Astrology

I

Introduction

Astrology, a system based on the belief that events on Earth are represented by the positions and movements of astronomical bodies, particularly the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. The word 'astrology' derives from the Greek astron (star) and logos (word, study). Astrologers maintain that the position of astronomical bodies at the exact moment of a person’s birth and the subsequent movements of the bodies reflect that person’s character and, therefore, destiny. The celestial patterns are interpreted so as to understand, plan, or predict events on Earth. They are deemed to be associated with the characteristics of individuals.

Astrologers use charts known as horoscopes, which map the position of astronomical bodies at certain times, and are based on the signs of the Zodiac; these are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

Astrology is one of the oldest known forms of study and its continuous history can be traced back over 4,000 years to the ancient Middle East. The astrology used in India and the West share common origins, but most cultures have developed their own forms of mystical cosmology, and at least two, China (by 2000 bc) and the Maya and Aztec cultures of central America, also developed complex systems of astrology. These people may have observed that the movements of certain astronomical bodies, particularly the Sun, affected the change of seasons and the success of crop harvests. It was astrology, and the hope of predicting the future, that led to systematic study of the heavens, and to the development of the science of astronomy—as alchemy led to chemistry. See Archaeoastronomy.

Astrology’s current popularity dates from the late 19th century, and the invention of the distinctive twelve-sign newspaper horoscope column in 1930 made it an entrenched part of modern mass media and popular culture.

II

History

A

Middle-Eastern Origins

Astrology can be traced back to the earliest literate urban civilization in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) before 2000 bc, although its origins may date from earlier attempts to create calendars in order to regulate civil and religious life or to divine the future. Deer antler markings dating from 15000 bc may indicate lunar phases, while the earliest post holes at Stonehenge in southern England are dated to 8000 bc. Little is known about what kind of astrology may have been practised by Neolithic people, or by later peoples who left no written records, such as the Celts.

The first complete surviving astrological text is the Venus Tablet, a collection of omens on the planet Venus compiled in the reign of the Babylonian king Amisaduqa, around 1650 bc. A thousand years later the Assyrian emperor Ashurbanipal collected all the known astrological tablets together in a single collection, the Enuma Anu Enlil. Originally all astrology seems to have been devoted to the king and the state, and the astrologer’s task was to offer political advice. The first known individual birth chart dates from the Persian period, 410 bc.

Developments in Egypt followed a different course and it has been argued that, as the inhabitants of the Nile delta lived in a relatively secure environment, they felt little need to forecast the future and therefore did not require a complicated predictive astrology. Instead, they evolved an elaborate astral theology in which the Sun was the symbol of the supreme creator god Amon or, in earlier times creator goddesses such as Sekhmet or Hathor. The constellation Orion represented the god Osiris, of whom the Pharaoh was regarded as an incarnation, while the star Sirius represented his consort, Isis. The great monuments of Egyptian history tend to be aligned with the Sun or stars. The Great Pyramid (c. 2600 bc), for example, was aligned with Sirius and Orion.

B

Ancient Greece

The classical Greeks devised the philosophical and technical basis of the astrology still in use today. The Athenian philosopher Plato (c. 428-347 bc) argued that the entire universe was divine and could be seen as an image of God, who placed the planets in the sky in order that his nature, ideas, and intentions might be understood. Aristotle (c. 384-322 bc) originated the concept of celestial causes and influences, although he believed that the planets were “secondary causes” responsible for transmitting God’s will to humanity. By the 1st century bc the Greeks had developed the horoscope of 12 zodiacal signs, 12 houses, 7 planets, and 5 major aspects that is the basis of modern horoscope interpretation. The principal figure was Claudius Ptolemy (c. 120 ad), whose Tetrabiblos summarized much of the astrological teaching of the time and was to become a standard text in medieval and Renaissance Europe.

C

India

Astrology is known in India as Jyotish and was originally used to fix the most auspicious dates for the performance of religious rituals and the regulation of the sacred calendar prior to 2000 bc. However, the bulk of technical Indian astrology appears to have been imported from the Hellenized Greek world which, under the conquests of Alexander the Great (356-323 bc), extended eastwards to the Indus valley.