History of Astrology

Introduction
There are two major problems to be faced when writing about the history
of astrology. One is that of length. Astrology has been of great importance
in many countries of the world since long before the invention of writing,
and until at least the end of the 16th century; recently there has been a
considerable revival of interest. The amount of documentation is therefore
almost incalculable, and to eamine the subject in depth would mean a
wor! of such si"e that probably no publisher could contemplate it without
a massive subsidy, and only a writer prepared to give his life to the
subject could attempt it.
The second problem is that of partiality. #ery few people seem able to
discuss astrology without emotion. This is partly a matter of
temperament, but also often a matter of misinformation and almost
always of bias of one sort or another. $t can be, for instance, the result of
a simple contemplation of the harm that may be done by an uncritical
belief in the infallibility of astrological advice % &uite as much harm as can
be done by the uncritical acceptance of the infallibility of theological
advice. 'ometimes too a simple%minded devotion to astrology has resulted
in the acceptance of legends entirely without basis, invariably supporting
the claims of astrology. 'ome (histories( have repeated such legends. $n a
recent one by an American writer, for eample, it is asserted that )ord
*yron was (&uite a good astrologer, who set up his own son(s chart and
&uite accurately predicted the main events of the latter(s life.( This would
be a more convincing statement if *yron had ever had a son, or if there
was the faintest evidence anywhere in his life or letters that he was even
slightly interested in astrology.
The present authors should declare an interest. +ulia ,ar!er is a consultant
astrologer, past ,resident of the -aculty of Astrological 'tudies, founded in
)ondon in 1./0, with pupils in most countries of the world, and co%author
of The 1ompleat Astrologer, a comprehensive tetboo! of astrology.
2ere! ,ar!er, the other co%author, remains a sceptic for whom the
practice of astrology is largely a mystery, but who has become convinced
that there is sufficient evidence now available to support many astrological
propositions, and that it would be foolish to dismiss the subject out of
hand.
$n this boo! we have attempted to maintain a reasonable balance. This is
not meant to be a wor! that will convince anyone that astrology wor!s, or
that it does not. $t is meant as a necessarily brief account of the spread of
1
astrology through the civili"ed world, and of the major figures involved in
its history.
Amid the shelves of bad boo!s on the subject, there are a few important
and reliable source boo!s to which any writer about astrology must be
indebted. )ynn Thorndi!e(s massive 3istory of magic and eperimental
science 41./15 is most certainly one. +ac! )indsay(s Origins of astrology
41.615, -. 3. 1ramer(s Astrology in 7oman law and politics 41.8/5, and
9eith Thomas(s 7eligion and the decline of magic 41.615 are other
eamples; and A. ). 7owse(s 'imon -orman 41.6/5 is the earliest eample
of the wor! of a serious historian who has thought it worth while to go
through the untouched papers of a prominent :li"abethan astrologer. 2r
+ohn 2ee(s papers await similarly thorough treatment from some
adventurous :li"abethan scholar. -inally, no reader can be thoroughly
versed in the latest state of astrology who has not read ;eoffrey 2ean(s
and Arthur <ather(s 7ecent advances in natal astrology 41.665; while the
wor! of the husband and wife team, <ichel and -rancoise ;au&uelin, in
several volumes, provides much statistical evidence, and thought%
provo!ing argument. The wor! of 2ane 7udhyar in America and of +ohn
Addey of the *ritish Astrological Association is more speciali"ed still, and
the journals of the *ritish Association and the American -ederation of
Astrologers are serious publications worth eamination.
=e are grateful, as always, to various librarians for their assistance; and
to many astrologers who have been &uic! with suggestions of material to
be consulted. And we are grateful to the -olio 'ociety )imited for
permission to &uote lines from =illiam ;innis(s translation of 'ebastian
*rant(s The ship of fools, and to ,enguin *oo!s )imited for permission to
&uote from >evill 1oghill(s (translation( of 1haucer(s The 1anterbury tales
4? 1.80, 1.6@, 1.68, 1.665.
2
Distant Beginnings
3ow, where, when, did astrology originateA 3ow, where, when, why did
man first begin to believe that the 'un, <oon and visible planets influence
his character and life, the health of his beasts, the &uality of his crops, the
weather % indeed, every aspect of life on earthA
The answer must be, almost as soon as he was capable of intelligent
thought, for he then reali"ed that the 'un as a source of warmth and light
ruled all living things; that with the <oon the tides swelled and san!, that
it affected other natural cycles, that it had an effect upon emotional
stability. 3ere was the basis of an astrological theory. $nterestingly, some
of the earliest astrological artefacts to have survived come from the
<iddle :ast where, in about 18,@@@ *1, the earliest agricultural systems
evolved % gardeners have always recogni"ed that there is a difference
between the &uality of morning and afternoon light, and that the times at
which plants are planted, herbs pic!ed, seem to affect their growth and
virtue.
On the whole, it must have been man(s natural reverence for the magical,
strange moving lights in the s!y, regarded as gods, that led to the
development of astrology. Out of the thic! mists that conceal the earliest
history of the subject have come down to us a number of cuneiform
tablets % bric! and stone slabs inscribed with triangular or wedge%shaped
characters % recording the very simplest astronomical phenomenaB
eclipses of the <oon, certain planetary movements, interpreted as
predicting famine or war or peace or plenty.
*abylonia during the 10th%16th centuries *1 was riddled with superstition,
and many omens were used and recorded % the bites of certain animals,
dreams, patterns of bird flight, the appearance of new%born babies 4(=hen
a woman bears a child with small ears, the house will fall into ruin(5, and
such eccentricities as the appearance in one(s house of a pig with palm
fibres in its mouth. Astronomical phenomena were only one aspect of
man(s attempts to predict the future, but a very widespread oneB an
interest in the earliest form of astrology was common to several early
civili"ations, not only in the <iddle :ast, from Anatolia to ,ersia, but in the
-ar :ast and in the $ncan, <ayan and <eican civili"ations, where those
planets that could be seen by the na!ed eye % <ercury, #enus, <ars,
+upiter and 'aturn % were identified as gods with various names and
personalities, and where their movements against the bac!ground pattern
of the stars were regarded as obviously significant.
Astronomer%astrologers slowly ac&uired more and more !nowledge about
the planets, and began not only to observe eclipses but the way in which
the planets moved % sometimes hesitating, sometimes appearing to move
bac!wards, sometimes seeming to meet each other, then part; as they did
so, they elaborated the predictions they based on the movements. Only
3
the roughest forecasts were being made in the time of Ammisadu&a, tenth
!ing of the -irst 2ynasty, in the 16th century *1, but royal libraries of the
Assyrian !ings at >ineveh, 1alah 4>imrud5 and Ashur in the 0th%6th
centuries *1, and the temple libraries of the chief cities of *abylon, had
on their shelves a collection of over 6@@@ astrological omens recorded on
6@ tablets 4now !nown, after the opening words of the first omen, as
:numa Anu :nlil5.
The reason why this elaboration of the astrological theory too! place in
the <iddle :ast rather than, say, among the American $ndians of
=isconsin or among the A"tecs, who certainly had an e&ually !een early
interest in the subject, was that the *abylonians were better astronomers
and mathematicians; they evolved a calendar, and by 8@@ *1 were
already moving towards the invention of the "odiac, that essential element
in the personali"ation of astrology.
The *abylonians pu""led for centuries over the patterns in the night s!y
before producing a calendar reliable enough to enable them to predict
eclipses and to wor! (bac!wards( in order to figure out the celestial events
of the past. They seem to have started by simply wor!ing out the duration
of day and night, then of the rising and setting of the <oon and the
appearance and disappearance of #enus. The very earliest calendars date
a new month from the first appearance of a new <oon. *ut the fact that
the interval between new <oons is irregular % on average, C. days, 1C
hours, // minutes and D seconds % meant that it was etremely difficult to
devise a calendar in which each month began with the new <oon, but
each year began at the spring e&uino. 4To do so, you have to declare an
etra month every two or three years % and even then you will be one and
a half days out every eight years.5
The details of early calendars and their evolution are comple; suffice to
say that the problem was solved with reasonable accuracy 4and, let us
remember, without the aid of mechanical cloc!s5 by the *abylonians.
'ince then, there have been additional complications and evolutions.
+ulius 1aesar had to summon an astronomer from Aleandria to sort out
the muddle into which the 7oman calendar degenerated, and his +ulian
calendar eventually fell out of phase by no less than eleven days, so that
in 168C *ritain was forced to adopt the ;regorian calendar 4established in
the rest of :urope by ,ope ;regory in 180C5, cutting eleven days from the
year. At midnight on C 'eptember came 1/ 'eptember, and people rioted
in the streets because they thought the civil servants were doing them out
of eleven days of life.
Once a calendar had been devised, observation and the application of
mathematics meant that planetary movements could be predicted. The
net step was the invention of the "odiac.
$n the first place this was devised as a means of measuring time. $t is a
circle around which twelve constellations are set, each mar!ing a segment
of thirty degrees of the ecliptic, the imaginary path the 'un seems to
4
follow on its journey round the earth. *ecause that journey ta!es more or
less D68 days, astronomers in *abylon, :gypt and 1hina independently
arrived at the idea of dividing the ecliptic into D6@ degrees, easily divisible
into twelve sections.
The circle, for practical purposes, had to start somewhere. $n ancient
times it started variously from certain fied stars % from Aldebaran or the
*ull(s :ye, for instance, or from 7egulus, the brightest star in )eo. $n
modern astrology it starts from the vernal e&uino % the point at which the
'un seems to cross the e&uator from south to north at the spring e&uino
of the northern hemisphere on C@, C1 or CC <arch each year.
*ut the e&uino not only never occurs in the same spot for two years
running, but its place slowly seems to rotate around the s!y, ta!ing about
C0,0@@ years to complete the circuit 4a phenomenon !nown as ,recession
of the :&uino5. This is because the :arth, as it rotates, wobbles li!e a top
slowing down; the ,ole thus describes a circle, moving bac!wards through
the "odiac. 'imilarly, if the "odiac is measured from a fied point 4say the
first degree of Aries5, it moves slowly bac!wards. 3owever, this is the
system used by most modern astrologers; it is !nown as the tropical
"odiac. 'ome astrologers, li!e the ancients, use the fied or sidereal
"odiac, measured from the stars 4not as fied as all that, however, for it
too moves % by one day in every 6C yearsE5.
T3: '$;>' 1O<,A7:2
*abylonia
A7$:' hunga
4hireling5
TAF7F'
;:<$>$
1A>1:7
):O
#$7;O
)$*7A
'1O7,$O
'A;$TTA7$F'
1A,7$1O7>
AGFA7$F'
,$'1:'
mastabba.galgal 4great twins5
5
ur.gul.la 4lion5
ab.sin 4furrow5
"ihanitu 4horn, later scales5
gir.tab 4scorpion5
,A.*$).'A;
4A5
suhur.mas 4goat%fish5
;F.)A
4giantA5
"ibbati 4tails5
,lus
1hina 4e&uivalent months5
ch(un feAn 4vernal e&uino5 ch(ing ming 4clear and bright5
!u yu 4grain rains5 ii hsia 4summer begins5
hsiao man 4grain fills5 mang chung 4grain in ear5
hsia chih 4summer solstice5 hsaio shu 4slight heat5
ta shu 4great heat5 ii ch(iu 4autumn begins5
ch(u shu 4limit of heat5 pai lu 4white dew5
ch(iu feAn 4autumn e&uino5 han lu 4cold dew5
shuang chiang 4hoar%frost descends5
ii tung 4winter begins5
hsiao hsuHeh 4little snow5 ta hsi(eh 4heavy snow5
tung chih 4winter solstice5 hsiao han 4little cold5
ta han 4severe cold5 ii ch(un 4spring begins5
yu shui 4rain water5 ching chih 4ecited insects5
$ndiaI;ree!
9nos
'anscrit
<esha 47am5
Tauros #risha
4*ull5
6
2idumoi <ithuna
4couple5
9ar!ata
41rab5
)eon 'imha
4)ion5
,arthenos 9anya
4#irgin5
Tula
4*alance5
#rischi!a
4'corpion5
2hanus
4*ow5
<a!ara
4'ea%monster5
9umbha
4pot5
<ina
4-ish5
9a r!inos
Jugos 4yo!e5
'!orpion
To otes 4archer5
Aigo!eroHs 4goat%horned5
3ydro!hods 4water%pot5
$!hthues
,lejades "appu 4tuft ofhair5
7yades ;u.an.na 4bull ofheaven5
Orion 'ib."i.an.na. 4shepherd ofheaven5
,erseus 'ugi 4charioteer
7
Aurige gamlu 4scimitar5
,raesepe la.lul 4crabA5
southern fish sim.mah 4great swallow5
n6rthern fish aninitum 4a goddess5
The ,recession of the :&uino presents astrologers with a problem.
Aldebaran, on 18 degrees of Taurus in ancient times, has now moved
forward so that it is on 0 degrees of ;emini, and someone born with the
'un in Taurus centuries ago might well be born in now with the 'un in
precisely the same spot relative to the :arth, but be in popular parlance (a
;eminian( rather than (a Taurean(. Throughout the ages critics have used
this as a weapon against astrologers, without reali"ing that it is only
popularly that astrology has anything to do with the constellations, (the
stars( as astrology columnists put it. Astrologers are, with a few
eceptions, concerned with the movements of the 'un, <oon and planets
within the solar system, describing these in terms of their bac!ground.
That bac!ground may change, but the planets( positions relative to :arth
4all that matters5 will not.
-or some time it was believed that the "odiac as we !now it originated in
*abylon. <ore recently, it has become clear that it is the product of
*abylonian, :gyptian and Assyrian astronomy. The 7am, for instance, the
symbol of Aries, is of :gyptian origin; Taurus, the *ull, originated in
*abylon, where it was called ;ud.anna. )eo, the )ion, is :gyptian 4in
*abylon the same constellation figure was called the ;reat 2og5. 'ome
signs sprang to symbolic life in two countriesB the ;eminian Twins were
the *abylonian <astabba.galgal, but also very probably the Two 'tars of
:gypt; and the 1rab of 1ancer was *abylonian, but also eisted as the
:gyptian Two Turtles, and later became the Tortoise of ;ree! and 1hinese
astrology. The symbols attached to the constellations have a long historyB
the *ull and 'corpion can be found, signifying spring and autumn, on a
stele 4commemorative stone5 of >ebuchadne""ar $, who reigned during
the 1Cth century *1.
3ow did the constellations get their namesA 1learly, most of them were
not instantly recogni"able in the pictorial sense. =ho could possibly claim
that shown the pattern of stars which ma!es up, say, Taurus, they would
automatically connect them into the shape of a bullA On the other hand it
seems very possible that ;emini became the sign of the twins because of
the bright twin stars in the constellation; 'corpio(s pattern does seem to
suggest a tail li!e that of a scorpion; and it seems similarly li!ely that the
pattern of stars in )eo did remind someone of the silhouette of a lion.
Other connectlons arose for other reasons, perhaps agricultural 4when the
<oon was full in #irgo, for instance, the *abylonians could epect the
fruition of the young standing corn5, perhaps growing from the dar!
realms of the collective unconscious; and one or two of the signs may
simply have been named as the result of some early astronomer imposing
8
his own pattern upon a constellation for no other reason than that he
needed to call it something, and the most memorable way of naming it
was to connect it with a myth.
The earliest *abylonian "odiac of which we !now had eighteen
constellationsB ten of the twelve we still use, and in addition the ,leiades,
3yades, Orion, ,erseus, Auriga, ,raesepe and the southern and northern
fish. These are described in the mul.A,$> tablets from the royal libraries
of Assyria as (constellations which stand in the path of the <oon, and into
the region of which the moons pass monthly, and which they touch.(
As early as about 1@@@ *1 a "odiac of a !ind eisted, even if not the one
we !now today. The eighteen%sign "odiac was still in use between the 6th
and Drd centuries *1. =e cannot !now with any certainty when the
twelve%sign "odiac came into being; all we can say is that it did so very
slowly and uncertainly, for even as late as the beginning of the 1hristian
era the "odiac as we !now it was not settled, although the earliest record
we have of its being used for astrological prediction is from the 8th
century in *abylon, and the Drd century in :gypt.
The concept of the ;reat Kear also arose early, and is still with us. The
basic idea is that at the beginning of the world all the planets started their
journeys from @ degrees in Aries, and will return to that position %%
mar!ing either the end of the world or the coming of the ;olden Age,
according to whether the astrologer is an optimist or a pessimist.
:ach age is said to last for something under C6,@@@ years 4there is of
course a connection with the ,recession of the :&uino5; the Taurean Age
is supposed to have begun in about /1D. *1, the Arian Age in about 1.8D
*1, the ,iscean Age round about A2 CC@, and the A&uarian Age will begin
in about CD68. These dates are of course etremely rough; no one !nows
when the Age of A&uarius will begin % it may already have done so, for
astrologers argue that the transition from one age to another probably
ta!es a couple of centuries.
$t is perhaps interesting that as the Arian Age began, the 7am god Amun
was at the height of his power in :gypt; 1hristianity, represented in its
early years by the fish symbol so often found scratched in the 7oman
catacombs, began to spread throughout the world in the Cnd century A2,
when the ,iscean Age was beginning; and with the coming of the A&uarian
Age organi"ed religions seem to be giving way to a trust in science and
world government as the twin saviours of humanity.
*ut what of astrology outside the <iddle :astA $ts development in $ndia is
if anything more difficult to trace than in *abylon, for the early history of
astronomy and astrology in $ndia is not only obscure but often falsifiedB at
least we can assume that this is so when we read the still commonly
asserted statement that the first $ndian astronomical tetboo!, the 'urya
'iddhanta, was published in the year C,16D,$@C *1.
9
$f the origins of astrology are obscure, the influences on $ndian
astrologers are clearer. Aleandria, for instance, had a great influence
during the 6th century A2, when many ;ree! terms found their way into
$ndian astrological terminology during the lifetimes of the most famous
ancient $ndian astronomers, Aryabhata, #araha <ihira and *rahmagupta.
And it seems li!ely that the concept of the "odiac reached $ndia via
Aleandria, for $ndian astrologers for some time used two sets of names
for the constellations % one a straight transliteration of the ;ree!, the
other a translation into 'ans!rit; so the ;ree! Tauros became Taurusi,
and then in 'ans!rit #risha 4the *ull5, while the ;ree! )eon became )eya
and was then translated as 'imha 4the )ion5.
$t is strange that astrology did not ma!e its way to $ndia via ,ersia, just
east of *abylonia % the gateway to 'amar!and and 1hina. *ut the ,ersian
interest in the planets was &uite different, in early centuries, from that of
the *abylonians; its only contribution to the history of the "odiac seems to
be the (invention( of the four elements, -ire, :arth, Air and =ater, later
brought into the astrological scheme by ,tolemy. $t was in ,ersia,
however, that <ithraism arose % a religion that flourished between 1@@ *1
and A2 /@@, and was to be responsible in large measure for the spread of
astrology through the 7oman empire, when as a military faith it carried
belief in the influence of the planets to the furthest outposts, including
)ondinium. The signs of the "odiac were found in every mithraeum, often
surrounding a carved representation of *ull sacrifice.
>either in ,ersian nor in Arabic was there ever any distinction between the
terms for astrology and astronomy; when the classical tets refer to
munajjimun, it almost always means both 4and this is true throughout the
world5. $slamic astronomy derived from ;ree!, $ndian and ,ersian sources
% from 2orotheus of 'idon, ,tolemy, Antiochos of Athens, #ettius #alens
and Teu!ros, along with 'assanid wor!s which were often translations of
;ree! and $ndian tets into ,ahlavi, the main language of ,ersia in the
Drd to 6th centuries A2. Obviously $slamic astrology was a relatively late
development.
The <uslims were naturally attracted to the subject, however. 4The 9oran
seems to have encouraged them, with its various astrological references %
for instance, (3e it is =ho hath set for you the stars that ye may guide
your course by them amid the dar!ness of the land and the sea.(5 <uslim
astrologers drew up individual horoscopes and wrote astrological world
histories 4the best !nown being by <asha(allah and Abu <a(shar al(*al!hi5,
but their chief interest was in cosmological symbolism % in astrology as it
provided a means through which man could discover his own place in the
cosmos and become aware of the (reality( lying outside his own earthly
life.
The 1hinese have a list of twelve animals which mar! their yearsB a child
is born in the year of the boar, the rat, the o, the tiger, the rabbit, the
dragon, the sna!e, the horse, the sheep, the mon!ey, the rooster or the
10
dog % alternatively (positive( or (negative( signs 4the boar is (negative(5,
and with the first three signs being (water( signs, the net three (wood(,
the net three (fire( and the last three (metal(. They are often represented
in a circle 4a ("odiac( of C0 constellations was said to have originated in
CD16 *15, but although there are certain very faint connections between
the =estern signs and the 1hinese animals, these are hardly worth
detailed eamination. The =estern "odiac was !nown in 1hina by the 16th
century A2, having been ta!en there by the +esuits % but perhaps even
earlier by travellers along the central Asian caravan routes.
The earliest 1hinese astrologers did not use the ecliptic at all, but the
circumpolar starsB the 1hinese empire saw itself as the counterpart on
earth of the <iddle 9ingdom of 3eaven, the region of the stars that never
set % the circumpolar stars are indeed seen all year round. The :mperor,
representing the ,ole 'tar, sat facing south to give audience; and his
astrologers used an obscure system of four (,alaces(. $t was only in the
1st century A2 that the ecliptic was given a name in 1hineseB (The Kellow
7oad(, as opposed to the e&uator, which was (The 7ed 7oad(.
$t has sometimes been supposed that astrology did not reach the
Americas until at least the age of 1olumbus. 3istorians assume that when
the *ishop of 1hiapas wrote in 16.0 that certain sections of the GuichL,
an ancient ,eruvian tribe, (believe that the birth of man is regulated by
the course of the stars and planets; they observe the time of the day and
the month at which a child is born, and predict the conditions of its life
and destiny(, he was reporting the use of astrological techni&ues brought
to 'outh America by the 'paniards. *ut there was certainly a !ind of
astrology in use in <eico before 1olumbus, even if it was based on a
system unli!e anything in :uropeB Toltec astronomy, for instance, divided
the world into five (directions( % north, south, east, west and centre, the
first four ruled by the *ull, )ion, :agle and <an. 4These coincide
somewhat with the :uropean fied signs of the "odiacB Taurus, )eo,
'corpio and A&uarius, much later associated with the symbols of the four
Apostles % )u!e 4the *ull5, <ar! 4the )ion5, +ohn 4the :agle5 and <atthew
4the <an, or A&uarius5.
The mystery of how the constellations used in the "odiac ac&uired their
own characteristics % why astrologers should have begun to associate
;emini with liveliness and versatility, Aries with courage and selfishness,
)ibra with charm and ease % is unfathomable. The association made by
early man between the planets and certain human characteristics is easier
to understandB the 'un, bla"ing in all its glory, was certainly the major
visible symbol of royalty and nobility, pompous and domineering; e&ually,
the <oon(s association with motherhood can safely be associated with its
influence on the female cycle, and on the feminine element, water % the
rivers and seas with their regular tides. One may even suggest that <ars
was associated with aggression because of its relatively fiery, red
appearance in the bright night s!ies, and #enus with beauty and love
because of its clear, bright steadiness. On the other hand, how did +upiter
11
come to be associated with optimism and justice, 'aturn with practicality
and cautionA
These characteristics appeared very early. $n CD8 *1, an astrologer told a
client that ($f your child is born when #enus comes forth and +upiter has
set, his wife will be stronger than he( % #enus associated with indecision
and la"iness, +upiter with !indliness, loyalty, ease. The same astrologer
associated )eo with wealth and power, 1ancer with water, Taurus with
strength in battle. To all these simple associations modern astrologers
would to some etent assent.
Astrologers argue that associations between the signs and planets and
certain characteristics were empirically madeB that over the centuries it
became clear that man was more amorous when #enus was prominent,
more prone to violence when <ars was active; that when certain planets
were in ;emini at the time of the birth of a baby, it would grow up to be
tal!ative, &uic!%moving and hasty. And certainly there is much evidence
to suggest that the elaboration of the techni&ues of astrology came about
not through psychic guesswor!, or even the symbolic unconscious, but 4as
in science5 through observation and careful record.
3owever that may be, once the signs and planets had begun to assume
their characteristics, the "odiac was formed and a reliable calendar
devised, the last ingredient was available for the development of the
horoscope as we !now it, and of modern astrology. The simple omens of
early times were about to give way to more elaborate predictionsB at first
still relatively simple, but becoming more and more comple until far from
such simple statements as ($f a child is born when the <oon is come forth,
his life will be bright, ecellent, regular and long(, astrologers would be
able to write many thousands of words about the personality, character,
potential, health and motivations of a new%born child.
12
The Prestigious Planets
The planets, seen as gods, played so early a part in prophesy and
divination that evidence of their effect on the history of *abylonia is hard
to come by. :ven when it does present itself, it is etremely uncertain
when concerned with dates earlier than the 1@th century *1.
1opies of copies of documents from the library of 'argon of Agade, who
ruled *abylonia in about C@@@ *1, suggest that he instructed his
astrologers to choose propitious moments for starting ambitious projects,
and his library no doubt contained collections of star omens. *ut it is only
with the mul.A,$>, three thousand years later, which summari"es the
astronomical !nowledge of its time, that we approach the realm of fact
rather than conjecture; here are accounts of genuine observations of the
movements of the planets as they travelled three 7oads % the 7oad of
Anu, god of the northern s!y, of :nlil, god of the atmosphere 4the path
which the ;ree!s christened the ecliptic, and later the "odiac5, and of :a,
god of the deep. The laborious gathering of the facts enshrined in these
tablets must have gone on for centuriesB there are hints of a set of tablets
dating from the time of 3ammurapi, siteen hundred years earlier, which
record the movements of #enus % even then perhaps used in connection
with the interpretation of certain omens.
$t was in the 6th century *1 that the earliest astrologers of whom we
!now were recorded, during the reigns of :sarhaddon 4601%6605 and his
successor Assurbanipal. :sarhaddon employed A!!ullanu, *alasi, $shtar%
shumeresh, >abun%adinshum and >abua%heriba; Assurbanipal(s
astrological advisers included Adad%shumusur, <ar%$shtar and *elushe"ib.
The astrologers were established in wor!shops or studios attached to the
temple of :a, the god of oracles and inventor of writing. At the outset of
his reign :sarhaddon instructed them to calculate for him the best time at
which he should start restoring the images of the gods and rebuilding their
sanctuaries. 3e also as!ed more personal &uestionsB was it a good time
for his son to visit himA 4his predecessor had been murdered by his
offspring5; would he find the coming eclipse dangerousA These simple
&uestions are among the first personal en&uiries on record.
The weight that :sarhaddon gave to his astrologers( interpretations of the
movements of the planets sprang from his reverence for the planets
themselves. The preamble of his important treaty with a <edian !ing
beginsB
$n the presence of the planets +upiter, #enus, 'aturn, <ercury, <ars,
'irius, and in the presence of Assur, Anu, :nlil, :a, 'in, 'hamash...
Thus the planet%gods are given precedence over the ancient territorial
gods % even before 'hamash the 'un and 'in the <oon.
13
>aturally, such prestigious personalities as these gods of the s!ies must
control the most important matters within their dominions. 2iodorus says
that the *abylonians called the five planets the $nterpreters because they
decided the fate of both individuals and nations. The planetary forecasts
that have survived naturally concern !ings and governors, but it was
accepted that at least one planet%god held sway over the birth of even the
lowliest individual % and 2iodorus reports that the *abylonians too! into
consideration the influences of twenty%four stars !nown as (the judges of
the world(, and thirty stars called (consulting gods(. =hich stars these
were, and whether there were fifty%four separate ones or the same star
sometimes shared a dual function, we do not !now.
$t is doubtful whether the people of *abylonia % even, it may be, the rulers
% !new much about the intricacies of the astrology practised by their
astrologer%priests. They got a glimpse of astrological lore through the
myths and legends of their civili"ationB most notably in The :pic of
;ilgamesh, the ruler of 'umer, surviving fragmentarily on twelve tablets
from the library of Assurbanipal at >ineveh. :ach of his twelve adventures
relates to a sign of the "odiacB he meets a 'corpion <an in the sign of
'corpio, reaches the =aters of 2eath in 1apricorn, consults a halfman,
half%bull called :a%bani in Taurus, and receives a proposal of marriage
from the goddess $shtar in #irgo. The *abylonians, on hearing these
stories, learned to regard their own lives too as a &uest for immortality,
running parallel to that of the 'un god as he travelled through the
constellations.
The earliest individual predictions were made without the help of the
"odiac, and when they were made for a !ing were interpreted as applying
to the whole !ingdomB an unfortunate month for the monarch meant an
unfortunate month for the state. :ven so, some crude personal predictions
have survived for non%royal individuals. There is a *abylonian omen tet
from the second half of the second millenium which predicts certain
events from the month of a child(s birth % crude indeed; as crude as the
modern astrological paperbac!s that tell you what your child will be li!e if
he or she is born (under( a certain sign.
The earliest surviving horoscope, now in the *odleian )ibrary at Oford, is
dated /1@ *1, and is for the son of 'huma%usar, son of 'huma%iddina,
descendant of 2e!e, who was born when (the <oon was below the 3orn of
the 'corpion, +upiter in the -ish, #enus in the *ull, 'aturn in the 1rab,
<ars in the Twins. <ercury, which had set ... was ... invisible.( There is no
interpretation given for this child; a modern astrologer would say that he
was sensual and loving, possessive and jealous, with powerful instincts
and emotions, had a strong sense of patriarchal tradition, was financially
shrewd and ambitious, prone to periods of restlessness and possibly
incapable of consistent steady wor!. A later horoscope, for / April C8D *1,
though much damaged, did offer an interpretationB (3e will be lac!ing in
wealth ... 3is food will not suffice for his hunger. The wealth he had in his
14
youth will not stay. 3is days will be long. 3is wife, whom people will
seduce in his presence, will ...( And there, alas, the story brea!s off.
$t should be pointed out that these earliest horoscopes were not set out
within the familiar circle of a (modern( horoscope, representing a map of
the s!y for a particular moment and place, nor in the earlier s&uare form
which persisted until the 16th century, and is sometimes seen even today.
They were merely lists of the positions of the planets.
The word horoscope, incidentally, derives from the ;ree! horos!opos,
meaning the sign ascending over the eastern hori"on at a given moment
4from hora, time, and s!opos, observer5.
*y the Drd century *1 astrologers had at their command a proper almanac
giving the positions of the <oon and planets at regular intervals over a
number of years, together with conjunctions of the 'un and <oon. These
suggested an order in an otherwise orderless, incoherent universe, an
order man should strive to emulate; the movements of planets in the
s!ies had meaning which man was capable of understanding, and related
to his life % otherwise why should the planets move at allA $t could not be
that they were the products of accident. This theory had great political
importance, and is advanced again and again over the net two thousand
years throughout :urope, as an argument in favour of order in society.
The idea that the influence of the planets was all%pervading, and that a
true interpreter of that influence was of enormous value, was widely
spread in the centuries just before the death of 1hrist, by the 1haldeans.
The term should really always be written in inverted commas. 1haldea
was properly a province of *abylonia, whose citi"ens soon became the
Llite of the country, virtually dominating its ruling class as early as the 0th
century *1. :ventually, (*abylonia( and (1haldea( became interchangeable
terms; but for some reason the popular meaning of the term (1haldean(
came to be (astrologer(. $n the *oo! of 2aniel, for instance, (1haldean(
always meant that % or mathematician, astronomer, wi"ard or magicianE
<any leading astrologers were literally 1haldeans, although many no
doubt came from other areas of *abylonia or other parts of the <iddle
:ast. :ven countries not noted for a special interest in astrology had a
contribution to ma!e. ,ersia, for instance, produced :l 3a!im, otherwise
;jamasp, a court astrologer to the semi%legendary !ing 3ystaspes of $ran
in the 6th century *1, who wrote a boo! in which he eamined the effect
of the conjunctions of +upiter and 'aturn on the history of the world.
+udicia ;jamaspis offered predictions that have been interpreted as
foreseeing the birth of 1hrist and the rise of $slam.
$n $ndia, certain predictions were already possible by the 6th century *1,
as we see from the wor!s of #araha <ihira, whose astronomical tetboo!,
the *rihat 'ambita, suggests that the portents to be seen in the s!ies are
so many and so comple that every astrologer should have at least four
assistants, and that (the !ing who does not honour a scholar accomplished
15
in horoscopy and astronomy, clever in all branches and accessories,
comes to grief.(
*ut it was the 1haldeans, predominantly, who carried astrology to other
nations and broadened its scope, claiming for the first time for instance
that not only a man, but a city, could have its (moment of birth(, and that
therefore an astrologer could advise on the laying of the foundation stone
at an auspicious moment, in order to give the city a horoscope
encouraging security and prosperity. One of the first instances we find of
an astrologer offering advice on that subject is in about D1C *1, when
'eleucus $ founded the city of 'eleucia on the Tigris. 'eleucus was a
devout adherent of astrology 4unli!e his chief antagonist Antigonos, who
ignored the prediction that 'eleucus would !ill him on the field of battle,
which he did, in D@15. =hen he was planning 'eleucia he consulted a
number of 1haldeans. These were, li!e the *abylonians, against the idea
of the new city, which they suspected 4rightly5 would in time mean the
desertion and ruin of *abylon itself. They therefore wor!ed out the least
auspicious time for the cornerstone of the new city to be laid, and advised
'eleucus accordingly. 3e issued his orders; but his wor!men were so
eager to raise the city that they started wor! before the given time, thus
providing the city with a highly propitious horoscopeE
The birth chart of 'eleucia is lost. That for another of 'eleucus( cities,
Antioch, has survived % calculated for CC <ay D@@ *1 % as have those for
1onstantinople, Aleandria, ;a"a, 1aesarea; sometimes representations
of parts of these were engraved on coins minted in the cities concerned.
-rom *abylonia, the 1haldeans carried astrology into :gypt, and more
importantly into ;reece. The enormous importance in :gypt of myths
about the s!y gods, the travels and adventures of 'in, the <oon god,
'hamash the 'un god, or $shtar the personification of #enus, have led
people to believe that that country must have made a great contribution
to the development of astrology. $n fact, its interest in the planets came
fairly late % apart from a devotion to #enus, which anyway was seen as a
star of the morning and evening rather than as a planet.
The impression that the :gyptians had a long tradition of astrological
!nowledge probably arose because they were jealous of the older tradition
of *abylonia. =hen in C6@ *1 *erosus 4supported by 2iodorus and 1icero5
claimed that the 1haldean astrological tets were almost half a million
years old, :gyptian astronomers countered by claiming that their tets
dated from at least 6D@,@@@ *1.
+ust as with the other advanced civili"ations, there was certainly an early
interest in astronomical events. :gyptian tets dating from as early as the
1Dth century *1 show a familiarity with the positions of the stars; but the
:gyptian obsession was more with the devising of a wor!able calendar
than with any astrological significance. They turned to other omens for
predictionB the cry of a new%born child, for instance, or its appearance. $f
16
it turned its eyes towards the 'un, it was a sign of early death. They
interpreted dreams, too, and employed necromancy.
