History of astrology

                                                          History of astrology

 

            According to the oldest sources available today, astrology most likely originated in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Many different peoples lived on this land: first the Sumerians, then the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and finally the Persians. It was there that the legendary Tower of Babel was erected, the cities of Babylon, Ur - the birthplace of Abraham. In connection with Nebuchadnezzar, the Bible mentions magicians and astrologers, with whom he used to consult.

    

                     In his book "On divination" Cicero remarks: "The Assyrians inhabited vast plains, where nothing prevented them from observing the stars . Thus they gradually created the science of divination, called astrology."

Even five thousand years before the new era, the ancient Sumerians came to Mesopotamia from the territory of modern Iran. Their writing, the so-called cuneiform, is the most ancient known at the present time. Of the architectural achievements of the Sumerians, one can name ziggurats (a kind of high towers), which served simultaneously as granaries, as administrative buildings, temples and as observatories. In Sumerian culture, science and religion were inseparably linked. In the III millennium BC. e. First the Hittites, then the Akkadians, and then the Persians conquered Sumer and adopted the achievements of its culture. Babylon eventually became the capital of the Middle East and exerted a predominant influence on all neighboring peoples. 

                About four centuries later, a Chaldean astronomer named Kidinnus was able to calculate the length of the lunar month. The result of his calculations: 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3.3 seconds. This is a remarkable discovery, considering that according to modern measurements, the lunar month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.87 seconds. In 330 BC. e. The conquests of Alexander the Great and the collapse of the Persian Empire put an end to the prosperity of the Babylonian civilization, and since then it has been supplanted by Hellenistic culture.

The views of Pythagoras (VI century BC) are largely consistent with the views of the Babylonians: he perceived the universe as a single and indivisible whole, all the elements of which are consonant with each other and are in deep connection. Pythagoras believed that the Earth is a sphere. His mathematical mysticism led to the idea of   universal harmony. Phenomena on earth are completely subordinated to movement of the heavenly spheres.

Thus, Babylonian astrological science fell on fertile ground, thanks in part to the widespread circulation of the book Babylonia, written around 280 BC. e. Berossus (Belrushu), a Chaldean priest of the temple of Morduch in Babylon.

                Starting from the II century. BC e. Astrology spread in Rome; The great Greek astronomer Hipparchus discovered the precession of the equinoxes.

                Little by little, astrology gained such popularity that astrologers could no longer confine themselves to vague and general predictions. A technique suitable for making individual predictions was developed. Their work focused on the twelve signs of the zodiac circle, which, moreover, was divided into twelve houses. They attributed certain meanings to the position of certain planets in signs and, accordingly, in houses, as well as to the angles, or aspects that arise between the planets. Finally, each sign was assigned a ruling planet; there were seven such planets, including the Sun and the Moon, since the existence of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto was not known. These correspondences between the signs and their controls remained unchanged until the 20th century: the Sun - Leo, the Moon - Cancer, Venus - Taurus and Libra, Mars - Aries and Scorpio, Jupiter - Sagittarius and Pisces,

                It is worth mentioning the astrology of Ancient Egypt. The discovery of the Dendera zodiac at first led to the assumption that astrological symbols came from Egypt in the era of the pharaohs and are contemporaries of the pyramids. However, the observations of Egyptian astronomers concerned only the predictions of the floods of the Nile, and it was only in this era of Roman rule that astrology spread in Egypt. It was the Greek Ptolemy (II century BC) who can be called the real founder and initiator of astrology.

                Further, these texts systematize and generalize the principle of analogy, which connects man - the microcosm and the world - the macrocosm. Here is a fragment of the "Emerald Tablet", which received special fame: "What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below. He stood at the origins of magical and alchemical astrology.

                After the death of Caesar, Roman astrology experienced an unprecedented rise. Comprehending the science of numbers, being carried away by geometry, astrologers served prosperous, educated and wise people. What astrologers were doing had nothing to do with the quackery of wandering fair fortune tellers, magicians and other soothsayers who fooled the naive crowd. Augustus, Tiberius, and the first emperors contributed much to this success of astrologers.

However, due to the sharp criticism of increasingly skeptical intellectuals, such as Pliny the Elder or Juvenal, who took up arms against the excessive influence of astrologers on the Roman aristocracy, astrologers lost their former influence.

