 AD. Then in the 17th century Gustavus
Adolphus, king of Sweden (b.
1594 AD) controlled most of northern Germany and died in the Battle of
Lutzen in 1632 AD. Interestingly, 1581 AD, the English government issued a ban
on predictions concerning the death of the Queen and successions to the throne
and so astrologers, for fear of execution, became cautious of making such
predictions until later years, when government power weakened (1620s-1630s AD).
Tycho himself went on to become court astrologer and astronomer to Frederick II
of Denmark
in 1576 AD and later his son Christian IV. His final employment was as Imperial
Mathematicus to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II of Austria, where he met Johannes
Kepler.
Kepler, a
Pythagorean, succeeded Kepler in 1601 AD as Mathematicus to Rudolph II, but his
approach was more scientific. He did issue predictions in 1602 AD but these
very tentative. He took the post of
astrologer to the Count of Wallenstein in 1628 AD but continued to focus more
on astronomy.
Jean Baptiste Morin
(1583-1656 AD) in France and William Lilly (1602-1681 AD) in England were
two of the more notable astrologers during the 17th century. Lilly gave advice to both King Charles I and
Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War in the 1640s AD, before becoming
the official astrologer to the Commonwealth Council of State in 1649 AD and also
the first author of an astrology newspaper column, while Morin published his
Astrologica Gallica in the same year. Lilly was briefly locked up on a charge
of treason, by King Charles II, accused of fortune telling in 1655 AD and in
1666 AD was again summoned following his prediction of the Great Fire of
London. Probably his most respected work of the 17th century, the
textbook ‘Christian Astrology’, is still widely available today and it is fair
to say that Lilly, along with John Dee, was the last great English astrologer
until the 19th century.
However, there were a few notable names in English astrology to follow.
These included Thomas and Leonard Digges (16th & 17th
Centuries), John Booker (b. 1601 AD), Nicholas Culpeper (1640s AD), Elias
Ashmole (1617-1692 AD), Henry Coley (b. 1633 AD), John Partridge (b. 1644 AD),
John Gadbury (1627-1692 AD) and William Ramesay. All of these men were involved
in various aspects of astrology, from issuing almanacs to philosophy and
theoretical work to acting as consultants for kings and queens.
Around the
1670s-1680s AD, Renaissance astrologers had a great deal more clients and their
work seems to have been more diverse compared to the focus on nativity
astrology, which is popular today. In London, astrologers had
even organised themselves into a society that held and an ‘annual feast’ and
other such exclusive events. The last surviving almanac in England is most
likely Old Moore’s Almanac. Astrology
was truly back in style during this period, similar to the days of the Roman Empire, but unfortunately it was not to last.
Astrology and Christianity
Christians today are mainly opposed to astrology, due to
criticism in the Bible (namely Isaiah, Chapter 47, verses 13-14) and so many
assume the two to be rival beliefs. But what many fail to realise is that
astrology featured quite heavily in the early days of Christianity and is, in
fact, present in several Biblical stories. This is sometimes rather obvious,
such as the Star of Bethlehem signifying the importance of Christ’s birth and
Daniel himself being a principal astrologer for kings Nebuchadnezzar and
Belshazzar, as well as the Persian emperor Darius, yet a lot of Christians
choose to ignore such evidence.
Early Christians,
such as Augustine, who objected to astrology, did so because of its ties with
pagan wisdom and the Greek philosophers, who weren’t Christian. However, not
all Christian sects had rebuked astrology, like the Gnostics and the
Nestorians, who were responsible for passing on their astrological knowledge to
the Moslems in the 8th century.
Priests of the
Roman Catholic Church rejected astrology on the grounds that they were to be
the only intermediaries between people and God and that the influence of
planets imposed upon God’s will and free will. Boethius and Isidore, in the 5th
– 6th centuries, offered solutions to these dilemmas, later
clarified by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, by suggesting that
God ruled the soul while the planets governed the human body; this became known
as Natural Astrology. However other forms of astrology, such as natal, horary
and electional, could not be explained in this manner and were still seen as
being against God’s will. The Papacy eventually issued Bulls barring astrology
in 1586 and 1681 AD, although Natural astrology would not likely have been
affected. Judicial astrology was taught in the ecclesiastical schools and
remained popular amongst Churchmen, supported by Roger Bacon in the 13th
century. The Dominicans, Franciscans and the powerful Renaissance group the
Jesuits were all great supporters of astrology too. A number of Popes even used
astrology in their studies, including Julius II (1503-1549 AD) and Paul III
(1534-1549 AD).
Protestant leaders
were not so approving of astrology and it was initially rejected by the likes
of Martin Luther and Calvin, in the 1510s-1550s, probably more so because of
its association with Catholicism, which they saw as corrupt. But eventually
astrology became a part of Protestant life and nativities were even supported
by a close friend of Luther’s, Melanchthon.