2iscussion about the place of the pyramids in the development of
astrology in :gypt seems fruitless. $t is no doubt the case that some if not
all of the pyramids were constructed for astronomical purposes, or at the
very least with astronomy in mind; and since astronomy was
indistinguishable from astrology, there is no point in denying that for
instance the ;reat ,yramid, built in about C8@@ *1, has a place in
astrological history. *ut what placeA
$nnumerable theories have been advanced to eplain the pyramids and to
discover their secrets. As early as 100D it was suggested that they had
been erected as astronomical observatories and star cloc!s. Kears later, it
was proposed that the :gyptians who built the ;reat ,yramid must have
!nown that the earth was round, and flattened at the poles, that they
could measure the precise length of the year and had mastered a system
of map projection.
The claim that the first horoscope was cast in :gypt in C666 *1 is suspect,
although there is certainly a diagram of that date representing a particular
moment of time % not, as far as we !now, connected with the birth or life
of a particular individual, but an early affirmation of belief that a particular
moment of time had an individual significance 4a proposition echoed in the
C@th century by the psychologist 1.;. +ung5. $ts eistence shows that the
early :gyptians were capable of close observation of the heavens; they
may have used the pyramids for that purpose.
=hen the tomb of 7ameses $$ was ecavated, it was found to contain two
circles of gold mar!ed in D6@ degrees, and with symbols showing the
rising and setting of stars. This suggests that he was interested in
ascending degrees % the degree of the ecliptic rising over the eastern
hori"on at any particular time, an important matter in astrology. 7ameses
$$ % O"ymandias, the builder of the temple at Abu 'imbel % reigned from
about 1C.C%1CC8 *1; and the tomb of 7ameses # contained papyri
offering astrological hints for every hour of every month of the year.
There is evidence too that astrologers in the :gypt of thirteen hundred
years before 1hrist !new about the four fied signs of the "odiac
4astrologers divide the signs into &uadruplicities or &ualities % cardinal,
mutatable and fied5. $n the sarcophagus of 'eti $ 4c 1D16 *15 the four
jars containi the intestines were protected by four deities, represented
with a human head 4<estha5, a dog(s head 43api5, a jac!al(s head
4Tuamutef5 and a haw!(s head 4Gebhsennuf5. These clearly represented
the four fied signs with <estha as A&uarius, 3api as )eo, Tuamutef as
Taurus and Gebhsennuf as 'corpio. *ut this is not a sign that advanced
astrology was practisedB the four 'uns of 3orus were the gods of
astronomical myths, with astrological associations.
17
A major contribution to the early history of astrology was, however, made
by :gyptB the invention of the decans by the division of the circle of the
ecliptic into thirty%si sections, three decans or sections of 1@ degrees to
each sign. The earliest sight we have of these is on a coffin lid of the
<iddle 9ingdom, on which the s!y is shown with the names of the decans
in columns. The "odiac did not then eistB the decans were geared to the
constellations, and it was not until the 3ellenistic age that they were
lin!ed with the "odiac and became truly astrological in significance. $t
seems that they were contrived because of the :gyptian belief that every
moment of time should have its presiding deity.
'tobaeus, who collected valuable etracts from ;ree! authors in the 8th
century A2, in an essay addressed to his son, claimed that the decansB
eert their influence on bodies from on high. 3ow could they not act on us
as well, on each in particular and on all men togetherA Thus, my child,
among all the catastrophes of universal scope due to forces emanating
from them, we may cite as eamples % mar! well my words % the changes
of !ings, the uprisings of cities, famines, pestilences, flu and reflu of the
sea, earth&ua!es. >othing of all that, my child, occurs without the
influence of the decans.
The decans were later to be specially important in medical astrology,
when different ailments were specific to different decans 4stomach
trouble, for instance, being attributable to the first decanate of #irgo5.
2espite their interest in star patterns, :gyptian astrologers were not
nearly as advanced as their *abylonian colleagues. Their mathematics
were even more cumbrous and the "odiac reached them comparatively
late % the earliest of which we have a report was engraved on the ceiling
of a hall north of :sna some time before CC$ *1. There are only slight
differences between the earliest surviving :gyptian "odiacs 4at :sna and in
the chapel of Osiris at 2enderah, built at about the time of 1hrist5 and
those of *abylonia; clearly the "odiac came to :gypt directly from there.
And what use was made of astrology in :gyptA There were certainly
predictions for the ,haraoh and for the countryB (the -lood will come to
:gypt(; (many men will rebel against the 9ing(; (seed and grain will be
high in price(; (the burial of a god will occupy :gypt.( All these predictions
were made on the basis of movements of the 2og star, 'othis % ($f 'othis
rises when the <oon is in the Archer(, or ($f 'othis rises when <ercury is in
the Twins(, and so on.
Another papyrus, from the 7oman period, ma!es predictions for
individuals based on the presence of #enus and <ercury in the (houses( of
the horoscope at the time of birth. 4The (houses( are twelve divisions
within the circle of the horoscope, relating to particular areas of life. The
system was invented by the *abylonians and persists even now, although
astrologers have disagreed about the system of house division.5
18
Astrology had a part to play in formal religion, and sometimes a major
one. 1lement of Aleandria, a distinguished 1hristian writer born in about
A2 18@, describes an :gyptian religious procession of his own time, but
with traditional and ancient elementsB
-irst goes the ,recentor carrying two of 3ermes( boo!s, one containing
the 3ymns of the ;ods, the other directions for the !ingly office. After him
follows the 3oroscopus, an epert in the four astrological boo!s of
3ermes. Then succeeds the 3ierogrammateus, or sacred scribe, with
feathers upon his head, and a boo! and rule in his hands, to whom it
belongeth to be thoroughly ac&uainted with the hieroglyphics, as with
cosmography, geography, the order of the 'un and <oon and five
planets ...
(The four astrological boo!s of 3ermes( came from that legendary
collection of ancient tets the 3ermetic boo!s. These were allegedly
collected together by the :gyptian god Thoth, later !nown to the ;ree!s
as 3ermes Trismegistus, and still later to the 7omans as <ercury. 'ome
authorities believed that there were forty%two volumes of these tets;
other historians were more adventurous 'eleucus claimed that there were
twenty thousand volumes, and <anethon was particular, having counted
D6,8C8.
The tets, however many there were, enshrined traditional !nowledge
about religion, art, science, geometry, alchemy, astronomy, astrology and
many other subjects. They were held to be sacred, and only the highest of
:gyptian priests were allowed to touch them. Alas, no one has yet
discovered the tomb of Aleander the ;reat, in which the :mperor
'everus is supposed to have entombed the last complete set. $t may be
that the etreme veneration in which the tets were held was a major
factor in their not surviving; they were so sacred that only a few people
were permitted access to them, and perhaps there came a time when
those few had all died without ensuring that their charge had been passed
on to posterity. 3owever, the absence of any real !nowledge of the tets
has not prevented an enormous literature growing up about them, and it
has never been doubted that any large collection of traditional wisdom,
however put together, would certainly have contained much ancient
theory about astrology.
3ermes was supposed to have devised an astrological system of his own,
and among the 3ermetic boo!s was, apparently, one on medical
astrology, another on the decans 4including a detailed catalogue going
bac! beyond 18@ *15, one on "odiacal plants, and one on the astrological
degrees. 3ermes( writings are &uoted freely by many later astrologers,
including Thrasyllus, perhaps the most influential of all astrologers of
$mperial 7ome, Antiochus of Athens, and 'arapion, a pupil of 3ipparchus,
the ;ree! astronomer.
To what etent pieces of the original tets have survived % and obviously
there were original tets, whether or not they were written by 3ermes % it
19
is difficult to say; large claims have been made 4and not only by the
ancients, at that5. 'ome fragments of very early astrological tets have
come down to us, via the ;ree!s. $n the 8th century A2; a )atin tet,
)iber 3ermetis, translated from the ;ree!, gives a muddled miture of
theory about the decans, conjunctions, the meanings of certain planets in
certain signs, and advice on personal matters % how to predict the day of
death, useful or difficult days, marriage, duration of life % which seems to
derive from a very early original. $t pays special attention to the decansB
the third decan of ;emini is responsible for muscular pains, the first of
#irgo controls the stomach, the first of 1ancer the heart, and so on. $t is
in this tet that the Astrological <an ma!es his first appearanceB onto a
figure of the body is imposed the "odiac circle, straightened out % the first
sign, Aries, at the head, and the last, ,isces, at the feet. *etween them
various parts of the body fall under the influence of the signs in their
order. $t is a system still used today, although with some amendmentsB
)ibra for instance is now said to (rule( the !idneys, whereas 3ermes
claimed it affected the buttoc!s.
A passage from the )iber 3ermetis will do very well to summari"e the
general attitude to astrology as it was when the 1haldeans had passed it
on to the ;ree!s as a systemi"ed wholeB
<an is called by the informed, a =orld, since he is wholly correspondent
with the =orld(s nature. $ndeed at the moment of conception there spurts
from the seven planets a whole comple of rays that bear on each part of
the man. And the same thing happens at the birth%hour, according to the
position of the twelve signs. Thus the 7am is called the head, and the
head(s sense%organs are shared out among the seven planets. The right
eye goes to the 'un, the left to the <oon, and ears to 'aturn, the brain to
+upiter, the tongue and uvula to <ercury, smelling and taste to #enus, all
the blood%vessels to <ars.
$f then at the moment of conception or birth one of the stars finds itself in
a bad condition, there is produced an infirmity in the member
corresponding with that star. -or instance, a man has four main partsB
head, thora, hands, feet. One of these has become infirm at the
conception%moment or at birth somewhere by its heavenly patron having
been itself in a bad way; an eye, the two eyes, an ear, the two ears, or
again the teeth have undergone some damage or speech has been
blurred; the ray of a malevolent planet has come to stri!e one of those
parts, spoil and corrupt it.
$t is interesting that the anonymous writer or writers apparently believed
that the planets( position should be observed not only at the moment of
birth of a child but at the moment of conception. Throughout the history
of astrology there have been arguments about this. The moment of birth
is obviously the more convenient to record % indeed, it is normally
impossible to !now the precise moment of conception, although if
personal astrology wor!s because of the overt influence of the planets on
20
the forming embryo, the moment of conception must surely be nearer the
time when the influence is eerted than the moment of birth. *ut the
presentation of man as microcosm and the world, or even the universe, as
macrocosm, is one to which almost every astrologer since A2 /@@ has
subscribed.
The 3ermetic tets, in as far as we can guess at their total content,
presented astrology to the =estern world not only as a method of
divination but as a religious conception of the world and man(s place in it.
$t was to be inseparably combined with ;ree! philosophy, and to be
increasingly important not only to philosophers and rulers but to the man
in the street.
21
Through the Doors of Greece
Aleander the ;reat was born, history tells us, the son of 9ing ,hilip $$ of
<acedon. )egend has it, however, that the boy(s real father was a 9ing of
:gypt, >ectanebus, among whose accomplishments was the art of
summoning immense armies out of thin air. $n D86 *1, the planets
informed him that his enemies would triumph over him, however efficient
his aerial forces, so he pac!ed his bags and made off, heavily disguised,
to <acedon, where he set up as an astrologer and ingratiated himself at
court. =hile the !ing was away, >ectanebus, with the aid of wa dolls and
other magical means, transported himself into the &ueen(s bedroom
disguised as the god Ammon, to whose blandishments Olympias naturally
felt bound to accede. 'he became pregnant.
=hen her term came, >ectanebus came to her room and set up at her
bedside a tablet made of gold, silver and acacia wood, which stood on a
tripod and consisted of three belts % one with Jeus on it, surrounded by
the thirty%si decans; then one bearing the twelve signs of the "odiac; and
on the innermost the 'un and <oon. To these he fitted eight precious
stones showing the positions of the planets. 3e begged her not to give
birth until these were propitious % and when they were, with a flash of
lightning and a thump of thunder, Aleander was born. =e are not told of
9ing ,hilip(s reaction on returning to discover the fait accompli; and
indeed other accounts suggest that he and the &ueen merely employed an
astrologer to tell the new%born child(s fortune. *ut of Aleander(s later
successes, history tells us at length.
>ectanebus is said to have become Aleander(s tutor, using as tet%boo!
The 'ecret of 'ecrets, a boo! by Aristotle, later lost. This, among other
things, circulated a !nowledge of and respect for astrology. $t did
>ectanebus no good, however, for when the child was 1C years old he
tipped the astrologer over a cliff to prove that he could not foretell the
time of his own death. *ut at least it apparently provide tips for the future
world general % such as that he should never ta!e a laative ecept when
the <oon was in 'corpio, )ibra or ,isces, and that severe constipation
would result were he to be unwise enough to ta!e one while the <oon was
in 1apricorn.
$t has always been understood that Aleander made use of astrology
throughout his campaigns, though whether because he believed in it, or
!new that others believed, and too! advantage of the fact, is far from
clear. $t seems unli!ely that he almost alone among educated people of
his time placed the influence of the planets at naught % although one or
two philosophers did soB :udous 4c /@0%D88 *15, for instance, the
inventor of the geometrical theory of proportion, who demanded that (no
credence should be given to the 1haldeans, who predict and mar! out the
life of every man according to the day of his nativity(. And the ;ree!
22
Academy under 1arneades and 1litomachus, in the 1st century *1, was to
set itself firmly against divination, magic and astrology.
*ut they were in a tiny minority. $n general, as the historian ;ilbert
<urray was to put it, (astrology fell upon the 3ellenistic mind as a new
disease falls upon some remote island people(. Through such outposts as
2aphnae, a ;ree! settlement in :gypt between 61@ and 86@ *1, and
especially through the ports of :gypt opened to ;ree! ships after 6/@ *1,
travelling 1haldean astrologers descended on ;reece in considerable
numbers, bringing with them the apparently age%old wisdom they had
hoarded, which was received warmly by ;ree!s already better practised in
mathematics and astronomy than they.
$f any evidence was needed of the fact that much astronomical and
astrological lore came directly from *abylonia to ;reece, we have only to
loo! at the names of the planets. =hen the ;ree!s first recognised these,
they called them 3erald of the 2awn 4#enus, noted even by 3omer for its
brightness, although sometimes it was called #espertine, as the star of the
evening5, the Twin!ling 'tar 4<ercury5, the -iery 'tar 4<ars5, the
)uminous 'tar 4+upiter5, and the *rilliant 'tar 4'aturn5. *ut after the /th
century, these names begin to disappear, and others ta!e their place %
Aphrodite, 3ermes, Ares, Jeus and 1ronos.
$t seems almost certain that the reason is that by then the 1haldeans had
arrived with their barbaric names for the planets % >ebo, $shtar, >ergal,
<ardu! and >inib. The ;ree!s simply substituted their own deities( names
for the foreign ones % so today we call the planets by names that are
:nglish renderings of )atin translations of ;ree! translations of the
original *abylonian onesE
One of the reasons for astrology(s success in the ;ree! world may well
have been the atmosphere during the period after Aleander(s death,
when the ancient ideal of the ;ree! republic was being replaced by the
concept of universal monarchy. 7eligion was in a sense internationali"ed,
and the worship of the planets and stars as deities became stronger as the
cities lost their individual powers and personalities. The planets spread
their influences indiscriminately, and such philosophers as Jeno, the
founder of 'toicism, believing that nothing was determined by chance
4indeed, that there was no such thing as chance5 emphasi"ed in the /th
century *1 the idea that earthly happenings were rigidly determined by
natural laws. =hat then was more obvious than that the planets, coolly
moving in their predetermined courses, were the governors of eventsA
There is also, of course, the ;ree! epertise at astronomy and
mathematics, and ingenuity in constructing machines to match that
epertiseB ,tolemy describes the construction of an astrolabe, an
instrument for measuring the positions of the stars; and a little machine
with geared wheels, discovered in the sun!en wrec! of a vessel of the 1st
century *1, seems to have been devised to wor! out the motions of the
planets. $f some ;ree! ideas about the constitution of the solar system
23
were distinctly eccentric 4,tolemy(s not least so5 their grasp of mechanics
and mathematics was brilliant % much more so than many historians of the
10th century believed.
$f we can safely ignore ,hilostratus( claim 4made in the Drd century A25
that astrology was !nown and practised in ;reece as early as 110/ *1, it
is certainly the case that 3esiod, a poet who lived in the 0th century *1,
paid attention to the positions of the planets and stars in his =or!s and
2ays. $n this long poem he suggested among other things that they
should be used to predict good times at which to start certain tas!s.
The ;ree!s pioneered enormous developments in astronomical theory.
Aristotle disproved Anaimander(s theory that the :arth floats freely and
without support; ,ythagoras was probably the first man to (!now( 4if
without proof5 that the world was one of the planets, and round. This
theory, first put forward it seems by ,hilolaus of Thebes at the end of the
8th century *1, was based on intuition rather than on reason, but the
guess was an important one. $t was clear by this time, too % at least to
some astronomers % that the 'un was much larger than the :arth, and
therefore probably the latter was not the centre of the universe. And by
CD@ *1, Aristarchus of 'amos, centuries before 1opernicus, argued that
the :arth and all the planets revolved in circles round the 'un, the :arth
turning on its ais once in twenty%four hours. *ut the time was against
him, and only his colleague 'eleucus accepted his theory, which otherwise
san! li!e a stone % although 1opernicus was heartened, pursuing it in his
own age, to find evidence of an ancient conviction of the hypothesis.
The ;ree!s seem to have adopted the "odiac as early as the 6th century
*1; it may have been 2emocritus, round about /C@, who populari"ed it
and the idea that the planets influenced man as they travelled through the
signs. $t is said that he spent much time in :gypt and the east; certainly
he visited ,ersia, and he may have been more decided in advancing his
view that the planets governed men(s lives than any ;ree! before him. 3e
agreed with Jeno that nothing could happen in the world by chance. $t has
been claimed that he gave the "odiac signs their ;ree! names, although
other historians have suggested that Anaagoras, born in lonia about 8@@
*1, may have had a hand in that % he was an adventurous astronomer,
the first to eplain that the <oon shone because of the reflected light of
the 'un. 3e was thrown out of Athens, where he lived for thirty years, for
attempting to rationali"e astronomy, and teaching rationalist theories
about (the things on high(. The ;ree!s, who sacrificed to the 'un and
<oon, were outraged at his suggestion that they were paying court to a
(fiery star( and a lump of earth.
<any reports of early astronomicalIastrological feats by the ;ree!s must
be regarded with suspicion. $t has often been suggested, for instance, that
Thales predicted a solar eclipse that occurred in 808*1, thus ending a
battle between the )ydians and <edes, who stopped fighting in sheer
surprise. This seems unli!ely. The !nowledge simply did not eist by
24
which it could have been done, although it is possible Thales might simply
have made a spectacularly successful guess. There is a little more
substance, perhaps, in ,liny(s report that 1leostratus of Tenedos observed
the "odiacal constellations as they appeared behind <ount $da towards the
end of the 6th century. *ut it is only on loo!ing at the calendars devised
by :udoos of 1nidus 4c /@0%D88 *15, a ;ree! scientist and astronomer,
that we definitely find use being made of the ;ree! "odiac 4it was he who,
in the ,hainomena, divided the ecliptic into twelve e&ual signs5.
*etween the 8th century *1 and the birth of 1hrist, astrology appealed to
various sections of ;ree! society, among them not only philosophers and
scientists, but such men as 3ippocrates, the physician and (father of
medicine(, who taught astrology to his students so that they could
discover the (critical days( in an illness. 3e is said to have remar!ed that
(any man who does not understand astrology is a fool rather than a
physician(. And the young intelligentsia often too! an intense interest in
the subject; when ,lato visited 2ionysus( school, he saw two pupils
arguing with great vigour about the theories of Anaagoras, illustrating
their argument by imitating the sweep of the ecliptic with their arms.
Aristophanes in The 1louds ridicules the study of astrology as one of the
cults of the Athens upper classes.
$t was, as might be epected, a 1haldean % *erosus, a priest of *el
<ardu! at *abylon % who in about C6@ *1 came to the island of 1os,
where there was a medical school at which 3ipparchus had taught, and
set up there a formal school of astrology which was perhaps the earliest
such establishment. 3e seems to have used for his tetboo! a treatise
called The :ye of *el, which eisted in the form of seventy tablets in the
library of Assurbanipal, but was compiled much earlier, in the Drd
millenium *1, for 'argon $ % or so it was said. *erosus also wrote an
enormous history of his homeland, *abylonica, covering some five
hundred thousand years from the creation of the world to the death of
Aleander the ;reat, setting out in it a considerable amount of
astronomicalIastrological loreB about the ;reat Kear, for instance, and the
theory that earth&ua!es were caused by planets being in conjunction with
the 'un. 3e also predicted a cataclysmic world disaster when all the
planets were in conjunction in 1ancerB the earth would become mud
during an inordinate flood, and the world would eventually be covered
with water, sweeping away all human life.
*erosus was famous in his own time, and it is said that Athens raised a
statue of him with a golden tongue, to pay tribute to his oratorical s!ills.
3e was succeeded on 1os by Antipatrus and Achinapolus, who taught
medical astrology, and seem to have been the first non%*abylonian
astrologers to eperiment with the idea of drawing up a horoscope for the
moment of conception rather than birth. They wor!ed a good deal on the
ancient aphorism, preserved in 3ermetic literature, to the effect that the
sign occupied by the <oon at the moment of conception would be in the
ascendant at the time of birth. $nterestingly 2r :ugen +onas, a
25
1"echoslova! psychiatrist, did a great deal of wor! on the same theory in
the 1.6@s, claiming to be able to predict by the tropical position of the
<oon at the time of conception the se of a child, before birth. The
1ommunist government banned his wor! in 1.6@, before his full evidence
could be published.
2imly, we hear of other visiting 1haldean travellers to ;reeceB 'oudines,
for instance, a visitor to the court of Attalus $, 9ing of ,ergamum, who
compiled lunar tables which were used for centuries, and one of the
earliest lapidaries, associating various precious stones with certain planets
and signs. *y now, many ;ree!s were &uic! to adopt the new celestial
theoryB :pigenes of *y"antium, Apollonius of <yndus and Artemidorus of
,arium all boasted of having been instructed by *abylonia priest%
astrologers. 9idenas, who probably lived in the second half of the Drd
century *1, seems to have been responsible for some *abylonian
astronomical discoveries, and perhaps was a tutor of *erosus himself
4though one of the problems is that the dates of many of these early
astrologers are etremely uncertain5. Then there was Aratus, a
contemporary of *erosus, who in about C66 *1 versified the ,hainomena
of :udoos, producing a poem which became re&uired reading for
generations of ;ree!s, with its account of the planets, the "odiac and the
other constellations, and its concluding advice to meteorologistsB
'tudy the 'igns together through the year,
Then never of the weather shall a guess
<a!e random nonsense, but assured forecast.
$nnumerable ;ree! and 7oman commentators published their own
editions of Aratus.
A misty figure with the name 1ritodemus appears briefly in a list of the
founders of the ;ree! astrological tradition given by -irmicus <aternus a
)atin writer of about A2 D86, in his 2e erroribus profanorum religionum,
among purely imaginary personages such as 3ermes, Orpheus and
>echepso. This !ind of thing plagues anyone attempting to trace
astrological history. =as 1ritodemus imaginary tooA Or did he indeed
construct the horoscopes he is said to have drawn upA There is a treatise
ascribed to him, 3orasis, from which later astrologers learnedB one,
3ephaistion, relied utterly on his astrological formula for determining
whether a child would be still%born.
;radually, astrological lore was being drawn together into a more or less
coherent body of !nowledge. This did not mean, however, that it was free
of contradictions, or that it developed with any more coherence than other
theories about the nature of the universe. $n the three centuries before
the birth of 1hrist, splits occurred between astrologers which continue to
this day. ,erhaps the chief one concerned free will. On school of (scientific(
astrologers too! a severely empirical viewB everything was predetermined,
and the movements of the planets were, so to spea!, geared to coming
26
events. Another, the (catharchic( school, believed that some things were
predetermined, but by no means all. $f you studied the planets(
movements sufficiently minutely you could, by sei"ing a propitious
moment bring about success when to act at another might provo!e
disaster. -ree choice meant the right to chose the moment at which to
start a project, conceive a child, be born.
There was, by now, a very strong association between certain planets and
certain terrestrial events and characteristics. The strongest, of course,
was between the 'un and life itself. As one astrologer put itB
The 'un, which nourishes the seeds of all plants, is the first also to gather
from them the first fruits as soon as he rises; for this gathering of his uses
his rays, if one may employ the term, li!e immense hands. =hat indeed
are hands for him but those rays that gather in the first place the suavest
emanations of plantsA
The different &uality of sunlight at different times of the day is now a
matter of scientific record, here stated with imagery that is specifically
:gyptian. <ars is associated by the same ancient astrologer with war,
#enus with love, <ercury with speed and messages, and so on. These
associations were not only regarded as traditional, but as matters of
scientific fact, although the mythical associations between the planets and
ancient legend were still preserved, so that 'aturn was also 1ronos,
+upiter was still Jeus 4there is a horoscope dated A2 0, in which 1ronos is
in the sign of the *ull, Jeus in that of the 1rab, Ares 4<ars5 in that of the
#irgin, and so on5.
The consensus was that two planets, +upiter and #enus, were on the
whole benevolent, and two were antagonistic, with <ercury neutral. The
degree of their influence was geared to their position relative to :arth and
the 'un, which was in the middle of the planetary family with <ars,
+upiter and 'aturn above, and #enus, <ercury and the <oon below. The
lower planets were humid, and colder the further they stood from the 'un.
3umidity was thought to be a female element, so the upper planets were
believed to be masculine, while #enus and the <oon were feminine, with
<ercury a hermaphrodite.
As the astrological theory grew more comple, so it became more difficult
to resolve anomalies and confusions; and as astronomy developed it
became difficult always to fit the !nown facts to the mythical
characteristics. The "odiac signs, too, caused some confusion; the ;ree!s
saw Aries, for instance, as a character in the legend of the ;olden -leece,
while astrologers who had learned from the 1haldeans had to accept it as
the 7am of Ammon. Aries naturally tended to preside over the fortunes of
wool merchants; but since the ;olden 7am lost its fleece, it also tended to
provo!e sudden disasters in the wool tradeE
2espite the fact that there were innumerable difficulties in the way of a
practical valuation of the interpretations offered by the astrologers, some
27
people continued to ta!e the subject very seriously indeed % not only the
'eleucids, )agids and Attalids, but smaller states such as 1ommagene,
under 9ing Antiochus $ 4c 0o *15. A former antagonist of ,ompey, then his
ally in the civil war, who repelled an attac! on 'amosata by <ar! Antony
4and Antony, incidentally, is said to have been spied on by an astrologer
employed by 1leopatra5, Antiochus is interred in a giant tomb on the
summit of >imrud 2agh, 6@@@ feet above sea level, covered with carvings
in relief which provide a fascinating anthology of astrological beliefs of the
time. 3ere ;ree! and $ranian gods became oneB <ithra is Apollo, Ares is
3ercules, Jeus is Oroma"des. On the western terrace outside the tomb is
a great relief of a lion covered with stars, and with the <oon and three
planetsB +upiter near the head, <ercury in the middle and <ars at the tail
% the planets associated with Jeus, Apollo and 3ercules. This is believed to
be a visual interpretation of a horoscope for 6 +uly 6C *1 % the day on
which Antiochus was crowned after his reinstatement by ,ompey.
As we turn from ;reece towards 7ome, where astrology really too! its
place at the very centre of political events, it is to the city of Aleandria
that we must loo! for a sight of the man who drew together all the s!eins
of astrological thought of his day and did his best to rationali"e them in
one boo!. After the death of Aleander, who founded the city, 9ing
,tolemy 'oter % ,tolemy 1 4DCD%C08 *15 % had founded a sort of
university at Aleandria, at which the scholars of the city could meet to
further their studies. -our hundred years later, the most famous
astrologer of ancient times, 1laudius ,tolemaeus % ,tolemy % arrived to
teach there.
,tolemy is of course !nown chiefly as a mathematician, astronomer and
geographer, who despite his conviction that the :arth was the centre of
the universe around which all other heavenly bodies revolved, devised an
astronomical system that was to be adopted by the whole of :urope for
centuries. 3is 'yntais made a great point of insisting on simplicity % no
point in inventing comple systems to eplain a phenomenon when a
simple one would do % and on verification of observation. Astoundingly,
without the aid of a telescope, he catalogued 1@CC separate stars
4compared with the 0/@ or so catalogued by 3ipparchus5.
The Tetrabiblos, ,tolemy(s lengthy astrological tetboo!, the first really
substantial tetboo! to come down to us complete, is a compilation of the
astrological lore of previous centuries, and was written sometime between
A2 161 and 1D., when he was wor!ing in Aleandria. $t is in four boo!s,
and begins with a rational enough argumentB since it is clear that the 'un
and <oon have an effect upon terrestrial life 4through the seasons, the
movements of the tides, and so on5, it is surely well to consider the
effects the other heavenly bodies may have. Then, in what is admittedly a
giant leap, he proposes that
since it is clearly practicable, by an accurate !nowledge of the points
above enumerated, to ma!e predictions concerning the proper &uality of
28
the seasons, there also seems no impediment to the formation of similar
prognostications concerning the destiny and disposition of every human
being, for ... even at the time of any individual(s primary conformation,
the general &uality of that individual(s temperament may be perceived;
and the corporeal shape and mental capacity with which the person will be
endowed at birth may be pronounced; as well as the favourable and
unfavourable events indicated ...
,tolemy ta!es what is an etremely realistic view of the subject, despite
his obvious partisanship; he admits, for instance, that the science is
imperfect, not only because some astrologers are simply bad astrologers,
but because there are other influences than astrological ones to be
considered. 3owever,
since no wea!ness is imputed to a physician because he en&uires into the
individual habit of his patient, as well as into the nature of the disease, no
imputation can justly attach to the professor of prognostication because
he combines the consideration of species, nurture, education and country
with that of the motion of the heavens; for as the physician acts but
reasonably in thus considering the proper constitution of the sic! person
as well as his disease, so, in forming predictions, it must surely be
justifiably allowable to comprehend in that consideration every other thing
connected with the subject, in addition to the motion of the heavens, and
to collect and compare with that motion all other co%operating
circumstances arising elsewhere.
1ompleting *oo! One of the Tetrabiblos, ,tolemy then begins to
summari"e the wor!ings not only of the 'un, <oon and planets, but of
certain fied stars, going into technical detail. $n *oo! Two, he sets out to
(confine the whole doctrine within the limits of natural reason(, delineating
two chief areas in which astrology can be of use to man % the general
4concerned with entire nations, countries or cities5 and the particular
4concerning individuals5. 3e relates the dispositions of nations to astrology
by pointing out that their people seem to have different temperaments,
which can be related to the climate of their countries; such climates being,
of course, a matter of the heat of the 'un. The people of the etreme
north, for instance, who live (under the *ears(, or close to the arctic circle,
have their "enith far distant from the Jodiac and the 'un(s heat. Their
constitutions, therefore, abound in cold, and are also highly imbued with
moisture, which is in itself a most nutritive &uality, and in these latitudes
is not ehausted by heat; hence, they are fair in compleion, with straight
hair, of large bodies and full stature. They are cold in disposition, and wild
in manners, owing to the constant cold ...
*oo! Two concludes with a passage on how to interpret eclipses, and on
the significance of meteors 4which is wholly meteorological5. $n *oo!
Three, ,tolemy turns to personal astrology. 3e is clear about the difficulty
of obtaining an accurate birth time let alone the possibility of noting down
the correct time of conception. *oth depended on astronomical
29
observation, using an astrolabe, or on having a water cloc! 4and even
these, he says, have been !nown to be lea!y and therefore inaccurateE5.
3e is not manic about the choice to be made between wor!ing from the
time of conception or of birth; ideally, both should be noted. *ut after all,
the conception may in fact be said to be the generation of mere human
seed, but the birth that of man himself, since the infant at its birth
ac&uires numerous &ualities which it could not possess while in the womb,
which are proper to human nature alone.
There are detailed instructions about the interpretation of a birth chart or
horoscope, and accounts of just what the good astrologer can epect to be
able to discover. The physical appearance is certainly one ingredient. The
baby born when 'aturn is (oriental( 4or in the eastern half of the birth
chart5 would be of a yellowish compleion and a good constitution, with
blac! and curled hair, a broad and stout chest, eyes of ordinary &uality,
and a proportionate si"e of body, the temperament of which is
compounded principally of moisture and cold. 'hould he M'aturnN be
occidental Min the west of the chartN, he ma!es the personal figure blac!
or dar!, thin and small, with scanty hair on the head, the body without
hair but well%shaped, the eyes blac! or dar!, and the bodily temperament
consisting chiefly of dryness and cold.
$llnesses could be foreseen, and therefore guarded against, by studying
the birth chart; so could the &ualities of mind of the growing individual. A
heavy emphasis on the (tropical( or (cardinal( signs 4Aries, 1ancer, )ibra or
1apricorn5 would
generally dispose the mind to enter much into political matters, rendering
it eager to engage in public and turbulent affairs, fond of distinction, and
busy in theology; at the same time ingenious, acute, in&uisitive, inventive,
speculative and studious of astrology and divination.
The (fied( signs 4Taurus, )eo, 'corpio and A&uarius5, if stressed,
ma!e the mind just, uncompromising, constant, firm of purpose, prudent,
patient, industrious, strict, chaste, mindful of injuries, steady in pursuing
its object, contentious, desirous of honour, seditious, avaricious and
pertinacious.
Those born with an emphasis on the (bicorporeal( or (mutable( signs,
4;emini, #irgo, 'agittarius or ,isces5 would have minds that were
variable, versatile, not easy to be understood, volatile and unsteady,
inclined to duplicity, amorous, wily, fond of music, careless, full of
epedients, and regretful.
*ut the planets also play their part in shaping the character. 'aturn, for
instance, in a certain relationship with #enus in the birth chart, and if
(ealted( 4well%placed within a sympathetic sign5, made men
30
averse to women, and renders them fond of governing, prone to solitude,
highly reserved, regardless of ran!, indifferent to beauty, envious,
austere, unsociable, singular in opinion, addicted to divination and to
religious services and mysteries, solicitous of the priesthood, fanatical and
subservient to religion, solemn, reverential, sedate, studious of wisdom,
faithful in friendship, continent, reflective, circumspect, and scrupulous in
regard to female friendship.
On the other hand if not in association with #enus, and ill%placed, 'aturn
could ma!e men
licentious and libidinous, practisers of lewdness, careless, and impure in
seual intercourse; obscene, treacherous to women, especially to those of
their own families; wanton, &uarrelsome, sordid, hating elegance,
slanderous, drun!en, superstitious, adulterous and impious; blasphemers
of the gods and scoffers at holy rites.
*oo! -our continues the interpretation of various aspects of the birth
chart % how to discern a baby(s future wealth, ran! and employment; the
probable nature of his or her marriage, and attitude to se. -or instance
<ars placed distantly from #enus and 'aturn but in proimity to +upiter
would ma!e men (pure and decorous in seual intercourse, and incline
them to natural usages only(, while if <ars was supported by #enus, they
(will become highly licentious and attempt to gratify their desires in every
mode(.
The Tetrabiblos was enormously influential in its time, and for centuries
after. Other astrologers, such as 3ephaestion of Thebes, ,aul of
Aleandria and +ulius -irmicus, used it, and saw it as a seminal wor!.