                With the development of Christianity, the Church Fathers were forced to show tolerance and even put up with some survivals, which at first were condemned as demonic. One of these "survivals" was astrology, which Julian the Apostate (331 - 363) was very fond of, who wanted, by all means, to shake the growing authority of the church.

Alexandria was the main center of the Gnostic school, whose principles of esotericism and cosmogony allowed for the influence of the stars - however, extremely unfavorable.

                According to St. Jerome (4th century), the Magi were real astrologers: it was the knowledge of the laws of motion of celestial bodies that revealed to them the secret of the birth of the Messiah. In the III century. Plotinus, one of the greatest Gnostic thinkers, tried in his Enneads to reconcile Christianity and astrology. Following Plotinus, some authoritative theologians of the Middle Ages (including Thomas Aquinas), as well as some Renaissance popes, managed to defend astrology, while sorcerers and soothsayers were persecuted. And this - despite the irreconcilable condemnation of astrology by Blessed Augustine (354-430), who saw in it only a simple denial of divine authority.

        This dual attitude of the church has turned astrology into a semi-underground occupation. Only in the XII-XIII centuries. astrology came out of hiding and returned to its former glory thanks to, among others, the famous French monk Roger Bacon (1219-1294), as well as the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400). Rulers and nobles again surrounded themselves with astrologers - just remember Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, Yuri II, Leo X, Paul III. Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent often resorted to the services of astrologers. Among the outstanding minds of that era, it is worth mentioning Regiomontanus (1436-1476), the inventor of one of the methods of domification, and Paracelsus (1493-1541), the founder of alchemical medicine.

            In France, Louis XI often spoke for advice to a certain Almansor, who predicted the imminent death of Charles the Bold. The wife of Henry II, Catherine de Medici, invited the famous Nostradamus (1503-1566), the author of The Centuries, published in 1555, to her court. Another famous astrologer, Ruggieri from Florence, was also in her service.

        At the birth of Louis XIV, Morin de Villefranche, a physician, mathematician and astrologer, compiled a baby horoscope. He also created a manual for calculating longitudes. At the same time, the astrologer of the Spanish court announced that the Infanta Maria Teresa would marry the first monarch of Europe, and through this union war would be avoided. In 1660, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Westphalia, the wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa was celebrated - a pledge of peace between France and Spain.

                    With the advent of the age of Enlightenment, rationalistic skepticism took possession of the minds. Voltaire burst into a caustic pamphlet. Since the French Revolution, the study of horoscopes has become despicable from the point of view of intellectuals and the new ruling bourgeois class. However, an unflattering reputation did not prevent astrologers from continuing to surprise the greats of this world with their predictions from time to time. It is known that Bonaparte consulted with Madame Lenormand, and Tsar Alexander I was under the strong influence of occultists for the last 10 years of his reign. Note that even the most rigorous scientific minds did not shy away from astrology: the astronomers Kepler (1561-1630) and Newton (1542 - 1727) themselves did not disdain to devote their time to such a sharply criticized field of knowledge. In 1781 the Englishman William Herschel discovered Uranus, and in 1846 the Frenchman Le Verrier was the first to observe Neptune. Two new planets were assigned the signs of Aquarius and Pisces.

                    Two years earlier, the American Federation of Astrologers was founded with 1,500 members. In America at that time there were 5,000 astrologers and 10 million clients. In 1948, the Faculty of Astrological Studies was opened in London, where, after a three-year course, students take an exam and receive a diploma. In Hitler's Germany, despite the official ban on astrology - mainly for fear of unfavorable predictions - some members of the leadership, in particular Himmler and Goebbels, regularly resorted to the advice of astrologers. The latter predicted, for example, a tragic turning point in the first months of 1945, which, in the second half of April, was to be followed by grandiose successes. On April 13, President Roosevelt died. Goebbels immediately called Hitler: " My Fuehrer! Congratulations, Roosevelt is dead! The stars say that the second half of April will be decisive for us!" Yes, the last weeks of April were indeed decisive, but not at all in the sense that the Minister of Propaganda had in mind.

                    After the Second World War, Western astrology did not stop its rapid development: very deep statistical studies were carried out (Michel Gauquelin), the achievements of computer science were introduced, countless works and special journals were published. After the latest research in the physics of the microcosm and astrophysics, the point of view of official science has changed quite a lot, and now many scientists do not speak so sharply about astrology with its new perspectives and approaches. There are no more prejudices and taboos. The "psychology of the depths" and Jung's heritage played a decisive role in this.

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