Astrologers were
never persecuted because of their practice but only whenever they threatened
the Church’s truth, for example, Cecco d’Ascoli who was burnt by the
Inquisition in Florence
in 1327 for writing on necromancy. Although Bulls were passed prohibiting
astrology, the second being in 1631 AD indicating that the first was
unsuccessful, it was not religion that caused the demise of astrology, but
science.
Astrology and the Arts,
Medicine and Science
Medicine was one of the more important areas of astrology, particularly
during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, when it was common to arrange
medical treatments in accordance with Moon phases. The main aim was to restore
health by way of balancing with the cosmos. But it wasn’t until around the 13th
century when physicians gained access to the works of Galen and Hippocrates,
preserved by Arabs.
Three notable names in medical astrology are Paracelsus
(c.1493 AD), Nostradamus (1503-1566 AD) and Culpeper (161-1654 AD), famous even
today for his Culpepper’s Herbal and whose Astrological Decumbiture of Disease
is the basic text on medical astrology.
Robert Boyle (late 17th
century), who discovered the circulation of blood, also supported medical
astrology.
Although overshadowed by the scientific discovers of the 18th
and 19th centuries, medical astrology is now beginning to experience
a revival with holistic healing and therapies.
As astrology filtered through most of European culture it
found expression through various creative mediums such as art, literature,
music and architecture. Many of the Gothic cathedrals are testament to this,
like King’s College Chapel in Cambridge,
constructed by King Henry VI (d. 1471 AD).
Medieval music was often composed according to the harmony
of the planetary spheres, such as Georgian chants. Astrological symbolism is
also incorporated into many art works, probably the best example being the
French Books of Hours, from the 14th and 15th centuries,
depicting different activities carried out during the four seasons.
Astrology had its most noticeable influence over the world
of literature. Geoffrey Chaucer’s (14th century) ‘Wife of Bath’s
Tale’ includes an astrological description of the main character, to explain
her behaviour to its audience, while William Shakespeare’s (16th
century) plays are famous for their references to astrology and alchemy, The
Tempest being the prime example. Rabelais, the French poet who himself was an
astrologer, focused on the subject in his satire the ‘Pantagrueline
Prognostication’, written in 1552-53 AD. Thomas Chatterton and William Blake
were two other poets interested in astrology, Blake actually being a friend of
the astrologer Ebenezer Sibley and it is though his picture of the Human Flea
is an example of the Gemini type. The artistic and literary interest in
astrology was upheld during the 18th century, although it eventually
faced decline as it did in other areas.
During the Renaissance many efforts were made to improve the
accuracy of astrology by the likes of Regiomontanus (1436-1476 AD) and Placidus de Tito
(1603-1668 AD), two leading mathematicians would devised new house systems.
King Alphonso’s erroneous planetary tables were revised and improved by Regiomontanus,
Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. Astrologers,
with the likes of John Dee supporting Copernicus’ heliocentric theory, also
welcomed astronomical innovations.
In the 16th and 17th centuries,
astronomers such as Kepler, Galileo and Brahe who were also court astrologers
put new planetary theories forward. Lucus Gauricus tried to set up a
statistical basis for astrological assumptions by publishing a collection of
natal data in 1552 AD, while Kepler made his own cautious predictions for 1602
AD and the English astrologer John Goad published his Astro-Meteorologica in
1686 AD in an attempt to correlate weather patterns with astronomical
data. Isaac Newton attempted using
astronomical patterns to establish historical chronology in his Chronology of
Ancient Kingdoms and was one of several scholars, including Francis Bacon and
the geographer Mercator, who envisioned a universe based on natural causes.
Essentially, they were poised to complete the work started by Thales in 600
BCE.
The Revolution in Astronomy
Certain aspects of astronomy and science were initially rejected in
favour of symbolism, for example, using the geocentric model of the universe as
opposed to the heliocentric. The
Moorish-Spanish philosopher Averroes (1126-1198 AD) supported such ideas, which
dominated the minds of Medieval Europe.
This division between science and philosophy continued until
around the 13th century when the likes of Roger Bacon (1214-1294
AD), Albertus Magnus (1193-1280 AD) and Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274 AD) injected
new life into scientific exploration. However, they lacked essential scientific
instruments and society’s views regarding philosophy and theology were not up
for debate. Modern scientific astronomy truly began around the beginning of the
15th century, despite the growing interest of scholars in magic and
hermeticism at the time, with the revival based mainly in Germany where
many new universities had been built in the 14th century.
Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464 AD) was the first modern
astronomer who was critical of astrology and put forth such arguments as a
spherical Earth, irregular planetary orbits and an infinite universe. Although a ‘scientific astrology’ was
proposed and supported by the English Francis Bacon (1561-1626 AD), its pursuit
did not appeal to the Renaissance intellectuals who concentrated on a new
astronomy. George Puerback (1423-1461 AD) followed Cusa and expanded upon
Ptolemy’s theories while his pupil, Regiomontanus (1436-1476 AD), a great
astrologer, contributed very much to astronomy by collecting and translating
Greek manuscripts. But the real revolution was made by Copernicus (1473-1543
AD) when he attempted to better explain Ptolemy’s epicycles theory of the solar
system and instead created the accurate model by having the sun at the centre
with the other planets orbiting it. This theory was first written in 1510 AD in
his manuscript the Commentariolus but it was never published. He attracted the
attention of George Rheticus (1514-1576 AD) who became Copernicus’ pupil and
published the first account of the heliocentric theory in 1540 AD. He was later
persuaded to have it published in the Book of the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Spheres in 1543 AD.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630 AD), a professional astrologer
and noteworthy supporter of Copernicus’ system, met Tycho Brahe between
1600-1601 AD. Kepler’s first book, the Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596 AD)
leaned more towards the idea of natural forces behind the movement of the
planets, as opposed to spirits, which ironically proved more popular amongst
old-fashioned Platonists. Brahe’s wealth and support from the first Kings of
Denmark and the Holy Roman Emperor helped his astronomical work. Frederick II
gave Brahe his own island complete with an observatory and astronomical
instruments, from which he made many of his observations that Kepler later
based his theories upon, even though Brahe did not support the Copernicus
heliocentric theory.
Following Brahe’s death, Kepler took over as astronomer and
astrologer to the Holy Roman Emperor. He published his findings of an
eight-year study of Mars’ orbit, New Astronomy in 1608 AD, describing his first
two laws of planetary motion, but his best work was said to be The Harmony of
the World (1618 AD), which described his third planetary law and universal
principles according to Pythagoras.
The invention of the telescope, in 1608 AD, brought an end
to Medieval cosmology when Galileo Galilei went on to discover the moons of
Jupiter, Saturn’s rings and the seasons of Venus, confirming that it orbited
the sun.
Copernicus and Galileo were both held in high esteem by the
Church, who did not object to astronomers unless they challenged their
theology. However, when Galileo raised theological arguments in relation to
astronomy on two separate occasions (1613 and 16340 AD), he was put to trial by
the Church resulting in the condemnation of the heliocentric theory in 1633 AD.
Sir Isaac Newtown was the last astronomer of the age
(1643-1727 AD). He established the scientific theory, used to describe
planetary motion until Einstein, by astronomical observation alone without any
influence from astrological theories and based upon his discovery of the laws
of universal gravitation, published in his Principia. A colleague of his,
Edmund Halley, had an interest in modern astrologers of the time but he mocked Newton’s interest in the
subject, to which he famously replied ‘Sir, I have studied it, you have not.’
The Decline of Astrology
There seems to be little historical evidence for the decline in
astrology at the end of the 17th century. Many of the great minds who spawned the
scientific revolution were also astrologers, or at least had connections to the
subject, such as Isaac Newtown, Edmund Halley, Robert Boyle and England’s first
astronomer royal John Flamsteed (1649-1719 AD), as well as the President of the
Royal Society Sir Hans Sloane. Jean
Baptiste Morin tried to convince Louis XVI to have astrologers on the Royal
Council but only twenty four years after his death, in 1860 AD, the philosopher
Pierre Bayle celebrated that the French court had been cured of the ‘disease’
of astrology; other philosophers like Thomas Hobbes had no time for the subject
either. So it is therefore likely that astrology saw a decline because it was
no longer practised in educated and intellectual circles.
However, astrology did not disappear completely and was
taught at the University of Salamanca until 1776 AD and a ‘Zodiac Club’ existed
for a short time at Cambridge
University in the mid-18th
century. Rumours circulated that the likes of Americans such as Jefferson, Franklin
and Adams practised astrology but there is little evidence of this, apart from
Jefferson owning an astrology book and the three men being involved in
occultism through Freemasonry.
Although astrology continued to be popular amongst ordinary
people, Ebenezer Sibley published only one major book in English during the
entire century – the New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences, in
1790 AD.
The
Revival of Astrology
Current research shows that Great Britain
was probably the only country in Europe to
continue studying astrology during the 18th century, therefore
making it the place of astrology’s revival.
The first astrologer’s magazine was published in 1791 AD,
the Conjurors Magazine and the foremost remaining almanac, the Vox Stellarum, sold
560, 000 copies in 1839 AD. John Worsdale (b. 1766 AD) made the move towards a
more objective astrology with the publication of his work Astronomy and
Elementary Philosophy in 1820 AD. Two great astrologers followed him, Richard
Cross Smith – known was Raphael (1795 – 1832 AD) and Commander Richard James
Morrison, known as Zadkiel (1795-1874
AD), both of whom founded a British astrological society named the Society of
the Mercurii in the 1820s and who published periodicals, books, gave lectures
and annual predictions.