:ven today it is read by astrologers, not merely because some of its
precepts are part of astrological heritage, but because it offers cogent
arguments to support its theory. -or instance, ,tolemy grasped the nettle
of the ,recession of the :&uinoes, pointing out that (the beginnings of the
signs are to be ta!en from the e&uinoctial and tropical points. This rule is
not only stated very clearly by writers on the subject, but it is also evident
by the demonstrations constantly afforded, that their natures, influences
and familiarities have no other origin than from the tropics and
e&uinoes ...( $n other words, it is the D@ degree section of the ecliptic
within which planets may be placed that matters, and not the fact that
certain constellations may or may not be behind them. Ket that hoary old
argument is still ra!ed up, despite the fact that ,tolemy settled it firmly
two thousand years ago.
'ome astrologers, who li!e to view the subject mystically rather than
practically, have found ,tolemy somewhat dry and uninspiring. Ket he
could be intoicated, li!e so many of the astronomers of his time, by the
sheer romance of the universeB
(<ortal as $ am, $ !now that $ am born for a day; but when $ follow the
serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer
31
touch the earth; $ ascend to Jeus himself to feast me on ambrosia, the
food of the gods.(
,tolemy(s sheer enthusiasm no less than his certainty has always been
infectious to generations that followed him; but it is also true that many
passages of the Tetrabiblos read today with a peculiarly modern air, in
view of the most recent discoveries of previously unsuspected cosmic rays
and gravitational effects between the planets. $ts errors of fact are no
more 4indeed, no less5 than those of any scientific treaties of its time; and
it is a model of the best of its !ind. =e have only to compare it with other
astrological boo!s of roughly the same period to see its superiority. Ta!e,
for instance, the eisting fragment of the 'almeschnai!o, another
influential tetboo!, full of generali"ationsB
... This period ma!es many find their livelihood as advocates, others as
wi"ards, many as singers of gods and !ings, and many as translators of
languages ... <any, however, also consume the substance of others. MThe
)ord of -lameN ma!es many passive homoseuals, and many cohabiting
with their aunts and stepmothers so as to debauch them.
$t is not easy to discover just how far astrology was used by the ;ree!s at
a personal level. :udoos, in the /th century *1, condemned horoscopes
used for personal predictions, and Theophrastus, a little later, was
surprised to hear from the 1haldeans that they claimed to be able to
predict events in the lives of individuals as well as ma!ing weather
forecasts. :nnius 4CD.%16. *15 is the first )atin writer to mention the
people who
write down the signs of heaven
>oting the ;oats or 'corpions of great +ove
And other monstrous names of horrid shapes
1limbing the Jodiac ...
and 1ato, who died in 1/. *1, warned the manager of his farm not to
consult travelling 1haldeans. 'toicism, when it became the fashion in
7ome, must have been responsible for an early interest in astrology, too.
$t is perhaps fair to guess that the forecasts made for 7omans during the
early centuries after 1hrist were of much the same sort as those devised
for the ;ree!s in the centuries beforeB it is simply that more of the former
have survived.
These 7oman eamples are etremely various, as +ac! )indsay points out
in his ehaustive Origins of Astrology 41.615. -ew of them, however,
attempt to predict the future. ,resumably this was done, if at all, in
conversation with clients, and on the basis of lengthy files of notes !ept by
astrologers, showing the positions of the planets at birth and the
subse&uent career of the subject, as well as of physical characteristics. A
man born on 1/ 2ecember became a deputy%governor but annoyed his
32
superior and ended up wor!ing in a &uarry with prisoners. Another, born
on CD April 1@/, had short arms. Ket another was ill and had a close
escape at sea, but was saved than!s to the benevolent position of 'aturn.
<ost astrologers have !ept notes of that sort, building up dossiers relating
the positions of the planets at the birth of an individual to subse&uent
events or to physical characteristics. 'omeone born on 1@ >ovember 11/
had in his forty%second year (&uarrels and confusion and notoriety through
a woman(, and two years later (the violent death of a slave and crisis of
his father, and accusation of ignoble descent and rape. *ut he received
help and gifts from friends ... ( 'omeone else, born on C1 +anuary 116,
was effeminate and (had unmentionable vices, for 1apricorn is lascivious
and its ruler M'aturnN was in the *ull, the sign Mwhich would indicate the
!ind ofN wea!ness, and the 'corpion indicates the !ind of lewdery.( >ot
unsurprisingly, he seems to have been drummed out of his high position
in the army after some undefined incident.
*y A2 100 #ettius #alens of Antioch, the well%!nown astrologer, had
amassed a fine library of horoscopes, and sets out over a hundred of them
in his Anthologiae, illustrating the interpretation of birth charts, and
stressing that it is as a result of the detailed eamination of how the
planets have wor!ed in the life of his clients that he has become so
practised and accurate an astrologer. 3is life is the first we have that can
be compared to the lives of other professional astrologers throughout the
following agesB he continually recorded his findings, occasionally wrote
tetboo!s 4his Teacher(s <anual is, alas, lost5, and had continually to
defend himself against attac!s both from other astrologers and from lay
antagonists.
*ut if many astrologers, through the latter centuries *1 in ;reece and in
the early years of the 7oman empire, practised relatively &uietly with lay
men and women who had only the lowest ran! in society, we find for the
first time in 7ome detailed accounts of the part they played in influencing
the politics of a country through high%placed clients. -or the net eighteen
hundred years astrology was to be part of the personal and political lives
of most rulers and of their people.
33
The Imperial Planets
Towards the end of the Drd century *1 ;ree! drama and literature began
to seriously interest the 7omans. At first, astrology crept in at the lower
end of the social scaleB while the intelligentsia were enjoying ;ree! plays
and poems, hoi polloi was fascinated by the crowds of fortune%tellers
ma!ing their way % as &uac!s always will % towards a new source of easy
money.
*ut it was not long before, at first out of an interest in astronomy,
intelligent 7omans learned about the ;ree! preoccupation with the
influence of the planets on humanity. *y the 1st century *1, 1icero,
always sceptical about astrology, too! it seriously enough to summari"e it
without irony in his 2e divinationeB
$n the starry belt which the ;ree! calls the Jodiac there is a certain force
of such a nature that every part of that belt affects and changes the
heavens in a different way, according to the stars that are in this or in an
adjoining locality at a given time ... They believe that it is not merely
probable, but certain, that just as the temperature of the air is regulated
by this celestial force, so also children at their birth are influenced in soul
and body, and by this force their minds, manners, disposition, physical
condition, career in life and destinies are determined.
1icero(s summary of how astrology wor!ed shows how the intelligent
7oman understood the subjectB he emphasi"ed that normally only the
twelve signs and planets were considered; that it was the ascendant, the
rising sign appearing over the eastern hori"on at the moment of birth,
that was the (natal sign( 4not the ('un sign(, which was not to become
strongly associated with simplistic astrology until the C@th century5; that
the astrologer drew his conclusions from the angles between the planets
as they were placed in the twelve constellations, and in the (houses(, each
of which showed an influence in one area of the life of the subject % house
four was that of the parents, house five that of children, house ten of
honours and house eleven of friends.
=e are not concerned here with the growth of the star cults among the
7omans between D@@ and 18@ *1; but during those years various new
divinities too! up residence, among them Asclepius, 1ybele, *acchus, $sis
and <ithras 4to say nothing of +ehovah5; they all, however, had to some
etent astrological associations 4even +ehovah5, and contributed to a
growth of serious interest in the subject. <ithras, especially, too! that
interest out into the :mpire, ma!ing converts abroadB (modern( astrology
undoubtedly first reached *ritain in the form of Jodiacal carvings at
<ithraic shrines, while Asclepius became the patron saint of astrological
medicine.
34
As is usually the case when a country is invaded by a new culture, some
reactionaries too! great eception to the changing times. *ut the tide was
against them. 'cipio Africanus, for instance, the con&ueror of 3annibal,
whose scandalous interest in things ;ree! was said to have persuaded
him to go about in public in ;ree! dress, was a great upholder of
philhellenism; and even the sceptical and strong%minded 1ato, towards
the end of his life, was injected with the new spirit, and started to learn
;ree!.
$t was 1ato who &uite properly issued warnings about the innumerable
&uac! astrologers and magicians coming to 7ome in and around C@@%18@
*1. The poet :nnius, a southern $talian brought to 7ome by 1ato,
attac!ed them tooB
Of little use are these <arsian &uac!s,
#illage%astrologers and fortune%tellers
$n crowded circuses, or priests of $sis,
,retend%interpreters of all your dreams.
These lying conjurers have not the s!ill
To read the future; just a pac! of hypocrites
,rompted by hunger, they don(t !now themselves
)et alone others; yet they(ll promise you
:normous fortunes % if you(ll share with themE
*ut the influence of the &uac! astrologers was far outweighed by the
influence of the !nowledge accumulated by ;ree! astronomers, and the
7omans were enormously impressed by scientific achievements. =hen
<arcellus con&uered 'yracuse in C1C *1, and returned to 7ome with a
magnificent model of the celestial spheres which he had found in the
house of Archimedes 4!illed when the city fell5, it was greatly admired %
and used. And since the two terms were still synonymous 4astronomia is
sometimes used where we, today, would epect to find astrologia, and
vice versa % ,lato uses only astronomia, Aristotle only astrologia5 this
meant there was at the least increased pressure on intelligent 7omans to
loo! at the theory that the planets affected human behaviour.
A minority declined to be persuadedB 1icero, as we have seen, but also, a
century earlier, the ;ree! sceptic philosopher 1arneades. 3e was one of
the heads of the ,latonic Academy, and ambassador from Athens to 7ome
in 186.*1. 3e maintained that not only was it virtually impossible to ma!e
an accurate observation of the s!y at the moment of birth 4let alone
conception5, but that it was clear that astrology did not and could not
wor! because people born at the same moment could have very different
destinies, while others born at very different times and places died at
precisely the same time; moreover, animals would have the same fate as
35
human beings whose birth moment they shared, and people of different
races, customs and creeds born at the same moment would obviously
have different fates. 3e failed to see that his second and last objections
cancelled each other outB most astrologers then as now made it &uite
clear that astrology was only one ingredient of a life, and environment and
custom would certainly mitigate its effect.
1arneades( objections have been rehearsed many times since his first
statement of them 4among others, by 't Augustine, who too! them
wholesale and used them as his own5. They are on the whole not very
convincing, although they had more significance at the time they were
made, when some astrologers at least were highly fatalistic. And certainly
they must have had an effect in 7ome, where 1arneades was
sensationally successful as a lecturer % fashionable young 7omans eager
to !eep up with ;ree! culture and fashion crowded the halls in which he
spo!e.
$t would be a mista!e to assume, then, that astrology had a wal!%over. $n
1D. *1, an edict was actually passed enabling 7ome to epel any
foreigner who gave trouble; the arguments of 1arneades were used to
support the claim that astrologers were simply eploiting the credulous
poor, and many of them were thrown out. The attitude of authority % that
astrology seemed li!ely to cause trouble % was borne out in 1D/%C *1,
when there was a si"eable slave revolt in 'icily, led by one :unus, who
either was or gave an inspired imitation of being an astrologer. 3e was
obviously a very accomplihed charlatan 4if we are to believe the historian
-lorus, who says that among his tric!s was the concealment of a nut full
of sulphur in his mouth, which flamed with fire and smo!e as he spo!e5,
and with the aid of tric!s and oratory commanded the force of over
6@,@@@ slaves. :ven when the rebellion was crushed, the 7omans were
sufficiently impressed with :unus as a seer to capture him alive.
)ess than thirty years later, Athenio, another astrologer 4this time a
serious one5 led another slave revolt in 'icily; insisting that the planets
had revealed that he was to be !ing of 'icily, he and his followers gave
trouble until about 1@@ *1, when he was !illed in a hand%to%hand fight
with the consul <anius A&uillius.
The first real 7oman astrological epert was one ,ublius >igidius -igulus %
not a mere nobody, but someone who held public office, as an aedile and
later as praetor, or magistrate. 3is reputation as an astrologer was
considerable, and he was at the centre of what was virtually the earliest
7oman astrological school, and among other boo!s published several on
prediction and meteorology, as well as on pure astronomy. Alas, +ulius
1aesar, when he came to power, was unsympathetic, and banished him
4although probably for political rather than astrological reasons5.
The growth of public interest is illustrated in the wor! of <. Terentius
#arro, a colleague of >igidius -igulus % not himself an astrologer, but
!eenly interested in the subject as a means of clarifying history. 3e
36
commissioned a horoscope of 7ome itself and its founder, 7omulus % the
first eample we have of astrology being used to reveal the past by
eamining the history of a person or place, and from this estimating the
probable (birth time(. 1icero reports that )ucius Tarutius of -irmum, a
mutual friend, calculated that 7ome was (born( when the <oon was in
)ibra, and (from that fact unhesitatingly prophesied our destiny(. ,lutarch
later reported Tarutius( findings in greater detail, suggesting that (these
and similar speculations will perhaps attract readers by their novelty and
etravagance rather than offend them by their fabulous character.(
#arro, although not an astrologer, included a chapter on astrology in his
2e disciplinus which was so good and so economically epressed that it
was used again and again by later writers. One of his friends seems to
have been that 1. -onteius 1apito who went( with Antony to the :ast, and
played an important part in reconciling him, briefly, with Octavianus
before returning to :gypt to travel with 1leopatra to 'yria.
The sceptics were thinning out, and fighting a by no means successful
rearguard action. 1icero remained unconvinced, even after a stay on
7hodes with the ;ree! 'toic ,osidonius, and a close friendship with
>igidius -igulus. 3e seems to tolerate the idea of astrology in his On my
consulate, but later une&uivocally states his opinion that (the condition of
the heavenly bodies may, if you will, influence some things, but it
certainly will not influence everything.( 3e was not silly enough to deny
that the 'un influenced the growth of plants, or the <oon the tides, but
was very doubtful about any effect the planets might have on human life.
And still later, in his essay On divination, he pressed the attac!, giving
eight specific criticisms, including the old &uestion of the birth of twins,
the possibility of astrologers not being able properly to see the s!y, and
the effect of environment % also bringing in the fact that (the parental
seed( contributed to a person(s appearance, habits and outloo!, and that
the new advances in medicine meant that (natural defects( with which a
child might be born could be cured. On divination is perhaps the coolest
eample of early 7oman scepticism; another occurs in )ucretius( poem 2e
rerum natura, in which he argues in favour of free will, and that the soul is
as mortal as the body, and thus no celestial panacea is acceptable.
Among the myths perpetuated by some astrological historians is that
representing +ulius 1aesar as a proponent of astrology, or even himself an
astrologer. On the contrary, he seems to have been almost entirely
sceptical, although he accepted the obvious planetary effect on weather
and plant growth. Otherwise, he not only rejected old%fashioned omens,
but at least two horoscopes presented to him by celebrated astrologers
promising him a happy and peaceful death at the height of years of
success. ,erhaps the legends of his interest in the subject arose because
of his choice of the symbol of the *ull as his legionary standard 4Taurus is
(ruled( by #enus, and #enus herself was said to be 1aesar(s ancestress5.
<ost li!ely, he chose this deliberately, pandering to the superstition of the
ordinary soldiers. There seems to be no reason to reject the story that
37
tells of his refusing to accept his wife 1alpurnia(s warning dream of the
night before his death; and it seems, too, to be a fact that an astrologer
called 'purinna warned him to (beware the $des of <arch(.
3e seems to have !nown 'purinna &uite well; he mentions him in his
letters. $t is also li!ely that it was this astrologer who, in /6 *1, had
advised 1aesar against crossing to Africa until after the winter solstice %
advice 1aesar rejected, and without catastrophe. 1icero !new him well,
too, and scorned his abilities. =ell, he was accurate enough when he
warned 1aesar that he (should beware a danger which would not threaten
him beyond the $des of <arch(, as ,lutarch reported it; and 1assius 2io,
the 7oman historian of A2 c 18@%CD8, pointed out that here was a good
eample of the fateful nature of a firm astrological prediction.
At 1aesar(s death, a splendidly showy comet appeared, to bla"e through
the night s!y for seven consecutive evenings; clearly he had become
immortal, and was on his way to shine among the stars.
2uring his student days at Apollonia, when he was regarded as certain to
be the net monarch, Octavianus Augustus had visited a well%!nown local
astrologer, Theogenes, who, the moment he set eyes on Octavianus( birth
chart, threw himself at the young man(s feet. Fnsurprisingly, Octavianus
was etremely impressed, and 4so 'uetonius says5 (from that time on had
such faith in his destiny that he made his horoscope public and issued a
silver coin stamped with the sign of the constellation 1apricorn under
which he was born.(
At all events, Octavianus saw in the public reaction to the appearance of
1aesar(s comet in // *1 the fact that astrology could be a fine implement
of public relations. *ut only if it was on his side % and most of the
astrologers in 7ome at the time of 1aesar(s death tended to favour the
fortunes of Antony, whose identification with the :ast 4and indeed with
1leopatra5 appealed to them. Octavianus made Agrippa 4a lifelong friend
who had been with him on that visit to Theogenes5 aedile, and instructed
him to epel from the city all astrologers and sorcerers.
3e was no doubt right. *y now, very few men at any level of intelligence
or society contested the s!ills of the astrologers. #itruvius, the great
architect, reflected in his boo! the attitude of most peopleB everyone
must, he said, accept the calculations of (the 1haldeans(, who could
eplain the past and future from astronomical calculations; 3e was
completely assured that astrology wor!ed, and as a science. Other
authors of the time support this viewB 3orace, #irgil, ,ropertius, Ovid. And
by now it appears that the :mperor Augustus 4as Octavianus was
proclaimed5 shared it.
$n the first place, he sought the advice of astrologers about a possible
marriage for his only child, +ulia. 3is stepsons Tiberius and 2rusus were in
their teens, and +ulia herself only 16; obviously the sooner she was safely
married, the better. The astrologers recommended <arcellus, +ulia(s first
38
cousin. 1onsumptive and wea!ly, the boy died within two years of the
wedding. The astrological advisers had better luc!, of a sort, the second
time. Advised by them, Augustus persuaded his friend Agrippa to divorce
his wife and marry +ulia. The marriage lasted eleven years and produced a
clutch of possible heirs, although none of them in fact succeeded.
$n 1C *1, Augustus once more ordered measures against the astrologers
who had crept bac! into 7ome during the past twenty%five years or so.
<any of them were publishing predictions about the succession, some
worryingly hare%brained. The :mperor passed a law submitting all
prophesies to censorship; most of them perished in the flames before they
reached the public.
<uch of the astrological speculation hinged on a possible third marriage
for the notoriously immoral +ulia. >ow, Augustus ordered his elder stepson
Tiberius to divorce a much%loved wife and marry +ulia. There was nothing
Tiberius could do but comply % unless, of course, he chose suicide. A
successful soldier, Tiberius managed to get away from +ulia to go
campaigning % gaining great honour. *ut when opportunities for this
failed, and he could stand his new wife no longer, he as!ed Augustus(
permission to retire to 7hodes (to study(. The :mperor, who on principle
disbelieved anything horrid he heard about his daughter, coldly agreed;
so, in 6 *1, Tiberius went to 7hodes, and the general opinion was that, as
a possible successor to the :mperor, he was finished.
7hodes was a lonely place for a man straight from the centre of the
:mpire. Tiberius occupied his time gloomily attending classes given by
local scholars, and at one of them met the man who was to become, with
him, one of the two most important men in 7omeB Thrasyllus, an
Aleandrian grammarian, editor of ,lato and 2emocritus, and an
astrologer. There are various legends about the manner of that first
meetingB that, for instance, Tiberius sought out many astrologers for their
opinion about his future, !illing them immediately they had interpreted his
horoscope. Thrasyllus was the only one to comment on his own danger,
which impressed Tiberius so much that he spared him. This is probably
nonsense. *ut that is not to say that Tiberius was not impressed by
Thrasyllus( first%rate mind, and it certainly seems true that he taught
Tiberius how to set up and interpret a horoscope, and successfully
predicted that he would soon be recalled to 7ome and a bright future.
=hen this happened % when Augustus sent for Tiberius in A2 / and
officially proclaimed him his heir % Thrasyllus travelled with him, and on
reaching 7ome received from his patron the valuable gift of 7oman
citi"enship.
Ten years later, after a decade during which Thrasyllus ingratiated himself
not only with his :mperor but with 7oman society, Augustus died % his
death accompanied, if we are to believe 1assius 2io, by a total eclipse of
the 'un, a display of fire and glowing embers falling from the s!y, and a
39
number of melancholy comets. Tiberius was now :mperor, and Thrasyllus
the power behind the throne.
Tiberius( reign lasted for nine years, and during it Thrasyllus was never far
from his side. $t is clear that he not only advised him on day%to%day
matters, but about his close friends and the members of his family. *y
now, the astrologer had consolidated his status in 7ome. 3is wife, who
seems to have been called A!a, and to have been a minor princess of
1ommagene, had also been awarded 7oman citi"enship, and he had
managed to arrange a 7oman marriage for his daughter 1laudia. 3er
husband was a 7oman !night, ). :nnius, and they eventually had a
daughter, :nnia Thrasylla, who was herself to become famous if not
notorious.
#ery few citi"ens of 7ome during the reigns of the majority of :mperors
were entirely free of fear, and Tiberius was by no means the least cruel or
capricious. Thrasyllus was as safe as anyone; some other astrologers
must have slept less comfortably. =hen in A2 16, 'cribonius
)ibo, a slightly dense praetor, attempted to organi"e a coup against the
:mperor, and too! the advice of two astrologers % ). ,ituanius and ,.
<arcius % they were arrested with him; the first was thrown from the
Tarpeian roc!, and the second stripped na!ed outside the :s&uiline ;ate,
his head fied in a for!ed sta!e, and beaten to death.
'ome other people suffered because of a mere interest in astrology. $n A2
C@, Aemilia )epida, a woman of good family, once the fiancLe of Augustus(
grandson, was eiled for consulting an astrologer 4although also on
suspicion of trying to poison a former husband5.
2uring the early years of Tiberius( reign a comple situation arose which
Thrasyllus succeeded in riding li!e a wave. This concerned the :mperor(s
son 2rusus, who seems 4with reason5 to have been jealous of Thrasyllus(
influence with his father. =hen in the early C@s the :mperor(s favourite,
the praetor 'ejanus, started a tempestuous affair with 2rusus( wife )ivilla,
the lovers seem to have consulted Thrasyllus about their actions. =hether
or not he played any part in the subse&uent poisoning of 2rusus, we
cannot !now. *ut Thrasyllus was left with the problem whether to support
'ejanus or betray him and )ivilla to the :mperor. There seems no
&uestion that the astrologer played a vital part in Tiberius( decision to
leave 7ome in C6, never to live there again; and this meant that
Thrasyllus could maintain his influence with both Tiberius and 'ejanus,
supporting the latter in the battle for the succession which had arisen
between him and Agrippina, Augustus( granddaughter, who wanted the
throne for her children.
'ejanus, although rising higher and higher in Tiberius( estimation,
continually sought to destroy opposition that might stand between him
and the succession. 3e organi"ed the trial of Agrippina and her son >ero
for high treason, banishing one to ,andataria and the other to ,ontia. And
40
Thrasyllus further consolidated his position by marrying his granddaughter
:nnia to >aevius 'ertorius <acro, gaining another 7oman !night as a
close relative by marriage.
=hether Thrasyllus consulted the planets and was prompted by them to
engineer a plot against 'ejanus, or was simply consulting his own
interests without astrological persuasion, he was certainly at the centre of
such a plot; his son%in%law <acro not only carried the orders that
destroyed 'ejanus, but immediately too! his place at the centre of 7oman
life, while Tiberius remained in self%imposed eile on 1apri.
There, with him, lived Agrippina(s younger son 1aius; and it was this
youth who now received Thrasyllus( support as successor to the throne.
=e !now that Tiberius time and time again tal!ed with his astrologer
about the succession, and the evidence is that time and time again
Thrasyllus persuaded him that the planets revealed that 1aius could never
succeed % that (he had as much chance of becoming :mperor as he had of
driving his racing chariot across the *ay of *aiae(. *y this means he
prevented the perverse :mperor from legally dis&ualifying 1aius from the
succession. =hat 1aius felt about this is uncertain, ecept that we hear
that he vowed that one of the first things he would do when he gained the
throne would be to drive his chariot across the waters of *aiae.
Thrasyllus( relationship with the old, irritable and nervous :mperor was
now etremely tric!y. $t is not easy to conjecture to what etent he
honestly relied on his astrological !nowledge, and to what etent concern
for his own safety and that of his friends led him to e&uivocate. 3e did not
hesitate to advise the :mperor to continue to trust the consul 'ervius
;alba, for instance, although at his birth Thrasyllus had told Tiberius that
;alba(s horoscope showed signs that he would reach the heights of
commanding power. >ow, he reassured the :mperor that ;alba(s
horoscope showed he would only become :mperor in old age % which
meant Tiberius was probably safe from him. $t is also clear that Thrasyllus
could only advise the :mperor on the basis of genuine astrological
calculations, for Tiberius himself was &uite capable of these, and would
have seen through any pretence.
This presents the problem of Thrasyllus( advice to Tiberius, given it seems
in about A2 D/, that he still had ten years of healthy life ahead of him. $t
has been ta!en for granted that Thrasyllus falsified the horoscope in some
way, in order to prevent the ever%increasing number of judicial and non%
judicial murders the :mperor was underta!ing to protect himself against
the ambitious. *ut Tiberius !new his own horoscope bac!wards; if
Thrasyllus foresaw that he would in fact die within three years, he must
have found some way of persuading his client otherwise.
$n fact, Thrasyllus was to predecease Tiberius % although not before one
final concern, when he learned that his daughter :nnia, on a visit to 1apri,
had started an adulterous affair with 1aius, now fairly clearly the main
contender for the throne after Tiberius( death. <acro, :nnia(s husband,
41
may or may not have !nown about the affair; he was by this time almost
as unpopular as 'ejanus had been at the height of his power, and neither
his position nor :nnia(s could have given Thrasyllus much comfort in the
few months before his death % which he is said to have foretold to the
hour.
$ronically, even after his death, Thrasyllus preserved the life of one of the
earth(s monsters, the :mperor >ero. Tiberius, continuing to ensure his
own safety and juggle with the succession, had arranged several trials of
alleged conspirators against the throne; and at the time of his death those
a waiting trial included 2omitius Ahenobarbus, the husband of Agrippina
the Kounger. =hen the :mperor died, 2omitius was released from prison,
and went home to his wife % who nine months later gave birth to the baby
>ero. 3ad Thrasyllus not assured Tiberius that his life was safe for at least
another decade, the trials would swiftly have been concluded, 2omitius
eecuted, and >ero would never have been born. 4As it was, 'uetonius
says that the astrologer who calculated the baby(s horoscope almost
fainted away on contemplating its horrendous natureE5
7ome now had a new :mperor, 1aius, who called himself 1aligula. A
considerable amount of carnage followed his accession, and among those
who fled from 7ome to avoid this was Thrasyllus( alleged son, Tiberius
1laudius *albillus. 4+ac! )indsay, in Origins of astrology, 1.61, argues
that *albillus was no relation of Thrasyllus; but we !now that the latter(s
son was called (Tiberius 1laudius(, and the relationship seems a li!ely
one.5 3e settled in Aleandria, while his niece :nnia, whose lover was now
on the throne, stayed to enjoy what seemed li!ely to be a position of
considerable influence. 1aligula is said to have given :nnia a written
contract promising to marry her after becoming :mperor. $f she relied on
this, she was a less !een judge of human nature than her grandfather.
3er husband <acro, who had done much to help 1aligula to the throne,
was !illed on the :mperor(s orders, and she apparently committed suicide.
>ot long after hearing of her death, 1aligula married )ollia ,aulina, who
eleven years later was herself eecuted for consulting astrologers,
allegedly to organi"e a coup against the :mperor 1laudius.
Although 1aligula continued to uphold the edict Augustus had laid down in
A2 11, forbidding any astrologer to consult an :mperor(s horoscope, his
death was foretold by an :gyptian called Apollonius, who was hauled off to
7ome and 4according to 1assius 2io5 sentenced to die on the very day he
had said would be the :mperor(s last. -oolishly, 1aligula postponed the
eecution, the better to say ($ told you so(; but the :mperor died at the
foretold time, assassinated on C/ +anuary in A2 /1.
>ow 1laudius became :mperor, and it was safe for *albillus to return to
7ome, for 1laudius when a boy had been a constant visitor to Thrasyllus(
house, and with an interest in intellectual matters uncommon in his
family, had enjoyed hearing about literature and astrology, and enjoyed
too the company of *albillus, who he now received with enthusiasm.
42
=hen in /D he went to help con&uer *ritain, *albillus went too, as an
officer in the C@th legion % not only to give astrological advice, but to help
run the engineers( corps. 1laudius on his return to 7ome was honoured
with the title *ritannicus; *albillus received a crown of honour. 3e seems
then to have split his time between 7ome and Aleandria, for he was
appointed high priest of the Temple of 3ermes there, and also became
head of the state university with its superb library 4where he instituted an
annual series of lectures in honour of 1laudius, at which the :mperor(s
own wor!s were recited5.
*albillus became, indeed, as respected a figure as his father % although he
tried to !eep clear of politics. The part he played in advising 1laudius is
obscure, but it is li!ely that he was behind at least one edict % that which
announced, before the event, that there would be an eclipse of the <oon
on one of the :mperor(s birthdays. <uch superstition still attached to
eclipses, and it was wise to allay in advance any public fears that this one
might be a malevolent omen.
1laudius was 4no doubt encouraged by *albillus5 &uite aware of the harm
that could be done by intriguers who cared to use astrology to suggest
good times at which to organi"e insurrection or even assassination. $n 8C,
-urius 1amillus 'cribonianus was eecuted for alleged plotting against the
:mperor; the evidence included a horoscope of 1laudius found in his
possession. 'oon afterwards 1laudius passed an edict, which, li!e the one
in 16, banished all astrologers from the country. The very net year, one
T. 'tatilius Taurus committed suicide after being accused of (divination(.
Two years later 2omitia )epida was accused of using blac! magic against
Agrippina; astrology was mentioned at her trial, too 4as at most similar
trials5.
*albillus, li!e his father, found it impossible to avoid politics altogether,
particularly the intrigues that now began to centre around the ambitions
of two mothers % Agrippina the Kounger, who wanted the throne for >ero,
and 2omitia, her sister%in%law, who wanted it for 1laudius( son
*ritannicus. Agrippina had been told by *albillus in /1 that >ero would be
:mperor, but would murder his mother. This did not dissuade her, and
pursuing her ambition she managed to marry 1laudius, becoming his
fourth wife 4his third, <essalina, having met an unpleasant end5.
Another astrologer now joined the courtB 1haeremon, from Aleandria,
!nown for his assertion that comets could presage joy as well as disaster.
3e was joined by the 'toic philosopher )ucius Annaeus 'eneca, himself an
adherent of astrology. The three were mainly responsible for the
education of >ero. There seems little doubt that *albillus too! part in the
etraordinary events after 1laudius( death when Agrippina personally
prevented *ritannicus from leaving his room until, at an auspicious
moment proposed by astrologers, >ero could be, and was, proclaimed
:mperor. *albillus was rewarded by being appointed ,refect of :gypt,
where he stayed until 8..
43
>ot long after his return, in 6/, the fire that destroyed 7ome while >ero
allegedly played his fiddle spawned sufficient dis1O>T:>TOto result in a
plot to destroy the :mperor. =hen a spectacular comet appeared,
*albillus told >ero that it presaged disaster for him % unless he deflected
its effects by eecuting some of the noblest men of 7ome by way of
sacrifice. $n the following carnage ,etronius, who had directed the
entertainments at >ero(s court, 'eneca and his brother, his nephew the
poet )ucanus, and many others perished. *albillus did not. 3is success, if
that is what it was, also made him secure against that dangerous rival
astrologer, ,tolemy, the favourite of the new :mpress ,oppaea. >ero
disposed of the rival by !illing his wife in a fit of drun!en pi&ue. *albillus
retired &uietly from the scene, vanishing from sight during the years when
>ero died and ;alba, Otho and #itellius acceded and fell in their turn.
$t was probably as well; it has always been said that among >ero(s many
victims towards the end of his reign were a number of astrologers % and
certainly several 7omans who had somehow got hold of the $mperial
horoscope, for >ero supposed that the only reason for its possession was
an assassination plot.
;alba, who succeeded >ero, had been told by Tiberius on the evidence of
his horoscope that he would one day be :mperor, but he does not seem to
have been uncommonly impressed by astrology. Otho is said by Tacitus to
have plotted against ;alba with the support of astrologers who (urged him
to action, predicting from their observation of the heavens, revolutions
and a year of glory(. ,tolemy 'eleucus positively ordered Otho to sei"e the
propitious moment, and was proved rightB ;alba was successfully !illed,
and Otho ascended the throne. 3owever, the 7oman legions in ;ermany
had proclaimed #itellius :mperor, in the face of whose determined assault
Otho crumpled, and !illed himself.
#itellius was not a follower of the planets, perhaps because the horoscope
cast for him revealed that although he would become :mperor after a civil
war, his reign would be brief. 3e continually said he did not believe this;
and indeed it was a remar!able prediction to ma!e, for there seemed little
chance of its coming true. 3owever, he did become :mperor 4in 6.5, and
although he epelled all astrologers by an edict passed a few days
afterwards, and eecuted a number of them, he reigned only for three
months.
2uring that short reign, ,tolemy 'eleucus, who had got safely out of
7ome, threw in his lot with #espasian, plotting an uprising against
#itellius. 2espite the fact that a comet appeared and two eclipses too!
place 4to say nothing of the fact that several people saw two suns in the
s!y at the same time5 #espasian succeeded in becoming :mperor. This
was a good time for *albillus to return from self%imposed eile, for he and
#espasian had been on good terms since they met at >ero(s court 4where
#espasian endeared himself to posterity by falling asleep during one of
>ero(s recitations, a comment that happily escaped the :mperor(s notice5.
44
#espasian was as devoted to astrology as some of his predecessors. On
the evidence of 1assius 2io, he (consulted all the best of them(, and not
only showed special interest in what *albillus had to say, but allowed
games to be held at :phesus in the astrologer(s honour % the ;reat
*albillean ;ames were held until well into the Drd century. 3e trusted
*albillus, and indeed ,tolemy 'eleucus, so implicitly that when it was
discovered that <ettius ,ompusianus, an ambitious 7oman, had been
putting it about that he was destined to be :mperor, #espasian actually
had him appointed to the consulate, so sure was he that his own
astrologers were right when they said that <ettius had been wrongly
advised.
*albillus may have died at about the same time as #espasian; had he
survived there is no reason why the new :mperor, #espasian(s son Titus,
could not have retained him, but his name vanished from record. Titus
reigned for only two years, and in 01 was succeeded by his younger
brother 2omitian, who himself was so convinced by an astrologer(s
prediction that he would die by iron that he refused the senate(s offer of a
guard of honour to escort him with spears. -or safety(s sa!e, he appears
to have believed all astrological predictions on principle. 3e eecuted
<ettius ,ompusianus, believing the prophesy that he would one day be
:mperor, and 'uetonius says that (he had not failed to ta!e careful note of
the days and hours when the foremost men had been born, and as a
result was destroying in advance not a few who did not feel the least hope
of gaining power.( At least two astrologers seem to have predicted the
hour of 2omitian(s death, and 'uetonius says that as the stated hour
approached the :mperor became more and more nervous. On 16
'eptember .6, he told his servants to set aside some truffles for him until
net day % in case he was around to eat them, for his death had been
foretold for the 10th, when (the <oon in A&uarius will be stained with
blood(. 3e summoned the astrologer Ascletarius%Asclation and as!ed him
if he could foresee his own death. The astrologer replied that he would be
torn to pieces by dogs. 2omitian had him eecuted immediately; but as
the body was awaiting cremation, a sudden rainstorm put out the fire, the
underta!er too! shelter, and a pac! of dogs destroyed the corpse. :arly
net morning the second astrologer, )arginus ,roculus, was brought
before 2omitian in chains. 2omitian ordered his eecution, too, but
following 1aligula(s eample postponed this for twenty%four hours, in order
that )arginus should see how wrong he had been.
