of Western popular culture
as a result of the rise of
the
utopian 'new age' counter-culture of
the 1960s.
This article, 'Astrology - A
Cursory Gaze', has been
written
to challenge some of the principal astrological
concepts, and to serve as an
exploratory exercise to
stimulate serious
interest for those who wish
to
scratch below the surface to discover
whether or not
astrology has any intellectual value.
~
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ~
A chronological Western glimpse of astrology from 626 BC to 1727 AD:
Western astrology stems from two sources, the
Hellenistic and Jewish. The former is derived from the '
Corpus Hermeticum ' text, for the most part, the '
Hermes Trismegistos ' ( circa. 2nd
cent . AD) containing a synthesis of
Neo-Pythagorean, Platonic, and Stoic elements, as well as
Eastern religions. The latter, the Kabbalah (12th
cent. AD), id est., 'traditional lore'
evolved from two reciprocal Jewish traditions: Firstly,
the Talmudic Sages, the originators of Rabbinic Judaism,
who perceived logic as their prime principal in
comprehending YHVH ('God'). Secondly, the Kabbalists, who
had the same objectives as the Sages, but with the
addition of systematized mysticism.
The Talmudic tradition is based primarily upon the
three great canons of text: The Mishnah the canons
of Oral Law (3rd cent. AD ) , the Jerusalem
Gemara (amplification and comments on the Mishnah
text) 4th cent. AD; and the Midrash
(discourse on the Tanach ('Bible')) circa
500 AD.
The Jewish Kabbalists adopted the astrological
system of the South Babylonians, also known as the
"Chaldeans", during the collapse of the Assyrian Empire (
circa. 626-539 BC). This astrological system was
also taken over, at the same time, by the Greeks (who
were the source of Indian astrology circa. 2nd and
3rd cent . AD), Egyptians; and the Romans. Greek
and Indian astrology was exported to Persia, now Iran,
during the period of the Sasanian Empire; circa.
226 AD.
Hellenistic astrology reached its zenith in
Byzantium, also called 'Eastern Roman Empire', in the 5th
and 6th cent. AD, after which it declined, but was
later revived in the 8th and 9th cent . In the
same period the Muslims espoused astrology from the
Greeks, Indians, and Persians. Abu Ma'shar (9th
cent. AD) interpolated Islamic astrology with
borrowings from both Neoplatonism (A philosophical
religious system developed by Plotinus from Plato,
circa 205-70), and Aristotelianism (Based on the
scientific and philosophic writings of Aristotle (384-322
BC)). The Muslims rejected astrology 400 years later; in
the 13th century.
Astrology first attracted attention, in Western
Europe, through the writings of Manilius'
Astronomica ( circa 15-20 AD), Maternus'
Matheseos libri ( circa 335 AD), and the
Liber Hermetis ( circa 6th cent ).
It reached its peak during the Renaissance (14th - 16th
cent. ) following translations of Muslim
astrological treatises from Arabic to Italian and
Spanish; in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Two centuries later, the status of astrology diminished
during the scientific revolution; 15th to 17th centuries,
arising, firstly from the publication of
Copernicus' ' De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium ' (1543) advocating the heliocentric
hypothesis, id est, the Sun as the centre of the
universe as opposed to the geocentric hypothesis; earth
centred universe.
Then followed: the anti-Aristotelian dynamics of Galileo
in 1633, Kepler's ' De Fundamentis Astrologiae
Certioribus ' (1601) rebuffing irrational beliefs of
stars affecting human life, and Newton's mechanistic
physics; ' Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica '(1687).
Historical perspectives of two
professional astrologers:
Margaret Hone, the principal of the Faculty of
Astrological Studies, London, makes the following
assertion in her 'Historical Background of
Astrology':
" Astrology through the ages was once
represented as a river, curving along in its broad
sweeps. At each curve ... stood an irate little man,
saying, "Stop this, it is nonsense!
"
But the river increasingly rolled on, ever
getting fuller and wider. It now seems to have
reached vast proportions and is in danger unless in
the future, it is fed by tributaries from healthy
sources and controlled by banks as in the past. Its
modern necessity is the "banking" given by sensible,
well informed, well practised students, who will
exert the control necessary to stop "woolliness" and
vague repetition of unproved statements and will
press for the clarity which the present age demands
and will work to add to proof and reasoning and not
be content merely to listen comfortably to
others."1
