Astrology

A Basic understanding of the cycles & rhythms of life & living

The 7 Planets of the Ancients

n The term "planet" originally meant "wanderer": it was observed long ago that certain points of light wandered (changed their position) with respect to the background stars in the sky. In ancient times, before the invention of the telescope and before one understood the present structure of the Solar System, there were thought to be 7 such wanderers or planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and the Sun. This list is different in several respects from our modern list of planets:

n The Earth is missing, because it was not understood that the points of light wandering on the celestial sphere and the Earth on which we stood had anything in common.

The Outer Planets

n Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are missing because they would only be discovered when the telescope made them easily visible.

n Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye; it was discovered in 1781.

n Neptune and Pluto are too faint to see at all without a telescope; they were discovered in 1846 and 1930, respectively.

n The Sun and the Moon were classified as planets because they wandered on the celestial sphere

n Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye; it was discovered in 1781.

n Neptune and Pluto are too faint to see at all without a telescope; they were discovered in 1846 and 1930, respectively.

Planets (and the Sun and Moon) have some observational characteristics that distinguish them from what we would now call the stars
PLANETS	STARS
The planets move relative to stars on celestial sphere	The relative positions of the stars are fixed on celestial sphere
The nearer and larger planets appear as disks in telescope	The stars appear as "points" of light, even through the telescope
The brighter planets do not "twinkle"	The stars appear to "twinkle"
The planets are always near the imaginary yearly path of the Sun on the celestial sphere (the ecliptic)	Stars can be anywhere on the celestial sphere

In the beginning…..

n Patterns of stars was noted

n ‘wanderer’ stars (planets) watched and movement changes observed

n Events on earth corresponded to certain planetary positions

n Human temperament correlated with season of birth

n Planets given status & qualities of Gods & Goddesses

n Sun seen as supreme God – Ra, Zeus – fiery, hot –giver of life & death.

n Moon = Sun’s consort – feminine, mysterious,. Rhythmic changes effect on plant growth realised

n Mercury – quick, erratic, close to Sun -> messenger from the Gods

n Mars – red planet God of war

n Venus – morning or evening star – feminine goddess of love & beauty

Planetary Observation

n The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all observed in the night skies and their movements correlated with events on earth. Eventually the pathways of the planets were called the Zodiac, at around the time of the Greek civilisation in the 5th and 6th Centuries BC. The behaviour of the planets and eclipses were noted from high temples called Ziggurats.

Early Astrology History

Ø Early predictions were of natural disasters and war, and later individual horoscopes were cast for the leaders of countries.

Ø  In Alexandria, Ptolemy(120 AD) wrote the first books on astrology; the Almagest and Tetrabiblios. These books describe how the earth is surrounded by a power, the forces of which are projected from the planets to affect life on earth.

Ø The books list benevolent and malefic influences and begin to relate to individuals rather than countries.

Ø From this time, every person who could afford it was able to have his or her horoscope read, and would find out about health, wealth, the best partner to share life with and even the time and cause of his/her death.

Astrology Development I

R As astrology developed new techniques were introduced; the ten degree portions of the signs (decans), the association of the rulers of the days and the weeks to the planets.

R From Egypt came a collection of texts on magic, healing and astrology attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek equivalent to Thoth, the Egyptian god of learning.

R The idea of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm was born (as above, so below).

R Various parts of the body were associated with different planets and signs, and early religions used initiation through seven planetary realms as stages of the soul.

R The Greeks went on to develop and complex scientific method of astrology. Philosophy, medicine, and religion all accepted this system

Astrology Development II

v As Christianity developed, astrology all but disappeared in the west. It was kept alive by Muslims, and some Jews in the books Sephir Yetzira and the Zohar, which develop the Jewish mystical tradition known as the Kabbalah.

v In the Renaissance, astrology/astronomy was once more acceptable but further setbacks occurred in the 17th century. At this time, laws were passed which made fortune-telling illegal.

v By the late nineteenth century, there was an interest in esoteric religions and Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society delved into astrology and the journey of the soul.

v Today, there is a huge interest in the subject and the Sun Sign columns in newspapers are a product of the twentieth century. This is often a starting point for the further study and understanding of a huge and enlightening subject.