$t was at the fifth hour that the two astrologers had said 2omitian would
die. >ervously, 2omitian again and again sent to !now the time. -inally
his bored servants assured him that the hour had passed, and the
:mperor; much relieved, decided to bathe. A conspirator, 'tephanus,
as!ed if he could read to him for a while in the bath. 2omitian agreed.
=hereupon 'tephanus produced a dagger and stabbed him, a number of
other conspirators rushing in to join the eecution.
45
The Pervasive Planets
Although astrology failed to play as influential a part in the life of any
emperor during the last three centuries of the history of $mperial 7ome as
it had in the lives of, say, Tiberius or >ero, it did not suffer an eclipse.
On the contrary, it remained an absolutely integral part of 7oman life.
'ufficient horoscopes have survived to show that anyone with the means
to consult an astrologer did so as a matter of course. 'ome of them tell us
in considerable detail about the lives and ambitions, wea!nesses and
strengths of ordinary citi"ens. Apart from that, there were public
manifestations of a general interest in the constellations and the planetsB
the huge eagle of Jeus on the ceiling of the sanctuary of *el at ,almyra,
for instance, was surrounded by the "odiac; at the races, chariots were
started from stalls, each one of which bore a sign of the "odiac, and then
raced around a circuit where each course represented that of one of the
seven planets 4hot competition, no doubt, for the one representing
<ercuryE5. :ven the division of the year into wee!s of seven days, each
subordinate to one of the planets, indicates how deep%rooted was the idea
that the meaning of the universe was somehow geared to the movement
of the planets in their courses.
The imagery of astrology was everywhere. One of the most famous
eamples is the feast described by ,etronius in the 'atyricon, given by the
freedman Trimalchio, who sat his guests around a table on which various
dishes were set out under the signs of the "odiac % beef under Taurus,
sweetbreads and !idneys under ;emini, a balance with a tart on one scale
and a cheeseca!e on the other under )ibra, two mullets under ,isces, and
so on.
+uvenal mentions several instances of people consulting astrologers, and
although he was given to satirical eaggeration, we get a very firm
impression of how the upper echelons of 7oman society employed themB
children would en&uire about the time when their parents might be
epected to die, women whether their lovers would survive them, and
some people positively would not stir abroad without an astrological
consultationB
7emember to avoid the trac!s of women in whose hands you see 4as if
they were large gems5 much%used ephemerides Mtables of planetary
movementsN. 'uch a woman does not consult any astrologers; she is
herself consulted. >or will she accompany her husband when he goes to
camp, or returns home, if warned against doing so by the numerical
manual of Thrasyllus. 'he will not even go out as far as the first milestone
unless a favourable hour has been chosen first from the boo!. =hen the
rubbed corner of her eye itches, she will as! for a soothing balm only after
consulting her horoscope. 'he may lie in bed sic!; then no hour will be
46
considered more apt for ta!ing some food than the one which ,etosiris
has named ...
-or those who found astrology suspect, and were properly outraged by the
superstitious dependence upon it of the unthin!ing, there came something
of a respite for a year or two after A2 .6, when >erva succeeded
2omitian as :mperor; although the senators are said to have consulted
his horoscope before electing him, his interest in the subject was
marginal. Trajan, who succeeded >erva in .0, was even less interested,
although he seems to have been in touch with the grandson of *albillus,
who turned up in Athens. 1. +ulius Antiochus :piphanes ,hilopappus 4the
ruins of whose monument still stand in Athens5 was born during >ero(s
reign, and grew up safely at the court of his paternal grandfather
Antiochus $#, last 9ing of 1ommagene, at 'amosata. Trajan not only
made ,hilopappus a member of the imperial guard, but a consul. The
nature of their relationship is un!nown, however.
=ith the accession of 3adrian in 116, astrology once more approached the
throne % indeed, mounted it, for the new :mperor was himself an
astrologer, whose interest in the subject seemed to stem from his early
teens, spent studying ;ree! and 7oman culture in 7ome, before being
sent into the army by his guardian Trajan. 3e cordially disli!ed army life,
and consulted at least two astrologers to as! for confirmation of the
prediction apparently made at his birth, when his great%uncle Aelius
3adrianus, an astrologer, had promised he would one day be emperor.
1onfirmation was enthusiastically given.
3adrian is the first 7oman emperor whose complete horoscope has
survived 4in several manuscript copies among a selection of horoscopes
!ept by Antigonus of >icaea, where they were found by 3ephaestion of
Thebes in the /th century5. =e !now that 3adrian was born with the 'un,
<oon and +upiter in A&uarius, 'aturn and <ercury in 1apricorn, #enus and
<ars in ,isces % suggesting, among other things, great ambition and a
preoccupation with power, arrogance and obstinacy, a high sense of
justice, and a tendency to be ruled entirely by the emotions in personal
relationships, which would tend to be unconventional. $nterestingly, those
with the <oon in A&uarius are traditionally said to have a flair for
astrology.
3adrian drew up his own horoscope and consulted it regularly; he is said
to have written down on the first of +anuary each year the major events of
his life for the following twelve months, and to have predicted the time of
his death to the hour. 3e was intensely superstitious, and interested in all
forms of divination. 3is empress, 'abina, had rather a chill time of it,
childless and rejected by her husband in favour of such beautiful young
men as Antinous, who he even too! with him on his last great ceremonial
tour to Athens, on through Asia <inor to :gypt, and bac! to $taly through
'yria and Athens again. 'abina was comforted on that tour by the
presence of her lady%in%waiting and friend +ulia *albilla, a considerable
47
poet, and none other than the great%granddaughter of Thrasyllus, who
being the descendant of a !ing and a 7oman !night was on easy terms
with her mistress.
=e do not !now whether +ulia had an interest in astrology greater than
the normal; nor do we !now whether 3adrian or any of his consultant
astrologers foretold the central event of the tour % the death of Antinous
by drowning in the >ile. There is a dar! hint in 1assius 2io that Antinous
may have sacrificed himself, or even perhaps have been sacrificed,
because an astrologer had foretold the :mperor(s own death unless
someone of importance elected to die for him 4remember, *albillus had
told >ero in 6/ that only by !illing some of 7ome(s noblemen could he
escape death5. 1ertainly his astrologers tried to console 3adrian by
pointing to the convenient new star as the soul of his favourite, now
shining in heaven. Astronomers still refer to Antinoos.
=hen 3adrian fell mortally ill in 1D6, interest in the succession focused on
two menB )ucius 1eionius 1ommodus who, as Aelius #erus, he proclaimed
his official successor, and ,edanius -uscus, who at his birth had been
stamped by astrologers as a coming emperor. At the time when Aelius
#erus was proclaimed, he was already too ill to ma!e a speech of than!s
to the senate, and it seems that 3adrian was relying on a horoscope
4drawn up either by himself or someone else5 which had promised him a
long life. =hen an astrologer suggested to the :mperor that there was
some mista!e % the wrong birth time had been used, perhaps % 3adrian
answeredB ($t is easier for you to say that when you are loo!ing for an heir
to your property, rather than to the empire.( Anyway, Aelius #erus died
before 3adrian, who was left with the necessity of ma!ing another choice.
This fell upon Antoninus ,ius, on condition that he adopted ). #erus
4Aelius #erus( son5 and an older boy, <arcus Aurelius, as his own heirs.
,edanius -uscus was outraged, foolishly became involved in a plot to sei"e
the throne, and was arrested and eecuted. A surviving horoscope by
Antigonus of >icaca says that he (was born to become, at the age of C8,
the cause of his own destruction and that of his parents(, and gives the
reasons for his fall % which include his being ill%advised because <ercury
and 'aturn were in a male sign, being discovered in a plot because the
<oon was in 'corpio, and dying because <ars and A&uarius rose at the
same time.
Antoninus ,ius, who reigned between 1D0 and 161, and <arcus Aurelius
4161%10@5, seem to have had few formal dealings with astrologers; at
least, there is no record of any, and it has been conjectured that this was
because of the increased influence of 'toic philosophy in 7ome. $f the
future is absolutely fied, then no amount of fore!nowledge can ma!e any
difference; and in that case, what is the point of predictionA
As might be epected, however, Aurelius accepted astrology as a useful
tool. 3e was interested too in dreams as a means of divination. 3e had
the horoscopes of his twin sons drawn up, when they were born in August
48
161. *oth were favourable, and the fact that the elder boy died when he
was four does not seem to have sha!en the :mperor(s faith. 3e settled
the succession on his younger son, 1ommodus.
As unattractive a personality as ever sat on the throne of 7ome,
1ommodus( spare time was spent enjoying himself in tavern or brothel, or
stripped na!ed to ta!e part in gladiatorial combat in the public arena. 3e
was as much star%worshipper as genuine astrologer, and saw astrology as
some !ind of superstitious &uasi%religion rather than as a scientific
system. 3is successor, 'eptimus 'everus, returned to a more sensible,
practical view. *orn in Africa, he rose to high ran! under <arcus Aurelius,
and is !nown to have consulted an astrologer about his own destiny. 3is
promotion to the tribunate in 166 confirmed that good fortune was
accurately foretold. 2uring a brief eclipse from favour under 1ommodus,
he advertised for a marriageable woman whose horoscope should conform
to his own, and found one in a 'yrian, 3. +ulia 2onna, who bore him two
sons, one of whom was nic!named 1aracalla.
'everus was unwise enough, when praetorian governor of 'icily, to be
discovered once more consulting an astrologer about his (imperial destiny(,
as 1assius 2io put it. *ut 4because, the historian suggested, 1ommodus
was so cordially detested5 the local authorities did not prosecute him;
indeed, they crucified the unfortunate man unwise enough to have
betrayed himE
After the death of 1ommodus and a short period of struggle for the
throne, 'everus occupied it, supported in his bid for power by the
prognostications of several astrologers and by other miscellaneous
divinations. 2ecorating his new imperial palace, he had his horoscope
painted on the ceilings of the rooms in which he held court % although not
in such detail as to give away to the casual observer the precise moment
of his birth, so the horoscope could be used against him.
'everus seems to have been almost manic in his acceptance of any
astrological prediction made with sufficient assurance, although the stoical
attitude of some of his predecessors was entirely absent in him, and he
evidently believed that if he intervened with determination in the
planetary plan, he could depend on some mitigation of astrological
prophesy. -or instance, he eecuted numerous people % including several
of his friends % on the grounds that they had consulted astrologers to
discover the best time at which to assassinate him.
'everus is said to have left 7ome for *ritain in the !nowledge that he
would not survive the campaign there. 1aracalla, having murdered his
younger brother ;eta, for safety(s sa!e, seems to have had the same total
belief in astrology as his father. Astrologer after astrologer was
summoned to advise him, and several of them % an :gyptian called
'erapio, one called Ascletion, and )arginus ,roculus%told the :mperor that
he would not live long, and that his successor would be <acrinus, a
prefect. Ascletion was eecuted, )arginus ,roculus was promised
49
eecution immediately after the date on which he had said 1aracalla
would die, and 'erapio was thrown to a lion 4which simply lic!ed his hand,
so a more prosaic eecution had to be arranged5.
>evertheless, 1aracalla was murdered, and for the net several decades
astrology too! a less prominent part in imperial manceuvrings. >either
Opellus <acrinus, who reigned only for a year, nor :lagabalus, a
demented young man who too! the name of his 'un god and was
slaughtered when he was 10 by his praetorian guard, contributed anything
to its history; and 'everus Aleander, who reigned between CCC and CD8,
was said to be an astrologer but did not use the s!ill ostentatiously.
=hat he did do was encourage professional astrologers to organi"e
themselves into a body that could pass on !nowledge in a proper manner,
actually advertising themselves as teachers; and he seems to have seen
to it that astrology was given precedence when the curriculum at the
Athenaeum in 7ome, founded by 3adrian, was reorgani"ed.
As the power and influence of 7ome passed its apogee, 1hristianity began
to increase its hold, and eventually under 1onstantine in DD/ was to be
proclaimed as the official state religion, thus doing astrology the
enormous service of reducing it from the status of a religious and magical
art to that of a science. =hat, during these first centuries A2, was the
state of the theory and literature of the subjectA
The Tetrabiblos has already been mentioned as probably the most
distinguished of astrological tetboo!s. The Anthologiae of #ettius #alens
was enormously popular, perhaps because whereas ,tolemy wrote
substantially for the educated layman and eplored the subject
scientifically, #alens was himself an astrologer, and intended his wor! for
believers.
=e !now little of the life of #ettius #alens, ecept that he never grew rich,
was never involved in politics or fashion and so, avoiding eecution for
favouring this imperial candidate or that, remained relatively un!nown. 3e
seems to have bolstered his income by running, for a time, a school of
astrology 4he dedicated his boo! to one of his students, <arcus5. $t is
impossible to reconstitute the Anthologiae, which was in nine boo!s; but it
was to be used by generations of astrologers up until the 0th century at
least, when Theophilus was still &uoting it.
'ome popular astrological writing was in verseB among the astrological
versifiers were Astrampsychus, 2orotheus of 'idon, and <anetho.
Astrampsychus left a hundred and one astrological aphorisms, printed in
alphabetical order. Anubio, who may have been an :gyptian, left wor!
which was to be used by -irmicus <agnus, 3ephaestion, ,alchrus and
7hetorius, over the net four centuries. 2orotheus, an Arab, left his
,entateuch, five boo!s, dealing with births, eras of time, the )ords of the
3oroscope, the computation of birth years, and (underta!ing( or the
divination of events in a life. And to the professional astrologers must be
50
added those who believed astrology to be an important part of their
studies, li!e the physicians Antigonus of >icaea and ;alen.
<edical astrology was already beginning to rationali"e its beliefs. These
were never fatalistic; after all, if fate determined whether or not a patient
should recover from or succumb to an illness, what point would there be
in treating himA ;alen 41D@%cC@@5 studied medicine at ,ergamos, where
he was born, then in 1orinth and Aleandria, and finally in 7ome 4where
he became physician to <arcus Aurelius, and later attended 1ommodus
and 'everus5. 3e was careful always to note the precise time at which a
patient had ta!en to bed with an illness; carefully considered the position
of 'irius, the dog star, when medicine was being prepared or
administered; insisted that the theriac, a medicine which he had
developed, should be ta!en at the third hour of the first or fourth day of
the <oon; and in one of his medical treatises devoted twelve chapters to
the influence of the <oon in each of the "odiac signs, also dealing with the
positions of the planets. Antigonus went further, publishing a collection of
(medical horoscopes( which doctors used for at least two centuries to help
them in treating patients.
>ot a single writer, as far as can be discovered, argued that the planets
could have no influence on human affairs, although there were many
arguments about the degree to which they enabled a practitioner to
predict events, or delineate character. The most distinguished of the
(opponents(of astrology, or those who believed that astrologers( powers of
divination were etremely limited, was ,lutarch 4c /6%1C@5, a journalist
who wrote on philosophy, morals and, of course, biography. 3e never
organi"ed or even rationali"ed his objections to astrology, simply pointing
out that man had a very generous capacity for accepting anything
(magical(, and arguing strongly against the conception of an immutable
fate.
3e had little effect on the faithful. $n the Cnd century came a more
considerable antagonist of fatalistic astrology, -avorinus of Arles, who
seems to have had many an argument on the subject with the :mperor
3adrian, who was of course of a very different persuasion. -avorinus(
arguments were not always very well%foundedB for instance, he believed
that astrology was a new fad, and that astrologers had invented the so%
called ancients who they claimed had founded the art. 3e then 4and this
argument is reiterated to this day5 claimed that all astrological predictions
were so general as to be meaningless; went on to say that anyway, man(s
time on earth was far too brief for him to be able to fathom such a
complicated theory; as!ed how astrology could be used to forecast the
weather when good and bad weather eisted at the same time in different
places; demanded to !now why the time of birth under one constellation
should be considered when the time of conception under another was
ignored 4a good point5; doubted whether the precise moment of birth
could ever be discovered; and % another appealing point % as!ed whether
51
it was not ridiculous and unbearable to suggest that all our actions, down
to deciding whether or not to ta!e a bath, were predestined.
,tolemy disposes of most of these criticisms. *ut in any case opposition
was not 4any more than defence5 on rational grounds. 'omeone who
heard -avorinus give an anti%astrological lecture described how he
summed upB
Astrologers predict either adverse or propitious events. $f they foretell
prosperity and deceive you, you will be made wretched by vain
epectations; if they foretell adversity, you will be made wretched by
useless fears ... The anticipation of your hopes will wear you out with
suspense. Therefore there is every reason why you should not resort to
men of that !ind who profess !nowledge of the future.
One of the ironies of 7oman astrological history is that so many emperors
who almost uncritically accepted the influence of the planets patroni"ed
scholars who argued against it. -avorinus had argued with 3adrian;
'eptimus 'everus, almost fanatically attached to the most fatalistic
aspects of astrology, appointed Aleander of Aphrodisias to the chair of
the ,eripatetic 'chool at Athens, from where he issued his essay On -ate,
in which he denied that the planets could affect human destiny % though
even he agreed that they must influence non%human aspects of life on
earth, such as the elements, (the creation, destruction, and in general all
transformation of matter. They also determine all terrestrial motion.(
Astrology was included in the multifarious criticisms levelled at almost all
human !nowledge by 'etus :mpiricus, the ;ree! physician and sceptic
philosopher, who in the late Cnd and early Drd centuries attac!ed
literature and philology, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic 4(number is
nothing(5, music, logic and physics. :ven he ecepted astrological
meteorology from his general condemnation, but as for individual
horoscopes % they were nonsenseE 3e summari"ed astrological !nowledge
as it was !nown in his time, and then demolished each point in turn % or
attempted to. 'ome of his criticisms are entirely valid 4the difficulty of
!nowing the precise birth time, for instance5; others were based on
misunderstandings 4which seem, sometimes, almost contrived5; and
others were simply vapid. 3e as!s for instance why (someone born under
)eo should be strong and brave just because that constellation is called
)eo(, or why someone born under #irgo should be considered li!ely to be
fair while an :thiopian born under the same sign would undoubtedly be
swarthy. 'illy sooth.
'etus :mpiricus( only really rational criticism, and one for which there
was much to be said, was that there was just not enough scientific data
!nown to astrologers to enable them to present their science as a science.
*ut nevertheless, his arguments against astrology were to appeal to a
band of people whose attitude to the subject, if often confused, was to
affect its history for a thousand years and more. The ;ree! satirist )ucian,
whose own attac! on astrology lac!ed muscle, lashed out in his
52
abhorrence of the subject at a relatively new cult, a gang of simpleminded
followers of a crucified sophist, one +esus 1hrist. The (1hristians(
approached astrology with almost superstitious caution.
53
The Coming of Christianity
Almost the first story we hear about the birth of +esus is of the (wise men
from the east( who came to 3erod to announce that they !new that the
9ing of the +ews had been born because they had (seen his star in the
east(. 3erod, having en&uired of them diligently what time the star
appeared sent them out to *ethlehem to see! for the child, (and lo, the
star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood
over where the young child was.(
There has been much speculation about what (the star( wasB general
opinion suggests it may have been a conjunction of +upiter and 'aturn,
possibly with Franus, which would have made for a very bright and
apparently single (star( moving &uic!ly enough to fulfil the conditions of
the story. *ut that is astronomical speculation. The significance of the
story for us is that it shows how, right at the beginning of the accounts of
1hrist(s life, astrology played a part.
$t would have been remar!able had it been otherwise. To most thoughtful
men of the time there would have been no &uestion of a god being born
without the fact being announced in the heavens, probably by some
strange but obvious celestial phenomenon rather than by his having a
remar!able personal horoscope. Apart from the truth or otherwise of the
story, it was to say the least etremely helpful to those set on establishing
the divinity of 1hrist to have his birth associated with a spectacular
astrological event; no scientist of the time would have accepted the
possibility of such a phenomenon unless astrological observation
supported it. $n fact, of course, the appearance of a single rogue star has
no astrological significance, and had none at the time; but the problem of
inventing a significant horoscope for a divinity by choosing a propitious
moment for the birth boggles the astrological mind, and was certainly
beyond the early 1hristians, if the idea indeed ever occurred to them. The
net best thing was some !ind of spectacular (comet%li!e( event, which
was what is said to have occurred.
The presence in 't <atthew(s ;ospel of the (three wise men(, or !ings, or
<agi, or astrologers, was to be rather an embarrassment to some of the
fathers of the 1hurch; later generations were simply to deny that they
were astrologers at all, although that was clearly what the author of the
gospel intended. The earliest commentator to sei"e the nettle and attac!
the myth was 't +ohn 1hrysostom 4c D/6%/@65, who made heavy weather
of his criticism, not so much attac!ing the notion of astrology itself as
berating the three astrologers for calling +esus the 9ing of the +ews when
(his !ingdom was not of this world(, and suggesting that they were unwise
to the point of foolishness in coming to *ethlehem, stirring things up with
the !ing, and instantly leaving. 3e also pointed out 4&uite rightly5 that the
appearance of a single star was not in accordance with astrological
54
tradition, although he agreed that its appearance was a sign that ;od
favoured the wise men. Tacitly, he admitted that he not only believed in
the appearance of the star, but that it was shown to the astrologers for a
purpose, so demolishing his own argument.
'peculation about the wise men was to continue for centuries, with
various embroideries. There were not always three, for instance;
1hrysostom suggested that there may have been a do"en, and in the
earliest 1hristian art other numbers are given. The <agi do not seem to
have been promoted to royal status until as late as the 6th century, and
the #enerable *ede, the :nglish historian of the 6th century, seems to be
the first man to give their names. Their original home was in Arabia, or
,ersia, or 1haldea, or $ndia, according to which early authority one reads,
and anyone interested in visiting their tomb should loo! in 1ologne, for
after their deaths the :mpress 3elena brought their bodies from $ndia to
1onstantinople, whence they travelled to <ilan and on to ;ermany.
'ome 1hristian commentators invested them with various magical powers,
perhaps to denigrate them, and thereby astrology in general; a 1@th%
century dramatist tells how they flew miraculously to *ethlehem after the
birth, causing considerable surprise to the citi"ens of the cities over which
they passed. *ut some sects sei"ed on the story as proof of astrology as
;od(s means of regulating affairs on earth. A heretical sect, the
,riscillianists, did so, prompting a 1@th%century writer to put forward all
the traditional anti%astrological arguments, and to present the (wise men(
simply as the first ;entiles to see! 1hrist.
1hristian opposition to astrology from earliest times to our own has been
founded in temperament rather than theology. >o considerable 1hristian
scholar or theologian has argued that astrology is unthin!able, ecept
when or if it claims to predict the future, and therefore contests the
doctrine of free will. <any of the earliest authorities have astrological
allusions. The Old Testament figure :noch, for instance, claimed to be
sith in descent from Adam and :ve, has passages on the stars and herbs,
gems and numbers, and claims that in the sith heaven angels attend the
phases of the <oon and the revolutions of stars and 'un, superintending
the good or evil condition of the world. :noch(s notions of angels are
somewhat eccentric 4some of them have (privy members li!e those of
horses(5, but it seems that two hundred of them so fancied earthly women
that they came to live on earth, and betrayed to man various secrets,
including the science of astrology, magic, witchcraft and divination, and
the art of writing with in! and paper.
,hilo +udaeus, who lived in Aleandria soon after the death of 1hrist, hotly
denied that the planets absolutely ruled men(s lives, attac!ing astrologers
who claimed that the whole of life was subject to the movements of the
heavens. 3e did, however, believe the stars to be beautiful divine beings,
intelligent animals who, unli!e man, were incapable of evil. 3e believed
also, indeed (!new(, that it was possible to predict (disturbances and
55
commotions of the earth from the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and
innumerable other events which have turned out most eactly true.(
A 'yrian missionary called *ardesanes 418/%CCC5 has left in The 2ialogue
1oncerning -ate a good account of what seems to be the most general
early 1hristian attitude to astrology. $t was evidently important to tac!le
the very strong public commitment to the subject, the result of centuries
during which its truths had on the whole been accepted as self%evident.
*ardesanes ta!es the pragmatic viewB that it is obvious that there is some
force from the planets, but this was given them by ;od and is therefore
subject to 3is will, limited by 3im through subjection to free will on the
one hand and other natural forces on the other.
The ;nostics, an oriental religious movement which played a part in early
1hristianity, spawning many sects, believed 4according to one tet5 that
when +esus ascended into heaven after the crucifiion, he changed the
influences and even the movements of the planets 4among other things
ma!ing them turn to the right for si months of the year, whereas
previously they had faced left5, and determined how they shaped a new
soul, controlled the process of conception and the formation of the embryo
in the womb, and every event of life from cradle to tomb. 4$ncidentally, it
is interesting that in the Arabic ;ospel of the infancy, attributed to 't
+ames, +esus is an astronomer, lecturing the priests in the temple on (the
number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular,
s&uare and setile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; their
twenty%fourths and sitieths of the twenty%fourths and other things which
the reason of man had never discovered...(5
<any 1hristian thin!ers saw astrology as a demonstration of the universe
devised by ;od. The 7ecognitions, an anthology of letters allegedly
written to +ames, +esus( brother, by 1lement of 7ome, a friend and
confidant of 't ,eter, represents the planets and stars as fied in heaven
by ;od in order that (they might be for an indication of things past,
present and future(, although only to be understood by the learned who
had studied the subject in depth. Abraham was one of these; being an
astrologer, he (was able from the rational system of the stars to recogni"e
the 1reator, while all other men were in error, and understand that all
things are regulated by his ,rovidence.(
1lement charmingly called the twelve Apostles the Twelve <onths of
1hrist, who himself was the Kear of our )ord. The planets are admitted to
have an evil as well as a good influence; (possessing freedom of the will,
we sometimes resist our desires and sometimes yield to them(. Arguments
against astrology are restricted to resisting the idea that there is no
,rovidence and that everything happens by chance and genesis, that
(whatever your genesis contains, that shall befall you(. $t is unthin!able
that ;od should ma!e man sin through an evil disposition of the planets,
and then punish him for itE $t is also pointed out % and later astrologers
have often repeated this, both as eplanation and ecuse % that the
56
movements and inter%relationships of the planets are so comple, and
understanding and interpreting them so difficult, that no astrologer is to
be blamed for misreading them.
The argument between Origen, an orthodo 1hristian who lived between
108 and C8D, and the philosopher 1elsus, who in 166%0@ produced The
True =ord, an anti%1hristian tract, inevitably involved astrology. 1elsus
too! the view that the main idiocy of many practised by 1hristians was the
denial of the power of the planets; Origen asserted that the whole idea of
free will was demolished if one accepted that the stars were rational
beings, and assigned by ;od to the nations on earth. 3e accepted that the
planets( movements could foretell events, and was particularly attached to
the idea of comets as omens, which had announced wars and natural
disasters, but also the birth of 1hrist.
Tertullian, born in about 16@, and an elo&uent early writer about
1hristianity, argued that it was the fallen angels who had taught man
astrology 4and, incidentally, metallurgy and botany5. These angels, who
lived in the clouds conveniently near the stars, were inevitably ecellent
meteorologists. >evertheless, 1hristians would do well to reject them and
their notions, despite the fact that the <agi were astrologers. 3e obviously
saw it as etremely worrying that (astrology nowadays, for%sooth, treats
of 1hrist; is the science of the stars of 1hrist, not of 'aturn and <ars(, and
argues that since the coming of 1hrist the drawing up of horoscopes
should be discontinued. 3e was especially pleased that at the time of
writing astrologers were positively forbidden to enter 7ome.
<any 1hristian apologists made it their business to read the published
wor!s of astrologers, in order to refute them; others too! the short cut of
simply reading anti%astrological wor!s and repeating their arguments.
3ippolytus, for instance, who lived in $taly and wrote in ;ree! 4he was
buried in 7ome in CD65 lifted his arguments straight from the writings of
'etus :mpiricus.
The most prominent of all early antagonists of astrology, 't Augustine,
cannot entirely be freed from the accusation of ta!ing a short cut, or at
least not thin!ing the subject through thoroughly or originally. Augustine
was born in D/8 4he died in /D@5 in >umidia, of a devoutly 1hristian
mother. A trained rhetorician, he was at first a <anichean, but was
converted to 1hristianity by the sermons of Ambrose, *ishop of <ilan,
where Augustine was teaching rhetoric. 3is early life, which included
various seual irregularities, is fran!ly described in his 1onfessions, and
astrology is mentioned there too; but his main attac! on it comes in the
1hristian 2octrine and The 1ity of ;od.
3is case against astrology is simple, unsubtle and mista!enB simply that it
enslaves human will by claiming that the entire course of a life can be
predicted from the stars. $f predictions did come true, he said, it was
through coincidence or demonic intervention. (Those that hold(, he writes
in the fifth boo! of The 1ity of ;od,
57
that the stars do manage our action, our passions, good or ill, without
;od(s appointment, are to be silenced and not to be heard, be they of the
true religion or be they bondslaves to idolatry of what sort soever; for
what does this opinion do but flatly eclude all deityA ... and what part has
;od left him in thus disposing of human affairs, if they be swayed by a
necessity from the stars, whereas 3e is )ord of stars and men.
3e then produced the old argument that if astrology wor!ed, twins should
have precisely the same destiny. 4$f they did, incidentally, it was nothing
to do with astrology, he said, but because their bac!ground, environment,
upbringing was similar; if they did not, it was a proof that astrology did
not wor!.5 True, >igidius had tried to eplain the dissimilarity between the
lives of twins by rapidly turning a pot on a potter(s wheel and splashing
in! upon it, showing how far apart the splashes landed, and adducing
from this that on a swiftly turning earth the planets would be in different
positions even for twins born with one holding the other(s heel. 't
Augustine was unimpressed. $f astrology was as complicated as that, how
could an astrologer possibly claim to be able to ma!e firm predictionsA
43e seems to have ta!en this, and several other arguments, more or less
straight from 1icero(s 2e divinatione.5
The trouble with Augustine(s anti%astrological arguments is that they are
founded 4li!e those of so many other critics throughout history5 on a
misunderstanding of the nature of the astrological theory, even as it was
practised in his own time. #ery few astrologers argued that the planets
absolutely controlled every aspect of the life of man, much less that every
living thing was under a similar governance. =hen he points out that
astrology is ridiculous because a cow and a human baby born at the same
instant do not have precisely the same life, he simply displays his own
ignorance of what astrology claims, and his stronger arguments are
proportionally wea!ened. 3is supposition that astrologers claim that the
time and place of birth and nothing else control a man(s destiny leads him
to concentrate on that point to the eclusion of more eccentric claims
which would have offered him a wider target. 3e seems to have read very
little astrological literature 4not, for instance, the Tetrabiblos, which might
be thought re&uired reading for anyone preparing an attac! on astrology5.
't Augustine is still often set up as the prime 1hristian opponent of
astrology; and so he is. *ut that is not saying much. :ven he admits that
the 'un and planets have an effect on some material things such as the
tides, and hence on some living things such as shellfish. $t might be
argued that he performed a considerable service to astrology by attac!ing
its occult aspects, while not condemning out of hand the !ind of scientific
astrology that was to provide the more rewarding areas of eperiment in
the future.
The 1ity of ;od is seen as the apogee of 1hristianity(s attac!s on
astrology, and so in a sense it was. That it is an unintelligent, derivative
and ineffectual attac! is neither here nor there; happily, the 1hristian
58
church(s generally antagonistic view of science in general has in the long
run been e&ually ineffectual. =hen Augustine argued that (1hristians have
many better and more serious things to occupy their time than such
subtle investigations concerning the relative magnitude of the stars and
the intervals of space between them(, he was setting the tone for the
official 1hurch attitude to science for many centuries. $t has not, in the
end, prevailed, even in schools.
The fact that some 1hristian astrologers were not deterred is illustrated by
the wor! of +ulius -irmicus <aternus, a contemporary who is li!ely to have
read Augustine. 3is <atheseos of c D8/ accepted the doctrine of free will,
but found it odd that man should thin! the stars and planets mere
decoration of the heavens.
-irmicus, whose mind seems to have been a great deal !eener than
Augustine(s 4if we are to judge from the organi"ation of his boo! and the
deployment of his arguments5, produced one by one the chief anti%
astrological arguments and demolished them with ease, demonstrating
clearly that the critics had not for the most part bothered to understand
the subject. 3e admits that some astrologers are rogues and others fools,
he admits the difficulty of the subject % but claims that the human spirit is
capable of coping with it, as it is capable of coping with the mapping of
the heavens and the prediction of the planets( courses.
$n a brilliantly presented and enormously comple argument, -irmicus in
the second half of <atheseos scathingly demolishes superstition and its
practitioners, the (magicians( who (stay in temples in an un!empt state
and always wal! abroad thus in order to frighten people. =hile he accepts
that (magic( is a powerful force, he is violently opposed to secrecy in
regard to it, and demands that astrologers, rather than shrin!ing from
public view as though ashamed, should place themselves under the
protection of ;od, praying that 3e should grant them grace to attempt the
eplanation of the courses of the stars
<atheseos was an important boo!, a major wor! that accurately and
persuasively &uoted earlier sources, and was itself to be &uoted for
centuries by 1hristian astrologers and theologians who wished to assuage
the fears of laymen at times when the 1hurch seemed to be condemning
the practice.
59
Astrology in Medieval Europe
The early <iddle Ages, while it produced a fair amount of argument about
astrology, and saw a diminution of its influence on monarchs, did not
mar! as complete a collapse as some historians have suggested. :ven
where there was some doubt about its use on a personal level, it was still
generally admitted to be useful in meteorology and agriculture. And most
scholars too! the view that it was an important element of general
!nowledge. *oethius, the 6th%century consul in 7ome, some of whose
writings were translated by 9ing Alfred the ;reat, was one of them, and
his boo! The 1onsolation of ,hilosophy must have been influential in
reinforcing whatever !nowledge of astrology there was in *ritain in the
1@th century. 3e argued that the movements of the planets derived from
the immortal will of ,rovidence, and that (the celestial movement of the
stars( translated that will into earthly events, (constraining human forces
in an indissoluble chain of causes which, since it starts from the decree of
immovable ,rovidence, must needs itself also be immutable.(
>evertheless, he was not a fatalist, for even divine ,rovidence imposed no
fatal necessity on the human will, which was always free, while nature
was not, but was constrained by the planets. As 1anute found, you cannot
argue with the tides. *oethius also, by the way, agreed with ,lato that
each planet has its own musical chord, contributing to the heavenly
harmony of the music of the spheres.
An attraction of the astrological theory, in the early <iddle Ages as now,
was that it could be applied to absolutely every facet of human life.