Despite a few cases of astrologers being prosecuted as
vagrant during the middle of the 19th century, many were well
respected, such as the Englishman W. J. Simmonite (d. 1861/2 AD), Alfred James
Pearce (1840-1923 AD), Richard Garnett (1835-1906 AD) and Walter Gorn Old,
known as Sepharial (1864-1929 AD). But the most notable 19th century
astrologer was William Frederick Allen, known as Alan Leo, who published a
magazine titled the Modern Astrologer, had a postal horoscopes service and founded
around three societies devoted to the study of astrology. He also founded the
Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society in London in 1917 AD, which has
gone on to become the parent of all other British astrological societies.
Probably his greatest achievement was producing a series of texts that helped
to portray astrology in an easy but intelligent manner and so it became
available to educated people for the first time since the 17th
century. Charles Carter (b.1887 AD) continued Leo’s work and published a series
of books on astrological theory and practice. And John Addey (1920-1982) used
statistical research in conjunction with traditional astrology to create the
harmonics theory.
In France, a revival of astrology was started by Dr Gerard
Encausse (1865-1916 AD), known as Papus, followed by Albert Faucheux (1838-1931
AD), Abbe Charles Nicoullaud, known as Formalhaut (1854-1925 AD), who predicted
the discovery of Pluto and Paul Choisnard, known as Paul Flambert (1867-1920
AD), who established astrology on a statistical basis.
Germany had the likes of Karl Brandler-Pracht (b.1864 AD),
Reinhold Ebertin (b.1901 AD), who developed the mid-point theory and Aquilin
Backmund, known as Alexander Bethor (1876-1938 AD) who founded the first German
astrology magazine, the Zodiakus, in 1909 AD. Astrology was most popular in Germany during the 1920s, with publicists such
as Elsbeth Ebertin (b.1880 AD) while Alfred Witte (1878-1941 AD) founded the Hamburg School, bringing intellectual advance.
Several leading Nazis followed astrology, including Hess, Himmler and Goebbels
although the extent to which the Germans used astrology during World War 2 has
been exaggerated.
During the 1930’s astrology continued to grow in popularity,
following R.H. Naylor’s publication of an astrological profile of the newborn
Princess Margaret, in August 1930, in the London Daily Express. He went on to
become the first astrological newspaper columnist, since William Lilly,
inspiring The People to employ Edward Lyndoe to write their horoscope column.
And so newspapers became the new medium for delivering astrology to the masses.
In the USA,
the first major American astrologer was Luke Broughton (1828-1899 AD) who had
emigrated from Leeds, England, while the first
astrological literature appeared c. 1840 AD. Broughton’s pupil W. H. Chaney (b.
1821 AD) was another outstanding astrologer in America during its revival. Dane
Rudhyar (b. 1895 AD) established the concept of ‘person-centred’ astrology
while Marc Edmund Jones (1888-1980 AD) created the ‘Sabian Symbols’ and the
concept of interpreting chart shapes.
The popularity of astrology permitted the growth of more
serious study, once again, and this expansion of interest and awareness
benefited from the establishment of the Faculty of Astrological Studies in England, in
1948, which both taught and offered examinations on the subject. Although
modern science is generally considered to be unsupportive of astrology, the
French researcher Michael Gauquelin carried out a statistical investigation into
a possible astrological effect, which yielded positive evidence. Carl Jung, the
renowned psychologist, supported ‘transpersonal’ astrologers, who used the
natal chart as a kind of map of the psyche, believing that it could offer
valuable insight into the human mind.
Today’s world is more concerned with natal astrology while
other branches such as mundane, horary, judicial and electional have been
largely ignored. Natural astrology may make a comeback in the near future, as
more evidence is coming to light regarding the correlation of natural cycles
with planetary cycles.
Although astrology and astronomy are no longer considered to
be unified astronomical discoveries continue to be integrated into astrology,
such as the discoveries of Uranus, by William Herschel in 1781, Neptune in 1846
and Pluto in 1930 and more recently the asteroids such as Chiron, Juno, Ceres,
Vesta and Pallas. The thought is that these discoveries coincide with
significant developments or turning points within the global conscience and
evolution of humans and therefore come to represent such developments.
It is hoped that in the near future
astrology will once again become a key tool in human understanding and
progress.
END.
Jonathan W. Martin.
References
Book:
Peter Whitefield (2001) Astrology, A History (1st
Edition).
London: British Library
Board.
Book:
Peter Marshall (2004) World Astrology (1st
Edition).
London: Pan Macmillan
Ltd.