*ut there were some areas into which it soa!ed with persuasive power,
and among these was medicine. The (astrological man( appears again and
again in manuscripts of the period, though sometimes to denigrate
astrology. There is for instance a splendid 11th%century drawing of the
twelve signs grouped around the figure of 1hrist, hand raised to bless. The
names of the parts of the body (ruled( by the various signs appear % but
the caption readsB (According to the ravings of the philosophers the signs
are thus denoted(E
Astrology was by now so integral a part of medicine that it was not to be
possible to disentangle the two for many centuries. Fntil the 10th century
it was still impossible to &ualify as a doctor at some universities unless
you had passed an eamination in astrology, and the use of the planetary
positions in diagnosis and treatment was a commonplace.
)i!e other theories, this was used to a greater or lesser degree according
to the temperament of the physician. 1onstantinus Africanus, for instance,
who lived between 1@18 and 1@06, was enormously important in the
history of medicine mainly because of his translation and presentation of
earlier medical tetboo!s. 3e had studied with 1haldeans, Arabs, ,ersians
60
and 'aracens as well as in Tunis 4where he was born5 and *aghdad. *ut
in his *e humana natura, apart from tracing the formation of the embryo
in the womb and relating this to the positions of the planets, and including
a certain amount of mildly eccentric material 4someone who consistently
wets the bed, for instance, should eat the bladder of a river fish for eight
days while the <oon waes and wanes5, he ma!es relatively little of
astrological medicine, though there can be no doubt he studied it.
$t is not surprising that 1onstantinus studied in the :ast, for collaboration
between +ewish and Arabian scholars had resulted in a correlation of
astrological !nowledge at such centres as 1airo, *aghdad, Aleandria and
9airwan in Tunis, which produced at least one remar!able scholar in $saac
ben 'olomon $sraeli, or $saac +udaeus, who wor!ed there in the .@@s, and
wrote boo!s on medical astrology which survived for centuries 47obert
*urton &uotes from him in The Anatomy of <elancholy5.
To trace the various contributions to what might be called (Arabian(
astrology is an almost impossibly comple tas!, for pieces of theory
drifted towards the Arabian centres from as far away as 1hina and $ndia,
as well as from 7ome, ;reece, :gypt and ,ersia. This was collected
together in the great library founded in *aghdad by 3arun al%7ashid and
al%<amun, caliphs of the Abbasside dynasty, and completed in about 08@,
where apart from the lesser wor!s there were ;ree! copies of the
Tetrabiblos translated for general use.
There are hints of the importance of the wor! done in *aghdad in the
writings, si or eight hundred years later, of some :nglishmen. 1haucer,
for instance, wrote a Treatise on the Astrolabe in the 1/th century in
which he made use of <essahala(s 1ommentary on ,tolemy, written in the
early 0@@s; =illiam )illy &uotes from the same source in the 16/@s; 2r
2ee, in :li"abethan :ngland, owned several manuscripts of $saac +udaeus(
wor!s.
$n other countries too the Arabian interest in astrology too! hold; in
'pain, for instance, where the =estern 1aliph founded in ./0 an academy
at 1ordova at which <oors and +ews ali!e built up a body of !nowledge
which in its turn was disseminated through academies founded at Toledo
and ;ranada. There, 3asdai ibn%'haprut, a +ew, taught at the end of the
1@th century, among other things rationali"ing the assignation of all
!nown herbs to separate planets which influenced their growth and virtue.
;erbert of Auvergne probably studied under him before being made
Archbishop of 7avenna in ..0, and later ,ope, as 'ylvester $$. 'o there is
evidence that 1hristians as well as <oors and +ews studied under Arabian
auspices. 'ylvester $$ was admittedly later accused of having had dealings
with the 2evil because of his studies at 1ordova, and some 1hristians
attempted to attach dar! satanic inferences to anyone who had studied
astrology; but progress was not, at this stage, to be denied.
2espite the vicissitudes of history % the capture of the <oorish cities of
'pain by the 1hristians in the 11th century, for instance, and the driving
61
out of the +ews % the (universities( at such cities as Toledo continued to
function for centuries, with a continual stream of scholars benefiting from
their libraries and their tradition of scholarship, all of which unhesitatingly
supported astrology as a serious study.
-rom the .th and 1@th centuries, visual reminders have survived that help
demonstrate the subject(s fascination % sometimes illustrating slight
differences between eastern and western astrology. $n $slamic countries,
human beings could not be represented by artists, and so the (human(
"odiac signs were alteredB in place of the ;eminian twins, <uslim artists
showed two peacoc!s; a wheatsheaf replaced the girl in #irgo, and
A&uarius became a mule carrying two bas!ets.
There is at -lorence a splendid eample of another wor! of art, this time
with a practical purposeB an astrolabe for the latitude of 7ome, said to
have belonged to 'ylvester $$. An e&ually early one is at Oford, made in
.0/ by Ahmad and <almud, sons of $brahim, of $spahan. The
development of the astrolabe began, it is believed, in the 1st century *1 %
there are claims for it as the oldest scientific instrument. Fsed for
measuring the altitude of the stars, it was essential to the astronomer%
astrologer, and there are many fine eamples of astrolabes in museums.
$t was often magnificently decorated, a pleasure to loo! at as well as to
use.
The spread of astrology across :urope, the etent to which it was
practised in any western country before the growth of the 7oman :mpire,
is a subject that must be treated with the utmost delicacy. $t depends to
some etent, of course, on what !ind of astrology one is tal!ing about. $t
seems fairly clear that natal astrology, the setting up of a map of the s!y
for the moment of a birth, the construction and interpretation of a
horoscope, was not possible in, say, ;ermany, -rance or *ritain until well
into the time of $mperial 7ome; and that if it was possible then, the
means were only !nown to a very few people, and those probably
attached to 7oman armies as *albillus had been attached to 1laudius(
entourage during his journey to *ritain.
3owever, if we accept that an interest in astrology often arose from a
preoccupation with the simple observation of planetary movements, then
the most primitive civili"ations showed it, and it may be said that
'tonehenge % for instance % betrays such a preoccupation, if we are to
accept that that monument 4and others li!e it5 was erected to fulfil some
astronomical purpose.
The many theories about the planning and erection of 'tonehenge are too
comple to investigate here; but the theory that it was some !ind of
astronomical computer, while suspect in some &uarters, is &uite
sufficiently well argued to remain a possibility. =hatever its purpose,
there certainly seems to be an astronomical connection; and the influence
on an ignorant community 4we are spea!ing of something li!e C.@@ *15 of
a priestly aristocracy that could forecast even the most basic solar and
62
lunar events would have been very considerable. $t is even suggested that
the people of >eolithic *ritain were ruled by such an aristocracy, the
leaders of which possessed at least some of the !nowledge of the early
*abylonian astronomers. <uch of their power as leaders of society may
have been derived from their !nowledge of astronomy, used (magically( to
invo!e the aid of those heavenly gods, the planets, in huntingB a sort of
astrology, although at that stage invo!ing the occult as intensely as % if
much more vaguely than % the *abylonians or :gyptians did.
Three thousand years later we glimpse a more sophisticated astrology in
the *ritish $slesB although still much too dimly to draw detailed
conclusions. The 2ruids remain sufficiently mysterious to enable the
inventive to saddle them with all sorts of preoccupations of which they
may have !nown nothing. 1aesar recorded that the 2ruids in ;aul were
men of dignity, lawgivers and priests, learned in astrology and the natural
sciences. *ritain seemed to be the head&uarters of the 2ruid cult, if that is
what it was, and there was an annual meeting in ;aul from which the
most promising novices travelled to *ritain for training, where they seem
to have studied not only astrology but the same systems of divination as
the *abylonians % using patterns of bird flight, for instance, and the
convulsions of dying men.
:arly 1hristian literature provides eamples of the 2ruids predicting a
child(s future from the date of its birth, and the word for cloud divination
4neladoracht5 is also freely used to mean astrology and divination in
general. There are several references to astrology itself; for instance, it is
related how an astrologer calculated the planets( positions in order to tell
the foster%father of 't 1olum!ille, better !nown as 't 1olumba of $reland,
when it was a propitious time for the boy to begin lessons. $t is clear too
that the 2ruids operated a system of luc!y and unluc!y daysB the
thirteenth day of a lunar cycle was considered a bad one on which to
begin anything; a boy born on that day would be (courageous, bold,
rapacious, arrogant, self%pleasing(, and a girl (saucy, spirited, and daring
of her body with many men(.
)ittle is !nown about the patterns of international travel in ancient times;
however, it is by no means impossible that, as some scholars have
suggested, astronomical !nowledge of all sorts reached *ritain and
western :urope in the earliest years of *abylon; it does not seem very
li!ely that men should otherwise spontaneously have started building
stone circles and similar monuments in various parts of the western world
at the same time. 'uch legends as those that support the coming of
<editerranean traders to *ritain many centuries before 1hrist may be far
from nonsense; and while it does not seem at all li!ely that men with the
!nowledge to design and build such a sophisticated monument as
'tonehenge would be travelling on a trader(s boat, there is nothing
inherently absurd in the ideaB scholars have often also been adventurers.
63
=e begin to see our way rather more clearly round about the time of the
7oman occupation, when <ithraism brought !nowledge of the eistence of
astrology to ;aul, ;ermany and *ritain, and temples to the 7oman gods
were built % often on the sites of 2ruidic temples, it seems, for 1aesar
says that the ;auls worshipped <ercury, Apollo, <ars and <inerva 4and
can only have meant that they worshipped local gods li!e those 7oman
ones5.
=ith the departure of the 7oman legions, and the 2ar! Ages, astrology
li!e so much else vanishes from our view, ecept for some hints that the
!nowledge brought by the 7omans was treasured by some scholars,
especially in the north and west of the province % at the limits of 7oman
power, whence, eventually, came so many early scholars % Alcuin and
*ede, Adelard and 7oger *acon among them. 2id the *ritish who had
learned to read continue to treasure 7oman boo!s after A2 /1@A A few
relics suggest the answer boo!s in ;ree! or )atin with scribbled comments
and notes in a 'cottish or =elsh dialect.
;eoffrey of <onmouth 4c 11@@%118/5, that early romancer and historian,
claims that in 9ing Arthur(s reign, whenever that may have been,
there subsisted at 1arleon in ;lamorganshire a college of two hundred
philosophers, who studied astronomy and other sciences; and who were
particularly employed in watching the course of the stars, and predicting
events to the !ing from these observations.
*y the time ;eoffrey was writing, 1hristianity had long been established in
*ritain; but as we have seen, this may well have meant increased
!nowledge and approval of astrology rather than the reverse.
1an ;eoffrey(s word be accepted, thoughA =ell, he tells us that his
3istoria regum *ritanniae is a translation of (a certain very ancient boo!
written in the *ritish language( 4that is, =elsh5 by =alter, Archdeacon of
Oford. This may have been a simple, individual manuscript; in any event,
it has completely vanished. ;eoffrey may have invented some of his
history, but he would not have invented it all % indeed his often garbled
records of some events match with those of which we have !nowledge,
and he 4or his original source5 refers often to 1icero, +uvenal, )ucan,
Apuleius and others. 'o the evidence that astrology was in use (at the
time of 9ing Arthur( is worth something, if perhaps not a great deal.
'trands of astrological belief must have been preserved not only by the
faint and fading tenets of whatever (religion( had been supported by the
2ruids, but in the fading memories of <ithraism, if these communicated
themselves to the *ritish, and in the heritage of !nowledge left by 7ome;
and 1hristianity contributed, too. $n The ,anegyric of )ludd the ;reat, a
poem written in the 6th century by Taliesin, the (mythical( *ritish bard,
there is a passage, among many dealing with prophesies, which reads
To *ritain shall come an ealtation,
64
*ritons of the stoc! of 7ome,
<ay $ be judged by the merciful ;od.
Astronomers are predicting
<isfortune in the land.
2ruids are prophesying
*eyond the sea, beyond *ritain,
That the summer shall not be fair ...
Of little value ecept as evidence, again, that some !nowledge of
astrology persevered. The Anglo%'aon 1hronicle agrees. This was written
at various centres up to the mid%1Cth century; the earlier parts probably
originated with 9ing Alfred 4061%.@@5. $t records various eclipses, and
other planetary phenomena. 4$t also, incidentally, records the travels of
the (three astrologers( % rather than !ings or wise men % to 1hrist(s
birthplace.5 The 1hronicle mostly interprets eclipses and comets as
symbols of foreboding. $n 66/, we are told, an eclipse on 1@ <ay brought
not only the death of the 9ing of 9ent, but a plague; fourteen years later,
a comet in August presaged *ishop =ilfrid(s epulsion from his bishopric.
The comet of 6C. brought a clutch of disastersB 't :gbert died, and the
Atheling Osward, and Osric, 9ing of >orthumbria.
Among the astronomical reports appear records of more astonishing
incidentsB a number of fiery dragons flew over >orthumbria in 6.D
4possibly the )eonide meteors5; in .6. (was seen a bloody wel!in oft
times in li!eness of a fire(. *ut for the most part the authors concentrate
on comets and eclipses % including the most famous comet of all, 3alley(s,
which appeared in 1@66, and is shown in the *ayeu Tapestry above the
head of the crowned 9ing =illiam the 1on&ueror.
*y the beginning of the 0th century, the names of individual astrologers
begin to appearB such men as Aldhelm, who was taught at the school in
9ent started by Abbot 3adrian and his friend Theodore, Archbishop of
1anterbury % the latter came from Tarsus in Asia <inor, and the two men
certainly taught in ;ree! as well as )atin. Aldhelm left treatises on
astrology, as well as on logic and arithmetic, meant as tetboo!s for
future students. Alcuin, or :alhwine, was educated at Kor!, at a school
with a long history 4it has been suggested that its tradition went bac! to
the 7oman occupation5, and went on to become a friend and adviser of
the :mperor 1harlemagne. 3e learned, he said, among other things, (the
harmony of the s!y(, the laws governing the rising and setting of the stars
and the seven planets.
'ome of the art and architecture of *ritain before the 11th century has
astrological references % sometimes at a distance, as when we hear for
instance that the old Abbey of ;lastonbury had a "odiac in its floor. There
is "odiacal ornamentation in a number of pre%1on&uest churches in 9ent,
65
and the new 1anterbury 1athedral had some "odiac figures in it simply
because the old one, burned down in 1@66, had had them. There are 0th%
century "odiacal drawings among the 3arleian manuscripts in the *ritish
)ibrary, and when the Abbey of 1royland was burned in 1@.1, according
to a history compiled from ancient manuscripts that survived the fire,
we lost a most beautiful and precious table, fabricated of different !inds of
metals, according to the variety of the stars and heavenly signs. 'aturn
was of copper, +upiter of gold, <ars of iron, the 'un of lattern Ma yellow
metal li!e brassN, <ercury of amber, #enus of tin, and the <oon of silver.
The eyes were charmed, as well as the mind instructed, by beholding the
coloured circles, with the Jodiac and all its signs formed with wonderful
art of metals and precious stones, according to their several natures,
forms, figures and colours.
After the >orman con&uest a new flow of astrological material reached
:ngland with +ewish scholars from -rance and elsewhere who settled not
only in )ondon, Oford and 1ambridge, but in other large towns, bringing
with them boo!s which contained astrological lore, particularly from Arabic
and <oorish sources. There is a tradition that =illiam the 1on&ueror had
his own astrologer, who set the time for his coronation 4midday on
1hristmas 2ay, 1@665 % and astrologers claim that this was a particularly
auspicious moment, unli!ely to have been chosen at random, and ta!e it
as the moment for which to set up a general (horoscope( for :ngland.
$t was during =illiam(s reign that perhaps the most notable of 11th
century :nglish scholars was born, at *ath. <uch of the life of Adelard, or
Aethelhard, is dar! to us, although he certainly travelled etensively in
:urope, and perhaps further afield, for in one of his boo!s he says with
authority that (what the schools of ;aul do not !now, those beyond the
Alps reveal; what you do not learn among the )atins, well%informed
;reece will teach you.( 3e is fond, too, of &uoting from Arabic tets, and
does so, often, as though he is using verbal rather than literary sources.
Among his wor!s are many on mathematics, astronomy and alchemy. 3e
seems to have been somewhat strait%laced, or at least to have found the
atmosphere of :ngland uncongenial after his travels to more refined
lands, for on his return he finds the country under 3enry $ filled with
villainous fellowsB
,rinces are violent, prelates wine%bibbers, judges mercenary, patrons
inconstant, the common men flatterers, promise%ma!ers false, friends
envious, and everyone in general ambitious.
3e intends, he says, to settle down to serious wor!, and certainly did so.
3e translated several Arabic astrological wor!s, including some 4the tables
of al%9howari"mi, for instance5 which were directed at teaching the reader
to set up a horoscope. 3e would scarcely have done this had he not been
interested in the subject, or indeed had been unable himself to set up a
chart. 3is view was that the planets were (superior and divine animals(
66
which were (the causers and principle of inferior natures(. One who studied
then could understand the present and the past and predict the future. 3is
charming view of the stars as celestial pets etends to a consideration of
their food, which he believed consisted of the humidities of earth and
water, refined by a long journey through the upper air, and which by the
time they reached the planets were sufficiently light and ethereal not to
dull their wits or ma!e them put on weight.
Another treatise which was probably written by Adelard &uotes from
3ermes Trismegistus, ,tolemy, Apollonius and other ancient authorities,
and argues for the use of astrology in medicine, for its study ma!es for
better doctors than (the narrow medical man who thin!s of no effects
ecept those of inferior nature merely(. 3e also deals with the planets(
effects on animals and plants, and ascribes to them certain metals and
colours % and indeed religionsB the +ews are ruled by 'aturn, the Arabs by
<ars and #enus, 1hristianity by the 'un and +upiter 4for the 'un stands
for honesty, liberality and victory, and +upiter for peace, e&uity and
humanity5. The continual battles between the +ews, the <uslims and the
1hr!tians are eplained by the fact that neither <ars nor 'aturn is ever in
friendly relation with +upiter.
<ore or less contemporary with Adelard was =illiam of 1onches. 3e also
travelled etensively before becoming associated with the court of
;eoffrey ,lantagenet as tutor of his son, the future 9ing 3enry $$ of
:ngland, between 11/6 and 11/.. $nterestingly, =illiam is one of the first
scholars to attempt a definition of the difference between astronomy and
astrology. Authorities, he says, spea! of the planets in three waysB the
fabulous, the astrological and the astronomical. Those interested in fables
interpret the ;ree! myths as if they were astronomical. The astrologers
treat phenomena as they appear to be, whether accurately or no.
Astronomers deal with things as they are, whether they seem to be so or
not.
3e ta!es the argument no further, but does not seem to be intending to
denigrate astrology, for he goes on to mis&uote ,lato in support of the
theory that the planets control nature and the human body. The heavenly
bodies, he argues, heat the atmosphere, which in turn heats water % which
forms a fundamental part of all animal bodies % and so must affect every
living thing. 3e lists the planets and their &ualities and humours, and puts
forward some theories about how the principles were discovered, not only
suggesting practical but symbolic reasons. The ancients, he suggests,
discovered that 'aturn was a (cold( planet because when the 'un was
cooler than usual it was in 1ancer and in conjunction with 'aturn in the
same sign. *ut he also pointed out that 'aturn was said to carry a scythe
because a man who did so (did more eecution when receding than
advancing(. #enus was said to have committed adultery with <ars because
when those two planets were close together, <ars too! away some of
#enus( good influences.
67
$t has been suggested that 3enry $$(s interest in astrology, fostered by his
tutor =illiam of 1onches and by his father ;eoffrey, 1ount of Anjou, was
sufficient to ma!e him the patron of Abene"ra 41@.C%11665, a +ew from
Toledo, who came to :ngland in 1180 to lecture in )ondon and Oford. 3e
was also a poetB
The planets and stars in their courses
<ade way when $ first saw the light;
$f $ were a seller of candles
The 'un it would shine all the night.
$ try to succeed, but $ cannot,
-or the heavenly spheres oppose;
$f $ too! to winding%sheet sewing,
Then no%one would die, $ suppose.
Abene"ra seems to have had a pleasant sense of humour as well as
considerable fame as an astrologer%writer 4his 2e nativitatibus was
reprinted in the 18th and 16th centuries5. 3e lectured not only in :ngland
but all over :urope, and may briefly have occupied the chair of astrology
at the university of *ologna.
*oth Adelard and =illiam of 1onches were important in bringing to -rance
and :ngland more Arabic wor!s, some of which they translated, and some
of which they used as source material for their own boo!s. There were of
course other translators, many of whose names have been lost, though
we !now others % *artholomew of <essina, *urgundio of ,isa and
:ugenius, Admiral of 'icily, who translated from the ;ree!; :gidius de
Trebaldis of ,arma, Arnold of *arcelona and *lasius Armegandus of
<ontpellier, who translated from the Arabic, and so on. Through their
wor! a great stream of astrological !nowledge from Arabia made its way
westward % some translators, li!e ,edro Alfonso, claimed to be intent on
bringing !nowledge westward to save greater scholars than he the labour
of travelling so far to ac&uire the basis on which they could construct their
philosophies.
<ost translators and scholars believed in observation and eperiment as
well as the ac&uisition of !nowledge from boo!s. ,edro believed strongly
in eperience as a good masterB ($t has been proved by eperimental
argument(, he says, (that we can truly affirm that the 'un and <oon and
other planets eert their influences in earthly affairs... And indeed many
other innumerable things happen on earth in accordance with the courses
of the stars, and pass unnoticed by the senses of most men, but are
discovered and understood by the subtle acumen of learned men who are
s!illed in this art.( 3e was, incidentally, physician to 9ing 3enry $ of
:ngland, and left notes on astrological medicine. Twenty years after his
68
death, =alcher, ,rior of <alvern, made translations of all ,edro(s boo!s
into :nglish.
$t was during the 1Cth century that a great acceleration occurred in the
translation of astrological tets into )atin. *y 118@, most major tets were
available in that language % ,lato of Tivoli had translated the Tetrabiblos
4as the Guadripartitum5; +ohn of 'eville made a version of the
1entilo&uium, a series of astrological aphorisms attributed 4wrongly5 to
,tolemy, and translated Albumasar, Alchabitius and <essahala. And
;erard of 1romona 4111/%065 made over seventy translations from the
Arabic into the )atin, among them ,tolemy(s Almagest 4'yntais5, and two
previously un!nown wor!s of Aristotle, the <eteorologica and the
;eneratione et corruptione.
*y the end of the first decade of the 1Dth century, the complete wor!s of
Aristotle were for the first time available in =estern :urope in a language
that every scholar could read, and by 1C88, despite the misgivings of
some churchmen, they were accepted in the universities. This was a great
step forward for astrology, for it meant that no serious theologian would
now contest the fact that the processes of change and growth on earth
depended on the activities of the heavenly bodies; read the medieval
scholars on Aristotle, and we find them all % from Albertus <agnus to
Thomas A&uinas and 2ante % accepting the astrological theory which had
become a part of the philosopher(s arguments; if they held strongly to
free will as a cornerstone of 1hristian teaching, they could not now deny
Aristotle(s 4or, for that matter, Augustine(s5 admission that the planets
influenced human affairs. The 1hurch was forced to see astrology as a
science, and recogni"ed it while at the same time condemning magic.
Thomas A&uinas is eplicit in his 'umma theologiaeB
The majority of men ... are governed by their passions, which are
dependent upon bodily appetites; in these the influence of the stars is
clearly felt. -ew indeed are the wise who are capable of resisting their
animal instincts. Astrologers, conse&uently, are able to foretell the truth in
the majority of cases, especially when they underta!e general predictions.
$n particular predictions, they do not attain certainty, for nothing prevents
a man from resisting the dictates of his lower faculties. =herefore the
astrologers themselves are wont to say that (the wise man rules the stars(
forasmuch, namely, as he rules his own passions.
The spate of translations from the Arabic introduced a new element into
western astrology. ,tolemy in the Tetrabiblos had concerned himself
almost entirely with judicial astrology % using the positions of the planets
at the time of someone(s birth to loo! at the child(s future. 3e ignored two
aspects of astrology more important to the ArabsB interrogationes and
electiones. The first concerned itself with setting up a chart in order to
discover the answer to a &uestion % the identity of a thief, perhaps, or the
nature of a proposed marriage. The second was a way of discovering the
69
propitious moment for a certain action % the sailing of a vessel, the
starting of a business, the consummation of a marriage.
The election of a particular moment of time was much used by doctors to
discover the proper moment at which to apply medicine, perform an
operation, raise a patient from bed; in a sense it is still used in the C@th
century when at least some doctors choose to operate at phases of the
moon when a patient is li!ely to bleed less freely, or a blood donor
chooses to give his blood at full moon, when he bleeds more freely.
At least one Arabic wor! played an important part in determining the
philosophical attitude to astrology held by the :nglish churchB this was the
$ntroductorium in astronomiam of Albumasar, translated by 3erman of
2almatia who, with 7obert the :nglishman 47obert of 7etines5, travelled
in :urope in the 11/@s discovering astrological wor!s.
Albumasar(s wor! was particularly important to those concerned about
astrology(s relationship to free will. 3e claimed that while it was certainly
true that some things were unarguable % fire was hot, always had been
hot, and would continue to be hot % and there was no point in contention,
other elements in life were mutableB he was setting pen to paper today,
but might or might not continue to write tomorrow. The planets were
susceptible to reason, and their powers, divinely governed, could influence
both arguable and unarguable fact.
Translations of astrological boo!s made during the 1Cth century were
etremely influential and widely read. 'ome of them became profoundly
popular. *ernard 'ilvester, who wrote in the middle of the 1Cth century,
produced for instance three boo!s, each dealing with astrology, which
were very widely read indeed. 'ilvester(s :perimentarius was a verse
translation of a wor! on astrological geomancy 4a means of prediction by
which a number of points were dashed down at random, and then joined
together by lines, creating a number of shapes then used as a !ey to
certain constellations or sets of tables; the resident astrologer of an hotel
in Agra, $ndia, was using it still in 1.0C5. 3is <athematicus was a
narrative poem based on an astrological prediction, and 2e mundi
universitate, was about the stars themselves and their effect on the whole
of creation. The latter was, in the terms of its day, a runaway bestseller,
almost immediately accepted in the major schools of :urope, where
interestingly there is no record of even the slightest reaction against
'ilvester(s calling the planets (gods( % (gods who serve ;od in person( %
near enough to the 1reator to receive from him the secrets of the future,
which they impose upon (the lower species of the universe, by inevitable
necessity(. The whole of nature derived its life from the s!ies, and could
not move without instructions from on high % although at the same time
'ilvester spea!s of (what is free in the will and what is of necessity(;
somewhat confusing.
The <athematicus is perhaps the earliest wor! of fiction to depend entirely
on astrology for its plot, which tells of a 7oman !night and his lady whose
70
marriage is childless. The wife consults an astrologer, who predicts that
she will bear a son who will become a great genius and the ruler of 7ome,
but will one day !ill his father. The wife tells the husband, who ma!es her
promise to !ill the child in infancy. Of course, when she becomes pregnant
and gives birth to a son, she cannot bear to have him !illed, and sends
him away, assuring the husband that he is dead. The child, ,atricida 4so
named to ensure that he will hate the crime of patricide5 is intellectually
brilliant, learning (the orbits of the stars and how human fate is under the
stars( and (clasping divine Aristotle to his breast(. 3e grows up to be a
brilliant soldier, too, rescuing 7ome from the attac!ing 1arthaginians,
after which the !ing abdicates in his favour. 3is mother, understandably,
is both pleased for her son and anious for his father. 'he tells all to her
husband, who to her dismay goes to ,atricida and confesses how he had
once ordered him to be !illed, but had been overruled by the planets,
which would no doubt one day order the !ing to !ill his father. ,atricida
decides to commit suicide to save them both from fate; he summons the
7omans together, induces them to promise him anything, and then
announces that he wishes to die ... And here, alas, the intensely operatic
poem brea!s off, leaving us to construct our own version of what may
have happened.
The story was written, and ta!en, etremely seriously; critics who
suggested that it was a satire were for the most part 1hristian clerics
intent on producing anti%astrological polemics. There is no sign in the tet
itself to suggest that it was anything other than a straightforward tale,
and its many readers too! it as such.
:ngland produced no astrologers to compete in reputation with some of
those on the 1ontinent, although the universities taught the subject 4not
with as determined a conviction as that displayed at, say, the universities
of *ologna or ,adua5. :nglish travelling scholars brought news of the
latest developments of the study into the country % among them
Aleander >ec!ham 41186%1C185, who was a foster%brother of 7ichard $,
born on the same night as the !ing, and sharing his mother(s breasts with
his future sovereign. 3e grew up to be a distinguished scholar and Abbot
of 1irencester, and in his boo! 2e naturis rerum wrote about astrology,
astronomy and natural science in general. 7ichard is said to have written
(something on astrology(, but the manuscript has not survived.
That the peoples of *ritain as a whole were affected by astrological
prognostications cannot be doubtedB together with most other :uropeans
they were thrown into a panic, for instance, by the conjunction of planets
in )ibra announced for 1106. <ost astrologers predicted disastrous storms
4)ibra is an (air( sign5, with the result that many of their more credulous
listeners dug underground shelters in which to pass the crisis, and
services were held in many churches in an attempt to persuade the
1reator to overrule the planets.
71
Two :nglish writers, 7oger of 3oveden and *enedict of ,eterborough,
attempted to comfort their hearers by recalling that an ancient astrologer,
one 1orumphira, had predicted that only cities in sandy regions of the
earth would be affected; but 3oveden also pointed out that an :nglish
astrologer, =illiam, cler! to +ohn, 1onstable of 1hester, argued that
:ngland would be included in the area of devastation as it were by divine
intervention, and that (princes should be on their guard, to serve ;od and
flee the devil, so the )ord may avert their imminent punishments(.
As 'eptember 1106 approached, panic spread. A tract by a 'aracen
astrologer, ,haramella, critici"ing his western colleagues( calculations, and
arguing that the positions of <ars and #enus were such as to mitigate the
effects of the conjunction, was too late to comfort the superstitious. As it
happened, 'eptember was a rather mild and uneceptional month, and
the astrologers were forced to admit that they had been mista!enB the
conjunction did not provo!e storms at all % instead, it instigated the
victories of 'aladin in the 3oly )and in the following yearE
As the 1Cth century wore on, :nglish astrological writers continued to
consolidate ancient !nowledge into accepted tets. 2aniel of <orley did so
under the aegis of +ohn, *ishop of >orwich; 7oger of 3ereford a
contemporary, under that of ;ilbert -oliot, *ishop of 3ereford and later of
)ondon under 3enry $$. 2aniel wrote a boo! dealing very thoroughly with
astrology as it affected the weather, famine or plenty, events and the
history of the state, with the horoscope as it revealed the life of an
individual, then with its capacity for answering particular &uestions, and
finally with (elections(, or the choosing of a moment for a particular tas!.
The last, of course, was of use for instance when a ship(s master wanted
to !now an auspicious moment at which to set sail on an important
voyage % astrologers had already been used for centuries to predict such
moments, and would continue to be used so 4even by hard%headed
insurers5 for centuries to come.
=ith the 1Dth century came the first really notable court astrologer since
7oman times of whom we have a clear record % <ichael 'cot, who when
he died in the 1CD@s was astrologer to the 3oly 7oman :mperor,
-rederic! $$. There is a good anecdote about -rederic! $$, incidentally,
who during his lifetime seems to have employed a number of astrologers.
=hen one presented himself, he decided to set him a test, and as!ed, (*y
what gate shall $ leave the castle todayA( The astrologer wrote his reply,
sealed it, and told the :mperor not to open it until he was outside the
castle. -rederic! thereupon ordered a new eit to be made in the walls,
and left through the roughly cut hole. Opening the sealed message, he
readB (The !ing will leave today by a new way.( The astrologer was
engaged.
'cot was referred to by one contemporary as (a scrutini"er of the stars, an
augur, a soothsayer, a second Apollo(. #ery little is !nown of the life of
this 'cottish scholar and astrologer, but there is etensive evidence of the
72
way in which his mind wor!ed % a mind crammed with curious !nowledge
and odd theories 4that, for instance, since there are fourteen joints in the
fingers of the hand % and the reasons for that conclusion are not givenE %
man(s natural lifespan should be 1/@ years5. 3e discusses in a voluminous
$ntroduction to Astrology the theory and practice of ma!ing use of the
planets to discover ;od(s purpose for man, addressing himself to all the
old &uesions % how the stars are signs, not causes, and how they can be
used to discover (something of the truth concerning every body produced
in this corruptible world(. 3e castigates (superstitious astrologers( 4those
who used numerology or geomancy5, though he rather enjoys describing
such occult means of divination as the shapes of clouds or the appearance
of the surface of li&uids.
<uch of <ichael 'cot(s wor! is muddled and derivative, but he seems to
have done some original research % on, for instance, menstruation and the
phases of the <oon % and to have had a strongly felt belief that the
moment of conception was, if anything, more important than the moment
of birth.. A woman should always, he says, note the eact time of coitus,
when she may conceive, and goes into some detail about how different
positions in copulation can, with the aid of the positions of the planets,
have certain results at conception.
1harming magical and superstitious omens are liberally introduced into
more serious astrological theories. To discover the se of an unborn child,
as! the pregnarit woman to give you her hand. $f she offers the right, the
child will be a boy; if the left, a girl. $f a man snee"es two or four times
while engaged in business, and rises and wal!s about immediately, he will
prosper in the underta!ing; but snee"e twice in the night for three
successive nights, and you forecast death or disaster.
<any stories of wi"ardry and magic grew up around the figure of 'cot. A
rhyme told of his peculiar powersB
=hen he stampeth his foot in 'pain
The bells do ring in >otre 2ame.
And people whispered of his going about by riding a demon in shape of a
blac! horse. 3e is said to have foretold that he would die as the result of a
blow on the head, and to avoid this always wore a steel helmet. One day,
at church with the emperor, he was forced to remove it, whereupon a
small stone fell on his head and !illed him instantly.
'ome more prominent 1Dth%century figures had a merely peripheral
interest in astrology. *ut all had an interest. Albertus <agnus 411.D%1C0@,
for instance, one of the greatest scholastic philosophers of the <iddle
Ages, the teacher of 't Thomas A&uinas, wrote little directly about
astrology % yet his views on the subject come into most of his writings.
1learly, he shared the common belief that all earthly events were
governed by the motions of the planets; it is asserted again and again,
both obli&uely and overtly. 3e defends free will, of course, but
73
nevertheless asserts that a properly trained astrologer can, after studying
the positions of the planets within the "odiac at the moment of birth,
ma!e predictions for the whole life of the infant % within the
circumscription of what ;od allows. 3e asserts too that if an astrologer
suggests a career for a boy, it will be as well to place him in it, for
because of the planetary influence a special aptitude will be shown for it,
as against another occupation which parents might prefer but the planets
do not support. 4This illustrates how astrological theory was coagulatingB
astrological advice about careers for children had been given before % by
contemporaries of Aristotle, for instance % but was only now appearing in
commentaries and tetboo!s.5
't Thomas A&uinas 4c 1CC6%6/5, Albertus <agnus( pupil, was far less of a
scientist and more of a theologian, held in high esteem by the ,opes
Frban $# and 1lement $$$ and canoni"ed in 1DCD, less than half a century
after his death, by +ohn PP$$. 3e too! an attitude not unli!e that of
Albertus, denying that the stars were living beings, but claiming that no
intelligent man could doubt that all natural motions of inferior bodies are
caused by the movements of the planets and stars. 3e agreed too that
many astrologers had made true predictions, if with the caveat that many
others had made false onesE
7oger *acon 41C1/%./5, an :nglishman born in in 'omerset and educated
at Oford, had a troublesome relationship with the 1hurch, being twice
imprisoned for heresy. 3e mounted a violent attac! on magic and on
those who pretended to practise it; but he saw that some (magicians( were
in fact scientists seriously concerned to unravel the mysteries of
eistence; (scientific magic( was permissible. *ut he entirely accepted
astrology as eplained by Albertus and A&uinas, and too! much their view
of it, going somewhat further than them in arguing that the planets can
incline men to good or bad conduct, even if both might be modified by
free will.
3e spent &uite a lot of time considering the planets and their connection
with 1hristianityB the connection between <ercury and 1hristianity, for
instance % the fact that that planet is dominant in #irgo, suggesting the
#irgin, and the li!eness between <ercury(s eccentric orbit 4then so difficult
to trace5 and the mysterious course of the 1hristian 1reed. This theory
was clearly epressed, and the ,opes !new of it. *acon was, in fact, a
great believer in what we can only call astrological magicB he believed in
the efficacy of verbal and real charms, for instance, if made under the
proper planetary auspices, for they then stored up in them the strange
energy of the stars and of the human spirit. 3e &uotes a story of <oses
escaping from a compromising amour with an :thiopian princess by using
a ring which caused her to forget him. And he claims that many of the
miracles of the saints were performed by means of magic invocations
spo!en at the proper astrological moment.
74
The fact that astrology needed defending not against the 1hurch but
against some critics who put the word about that was anti%1hristian, is
underlined by the publication of a wor! attributed to Albertus, the
'peculum astronomiae, a lengthy defence of astrology and astronony
which seems to have been published round about 1C66, at a time when
'tephen, *ishop of ,aris, and a number of clerical advisers published a
condemnation of various opinions 4C1. of them, to be precise5 attributed
to ('ignor de *rabant, *oetius of 2enmar!, and others(. <any of these
(opinions( had to do with astrology % that 4an old suggestion5 the world
would begin again when all the planets returned to their original positions
at the time of the 1reation; that (the will and intellect are not moved in
acts by themselves but by an eternal cause, namely, the heavenly
bodies(; (that by certain signs men(s intentions and changes of mind are
!nown, and whether their intentions will be achieved; and that by such
figures are !nown the outcome of journeys, the captivity of men, their
freedom from captivity, and whether they will become sages or
scoundrels(; and (that 1hristianity hinders science(. =hether by intention
or coincidence, the 'peculum astronomiae answers most of them.
There are other less important and far less talented astrological writers of
the period whose names survive and whose boo!s were read for centuries,
despite often considerable inaccuracies and mista!es. +ohn 3olywood of
3alifa is a case in point. 3e was born at 3alifa, studied at Oford, and
settled in ,aris in about 1CD@; his name was latini"ed as +ohannes de
'acro *osco. 3is fame rested on a short boo!, Tractatus de sphaera,
which was copied and reprinted innumerable times, and printed and
reprinted in several translations from the original )atin right up until 16/6
% at least forty editions within a century % even after the many
astronomical errors had been pointed out. $t was used by 1haucer as
source material for his Treatise on the astrolabe, and many distinguished
scholars wrote commentaries on it.
*ut the most important astrological boo! published in )atin in the 1Dth
century was the )iber astronomicus of ;uido *onatti, the astrologer 2ante
described as one of the sufferers in the fourth division of the eighth circle
of the $nferno, among those spirits who in life had spent too much time
trying to predict the future, and were now condemed to pace about with
their heads on bac!wards.
*onatti, perhaps the most famous astrologer of the 1Dth century, made
his living by advising princes, and was for some time employed by ;uido
de <ontefeltro. =hen that prince was involved in a dispute that led to
military action, *onatti would climb to the top of the campanile of his
castle, and at the auspicious moment stri!e the bell once for the count
and his men to don their armour, again for them to mount their horses,
and a third time for them to ride forth to battle. -ilippo #illani, a
contemporary historian, claims that <ontefeltro won many a battle by
following his astrologer(s advice.
75
*onatti was absolutely forthright in his claims for his artB
All things Mhe saidN are !nown to the astrologer. All that has ta!en place in
the past, all that will happen in the future % everything is revealed to him,
since he !nows the effects of the heavenly motions which have been,
those which are, and those which will be, and since he !nows at what time
they will act, and what effects they ought to produce.
3is )iber astronomicus epresses the same modesty. 3e begins by stating
that his boo! will be (long and proli(, and indeed it is. 3e produced it after
a lifetime(s practical wor! as an astrologer % as a professor at the
Fniversity of *ologna. 3is defence was opinionated, firm and pert %
particularly where the opposition of some churchmen was concerned.
Astrologers, he claimed, !new a great deal more about the stars than
theologians !new about ;od, who preached about 3im every day.
Abraham had taught astrology to the :gyptians, 1hrist had used 4or at
least approved of using5 astrology to choose propitious moments for
certain tas!s 4(Are there not twelve hours in a dayA( he had as!ed the
disciples M+ohn P$..N, obviously meaning that one could choose a fortunate
time within them5; and churchmen who said that astrology was neither an
art nor a science were (silly fools(.
2espite this, his boo! had some useful tips for ambitious clergymen; he
lists various &uestions astrology can answer, and among them is whether
an en&uirer will ever attain the ran! of bishop, abbot, cardinal % or even
pope. This may have been a jo!e, although he goes on, very straight%
faced, to say that while it may not be proper for a clergyman to as! such
a &uestion, many did, and an astrologer should be prepared to give an
honest answer. Astrology could and should be used, too, to choose the
propitious moment for starting to build a church, just as it would be when
building a house or castle or city.
There remain two important :uropean astrologers to be mentioned before
the end of the century. The first, ,eter of Albano, who was born in 1C8@,
had a &uiet but distinguished career. 3e travelled somewhat in his youth
4to 'ardinia and 1onstantinople, and allegedly to 'pain, :ngland and
'cotland5, spent some time at the Fniversity of ,aris, where he was
admired by 'avanarola, then returned to $taly; was among those who met
and tal!ed to the great adventurer <arco ,olo on his return from the
Orient, and returned to ,adua to die there in 1D16, a highly paid
professor.
Apart from his astrological writings, he was between 1C08 and 1C06
physician to ,ope 3onorius $# 4he charged a hundred florins a day for his
services, a very considerable sum5, although this did not prevent him from
getting into trouble with the $n&uisition, which punished him after his
death by disinterring him and publicly burning his bones % not because of
his practice of astrology, however, but because of some unwise
speculations about the raising of )a"arus 4after only three days, he
concluded, rather than four5 and for &uestioning whether certain people
76
raised from the dead by 1hrist and the saints might not in fact merely
have been in a state of trance.
3is reputation as a physician was very great, and supported by such
authorities as 7egiomontanus as well as by the popularity of his boo!s on
medicine. $n his best%!nown boo!, the 1onciliator, he lists over C@@
&uestions which he has investigated, and after recalling the opinions of
others, gives his own conclusions on medical matters. *ut elsewhere in
the boo! he states a number of objections to astrology, and answers them
with similar forthrightness, ta!ing the standard view of the subject,
underlining the fact that it is a science. 1ertainly, some astrologers might
come to mista!en conclusions, sometimes because they were
incompetent; but a good astrologer would spea! the truth in most cases,
and very rarely fail to be accurate in his prognostications.
As to medicine, which was his chief preoccupation, those who pursued it
(as they should, and who industriously study the writings of their
predecessors, these grant that this science of astronomy is not only useful
but absolutely essential to medicine.( All potions should be administered
after a study of the planets( positions, and ,eter goes into great detail
about the theory of (critical days( and their relation, especially, to the
phases of the <oon. 3e discusses at some length whether blood%letting
should ta!e place at the first or some other &uarter of the <oon. 3e
certainly goes some way towards ascribing intelligence to the planets,
describing one of them, on one occasion, as (leading through all eternity a
life most sufficient unto itself, nor ever growing old(, and repeating a
theory that associated certain angels with certain planets % <ichael with
the 'un, 7aphael with <ercury, ;abriel with the <oon, and so on.
3owever, he did not go far enough down the road to heresy to forgo the
approval of the ,ope, or during his lifetime to have any real difficulty with
the $n&uisition.
1ecco d(Ascoli, on the other hand, was to become famous as the only
astrologer to be burned by the $n&uisition. ,ractically nothing is !nown of
his life and career; only that the two boo!s which caused his eecution
were a poem, )(Acerba, and a commentary on the 'phere of 'acro *osco.
)(Ascerba is really hardly here or there % a sort of parody of 2ante(s
$nferno; the 'phere commentary seems not in itself to be heretical.
2(Ascoli affirms man(s possession of free will, and offers no new or
etreme astrological theories to upset the authorities. *ut there are one or
two doubtful passages, in one of which he gives directions how the reader
can ma!e an image through which he can receive the messages of spirits
4though he condemns magic5.
3e did from time to time refer bitingly to living people, and may well have
made enemies. At all events, he was found guilty by the $n&uisition at
*ologna in 1DC/ of improper utterances, and given a fifteen day penance
of confession, a daily recital of thirty paternosters and thirty Ave <arias,
occasional fasting, and regular attendance at a sermon every 'unday. All
77
his astrological boo!s were ta!en from him, and he was forbidden to teach
astrology, deprived permanently of his professor(s chair and doctor(s
degree, and heavily fined.
Three years later he was again summoned before the $n&uisitor % this time
at -lorence found to be a relapsed heretic who had violated the terms of
his sentence 4how, we do not !now5, handed over to the secular arm, and
burned with his boo!s by )ord +acob of *rescia. Anyone found in
possession either of the poem or the commentary was automatically
ecommunicated.
=e would probably never have heard of 1ecco d(Ascoli if he had not been
burned; or, perhaps, he would have survived as a mere footnote in
astrological history. $ronically, he does not really seem to have perished
as a result of his astrological teaching or opinions, which were in no way
outrageous % nor did he ma!e such outrageous claims as that the earth
was not the centre of the universe, which would have upset the 1hurch.
,erhaps most people at the time suspected that personal enemies were
responsible for his fate; it was fairly obvious that it had nothing to do with
astrology. After all, his astrology was that of A&uinas and Albertus
<agnus, and the first had been canoni"ed four years before d(Ascoli(s pyre
was lit, while the second was shortly to be beatified.
<oreover, during the 1/th century astrology was all too often
commemorated by ecclesiastical and lay authorities in permanent and
respectable form to be anything but a recogni"able part of the fabric of
intellectual life. )oo!, for instance, at the capital of the eighteenth of the
thirty%si great pillars supporting the lower storey of the 2oge(s palace in
#enice, built in 1D@1. 7us!in described it as (the most interesting and
beautiful( capital he !new, (on the whole, the finest in :urope(. The
capitals are octagonal, and decorated by siteen leaves; on the eighteenth
capital are represented the planets in their houses, probably at the time
when the cornerstone of the palace was laid.
<ars in Aries and 'corpio is particularly effective, showing a very ugly
!night in chain mail with a scorpion in his hand, seated on a ram. #enus
sits on a bull, with a mirror in her right hand and scales in her left 4she
rules Taurus and )ibra5; the <oon appears as a woman in a boat on the
ocean, a crescent in her right hand, and drawing a crab 41ancer5 out of
the waves with her left. On the eighth side, ;od is represented creating
man, his hand on the head of a na!ed youth.
$ imagine the whole of this capital, the principal one of the old palace
M7us!in writes in The stones of #eniceN, to have been intended to signify
first, the formation of the planets for the service of man upon earth;
secondly, the entire subjugation of the fates and fortunes of man to the
will of ;od, as determined from the time when the earth and stars were
made, and, in fact, written in the volume of the stars themselves.
78
3e summari"ed the 1/th%century attitude to astrology, which was to
remain constant for the net three hundred years.
79
!irst Cause of Motion" Cruel !irment

The difficulty about tracing the development of astrology is the enormous
amount of evidence to be sifted. As one C@th%century writer, 2on
1ameron Allen, has put it, (The literature of astrology is as vast as the
history of man. >o one scholar can possibly hope to untangle all of its
intricately woven strands.( 4The 'tar%crossed 7enaissance, 1./15.
<r Allen was thin!ing in the main of boo!s on the theory and practice of
the subject, of (theological( arguments; but from the 1/th century
onwards, there is a proliferation of comments and allusions in non%
astrological literature, which has been sei"ed upon by adherents and
antagonists ali!e, as though to produce evidence that 2ante or
'ha!espeare or 1haucer were (believers( or not was to add something to
the argument. >evertheless, authors( use of astrology in their wor! is of
enormous value, for it tells us about the general public(s varied views on
the subject.
$t is difficult to discover, from a fictional wor!, the attitude towards
astrology of its author; the old trap of attributing to a writer the opinions
held by his characters yawns wide, and has swallowed many. And even if
a writer seems to be une&uivocally spea!ing in his own voice, there may
be doubt about his motives % especially if he contradicts himself. The
-rench poet :ustache 2eschamps 4c 1DD0%1/185, for instance, wrote two
ballades in which he claims that but for free will man would be completely
controlled by the stars. Ket elsewhere 4in his 2emonstracions contre
sortileges5 he inveighs against all sorts of divination, and ma!es free use
of the arguments of >icole Oresme, an opponent of astrology 4of whom
more later5.
=ith *occaccio 41D1D%685 as with his ac&uaintance, 1haucer, we come to
a man whose use of astrology in his wor! seems as good a mirror of the
general view as we are li!ely to find. 3is attitude is rather that of the
serious astrologers of later generationsB that is, when he says that <ars
and #enus map out, in a horoscope, the seual disposition of its subject,
he is not saying that those planets actually provo!e passion, but that
through their positions at the time of birth they influence the subject(s
attitude to love. $t would be difficult to claim *occaccio as a proselyti"er of
astrology, but it certainly could not be claimed that he was a serious
opponent.
2ante Alighieri 41C68%1DC15 had clearly read the wor! of *oethius, and
while in the $nferno he condemns some astrologers, in the ,aradiso he
positively celebrated astrology as the interpreter of the will of ;od. :ven
in the $nferno 2ante admits that the planets may ma!e man act 4()o cielo
i vostri movimenti ini"ia(5, while underlining the fact that from that
moment of action he is on his own. 3e also believed that it was the
80
positions of the planets that ma!e children different from their parents,
adding to inherited factors a new set of personality traits and inclinations.
,iers ,lowman, for many people today the earliest accessible :nglish
poem, written by =illiam )angland some time between 1D6@ and 1D..,
has in the earliest of its versions a sideswipe at astrology as (evil for to
!now(; but the third version betrays a clear belief in the influence of the
planets. $t has sometimes been suggested that the slighting earlier
reference was cut because of the general popularity of astrology and
)angland(s desire to populari"e his poem. A contemporary author, +ohn
*arbour, in his 1C68 poem about 7obert the *ruce, mistrusts astrology on
religious grounds, but on the other hand admits that the constellations
can incline a man to good or evil, and that an astrologer can tell a man(s
character from the positions of the planets at the time of his birth.
*ut it is with 1haucer 4c 1D/8%1/@@5 that we come to the first :nglish
writer whose wor! is from beginning to end shot through with astrology. $t
is possible to argue that he made use of the subject as a selling point, as
a popular ingredient in The 1anterbury Tales; but this is not a persuasive
point of view. $t is much more li!ely that he spo!e of astrological elements
in the characters in his poem for the very good reason that he saw them
as integral, and !new that by referring to them he made those characters
more real, made their actions more credible. =hich is not to say that he
was an astrologer, as some have claimed, or that he was a superstitious
fool, which a total acceptance of all the claims of astrology would have
made him.
The 1anterbury Tales 4$ use >evill 1oghill(s modern (translation(
throughout5 both opens and closes with an astrological referenceB the
,rologue announces that the pilgrimage begins when
the young sun
3is half%course in the sign of the 7am has run
and at the end of the poem, in The ,arson(s ,rologue, the pilgrims
approach the end of their journey as
the power of 'aturn
*egan to rise with )ibra ...
<ore use is made of astrology in some of the Tales than others. The
,arson(s ,rologue has that one brief reference, but in The 9night(s Tale,
astrology has a crucial effect on the charactersB there is a positive
astrological dispute when Arcite and ,alamon both as! for victory in a
fight, and Arcite is promised it.
$mmediately an uproar was begun
Over this granted boon in 3eaven above
As between #enus, fairest Gueen of )ove,
81
And the omnipotent <ars; it did not cease
Though +upiter was busy ma!ing peace,
Fntil their father 'aturn, pale and cold,
=ho !new so many stratagems of old,
'earched his eperience and found an art
To please the disputants on either part ...
(<y dearest daughter #enus,( said old 'aturn,
(<y heavenly orbit mar!s so wide a pattern
$t has more power than anyone can !now;
$n the wan sea $ drown and overthrow,
<ine is the prisoner in the dar!ling pit,
<ine are both nec! and noose that strangles it,
<ine the rebellion of the serfs astir,
The murmurings, the privy poisoner;
And $ do vengeance, $ send punishment,
And when $ am in )eo it is sent ...
$n The <an of )aw(s Tale we see an actual horoscope at wor!; the heroine
has agreed to an arranged marriage, but the <an of )aw sees that a
horoscope drawn up for the moment of departure from home for her
wedding reveals an unhappy futureB
-irst cause of motion, cruel firmament,
2riving the stars with thy diurnal sway
And hurling all from east to occident
That naturally would ta!e another way,
Thy crowding force set heaven in such array
That this her first, fierce journey must miscarry
And <ars will sway this marriage, if she marry.
O thou unfortunate obli&ue degree
Of the :cliptic, whence the cadent <ars,
Thrust from his proper angle, helplessly
-alls into 'corpio, dar!est house of starsE
O lord of war, whose influence debars
82
All hopeE O feeble )una, vainly !nit
To him, thrust forth from where thou shouldest sitE
And O imprudent :mperor of 7ome,
$s one time li!e another in such caseA
3addest thou no astrologer at home
To choose the favourable time and place
-or journeyingA...
>evill 1oghill has ta!en certain liberties in translation, introducing the sign
of 'corpio into the second verse $ &uote, for eample. $n the original this
verse begins
$nfortunat ascendent tortuos,
Of which the lord is helplees falle, alas,
Out of his angle into the der!este housE...
This seems to mean that the Ascendant, or sign rising over the eastern
hori"on at the moment for which the horoscope is cast, is an unfortunate
one. 'ince 1haucer refers to <ars, and it has a special influence when in
Aries, it seems li!ely that that was the Ascendant. 1oghill was presumably
advised to bring 'corpio in because that is the sign allied to the eighth
house, the house of death 4traditionally also ruled by <ars5. The <oon
4)una, in the 1oghill version5 is either in conjunction with or in aspect to
<ars, the (wic!ed( planet.
#ersifying an astrological chart is unli!ely to add to its clarity, but any
astrologer reading the verses would agree that poor 1ustance is unli!ely
to enjoy a happy wedding, and indeed as it turns out she not only fails to
get married at all, but just escapes massacre.
This is not the place for a detailed analysis of all the astrological allusions
in The 1anterbury Tales, but we cannot ignore the most famous, which
occur in The =ife of *ath(s Tale. Again, much play is made with the
horoscope % this time the natal horoscope, drawn up for the moment of
birth, rather than for some other moment of time in the life of an
individual. Once again the verse abbreviates and simplifies the horoscope;
not surprisingly, for a full horoscope would be far too comple to versify,
or even for a poet to use in contriving a character. The =ife of *ath uses
her horoscope to ecuse, or at least eplain, her happy seualityB
-or #enus sent me feeling from the stars
And my heart(s boldness came to me from <ars.
#enus gave me desire and lecherousness
And <ars my hardihood, or so $ guess,
83
*orn under Taurus and with <ars therein.
Alas, alas, that ever love was sinE
$ ever followed natural inclination
Fnder the power of my constellation
And was unable to deny, in truth,
<y chamber of #enus to a li!ely youth.
The mar! of <ars is still upon my face
And also in another privy place.
-or as $ may be saved by ;od above,
$ never used discretion when in love
*ut ever followed on my appetite
=hether the lad was short, long, blac! or white.
)ittle $ cared, if he was fond of me,
3ow poor he was, or what his ran! might be ...
$t is a vivid enough horoscope, however s!etchy. The Ascendant is Taurus,
and <ars is in that sign % a placing which contributes stubbornness, a hot
temper, perhaps even leading to violence, sensuousness and
possessiveness. $nterestingly, *occaccio 4who 1haucer !new5 was told by
Andalo di >egro, of ;enoa, that anyone born with <ars in Taurus would be
(venereal in all things(, and Abholi, an Arabian astrologer, pointed out that
<ars when in a (bad( position always portended the birth of a devious
person, and that #enus allied with it would produce a garrulous,
mendacious virago % a reasonable description of the =ife. 'he herself
ma!es the point that #enus gives her (desire and lecherousness(, though
she does not say in what position the planet was; perhaps in 'corpioA
$t is amusing that she refers to <ars( mar!, found upon her face and
elsewhere. There was often believed to be a correspondence between the
horoscope and the (mar!s of the body( % indeed, =illiam )illy, the 16th%
century astrologer, believed that the truth of astrology could be usefully
proved by telling someone where (the privy mar!s of the body( were to be
found, after merely consulting his or her birth chart; and claimed to have
done it himself.
As we will find again with 'ha!espeare, 1haucer was able to assume that
his readers had some technical !nowledge of astrology % far more than
any general reader today would have; they would !now what was meant
by allusions to the Ascendant, to planets (in angle(, to the houses, and so
on.
84
$t is certainly open to any reader to doubt whether, just because 1haucer
attributes a belief in astrology to characters in a wor! of fiction, he
necessarily accepted the theory himself. 3is Treatise on the Astrolabe,
written for his son 4and not, of course, a wor! of fiction5 seems to indicate
that he entirely rejected judicial astrology % the astrology that claimed to
be able to foretell the future. *ut at the same time it suggests that he
considered astrologia naturalis % the astrology that claims the planets
affect at least some significant areas of human life % &uite another matter.
<ay it not be significant, too, that at no point in The 1anterbury Tales
does he actually condemn astrology, even judicial astrology, as stupid, or
wic!ed, or mista!enA
$t would have been difficult for 1haucer to avoid ta!ing an interest in the
subject, whatever conclusions he eventually reached about it. -ew
thoughtful men could escape astrology, even if they wished. ,etrarch, who
was certainly capable of sharp gibes about superstition, and in his letters
to *occaccio was etremely caustic about indifferent astrologers,
corresponded with distinguished doctors about astrological medicine, and
in a letter to the :mperor 1harles $# confessed 4perhaps sycophantically5
that long ago an astrologer had promised that he would be on familiar
terms with the greatest rulers of his age. 'ome time after his death, an
historian claimed that ,etrarch was himself an astrologer, and had
predicted an earth&ua!e in Tuscany and the deaths of various great men.
Fnli!ely. *ut it should at least be noted that ,etrarch was far harder on
alchemy, magic in general, and the power of gems, than astrology.
The death at the sta!e of 1ecco d(Ascoli failed to dissuade any other men
from the study of astrology; and in fact it is notable that that study
flourished particularly among the friars of the <iddle Ages 4who were not
only theologians, but supporters and manipulators of the 3oly $n&uisition5.
Only a few years after d(Ascoli(s eecution, >iccolo di ,aganica, a
2ominican friar, published a boo! on medical astrology; he may have
been the astrologer who drew up the horoscope of +ohn the -earless, later
2u!e of *urgundy, at his birth in 1D61. 3is boo! was to be found in
,etrarch(s library. Another $talian 2ominican, *ishop Fgo de 1astello,
wrote and published a boo! on (critical days( in 1D80. This was particularly
addressed to physicians, and argued that it was far more accurate to fi
on the critical days of an illness by astrological means than simply to
watch for physical symptoms, describing too how to fi the position of the
<oon and interpret the planetary effects in the contet of particular
illnesses.
'ome scholars made a special study of astrological medicine, and wrote
voluminously on it. One such scholar was ;entile da -oligno, a severely
practical man whose lectures and writings were influential. 3is wor! was
not all astrological; he wrote about many aspects of medicine.
<uch of ;entile(s attention was given to the plague, of which he himself
died in 1D/0. This was the notorious *lac! 2eath, and his essay on it was
85
written at the commission of the Fniversity of ,erugia just as it was
attac!ing the city 4Augustine of Trent had written on the same subject
seven years earlier5. $t was, ;entile asserted, a sic!ness caused by certain
planetary dispositions % most astrologers suspected eclipses of the 'un
and <oon and conjunctions of 'aturn and <ars as prime movers,
especially when they occurred in one of the (human( signs of the "odiac.
The planets, then, it was suspected, produced a !ind of rotting of the air
which became poisonous when breathed into the lungs. ;entile made
various suggestions for combating the plague, some based on hygiene,
and etremely sensible; others based on perhaps less effective notions,
such as the drin!ing of potable gold.
Andalo di >egro was another theorist of astrological medicine, suggesting
how from the study of planetary positions you could tell whether a patient
would or would not recover from an illness, what the cause of that illness
was, the best times to administer laatives, for bleeding, operating, and
so on, and even suggesting, for the lay reader, the means of discovering
whether the doctor attending a patient was eperienced and honest, or
even whether though of an evil nature he might be li!ely to do the patient
good by accidentE $nterestingly enough, Andalo admits that the patient(s
horoscope is not li!ely to be helpful, because it is etremely unli!ely to be
accurate 4the difficulty of finding out the birth time of an ordinary,
undistinguished member of the general public was almost insuperable5.
*occaccio thought him a splendid man, and complimented him on his
grave deportment and vast !nowledge of the stars, who (since he has
travelled almost the whole surface of the earth, gaining eperience in
every climate and under every hori"on, !new by direct vision what we can
only learn from gossip.(
;eoffrey of <eau is said to have predicted the approach of the *lac!
2eath 4although to be fair there is no actual record of this5, allegedly
connecting it to the appearance of a notable comet in 1D18, another in
1DD6, and a conjunction of +upiter and 'aturn in 1DC8. 3e was obviously a
man of some reputation % he is named as one of the si physicians who
attended 1harles $# at his coronation in 1DC6, magnificently clothed in
fine furs at the !ing(s epense, and ta!ing precedence over the si
surgeons who attended.
;eoffrey seems to have wor!ed for some time at Oford, for it is from
there that he dates a wor! on the causes of the *lac! 2eath 4in which,
among other things, he suggests that because there were at the time few
stars of magnitude in the sign A&uarius, the plague attac!ed the
peasantry rather more violently than the nobility5. $n his wor! on the
comet of 1DD6, he points out that it was generated by <ars and 'aturn in
;emini, and therefore signalled infections of the blood, which suggested
4since ;emini was involved5 an epidemic of some !ind, perhaps
particularly affecting rulers and the clergy.
86
3e gave special attention to the contagious elements of the plague, why it
should attac! some people and not others, why rage in one street and
leave another unscathed. This was, of course, nothing to do with hygiene,
but could be eplained entirely by a study of the planets. As for remedy,
he advised people to !eep warm, not to eat or drin! too much, and to
encourage liberal perspiration two or three times a wee!. A patient could
be rubbed down with a solution of linseed and camomile coo!ed in wine,
and given spiced brandy. There is one etremely sensible piece of adviceB
(:veryone should avoid standing or tal!ing for any length of time with
anybody who has the sic!ness, for it is contagious, poisonous and deadly
in every way(.
Another strong adherent of astrological medicine was the remar!able ;uy
de 1hauliac, born at the turn of the century, an ordinary peasant boy
ta!en up by the local nobility and given an education. 3e became a canon
and provost of 't +ust at )yons, and physician to three ,opesB 1lement #$,
$nnocent #$ and Frban #. =hile serving them in their palace at Avignon,
he met and became a friend of ,etrarch. 3is interest in medicine was
compulsive, and among his writings is one of the most comprehensive
treatises on surgery to have survived from his time. <uch of his wor! was
sound and original 4he was the first surgeon we !now to have used a
catheter to diagnose stone in the bladder5.
3e, li!e ;eoffrey, ascribed the *lac! 2eath to the 1D/8 conjunction of the
three superior planets in A&uarius, entirely accepted the connection
between various "odiacal signs and certain areas of the body, advised the
use of the planets to time the administration of purgatives or bleeding,
noted (critical days(, and produced such astrological aphorisms as (A
wound in the nec! while the <oon is in Taurus will always be dangerous(E
Another use of astrology emphasi"ed in the 1D@@s and 1/@@s was in
weather forecasting. The meteorologists of the <iddle Ages observed
astronomical tables rather than barometric pressure; with agriculture
playing so important a part in national economies, it was natural that
astrologers should turn their attention to weather forecasting % the
prediction of fine weather, storms, rain or flood. One of the earliest
:nglish astrological meteorologists was one 7obert of Kor!, a friar who
lived in the first half of the 1/th century 4he may have died of the plague
in 1D/85.
7obert seems to have published, at Kor! in 1DC8, a wor! on weather
prediction into which a great deal of original thought had gone; after a
long preamble about the nature of the four elements and their relationship
to terrestrial weather, he provides rules for predicting rain, frost, hail,
snow, thunder, wind and tides, and for good measure earth&ua!e,
pestilence, wars and rebellions.
=illiam <erlee, or <orley, a fellow of <erton 1ollege, Oford, and a
)incolnshire rector 4who died in 1D/65 was not only an astrological
weather forecaster, but is the first :nglishman of whom we hear who !ept
87
a detailed record of the weather 4over seven years5. Fsing these records,
he compiled a discourse on meteorology which went into twelve chapters,
in which he not only discusses the signs of good or bad weather but
interprets them. $t is an intensely empirical wor!, and <erlee ma!es use
not only of his own observations, but those of farmers, seamen, and
others depending on the weather. At least one continental :uropean
produced a parallel studyB :nno of =ur"burg published a very similar wor!
during which he shows how he was able to forecast heavy snows, storms,
high winds and other phenomena.
;eneral astrological wor! continued at all levelsB at the highest, )eo
3ebreus made predictions for ,ope *enedict P$$ and for 1lement #$, and
+ohn de <urs was commissioned by the latter to produce an astrological
calendar, and allegedly forecast the ,ope(s death in 1D8C. 2e <urs was a
considerable astronomer, and agitated for calendar reform.
$n :ngland, +ohn :schenden 4we choose, arbitrarily, one of at least
fourteen alternative spellings of his name5 produced a number of
astrological wor!s which are close to the almanacs that were to proliferate
in the 16th century and laterB he forecast such general results of
astronomical activity that almost anything that happened could be verified
by reference to his wor!. -or instance, as a result of the total eclipse of
the <oon of C@ <arch 1D/8, and the conjunction of the three superior
planets % which according to ;eoffrey of <eau and ;uy de 1hauliac
signalled the approach of the plague % :schenden predicted diseases for
men and beasts, death and many wars, cold, rain and snow, violent
winds, rotten%ness in the air, worm%eaten crops, the sic!ness of domestic
beasts, the birth of several men of genius, ill behaviour within the 1hurch,
wind and thunder, robberies, shipwrec!s, drought, arson, great heat,
thunderbolts and (much cold and heat in their seasons(.
Apart from all this, serious theological argument continued, if not at very
high pressure. The most notable :nglish participant was Thomas
*radwardine 4c 1C.@%$D/.5, !nown as (the profound doctor(, 1hancellor of
Oford Fniversity and ,rofessor of 2ivinity, chaplain and confessor to
:dward $$$, and in 1D/. Archbishop of 1anterbury 4though he died only a
month after his consecration5.
$n *e causa 2ei, *radwardine advanced all the well%tried objections to
astrology 4more or less recapitulated from Augustine and other early
authorities5. *ut once having made it &uite clear where he stood on
fatalism, he put up a rather spectacular defence of astrology, totally
approving ,tolemy(s approach to the subject, and suggesting that it is a
positive 1hristian duty to consider the effect the planets have on man(s
character, and to foster the good traits they have implanted while
suppressing the evil ones. 3e gives the eample of a merchant he once
met, who confessed to him that the planets at the time of his birth
indicated homoseual lust. *ut by application, he had overcome this.
*radwardine also &uotes from a wor! attributed to Aristotle which told of
88
3ippocrates visiting a physiognomist, being told that his face was that of a
wanton deceiver, and admitting that he had perceived these traits in
himself through a study of his horoscope, and had stifled them. 'umming
up, *radwardine suggests that all theologians should study astrology, the
science of celestial things and therefore the science closest to ;od.
This was by no means the unanimous view of all theologians. +ohn
=ycliffe 4c 1DC@%0/5, the man who instituted the first complete :nglish
translation of the *ible, studied astrology &uite closely, and apparently
came to the conclusion that it was unimportant rather than positively evil.
=hen he spo!e of it, as he did in his sermons, it was as a subject which
was futile; it was a waste of time for friars to study (vain sophystry and
astronomy( rather than the *ible % although it must be said that his
arguments, which include an attac! on astrologers for not being able to
eplain whether angels regulated the movements of the planets, and the
accusation that +oshua(s causing the 'un to stand still in the s!y made a
nonsense of the whole astrological theory, are not of the !eenest.
A much more coherent, dangerous opponent of astrology was >icole
Oresme, a theological student from ,aris who became head of the 1ollege
of >avarre, and was at his death *ishop of )isieu. 3e seems to have
been particularly concerned at the too great reliance placed on astrology
and divination by princes, though he was far from condemning the whole
idea of astrology. $n one short treatise he seems to be trying to prove that
on the whole those princes much devoted to astrology were unfortunate in
their lives; but in the same essay he carefully discriminates between
(good( and (bad( astrology. <ost opponents repeated 4and still repeat5 the
old anti%astrological arguments. Oresme was a little more original. 3e
argued that as it was impossible fully to predict the movements of the
planets and stars, so it was obviously impossible to use them for
prediction. 3e claimed, not producing any great body of evidence, that the
*ible condemned astrology; attac!ed it as an ineact and often fallacious
science; and claimed that, anyway, astrologers did not !now nearly
enough about the effects of the planets to be able to draw any firm
conclusions about them.
One point he ma!es very clearly would appeal to most modern
astrologersB he disclaims any idea that the planets or stars could have any
occult effect on man. $f there is an influence, he says, it must be material
% the result of light and heat, he thought. <odern astrologers would
mostly say, rather, that any planetary effect is the result of some very
real but so far unfathomed force 4similar in nature to that of gravity5, but
would agree with Oresme that whatever that force is, it is certainly not
occult.
3e recapitulates the familiar argument about the birth of twins, the
different deaths of people born at different times, and so on. As far as the
mustering of a large body of argument is concerned, he seems most
89
determined of all opponents of astrology. And yet % and this illustrates the
continuing general attitude as strongly as anything % he concludesB
$ say that the prince and any other person should greatly honour true
students in astrology who ma!e tables of observations and critical rules
for judgements and those who !now how to consider scientifically the
natures of things, discriminating the true from the false,
and consents to the propositions that many of men(s actions would not
ta!e place if (the s!y( did not prompt them; that astrological weather
prediction was possible 4if often inaccurate5, that the planets seemed to
influence certain general activities such as political or religious
movements. 3e was not an easy man to foolB when he eperimented with
(elections( % the setting up of a chart for the moment of time, in order to
determine an action or an attitude % and failed, he complained to an
astrologer, and was told that there were factors in his own horoscope
which showed that he would not be good at that aspect of the subject.
(And why(, he en&uired tartly and with reason, (did you not tell me that in
the first placeA( The fact that despite his antagonism he was forced to
conclude that there were aspects of astrology deserving respect has a
certain force.
Oresme(s arguments were certainly familiar to his patron 1harles # of
-rance 41DD6%0@5 % 1harles the =ise, as he was called % who collected a
notable library at the )ouvre 4it became the foundation of the *ibliotQ&ue
7oyale5, and whose other scholarly advisers included 7aoul de ,resles,
,hilippe de <LsiQres and a large number of astrologers. 3e was not the
only monarch, of course, to find the subject of interest. =hen 9ing +ohn of
-rance came to grief at ,oitiers in 1D86, he spent his subse&uent captivity
tal!ing with an astrologer who had been brought by the :nglish from
*ourges because his predictions were so accurate.
The whole 3undred Kears =ar was conducted amid a cacophony of
prediction and advice from astrologers. +ac&ues de 'aint AndrL, a canon
of Tours 4later to become a friend of 9ing +ohn5 firmly predicted the victor
of 1ocherel in 1D6/; Thomelin de Turgof, an :nglish captain, had even
earlier selected du ;uescim as the victor of 1ocherel. Kves de 'aint
*ranchier accompanied the 1onstable of -rance into battle, and selected
the precise moment when he should launch his attac!s. +ac&ues de
<ontciclat predicted the deaths of du ;uesclin and 9ing +ohn. 1harles the
=ise himself employed ,ierre de #alois of 1oucy, who had also wor!ed in
:ngland, and AndrL de 'ully, who forecast the battle of April 1D66 in
'pain and drew up the horoscopes of 1harles( three sons, 1harles, )ouis
and +ohn.
*ut there are lesser astrologers whose names have not survived, who
wor!ed at a lower level among the troops, predicting the success or failure
of this battle or of that; many of them just such cheapjac!s as sprang up
at the sign of any disaster, to predict illness, recovery, death, to the
gullible who wanted to !now what the future held.
90
1harles himself, whatever Oresme(s attempts to wean him from reliance
on the planets, seems to have conducted much of his private as well as
his public life on the advice of his astrologers % who for instance drew up
the horoscopes of himself and his fiancLe before their marriage. 3e is
!nown to have read ,tolemy, Albenragel, ;uido *onatti, as well as more
modern writers, and founded a college for the study of astrology and
astrological medicine at the Fniversity of ,aris, giving it a good library, a
fine collection of astronomical instruments, and several scholarships.
Of course there were occasional failures, some risible. On one occasion
astrologers ordered a !night to prepare his arms for a duel at a particular
moment of time which would ensure his success. 3e did so, only to find
that at the moment when the conflict was to begin, it poured with rain,
and the whole thing was called off. =ell, at least he escaped death or
injury, which was success of a sort.
As the 1/th century ends, there is still no real sign of a diminution of the
powers of astrologers. The -rench and :nglish courts, the *ohemian court,
the ;erman court all relied on them to some etent, and it is difficult not
to see serious attac!s on them as uncharacteristic and even eccentric %
ecept for jo!es at the epense of the over%credulous; such as that of
'ebastian *rant, in his 2as >arrenschiff 4'hip of fools5, first published in
1/./ in *asel. This long satirical wor! sees the whole world as populated
by fools, and attac!s dishonest coo!s, croo!ed lawyers, jerry%builders,
blasphemers, cheating tradesmen, adulterous wives, with e&ually
splenetic vigour. Astrologers, or (star%ga"ers(, were among his targets 4as
these lines, from =illiam ;illis(s translation, illustrate5B
The stars, they say, aren(t independent,
:vents both great and small attendant
Fpon them; every flea%brain notion
$s read in each celestial motionB
=hat he should say and what advise.
And will his fortunes sin! or rise,
3is plans, his actions, well or sic!
Outrageous hocus%pocus tric!.
The world, which grows more stultified,
To trust in fools is satisfied.
The traffic in these divinations
Appeals to printers( inclinations;
They print as much as fools can bring,
91
:ach shameful word dolts say or sing.
The public(s failure to reprove it
<ust witness that the fol! approve it ...
92
#uccess $ and the Beginning of !ailure
2uring -ebruary 18C/ there was a conjunction of all the planets in the
water sign of ,isces. One +ohann 'toeffler of +ustingen noted in his 18CC
almanac that this was nothing to loo! forward to, for (in the month of
-ebruary will occur twenty conjunctions, small, mean and great, of which
siteen will occupy a watery sign, signifying to well%nigh the whole world,
climates, !ingdoms, provinces, estates, signitories, brutes, beasts of the
sea, and to all dwellers on earth indubitable mutation, variation and
alteration such as we have scarce perceived for many centuries from
historigraphers and our elders.(
$f 'toeffler was the first astrologer to warn of this coming planetary
activity, others were not slow to follow; over fifty of them published more
than a hundred boo!s and pamphlets worrying the fact over, many
prophesying the second -lood, although some too! a more moderate view.
Agostino >ifo, for instance, suggested that while there was certainly li!ely
to be more rain than usual, +upiter(s predominance over 'aturn strongly
suggested that this would be beneficial rather than destructive; there
certainly might be flooding, however, and a watch should be !ept. On the
whole, the more serious%minded astrologers agreed with him, leaving
prophesies of deluge and disaster 4often lin!ed with war and bloodshed5
to sensation mongers, of whom there were plenty.
-ebruary 18C/ passed in fair weather. The astrologers of *ologna, where
the university supported a strong astrological faculty, were distinctly
surprised. 3owever, their mista!e seemed to be one of timing, or perhaps
it was simply that the effects of the conjunction were slow to be felt, for
on 1. <arch there was heavy rain in the city, and from 1C <ay prayers
were said continuously for three days in an attempt to stop the torrent.
On C1 <ay, the citi"ens rang the bells in the steeples of *ologna in an
attempt to mitigate the effects of the storms; four days later they were
rung twice in one day, and on 1C +une rung again. That night there was
an hour%long storm of such ferocity that the citi"ens were terrified. On D@
+une the bells once more fought the wind, and on 1/ +uly the clergy
struggled through a thunderstorm to ring them again. On C@, CC and CD
+uly, they were rung in an attempt to brea! up a storm during which
hailstones as big as hens( eggs pelted the streets.
At the end of August houses had to be abandoned because of the floods,
which drowned much farm stoc!. There were prayers against rain in
'eptember, during October and >ovember streams and rivers overflowed
and dowsed the countryside, and it was not until 2ecember that the rains
finally subsided. -ar from announcing that they had told the people so, the
astrologers began to &uarrel among themselves as to why they had not
been able to predict more accurately the course of the storms.
93
2uring the 16th century astrology more than ever commanded the
attention of the ,opes. +ust after the turn of the century, +ulius $$ was
receiving predictions from Antonio 1ampana""o. )eo P 4181D%C1, the son
of )oren"o de( <edici, the <agnificent5 relied greatly on his personal
astrologer, -ranciscus ,riulus, who wrote a whole boo! about his patron(s
birth chart, and had apparently been able to tell the ,ope many facts
about his childhood which only he had !nown. )eo always claimed that
,riulus was able to ma!e predictions accurate to the very day; and all in
all it must have been a considerable shoc! when the astrologer !illed
himself % an act in the commission of which he showed great
determination, for failing to drown himself, jump into a fire, cut his throat
with a scythe and jump out of a window, he finally starved himself to
death. )eo then turned for advice to ,ellegrino ,risciano of -errara,
Thomas ,hilologus, 1astaneolus, >ifo and *ernard ,ortinarius.
)eo(s successors, Adrian #$ and 1lement #$$, at the least allowed
astrological almanacs to be dedicated to them. ,aul 111418D/%/.5
positively encouraged astrologers to come to 7ome and wor! under his
protection, and on assuming the pontificate installed as unofficial
astrologer to the papacy the well%!nown practitioner )uca ;aurico, who he
made a bishop. ;aurico engaged in various minor controversies about the
life of +esus 4the date of the crucifiion, the number of hours between it
and the resurrection, and so on5, but was used by the ,ope in the main
for such practical matters as electing the precise time at which the
cornerstone of new buildings in the neighbourhood of 't ,eter(s should be
laid 4the astrologer turned up in great pomp, with a splendidly robed
assistant, #incentius 1ampanatius of *ologna, to cry out in a loud voice
when the moment had arrived, when a cardinal laid the marble slab5.
$t must be admitted that ,ope ,aul $$$(s personality was not such that his
devotion to astrology can be claimed as contributing to its respectability,
for he claimed the efficiency in amorous affairs of a unicorn(s horn
purchased for 1C,@@@ gold pieces, was etremely superstitious, and
addicted to chiromancy. 3e also had the ill grace to die twelve years
earlier than the year elected for that event by his last astrologer, <arius
Alterius. Alterius( prediction that he would live to be a hearty .D was no
doubt part of a general scheme to !eep the old man happy % how else to
eplain the prediction that a ,ope in his 0Drd year would eperience in
18/0 a year of success with women, who would bring him erotic
diversions (which will overwhelm your spirit with singular pleasure(A
,aul(s favourite, ;aurico, had a notable school of astrology at -errara,
where he tutored many of the century(s best%!nown astrologers. Astrology
was taught not only at private schools but at the universities; perhaps the
best eample of this in the 16th century was to be seen at *ologna,
whence the professors sent forth many annual volumes of predictions.
*etween 18@1 and 18C0 +acobus *enatius lectured on astrology daily,
together with a colleague, lacobus ,etramellarius, a doctor in arts and
medicine who had taught astrology there since 1/.6.
94
>o one at *ologna would have thought of wasting time arguing for the
intellectual respectability of astrology. This was now ta!en for granted,
and at most there was an occasional sarcastic thrust at (those who
persuade themselves that a most noble body such as the s!y effects
nothing in these inferiors but produced merely light, and through light,
heat.( :lsewhere there was a similar attitude. At the Fniversity of ,aris
astrology was so thoroughly embedded in the curriculum that in 181C
;aurico was seriously thin!ing of leaving $taly and going to ,aris to wor!,
on the grounds that the university there was more thoroughly committed
to it. $ndeed there was a lengthy tradition, and in 1/D6 the university had
decreed that all physicians and surgeons must possess a copy of the
current almanac for use as a medical tetboo!. +ean Avis produced annual
almanacs for the medical faculty for forty years. Ket historians have
claimed that the theological faculty at ,aris was opposed to the teaching
of astrology, which was never the case.
<any monarchs of :urope competed for the services of 7egiomontanus
41/D6%665, an immensely distinguished astronomer and astrologer, and in
-rance >ostradamus 418@D%665, whose fame rested and still rests on
gnomic pronouncements of future doom couched in symbols so obscure
that any interpretation can be placed on them, led a group of astrologers
which much influenced 3enry $$(s widow, 1atherine de( <edici. 3enry $#
ensured that an astrologer was present at the birth of his son, the future
)ouis P$$$, who in turn ordered +ean *aptiste <orin 4180D%16865 to attend
at the birth of his son, the future )ouis P$#. )ater, <orin hid behind the
curtains of the royal bedroom to observe the precise moment at which the
young )ouis P$# and his bride consummated their marriage, so that he
could wor! out the conception horoscope of any future 2auphin who might
be born as a result of the coupling.
$n 'pain, an astrologer advised ,hilip $$ against a planned visit to <ary
Tudor in :ngland, on the grounds that his charts showed a deep plot
against ,hilip. 4$n :ngland, as we shall see, <ary had her own astrological
adviser.5 7udolf $$, the 3apsburg :mperor, was patron of several
astrologers. And in :ngland, the tradition started by the 1on&ueror
continued, for most monarchs had an interest in the planets and their
auguries. 3enry #$ consulted a <aster =elch about the time of his
coronation, and later engaged 7ichard de #inderose, an :nglishman
trained in -rance, as his court astrologer. :dward $# favoured a <aster
:ustache, and 3enry #$$ and :dward #$ relied on two $talians, =illiam
,arron and the famous +erome 1ardan 418@1%665, mathematician and
physician as well as astrologer, the first man to suggest teaching the blind
to read by touch, who for some time attended Archbishop +ohn 3amilton
at 't Andrews. $n the 18C@s, +ohn 7obyns, a -ellow of All 'ouls, Oford
4and later chaplain to 3enry #$$$ and canon of 1hristchurch and =indsor5
addressed his !ing on the matter of comets, and even went to =oodstoc!
and *uc!ingham to continue discussion of the matter with 3enry, himself
no mean mathematician, and so able to follow the astronomical
95
calculations. The !ing was far from unsympathetic to astrology, positively
precluding his bishops from preaching against it, and accepting advice
from a visiting ;erman astrologer, >icholas 9rat"er, as well as from
7obyns. =hether or not 1ardinal =olsey actually set up 3enry(s chart in
order the better to curry favour with him is not proven, but rumour
certainly had it so, and =olsey too! astrological advice in other matters.
After 3enry(s death, 1ardan came to :ngland epressly to calculate the
chart of :dward #$ 4and incidentally that of his tutor +ohn 1he!e5; the
'ecretary of 'tate, 'ir =illiam ,aget, received the dedication of a boo! by
*onatus, and 'ir Thomas 'mith, who was to become 'ecretaryof 'tate,
was so ta!en by astrology that he could (scarce sleep at night from
thin!ing of it(.
There was little oppositionB astrology was still occasionally a matter for
satire or blunt humour, but the greatest minds of the time were at least
open on the subject. 'ir Thomas <ore made a few wea! jo!es 4about the
astrologer who could not predict his wife(s infidelity, for instance, and such
childishness5 but went no further. :rasmus, on the other hand, always
eager to attac! superstition, not only consulted astrologers but even
himself invo!ed the planets 4as, for instance, the cause of certain
intellectual disputes at the Fniversity of )ouvain in 181.5.
And what of the great astronomersA % for we are, after all, in the century
of 1opernicus, Tycho *rahe, 9epler and ;alileo. They regarded astrology
as part of their discipline; they could set up and interpret astrological
charts, and to some etent used astrology either to gain !nowledge 4as
they saw it5 or to ma!e money.
The ,olish astronomer >icolaus 1opernicus 41/6D%18/D5, whose 2e
revolutionibus orbium coelestium put forward in 18/D the theory 4far from
a new one, of course5 that the 'un was at the centre of the planetary
system, had astrological wor!s in his library, and well%thumbed ones at
that. 2e revolutionibus is entirely astronomical, with not a word of
astrology in it, and critics have made much of this; but after all, there is
not a word of astrology in ,tolemy(s Almagest, which did not inhibit him as
author of the Tetrabiblos.
The appearance of a bright new star in the s!ies in >ovember 186C
provo!ed Tycho *rahe 418/6%16@15 to spend a great deal of time in
astronomical and astrological speculation. 3e wrote several pages on its
astrological significance, which he thought would be greater than that of
any previously eperienced conjunction of planets. 3e thought it probably
signalled considerable political upheaval, and perhaps religious changes.
3is considerable interest in astrology seems to have been sharpened by
the new star. )ecturing on mathematics to the Fniversity of 1openhagen
two years later, he spent much of his time defending astrology, and
arguing that while it was not a science which could be compared for
certainty of effect with those of geometry or astronomy, it was none the
less one it would be foolish to discount. As the years went on, his interest
96
continued, and even increased. 3e drew up birth charts for members of
the 2anish royal family, ma!ing his own astronomical observations on
which to base them, rather than relying on eisting ephemerides. 3e had
some doubts about the dubious practice of assigning "odiacal influences to
cities or countries, but apparently none about the human significance of
the planets( positions at birth.
The ;erman astrologer +ohannes 9epler 41861%16D@5 was always
fascinated by astrologyB his own (horoscope boo!(, which he !ept
religiously as a student, has given us most of our information about his
early years. At ;ra", in 18./, he too! up the post of the teacher of
mathematics and astronomy, and there produced four almanacs % for
which he was paid C@ florins a time, a useful addition to an annual salary
of only 18@ florins. 3e was either a very good astrologer or a very
fortunate man, for in his first almanac he phophesied very cold weather
and an invasion by the Tur!s. *oth duly occurredB it was so cold 4he
assured a correspondent5 that people died of it; when they blew their
noses, those noses fell off. At the same time, promptly on $ +anuary, the
Tur!s marched in, destroying much of the country between #ienna and
>eustadt.
-or the rest of his life, whether he li!ed it or not 4and though he
occasionally protested, there is no real evidence that he was seriously
concerned5 he was to some etent a professional astrologer. 'ome of his
apparently anti%astrological gibes are well%!nownB the one about astrology
being the stepdaughter of astronomy, or about his being forced by
economic necessity to put a foot into a dirty puddle. *ut these seem born
of impatience rather than anything else, and there is no doubt that he
too! the subject seriously. $n the introduction to Tertius interveniens he
warns readers that while justly rejecting the starga"ers( superstitions,
they should not throw out the baby with the bathwater, for nothing eists
nor happens in the visible s!y that is not sensed in some hidden manner
by the faculties of :arth and >ature, Mso thatN these faculties of the spirit
here on earth are as much affected as the s!y itself.
9epler pu""led over the nature of the planetary effect on man for the rest
of his life, never ceasing to inveigh against the &uac!s, but never for a
moment doubting that within what he saw as a very debased science, a
grain of truth resided % and more than a grainB his attitude in general was
that the planets gave a general shape to man(s character,
in the manner of loops which a peasant ties at random around pump!ins
in a field; they do not cause the pump!in to grow, but they determine its
shape. The same applies to the s!yB it does not endow a man with his
habits, history, happiness, children, riches or a wife, but it moulds his
condition ...
$n :ngland, the only man whose mind could be compared with that of
9epler or *rahe was that astonishing :li"abethan +ohn 2ee 418C6%16@05.
3ad he resisted a fascination with magic, his reputation would stand
97
higher than it does; even so, no one doubts his accomplishments as a
navigator, a mathematician and a philosopher, even if in the end his
adventures into the occult led him into the hands of the master%&uac!
:dward 9elley, and the barren fields of alchemy and angel%raising.
2ee was born at <ortla!e, the son of a minor servant at the court of
3enry #$$$. 3e showed an early mathematical bent, and after a primary
education at school in 1helmsford went up to 't +ohn(s, 1ambridge, and
there studied intensively % and also laid the foundations of his reputation
as a magician by devising a flying machine for a college production of
Aristophanes( ,a so real that the audience suspected witchcraft.
3is major interests were mathematics and navigation, and he went on to
study them at the Fniversity of )ouvain. The study of navigation obviously
re&uired deterity in mathematics, and in astronomy, and 2ee claims that
by the time he left 1ambridge for )ouvain he had already (ta!en
thousands of observations of the heavenly influences and operations in
this elemental portion of the world(. *ut at )ouvain his reputation was as a
logician; many distinguished men were soon travelling to the university to
hear him lecture. *ac! in :ngland % via ,aris and 7heims, where he also
lectured with enormous success, students perching halfway up the walls of
the college to hear him % he accepted a pension of a hundred crowns a
year from :dward #$, and achieved the patronage of the 2uchess of
>orthumberland, whose husband was 1hancellor of 1ambridge Fniversity.
$t was at this time, in the 188@s, that we first hear of 2ee as a caster of
horoscopes; he may have begun to use them as part of a general interest
in medicine. At all events, his diaries begin to be full of charts and notes
upon them, some amusingB
<rs *rigit 1oo!, born about seven of the cloc! on 't 2avid(s 2ay, which is
the first day of <arch, being =ednesday, but $ cannot yet learn whether it
was before noon or after. *ut she thin!eth herself to be but C6 years
old ... but it cannot be so.
2ee(s view of astrology was very much that of 9eplerB it was
an art mathematical, which reasonably demonstrateth the operations and
effects of the natural beams of light, and secret influences of the stars and
planets, in every element and elemental body at all times in any hori"on
assigned ...
<an(s body, and indeed all terrestrial bodies, he believed, were
altered, disposed, ordered, pleasured and displeasured by the influential
wor!ing of the 'un, <oon and other stars and planets.
3is interest in the subject was to be almost as much the cause of history(s
neglect of him as a scholar, as his interest in alchemy and the occult in
general. $t was also to lead him into considerable trouble at the beginning
of his career. True, <ary Tudor showed some sympathetic interest in him,
98
and announcing that she would be his patron, invited him to draw up her
horoscope and that of her prospective husband, ,hilip of 'pain, and
compare the two 4a wor! of synastry, as astrologers call chart comparison
of this sort5.
*ut 2ee was not drawn to <ary, whether because his charts warned him
off, or because of the eecution of >orthumberland, the husband of his
patroness, and her persecution of the ,rotestants. -or whatever reason,
he was soon echanging secret messages with her sister, ,rincess
:li"abeth, then in virtual captivity at =oodstoc!. 2ee was a cousin of
:li"abeth(s nurse, *lanch ,arry, still her maid and with ,arry(s help he
sent and received messages from =oodstoc!.
The dangers inherent in the situation hardly need emphasis, and 2ee went
on to an even more dangerous courseB that of sending :li"abeth the
horoscope of the Gueen, and pointing out contrasting elements in the two
charts. 7oman astrologers had been eecuted for less, and when rumours
of 2ee(s tactlessness got out, it is not surprising that informers accused
him of involvement in a plot to murder the Gueen. $n the spring of 1888,
various members of the ,rincess(s household were arrested and accused
of witchcraft, (for that they did calculate the 9ing(s, the Gueen(s and my
)ady :li"abeth(s horoscopes(. 2ee was ta!en, his rooms searched, his
papers read; he was charged with treason and worse % that he had a
familiar spirit which had attac!ed both of the children of one of his
accusers, -errys, stri!ing one blind and the other dead.
:ven in those superstitious times, the second charge seems to have been
thought a little much, for the 'tar 1hamber ac&uitted 2ee, releasing him
into the custody of *ishop *onner of )ondon, who was commanded to
eamine him on his faith. 3e spent some time sharing a small cell with a
heretic, *arthlet ;reen, who was ta!en out and burned at the sta!e.
*onner seems to have been unable to sha!e 2ee, however, for he was
eventually released. Fnsurprisingly, he failed to find favour again with the
Gueen. $ncautiously, he even renewed contact with :li"abeth, and seems
to have encouraged her, during <ary(s last illness, to epect the
succession. =hen <ary died in 1880 and :li"abeth indeed became Gueen,
one of her first acts was to commission )ord 7obert 2udley, later the :arl
of )eicester, to go privately to 2ee and as! him to propose an auspicious
date for her coronation. 'he accepted his proposal of 'unday, 18 +anuary
without &uestion; and if the chart for that day promised well for her reign,
it did not lie.
There has been much speculation as to the amount of wor! 2ee did for
:li"abeth, not only as astrologer but 4as some biographers have proposed5
as secret agent; amusingly, he signed his reports to her with a symbol
that was meant to represent a pair of eyes, but loo!s suspiciously li!e
@@6. There is no doubt of the value of his wor! as a navigator, advising
:li"abethan adventurers and eplorers. And there is plenty of evidence
that he taught astrology, among other things 4chemistry, for instance5.
99
Among his pupils was 'ir ,hilip 'idney, whose attitude to the subject
comes out in one of his sonnetsB
Though dusty wits dare scorn astrology,
And fools can thin! those lamps of purest light
=hose numbers, ways, greatness, eternity,
,romising wonders, wonder do invite
To have for no cause birthright in the s!y
*ut for to spangle the blac! weeds of night;
Or for some brawl, which in that chamber hie,
They should still dance to please a ga"er(s sight;
-or me, $ do >ature unidle !now,
And !now great causes, great effects procureB
And !now those bodies high reign on the low ...
2ee(s analysis of 'idney(s character through his horoscope 4drawn up
when 'idney was 16 or so5 is interesting, underlining great promise in
rhetoric, dialectic, natural philosophy, grammar and ethics, and describing
him as a promising young man (intended by nature for the study of the
mathematicals, and by birth for learning celestial philosophy(.
'everal things about 2ee(s life%style and career seem to support the
theory that he was more than an astrologer to :li"abeth % that he
provided her with political information gleaned during his :uropean
travels. 'he did consult him about various astronomical phenomena which
appeared during her reign, and occasionally dropped in at his house at
<ortla!e to loo! at some new boo! 4he had the finest library in the
country, and one of the best in :urope5 or to eamine some new toyB
there is a strange description in his diary of her visiting him within four
hours of his first wife(s death, and of the company being convulsed with
laughter at the effects of his new (magic glass( % probably a concave
mirror. *ut she also must have given him considerable sums of money, for
he lived in great state % the <ortla!e house was a large one, he bought
many epensive boo!s, and built no less than three laboratories for his
chemical and alchemical eperiments. The poverty that always dogged
him was due to his living determinedly above his means, rather than to
lac! of funds.
:ven the Gueen(s protection failed to prevent 2ee(s being attac!ed; the
odour of witchcraft clung to him. >ot long after :li"abeth(s accession,
*ishop +ewell publicly sermoni"ed against him, and +ohn -oe, in his 186D
Acts and <onuments, referred to him as (2r 2ee the great 1onjurer(, a
(caller of devils(. -oe was forced to stri!e the libellous reference out of
later editions, but the damage was done; and 2ee was to ma!e matters
100
worse by devoting much of the rest of his life to alchemy and
conversations with angels, held in the company of his new associate
9elley, a disreputable scoundrel who among other things relayed to the
reluctant 2ee instructions from one angel that their wives should be held
in common % a proposal that failed to appeal to <rs 2ee.
2ee(s interest in astrology lasted his lifetime % in 16@D and 16@/ he was
casting the horoscopes of his grandchildren, and predicting for his eldest
son great fortune won at the hands of a foreign prince 4which turned out
to be entirely true, for the boy was to become the personal physician of
Tsar <i!hail -yodorovich 7omanov5. *ut sadly, the unfavourable
reputation he ac&uired during the last twenty years of his life outweighed
the value of his wor! for the state, to say nothing of his serious interest in
astrology; and finally, he probably contributed to the atmosphere which
was to encourage the approaching desuetude of astrology.
$t is fre&uently suggested that 2ee was the original of 'ha!espeare( s
,rospero, which may or may not have been the case; it is reasonable to
assume that 'ha!espeare would have encountered 2ee in the small world
of 16th%century )ondon, and he may have given him some information
about *ermuda, the isle of The Tempest. 'ha!espeare was as interested
in astrology as any other :li"abethan; indeed anyone who wants to !now
just how the average citi"en felt about the subject can do far worse than
go to the plays.
2uring the reign of :li"abeth astrology became more firmly a part of the
intellectual structure of :ngland than at any other time in its history.
'carcely any intelligent man spo!e out against it ecept in its most
superstitious aspects, and most regarded it as a manifestation of the
means by which ;od regulated earthly matters. The naturalness and
pervasiveness of this belief comes out in many areas of the literature of
the time % succinctly in =alter 7aleigh(s 3istory of the =orldB
And if we cannot deny but that ;od hath given virtue to spring and
fountain, to cold earth, to plants and stones, minerals, and to the
ecremental parts of the basest living creatures, why should we rob the
beautiful stars of their wor!ing powersA -or, seeing they are many in
number and of eminent beauty and magnitude, we may not thin! that in
the treasury of 3is wisdom which is infinite, there can be wanting, even
for every star, a peculiar value, virtue and operation; as every herb plant
and flower adorning the face of the earth hath the li!e. -or as these were
not created to beautify the earth alone and to cover and shadow her dusty
face but otherwise for the use of man and beast to feed them and cure
them; so were not those unaccountable glorious bodies set in the
firmament to no other end than to adorn it but for instruments and organs
of 3is divine providence, so far as it hath pleased 3is just will to
determineA
That 'ha!espeare shared this view is a reasonable assumption, even
remembering the danger of assuming that he put his own views into the
101
mouths of his characters. $t is difficult for instance not to believe that we
are hearing his voice through that of Flysses in the great speech on
degree in Troilus and 1ressidaB
The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre,
Observe degree, priority, and place,
$nsisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office, and custom, in all line of orderB
And therefore is the glorious planet 'ol
$n noble eminence enthron(d and spher(d
Amidst the other; whose med(cinable eye
1orrects the ill aspects of planets evil,
And posts, li!e the commandment of a !ing,
'ans chec!, to good and badB but when the planets
$n evil miture, to disorder wander,
=hat plagues and what portentsE what mutinyE
=hat raging of the seaE sha!ing of earthE
1ommotion in the windsE frights, changes, horrors,
2ivert and crac!, rend and deracinate
The unity and married calm of states
Guite from their fitureE
'ha!espeare(s audience would have followed that speech with an instant
grasp even of the technicalities. <ost members of a modern audience
need a footnote to eplain what (ill aspects( are, for instance; 'ha!espeare
!new that his audience would understand, just as they would understand
the other technical references in the plays, which often convey jo!es
missed by C@th%century audiences. :li"abethan playgoers also instantly
understood what the playwright was doing when he put all the attac!s on
astrology made in the plays 4not that there are many of these5 into the
mouths of fools li!e )auncelot ;obbo or villains li!e :dmund, in )ear.
<odern critics &uote :dmund(s speech near the beginning of the play as
'ha!espeare(s denigration of astrology, moc!ing (the ecellent foppery of
the world, that when we are sic! in fortune, often the surfeit of our own
behaviour, we ma!e guilty of our disasters the 'un, <oon and stars(, and
going on to claim that he, :dmund, (should have been that $ am, had the
maidenliest star in the firmament twin!led on my bastardising.( =hat they
miss, but the :li"abethans would have grasped, is that 'ha!espeare uses
this very speech as a shorthand signal of :dmund(s villainy.
102
>ot that 'ha!espeare is not happy to ma!e fun of the astrological &uac!
4as when Antipholus of :phesus describes 2r ,inch, in The 1omedy of
:rrors, as (a mere anatomy, a mounteban!IA threadbare juggler, and a
fortune%teller(5 and in another passage, often misunderstood % 1assius(
famous lines from +ulius 1aesar, in which he tells *rutus that
<en at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear *rutus, is not in our stars,
*ut in ourselves, that we are underlings.
That is, men must ta!e the right moment 4which any competent
astrologer would propose5 at which to grasp their fate; if they do not, it is
their fault rather than that of the stars. -ree will is not simply conceded,
but stressed % in All(s =ell that :nds =ell, for instanceB
Our remedies oft in themselves do lie,
=hich we ascribe to heaven. The fated s!y
;ives us free scope; only doth bac!ward pull
Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.
And finally, if there are still doubts, 'ha!espeare surely reveals his own
feelings on the subject in the fourteenth sonnetB
>ot from the stars do $ my judgement pluc!,
And yet methin!s $ have astronomy;
*ut not to tell of good or evil luc!,
Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons( &uality;
>or can $ fortune to brief minutes tell,
,ointing to each his thunder, rain and wind,
Or say with princes if it shall go well
*y oft predict that $ in heaven find ...
That is, astrology is to be used sensibly and realistically.
'ome people, of course, were more credulous, among them
'ha!espeare(s landlady <rs <ountjoy, who went off from the house in
'ilver 'treet at least twice to consult an astrologer far inferior to +ohn
2ee, but more successful in his own lineB 'imon -orman 4188C%16115.
-orman was, li!e so many astrologers of his time, a self%educated man
who had pic!ed up a !nowledge of the subject with his !nowledge of
medicine % and throughout his life he was to be plagued by the ,rivy
1ouncil and the 7oyal 1ollege of ,hysicians for his unlicensed activities as
an amateur doctor. >evertheless 4partly due to his courage in remaining
103
in )ondon to treat the sic! during the plague5 he built up a trustful
clientele, and made a good living as a physician%astrologer.
3is diaries and caseboo!s 4detailed in A. ). 7owse(s 'imon -orman, 1.6/5
reveal a cross%section of :li"abethan life, from the servant classes 4though
there are few of the poor, who could not afford his fees5 to the famous, to
wealthy merchants, politicians and the gentry % among them -rances
3oward, 1ountess of :sse and 'omerset. Among other things, his diaries
are a record of his voracious love%life % he seems to have seduced most of
his female clients, although the ease with which they fell to him is
surprising to anyone who loo!s at the single surviving portrait.
The varied nature of the problems brought to -orman show the use
ordinary people made of astrologyB merchants as!ed about the prospects
for coming voyages, while ship insurers as!ed about the possible perils
into which the ships might run. <en came to en&uire whether other men
were their enemies or friends; women whether their love would be
returned, whether they would become pregnant, whether they would ever
marry. There were en&uiries about missing pets, stolen goods; who had
ta!en this piece of silver or that purse, and where was it hiddenA There is
truly no area of human life about which any !ind of &uestion might be
as!ed, on which -orman was not consulted; in him, and in his successor
=illiam )illy, astrology reaches its nadir of absurdity, in some senses % the
silliest &uestions were deemed matters susceptible to the effects of the
planets.
$n the rest of :urope during the second half of the 16th century, there
was a continued effort % especially in ;ermany % to put it on a serious
scientific footing by collecting and collating notes on planetary positions
and their apparent significance. +ohn ;arcaeus 418D@%685 published four
hundred birth charts of important contemporaries, a &uarter of them
prominent men of learning, so that they could be compared and
discussed.
As usual, there are some dramatic stories. #alentin >abod, ,rofessor of
<athematics at 1ologne, for instance, produced an interesting
commentary on ,tolemy, but loo!ing at his own birth chart believed
himself to be in danger from a sword. 3e rented a house in ,adua,
whence he had travelled, and loc!ed himself in it with a supply of food.
The landlord, unable to collect the rent, had the door bro!en down after a
while % and found the body of >abod, stabbed to death.
That !ind of story, &uic!ly circulated by other astrologers, may have done
something to convince the ignorant of the efficiency of astrological
prediction. A more serious attempt was made in 180@, when 3enry
7an"ovius published his 1atalogue of :mperors, 9ings and ,rinces who
have loved, adorned and practised the art of astrology. This contains
many accounts of astrologers( successes by <anilius Antonius, chamber%
lain to ,opes 'itus $# and +ulius $$, 2ethlevus 7eventlovius, who wor!ed
for 1harles # and successfully predicted the outcome of his war against
104
the :lector of 'aony, <atthaeus 2elius, who predicted to ,hilip $$ of
'pain the diminution of his power after his succession. There were also,
however, many apparently successful predictions included which were
demonstrably inventions, which gave welcome ammunition to those who
were beginning to claim that astrologers were given to coo!ing the boo!s.
$n :ngland, popular and to some etent scientific interest in astrology was
to continue to flourish throughout most of the 16th century; but by the
close of the 16th century in the rest of :urope long shadows were closing
in, not only over the &uac!s but over the genuine practitioners. The
reasons for the gradual diminution of serious interest in astrology are
various. 1ertainly the changing nature of man(s understanding of the
universe played its part. The almost universal reali"ation that the 'un
rather than the :arth was at the centre of the solar system seemed
somehow to devalue the whole idea of astrology 4although >ewton was
among those who reali"ed that, since astrological influences % if they
eisted % were to be measured by noting the relationships between the
planets, it was entirely possible to continue to respect the idea whatever
body was at the centre of the system5.
<ore important, probably, was the fact that the vast distance between the
planets 4to say nothing of the stars5 was now recogni"ed; it seemed
etremely unli!ely that any (influence( 4of whatever sort5 could ma!e itself
felt at such a vast remove. Then there was the growing feeling that any
(scientific( idea should be capable of technical eplanation; it was no
longer enough to ma!e the pronouncement (This is so(. And finally, the
temperament of scientists was on the change; the Age of :nlightenment
was to reject, &uite understandably, a (science( which had gathered
around it encrustations of magical and patently loony ideas such as that a
birth chart could reveal the marital prospects of its subject(s brother; that
another could detail a previous incarnation; that a reliable answer to any
&uestion could be given by drawing up a chart for the moment of time
when the &uestion was as!ed.
The tide began to turn as early as the 186@s, when after a succession of
,opes who were on the whole rather sympathetic to the occult there
suddenly came a number who were both temperamentally and politically
averse to it. +ulius $$ and Adrian #$, during the first half of the 16th
century, encouraged the $n&uisition to act against (magicians( % though at
the same time +ulius ordered an astrologer to elect an auspicious time at
which the foundation stone of the 1astle of ;alliera should be laid, and his
own statue erected at *ologna. ,ius $#, in a papal bull of 186C, authori"ed
action against various !inds of heretic, including those who pretended to
be able to foretell the future by sortilege 4casting lots5. ;regory P$$$, in
1801, ordered the $n&uisition to act against those +ews who invo!ed the
aid of demons for the same purpose.
Astrology was not mentioned specifically in any of these orders or
ehortations, although 1ardinal -rancesco Albi""i spo!e of it in 1866 as
105
(the most fre&uent means of divination(, and therefore one for which the
practitioners should be made to do penance, and eiled.
$n 1806 things too! a positive turn for the worse, when 'itus #, elected
to the papal chair on the death of ;regory P$$$ 4not unsympathetic to
astrology5, enacted a bull against those practising judicial astrology, or
even possessing boo!s on the subject. ;od alone, the bull states, !nows
the future, and not even demons can foresee it % though to foretell the
weather, natural disasters, the success or failure of crops, of voyages, or
to use astrology in medicine, is entirely proper. The casting of horoscopes,
however, is not, and indeed ;od has seen to it that every separate soul
has an angel whose duty is to protect it against the influence of the stars
4so 'itus obviously believed that the stars had some powers5.
Astrologers were little daunted, unless they lived right under the eye of
the ,ope. Annual almanacs predicting the weather, and giving favourable
days for bleeding or for planting seeds or whatever, continued to be
published, and though astrology now ceased to be taught at the Fniversity
of *ologna, it was to continue in the lecture rooms of other universities for
many years. 'alamanca is a good eampleB ;abriel 'errano taught
astrology there between 18.C and 18.0; *artolome( de #alle was
professor of astrology from 161C until 1618, -rancesco 7eales 4a priest5
from 1618 to 16C/, >une" de Jamora from 16C/ until 16/@, 'anche" de
<endo"a from 16/6 to 166D, and but for a short brea! between 16@6 and
16C6 the chair was occupied continually until 166@.
This indicates that the 'panish $n&uisition was not specially concerned to
act against astrology, whatever the ,ope said. And in fact astrology did
not entirely vanish even from the #atican, for in 1610 an astrologer
addressed one of the resident cardinals, and 'itus himself accepted the
dedication of a series of boo!s by lonnes ,aulus ;allicius of 'alo on the
nature and &ualities of the planets, the radiation by which they eerted
their influences from certain positions in the "odiac, arguing that in
medicine it was absolutely necessary to use a chart in order properly to
treat the patient. 3owever, the publication of the more speculative
almanacs certainly fell off in $taly, though elsewhere in :urope it
continued unabated % sometimes as the result of $talian astrologers
sending copy surreptitiously to printers in other countries; 7i""a 1asa, for
instance, published predictions for the years 1806%.@ at )yons, in -rench.
-rom now on the ,opes remained broadly unsympathetic, at least in public
and at least to astrologers who claimed to be able to predict the future. $n
16D1 Frban #$$$ reaffirmed 'itus( bull, threatening confiscation of
property and even death to anyone who ignored it. 3e particularly
disapproved of forecasts in politics and religion, and was just as
antipathetic to the prediction of events in the lives of ,opes and their
relations as certain 7oman :mperors had been to forecasts of their own
downfall.
106
Astrologers did their best to fight bac!. ,etrus Antonius de <agistris
;alathei 4161/%685 published a treatise arguing that the bull of 'itus #
had actually been directed only against superstitious astrologers, and that
there were certainly areas of astrology that should be permitted to
flourish. This was so; but a combination of the temper of the time and
serious reconsideration of the basis of astrology made it more difficult for
young students to accept old ideas, and even sometimes forced those
formerly devoted to astrology to reassess their position.
Tommaso 1ampanella 41860%16D.5 is a case in point. This considerable
7enaissance philosopher repeatedly asserted his acceptance of astrology,
and even went so far, during his long imprisonment for plotting to free
>aples from 'panish tyranny, as to write to ,ope ,aul # asserting that he
was prejudiced against him for astrological reasonsE <any other
astrological allusions, arguments and predictions issued from his prison
cell. 3e wrote si or seven boo!s on astrology, asserting that the
influences of the planets were physical, and that astrology was therefore a
proper subject for the most religious scientific man to study.
3e also, rather rashly, disputed the bulls of 'itus and Frban, arguing that
religion should not prohibit proper scientific eperiment and discussion,
that certainly astrologers should not be treated more harshly than
heretics, and that it was &uite improper to prohibit not merely forecasts of
future events but even suggestions that this or that might happen %
proper conjecture, in other words. 3owever, in the end 1ampanella
agreed that a papal bull, as such, was a papal bull, and should be obeyed,
and even went so far as to agree that astrology was not in any real sense
a science % though none the less susceptible of scientific study.
'uch publications as the Apologia in which 1ampanella recanted his
former opinions did nothing to bolster astrology(s reputation against the
mounting opposition. This was chiefly directed against the fiercer idiocies
of the subject; still, no one denied that the 'un, <oon and planets had an
effect on terrestrial matters, and even on men(s lives and characters. *ut
more and more it was disputed that there could be any prediction on the
basis of planetary positions and movements. 'ome of the polemics
directed against astrologers were not only intensely argued but argued at
length. Aleander de Angelis, of 'poleto, head of the +esuit 1ollege at
7ome, published in 1618 no fewer than five boo!s against astrology. $t
cannot be said that new astronomical !nowledge actually added a great
deal to the force of his arguments, which on the whole were yet again
rehashings of old ones; the added force came from a new temperamental
attitude rather than anything else % an attitude affecting scholars and
scientists rather than the man in the street.
107
To%ards the Dar&
-or centuries, the man in the street, bourgeois as well as relatively poor,
had consulted astrologers when he could afford their fees; but more often
he relied on the annual astrological almanacs which, for a relatively
negligible sum of money, offered all sorts of help and advice.
Almanacs began as simple records of astronomical events during the
coming yearB notes of mar!et days, holidays and holy days as well as of
days when eclipses would occur, on which the <oon was full or new; on
which notable celestial events such as conjunctions of the planets too!
place. $n the <iddle Ages these circulated in manuscript, or as (clog
almanacs( made of wood, metal or horn, with notches and symbols
recording the lunar months and the church feast days. These were
sometimes small enough to fit into a poc!et, but occasionally more
elaborate and even decorative, hanging on a nail at the fireside.
After the invention of printing, almanacs were among the earliest boo!s to
be publishedB a printed almanac was issued by ;utenberg in 1//0 % eight
years before his famous *ible % and within thirty years a large number of
them was being published, not only containing astronomical facts but
predictions based on them. The earliest printed (prognostication( to have
survived is dated 1/6@, but within a few years others appeared printed in
;ermany, -rance, $taly, 3ungary, the >etherlands and ,oland. The first
:nglish almanac we have is dated 18@@, printed by =illiam ,arron, an
$talian who for a while attended the court of 3enry #$$, but vanished
shortly after the death of the Gueen at the age of D6.
<anuscript almanacs continued to circulate for a long time after the
invention of printing, and some (clog almanacs( were still in use at the end
of the 16th century. *ut printed copies were more common considerably
earlier, many of them imported from the 1ontinent, and containing
weather forecasts, predictions of a good or bad harvest, notes of (good( or
(evil( days, and even suggestions of the future prices of cereals, fruit and
other crops.
,olitical predictions crept in, too % an interest in the doings of royalty
seemed as common among early almanac readers as with readers of
C@th%century gossip columns. The )aet family, which produced
generations of -lemish astrologers whose almanacs were published at
Antwerp, seems to have made a speciality of these, on one occasion
predicting 4for 18165 that 3enry #$$$ of :ngland would be inclined (to pass
the time in honour among fair ladies(, and later promising that he would
eperience matrimonial difficulties.
108
The almanacs sold li!e hot ca!es at every social level. Though the nobility
and gentry could well afford their own astrologers if they wished 4and
many of them did wish5, they also bought the annuals, just as people
today buy do%it%yourself health boo!s to read in their doctors( waiting
rooms. There is an almanac of 16C/ with the autograph of 1harles $ inside
the cover; )ord *urghley, :li"abeth(s Treasurer, had a series in his library,
some annotated in his own hand; :sse, the ,arliamentary general, the
:arl of 1larendon, *ishop =ren of >orwich were other subscribers % the
last two ma!ing careful notes in their almanacs while imprisoned in the
Tower of )ondon. <any university dons (too! in( the almanacs, and
seamen were devoted to themB )ieutenant +ohn =eale, serving under
Admiral *la!e, too! on his voyages (a bottle of in!, a poc!et almanac, and
a sheet almanac(. As late as 16@. the Gua!ers of 2erbyshire ac&uired 4for
a penny ha(penny5 an almanac for their lending library.
Their popularity was enormous, partly because they were useful 4as
diaries, for instance5, partly as popular entertainment. 'ome of them
offered educational supplements on religion, medicine, magic, even seB
when the planets were in certain positions, love%ma!ing was positively
dangerous % the (dog days( of +uly and August were especially so. One
satirist suggested that this was a time of year when adultery was
common, for most husbands obeyed the astrologers( injunction to refrain
from se, and their wives turned to other &uarters for satisfaction, on the
grounds that (if husband won(t another must(. *ut there was positive
advice, tooB =alter ;ray, in his notes for <ay 1801, simply enjoined ()et
#enus be embraced(, while a contemporary suggested that his readers
should (embrace #enus honestly( in <ay, and (daintily( in >ovember. There
is some evidence from population studies that people too! this advice.
2orothy ,artridge, a midwife who with 'arah +inner was one of a very few
women astrologers, was more outright a century laterB in +anuary, she
found (a lusty s&uab bedfellow very good physic at this season(; but
2ecember and -ebruary were lusty months too, and an especially good
time to be (a husband to thy wife( was when the <oon was in 'agittarius.
The first :nglishman to flood the mar!et with his almanacs was =illiam
)illy 416@C%015, a yeoman(s son from a tiny village in )eicestershire, who
went to )ondon as servant to an illiterate alderman and, marrying his rich
widow, learned astrology from a disreputable master. *y 16D8 he was
both teaching and practising astrology. $t was in 16// that as (<erlinus
Anglicus +unior( he published his first almanac, and the publication
continued annually until 160C, the year after his death. )illy(s noteboo!s
are, li!e -orman(s, a picture of an age, revealing the amount of wor! he
did for men and women of all classes 4he was consulted by 1harles $ as
well as by servants, by army generals, sea captains and rich merchants,
and nonentities5.
$f )illy was perhaps the best%!nown astrologer of the 16th century, there
were others almost as notorious. 4There were none whose forecasts were
109
so well publici"edB )illy was actually arrested on a charge of starting the
;reat -ire of )ondon, on the grounds that his alleged prediction of it was
so accurate that he must have started it to justify himselfE5 +ohn *oo!er
416@D%665 was a haberdasher(s apprentice before he became an
astrologer; he published his own almanacs from 16D1 to 1666, and
recorded in his caseboo!s a thousand clients a year before 16/0 and
1668. )illy, better%!nown especially after the publication of his tetboo!
1hristian Astrology 416/65, dealt with almost two thousand en&uiries a
year at the height of his activity. And they had two hundred or so
colleagues between the reigns of :li"abeth and Anne.
'ome of them were, to say the least, less respectable than )illy or *oo!er,
or even the rascally -orman. There was, for instance, one 1aptain *ubb,
(a proper handsome man, well spo!en, but withal covetous, who stood in
the pillory for fraud; +effery >eve, former alderman of ;reat Karmouth
and in 16C6 deputy water%bailiff for 2over, who made a small fortune by
rigging the accounts of the archery butts, and fled to -ran!furt; =illiam
,oole, (a nibbler at astrology(, who boasted that he had had seventeen
professions, among them plasterer and bric!layer, and famous for the
s&uib he published on 'ir Thomas +ay, +,, who had falsely accused him of
theftB on hearing of his death and burial, ,oole made his way to the
churchyard and defecated on the grave, leaving the following short noteB
3ere lieth buried 'ir Thomas +ay, 9night,
=ho being dead, $ upon his grave did shite.
*ut there were many more respectable astrologers, of course, some from
the ran!s of the clergy. +ohn Aubrey tells us that the !nees of 7ichard
>apier 418.@%166/5, rector of ;reat )inford in *uc!inghamshire, were
(horny with praying(, for he would go down on them before beginning to
draw up each horoscope. 3e also plied his brethren with (whole cloa!%bags
of boo!s(, converting many of them to astrology % including his neighbour
the 7ev. =illiam *redon, vicar of Thornton 4so addicted to smo!ing, )illy
says, that when he had no tobacco he would cut the bellropes and smo!e
them5. Then there were Anthony Asham, 7ichard 3arvey, Thomas
*uc!minster, +ohn <aplet, 'tephen *atman and ;eorge 3artgill % all 16th%
century clergymen astrologers % and, in the 16th century, +oshua 1hildrey,
>athaniel 'par!e, +ohn *utler, :dmund 1hilmead, 1harles At!inson and
7ichard 1arpenter 4author of Astrology proved harmless, useful and pious,
16865.
Their advice, in and out of almanacs, remained as broad as that of their
predecessors. 2uring the 1ivil =ar, of course, the aniety of parents for
their fighting children, brother for brother, wife for husband, all increased
their wor! load % and their incomes, when they were professionals; in
166C it was said that )illy was ma!ing R8@@ a year 4at least RC@,@@@ in
today(s currency5. *ut it is difficult to estimate the average income of a
professional astrologerB in 16/6 )illy received twenty pieces of gold for
advising 1harles $, but he and *oo!er would give individual astrological
110
advice for two shillings and sipence 41CSp5; 7ichard 2elahay left
between two and three thousand pounds at his death, but +ohn #au, the
cler! to 't 3elen(s church, Auc!land 4who used to sell his almanacs from
the altar5 charged only one shilling for finding a stolen mare, or four
shillings for a horse and a mare % with an additional eightpence to be
spent on drin!.
There has not yet been sufficient study of the part played by astrologers
during the :nglish 1ivil =ar. >ot only did rival astrologers publish rival
almanacs, and pay personal visits to the opposing 7oyalist or
,arliamentary troops, but the newspapers published rival predictions of
success and failure. )illy had a great stro!e of luc! when early in the war,
in 16/8, he successfully predicted the 7oundhead victory at >aseby; this
success made his reputation. *ut he was roundly attac!ed by his rivals %
on the ,arliamentary side as well as the 7oyalist; for although he gave his
support to 1romwell 4and even wor!ed for a while for the 1ommonwealth
1ouncil of 'tate5 he also advised 1harles $, even procuring the file with
which the !ing hoped to escape from 1arisbroo!e 1astleE The war of the
almanacs was long and bitter, with )illy and *oo!er on one side, +ohn
3umphrey and ;eorge =harton on the other. At one moment, indeed,
)illy and *oo!er were outside the walls of 1olchester with the
,arliamentary troops (assuring them the town would very shortly be
surrendered, as indeed it was(, while 3umphrey was inside the city
advising the then governor, 'ir 1harles )ucas, that relief would soon reach
him.
2uring the $nterregnum before the restoration of the monarchy in 166@,
the publication of almanacs continued, but there was some censorship,
and some astrologers were eecuted for their support for the !ing,
although )illy managed to save =harton, whose wor! he respected. :ven
)illy himself was censored, while some colleagues had their publications
stopped completely, and others were imprisoned. Fnable to publish, they
turned their attention to translating astrological classics hitherto
unavailable in :ngland, and this resulted in a great number of such wor!s
being available for the first time in :nglish % added to which )illy(s rivals
wor!ed busily on tetboo!s to rival 1hristian Astrology, and >icholas
1ulpepper, =illiam 7amesey, +ohn ;adbury, 7ichard 'aunders, +ohn
,artridge, =illiam 'almon, and +ohn 1ase all in time published popular
guides to the subject.
The serious interest of intelligent men was slower to wane in :ngland than
abroad. $t is true that as early as the 186@s a few men began to critici"e
the astrological theory as being scientifically unsound, at least where
prediction was concerned. *ut the astrologers had their answerB they, or
the majority of them, never claimed that anything in the future would
happen % the most they would say was that some event, or some turn of
health, or some change of fortune, seemed li!ely. $n fact their almanacs
were so crowded with (maybe( and (might( and (perhaps( that they were
critici"ed, as astrologers are today, of being too cagey. Ket all they were
111
saying was that the stars compelled no man(s action; all they did was to
incline him one way or the other.
One section in the almanacs always read with interest concerned the
weatherB every almanac contained a section of weather forecasts, and
readers seemed to find these useful. There were occasions on which the
forecasts were etremely accurate. One famous eample is that of ,atric!
<urphy(s =eather Almanac for 10D0. Against C@ +anuary, <urphy notedB
(-air. ,rob. lowest degree of winter temperature.( That day proved in fact
to be the coldest day not only of the year but of the century, the
temperature falling to %C@T- at ;reenwich.
Astrologers mostly based their predictions on the movements of the <oon,
which was believed to control the :arth(s atmosphere. $n -rance, +ean
*aptiste )amarc! published his Annuaire <LtLorologi&ue between 10@@
and 1011, based on lunar data, and in ;ermany 7udolf -alb 410D0%1.@D5
coined the epression (critical days( for dates when the :arth, <oon and
'un were in certain relative positions associated with various types of
weather. $n 7ussia, 2emchins!ii did similar wor!, publishing forecasts not
only for his fatherland but for the Fnited 'tates and +apan. And for a
moment to stretch even further into the future, the C@th%century
descendants of ,artridge and ;adbury and )illy published their weather
forecasts in The 2aily <ail in :ngland, and 2emchins!ii(s long%term
forecasts were also printed in that newspaper, and considered unusually
accurate.
Astro%meteorology has continued to flourish, and while professional
meteorologists maintain a determinedly sceptical attitude, many of them
will concede that insufficient study has been made of the planetary
positions and their relationship to terrestrial weather. They might well do
so, in the face of such evidence of success as that presented by the career
of +ohn >elson, an American astrologer who between 1./6 and 1.61
investigated radio disturbances for the 71A networ!, and of 18@@
forecasts made in 1.66 4often months in advance5 achieved a success
rate of .D.CU % a rate maintained for nine yearsE <eteorologists are, at
the time of publication, at last beginning to loo! seriously at the possibility
that climatic cycles are lin!ed to the movements of the so%called solar
planets <ercury, #enus and +upiter; there is, it is said, clear%cut evidence
of associations between the period of pea! solar tides and sunspot
activity, and a lin! between sunspot activity, cosmic ray bombardment of
:arth, and climatic change resulting from that bombardment.
*ut to return to the 16th century, it was not until the 168@s that general
opinion in :ngland began to swing against astrology. 2uring )illy(s lifetime
he and =harton had been ridiculed by 'amuel *utler in 3udibras, as
'idrophel and =hac!hamB
'ome calculate the hidden fates
Of mon!eys, puppy%dogs and cats,
112
'ome running%nags and fighting%coc!s;
'ome love, trade, law%suits, and the po;
'ome ta!e a measure of the lives
Of -athers, <others, 3usbands, =ives,
<a!e opposition, trine and &uartile,
Tell who is barren, and who fertile,
As if the planet(s first aspect
The tender infant did infect
$n soul and body, and instill
All future good, all future ill ...
There were less literary attac!s, too, such as the s&uib put about which
told of a country bump!in who went to see )illy about a stolen purse, and
found the doorstep fouled with human ecretaB
2own came that profound Astrologer... who opening the door and seeing
it in that shitten case, began to eecrate and curse those beastly !naves
that did it; vowing that if he did but !now who did him that nasty tric!, he
would ma!e them eamples to all such rogues so long as they lived. (>ay,(
&uoth the countryman, (if he cannot tell who beshit his door, he can as
well be hanged as tell me who had my purseE( and so went his way.
1ongreve sent up astrology, in the person of -oresign, in )ove for )ove
416.85 % unli!e 2ryden, who thoroughly approved of it % and finally in
came 'wift with his demolition of the astrologer +ohn ,artridge in his
,redictions of lsaac *ic!erstaff for 16@0.
$n this fa!e almanac, 'wift produced a straight%faced lampoon protesting
that his real aim was to protect the public from the false claims of bad
astrologers, and among other things predicted that ,artridge himself
would die at 11 p.m. on C. <arch 16@0, closely followed by 9ing )ouis P$#
and the ,ope. 'hortly after C. <arch, 'wift published a detailed account
of ,artridge(s sad death, and the latter had a hard struggle to prove
himself still alive.
$t is perhaps worth noting that neither *utler nor 'wift 4nor indeed any
other writer who published anti%astrological wor!5 actually set about
destroying astrology by argument; all they did was ridicule it % and
goodness !nows it presented a broad enough target. 'ometimes they did
so for political reasons; as a matter of fact this was probably the case with
'wift, for ,artridge was a vociferous =hig and republican.
>ew argument about the basis of astrology was, as always, lac!ing. $t was
certainly not provided by the astronomers. $t has been suggested that
>ewton was almost personally responsible for the desuetude of astrology
113
in :ngland. >othing could be further from the truth. 3is wor! may have
made its contribution to the changing climate of opinion, but he clung to a
belief in astrology until his death, and was very short with :dmund 3alley
when, as we have seen, the latter rebu!ed him for heeding such
nonsenseB ('ir,( he said, ($ have studied the matter % you have not.(
>evertheless, the temper of the time was against him. 2oubts were
openly epressed at the universities, and for the first time the use of
astrology in medicine was &uestioned. The 7oyal 1ollege of ,hysicians
turned against it, despite the fact that its ,resident between 16@1 and
16@/ was an almanac writer and there was some use of astrology in the
1ollege(s ,harmacopoeia. Those attac!ed were 4yet again5 the etremists.
>o one rebu!ed 7ichard <ead, a vice%president of the 7oyal 'ociety, for
publishing in 1616 A treatise concerning the influence of the 'un and
<oon upon human bodies, and arguing that attac!s of epilepsy, vertigo,
hysteria and asthma could be collated with phases of the <oon; and in
160@ it was claimed that astrological physicians were the most popular
and sought%after of all doctors. +ohn )oc!e, who has been called the
inspirer of the Age of :nlightenment, and whose philosophy had the most
profound influence on the thought of :urope, accepted that the curative
value of herbs was enhanced by their being pic!ed and used at particular
times of the year.
'till, by the turn of the century scientific interest in astrology was at its
lowest ebb for many hundreds of years indeed, perhaps since the Drd or
/th centuries *1. Although there had still been no concerted attac! on the
theory from astronomers or universities, it was now the case that the
former were no longer automatically interested in the effects the heavenly
bodies had on earth; it was simply assumed that, apart from the obvious
effects of the 'un and <oon, they had none. The intellectual aspects of
the subject, the philosophical and theological implications, were on the
whole no longer discussed ecept by a decreasing minority.
*y 16C@ the last of the notable astrologers of the 16th century was dead %
-rancis <oore died in 161/, +ohn ,artridge in the following year % and with
them a generation which, whatever its faults, had ta!en astrology
seriously and practised it with some pretension to scholarship. )illy(s
1hristian Astrology, for instance, is an immensely long wor! 4something
li!e D8@,@@@ words in three volumes5 enshrining much traditional
astrology culled from a long chec! list of earlier volumes, some at that
time untranslated. =hatever may be one(s opinion of some of )illy(s wilder
assertions about what astrology can and cannot do, it is an intelligently
written wor!. >o 10th%century astrologer would have been capable of it;
they were far less interested in the intellectual or empirical truth of the
claims they made, and most often were simply not intelligent enough for
the subject. They were, on the whole, cheapjac!s.
There had been a few attempts to bring the study of astrology into line
with the new scientific ageB +. *. <orin(s posthumous Astrologia ;allica
114
416615 argued that any serious study of astrology must depend on a
systemic eamination of meteorological, political and religious
developments in relation to the movements of the planets, and that any
other method of eamining the subject did more harm than good. +oshua
1hildrey, an archdeacon of 'alisbury, had argued for a reformation of
astrology on the lines suggested by -rancis *acon, and +eremy 'ha!erley,
an astrologer much under )illy(s influence, wrote that (astrology consists
of too much uncertainty to inform us of anything(, and was ambitious to
see! (from philosophical principles a foundation for a more refined
astrology(. :ven +ohn ;adbury claimed that (one real eperiment is of
greater worth and more to be valued than one hundred pompous
predictions.(
*ut the 10th century set off on its course of scientific empiricism, and
determined to ignore the efforts of astrologers to claim that their subject
should be included among those to be eamined in a similar fashion. The
attitude continues to this dayB one scientist at a conference in the 1.6@s,
dissatisfied with statistical evidence offered as proof that some aspects of
astrology were worth eamination, was as!ed what !ind of proof he would
accept, and replied with splendid certaintyB ($ can conceive of no evidence
which would convince me that there is anything in the subject.(
$f there were few serious astrologers in the 10th century, and even fewer
in the 1.th, there was plenty of money%ma!ing activity from &uac!s; the
evidence of this lies in the continuing sale of almanacs. ,artridge(s annual
almanacs continued to sell for over a century after his death, and Old
<oore(s Almanac is still issued today. $n 166/, Old <oore sold over 0@,@@@
copies in a year, although its prophesies were even more general, even
more garbled, than those of earlier issues.
One development during the 10th century was the appearance of
almanacs directed specifically at women readersB The )adies( 2iary, for
instance, which appeared in 16@/, and had articles on famous women,
recipes and riddles as well as astrological items. $ts editor, a 1oventry
schoolmaster called +ohn Tipper, had the ambition of (introducing the fair
se to the study of mathematics(. *y the 168@s, it was selling D@,@@@
copies a year, and was widely read by gentlemen.
'uch astrologers as there were, were as fiercely partisan in politics as the
earlier astrologers had been during the 1ivil =ar. ;eorge ,ar!er was a
high Tory whose views were so incendiary that the 'tationers( 1ompany
refused to publish his wor!; ,artridge on the other hand was violently
=hig, and greeted the accession of ;eorge of 3anover as a day of
deliverance from (popery, slavery and :nglish traitors(.
Towards the middle of the century, there was a swing towards religion, as
though the astrologers wished to strengthen their position by getting the
1reator on their side. They emphasi"ed the fact that only ;od could have
wor!ed out so finely the intricate movements of the planets; and even the
composition of the matter of which the earth and stars were made proved
115
the eistence of ;od. As +ob ;adbury, +ohn ;adbury(s cousin, put it, there
could be nothing in the recently advanced theories that atoms came
together by chance to form the universe, for (though the air we breathe be
full of them, yet they tend to nothing but to ma!e us win!.(
The everyday wor! of the consultant astrologers went on much as it had
always doneB advice was offered about illness, love, lost property, and so
on. There seems to have been a sufficient popular interest for a large
number of astrologers to ma!e a reasonable professional living, although
the fact that many of them are found rebu!ing members of the public who
came to see them merely for amusement, and advising colleagues to get
their hands on the fee before beginning to cast the horoscope, seems to
indicate that a certain amount of doubt was now to be found at all levels
of society and education.
The major *ritish astrologer of the century seems to have been 3enry
'eason 416.D%16685, a doctor and surgeon from =iltshire, who li!e most
of the former astrologers was virtually self%educated, for he never
attended school for more than si wee!s at a time. 3e taught himself
medicine and astrology, li!e )illy and -orman, and after an apprenticeship
during which he seems to have invented his own medicinal cures,
managed to get a licence to practise as physician and surgeon.
The almanacs he published show him to be a very traditional sort of
astrologer, giving the usual sort of advice; but he also used them for
political argument, and as means of general advertisement of his personal
views on everything under the sun % from the fact that stage plays were a
disgraceful evil, to the view that it was a good thing man would never be
able to visit the <oon, for he would without any doubt corrupt its
inhabitants.
*y the 16.@s astrologers were numerous enough to have their own
maga"ine, devoted entirely to (a science which was studied by the
patriarchs of the first ages, but which, by the craft of ignorance of
pretenders, has been eposed to much calumny and error.( 3owever, the
maga"ine was ill supported 4because much of it was devoted to non%
astrological chatter about the occult5 and ceased publication after its
seventh issue.
>ewspaper advertisements, scattered through the provincial press,
indicate that astrologers still flourished, ready not only to give, on receipt
of the date, time and place of birth, a (true description of the compleion,
colour of the hair, private mar!s and moles, temper Vc(, but 4to &uote
+ohn =orsdale of )incolnshire5 to help (those persons afflicted with
disorders of various denominations(. On receipt of the necessary details,
(the nature and origin of the disease may be truly ascertained, and a
remedy prescribed for all curable disorders, by the ancient rules of
elementary philosophy.(
116
$n America, the situation was rather similar. 'ome attention was paid to
the subject at the universities at the turn of the century. 1harles <orton,
who had been educated at Oford during the :nglish 1ivil =ar, and left
the country in 1606 to become a ,resbyterian minister at 1harlestown,
<assachusetts, had his 1ompendium physicae accepted at 3arvard, where
it formed the basis of the study of modern science. =hile forcefully
denying the fortune%telling aspects of astrology, <orton eamined the
connection between the planets and meteorology, and the influence of
their movements on the human body and mind.
On the whole matter Mhe concludedN, $ judge that as to weather and
temperatures of our bodies with relations to health or sic!ness by good
observations of prudent and philosophical minds, a useful !nowledge
might be framed; but for all the rest that is pretended the boo!s written
about them might ma!e a curious bonfire according to the primitive
pattern ...
Other 3arvard men showed some interestB for instance 'amuel =illard, its
vice%president between 16@1 and 16@6, and +ohn )everett, his successor.
=illard pointed out that (astrologers have had their predictions, that do
sometimes fall out right( 4a cautious approbation, if approbation it was5.
$saac ;reenwood, 3arvard(s first 3ollis ,rofessor of <athematics and
>atural ,hilosophy, replaced <orton(s 1ompendium in 16C0 with his own
,hilosophical discourse concerning the mutability and change of the
natural world, in which, disapproving ofjudicial astrology, he nevertheless
asserted that
tides are produced in the ocean, winds in the atmosphere, many changes
in inanimate and animate bodies, and in the human economy itself.
Astrology seems to have a philosophical foundation, and we !now not how
many wonders and mysteries may be the genuine effects of this great
alternative in nature.
Through the 10th century 3arvard too! this cautiously positive attitude,
accepting in 166C a master(s thesis which argued that (the heavenly
bodies produce certain changes in the bodies of animals(, and publicly
asserting that the time was speedily coming when #irginia would (surpass
the ;ree!s in philosophy, the :gyptians in geometry, the ,hoenicians in
arithmetic, and 1haldeans in astrology.(
Kale was not behind 3arvard in its toleration of astrological studies.
'amuel +ohnson, who graduated from that university in 161/ to become a
1ongregationalist minister, included an essay in his 7evised :ncyclopaedia
of 1616 on (The starry heavens and their power and influences for the
subject of astrology(, and though in 1610 a Kale thesis was arguing that
(all the predictions of the astrologers with regard to future contingent
events are fallacious and vain(, this was an attac! on judicial rather than
on (natural( astrology.
117
As to educated opinion among non%academics, this may perhaps be
deduced from an article in 1hambers(s 1yclopaedia, so commonly read,
which also attac!ed judicial astrology as (superstition(, but left natural
astrology unrebu!ed, although pointing out that it was (only to be
deduced, a posteriori, from phaenomena and observations.(
Those who did not have 1hambers on their boo!shelves certainly for the
most part had an almanac or two; these were almost as common, and in
much the same vein, as the :nglish almanacs of the same period. *ut
there was an additional emphasis on agriculture and meteorology.
1ulpepper was etremely pbpular, and as late as the middle of the 10th
century the most common medical (tetboo!( in the American home was
his )ondon 2ispensatory. As time went on, this was attac!ed % in
particular by 1otton <ather, the 1ongregational minister and author, who
while splendidly gullible about such matters as angels and mermaids, had
some !ind of natural antipathy to astrology 4mainly on religious grounds5
and argued that to suppose that the efficacy of certain herbs was in any
way enhanced by their being pic!ed at certain times was (a folly a!in to
the idolatry and superstition of the 7oman%1atholics, in loo!ing to saints,
for their influences on our several diseases.(
American farmers in the 16th and 10th centuries seem to have paid
special attention to astrological and veterinary adviceB an almanac argued
that (for the better success in letting blood, ta!ing physic!, cutting of
cattle, sheep and hogs, it(s necessary to !now where, or in what part of
the body the sign is(, and in The 3usbandman(s <aga"ine of 1610, +ohn
'mith set it down that horses should be gelded (in the wain of the <oon,
the signs being either in #irgo or Aries( and that (1andlemas 4observing it
to be in the increase of the <oon5 is the best time to let your sows be
covered.(
The efficient American farmer must have lived his life entirely according to
the "odiac and the planets, if we are to believe the maga"ines of the
period; in 161C The 3usbandman(s ;uide advised its readers to (geld
sheep and other cattle the <oon being in Aries, 'agittarius or 1apricorn.
'heer sheep the <oon increasing in Taurus, #irgo or )ibra, and their
fleeces will grow the thic!er and faster, the li!e observed in cutting hair;
and if the <oon be in a friendly aspect to #enus (tis much better.( -ifty
years later The 1iti"en(s and 1ountryman(s :perienced -arrier advised
farmers who wanted (to get horse colts( to (ta!e your mare to the horse
before the full of the <oon, and when the sign is a female. To get mare
colts, cover after the full, and in the male signs.(
There was horticultural advice too % 4trees should be set and dug up in
winter, (especially at new <oon(, fruit trees planted and grafted when the
<oon was waing, transplanted trees set when it was waning % for the
waning <oon helped a plant send its root downwards, while the waing
<oon helped a plant to grow upward5, and some personal 4(it is good to
118
bathe the <oon being in Taurus, #irgo and 1apricorn; it is best bathing
two or three days after, or at the full of the <oon(5.
There was opposition, of course, from those who found it ludicrous that (in
many parts of the country ... a citi"en will not castrate a lamb or a pig,
nor suffer himself nor any of his family to be bled from the arm, without
inspecting the almanac in the first place, to find what the philomath who
compiled it has certified for the astral and lunar influence on the body for
that day.( *ut there was some serious study, too; in 166/ a 2r +ames
;reenhill was correlating the fits eperienced by an epileptic slave with
the changes of the <oon, and a number of other doctors had received
astrological training and used it in treating their patients. 'amuel 2eane,
a respected agriculturist, published his theory on the effects of the planets
on fruit%tree growth in The >ew :ngland -armer, or ;eorgic 2ictionary
416.65B
'ome may thin! it whimsical to gather apples on the day of the full <oon.
*ut, as we !now both animals and vegetables are influenced by the <oon
in some cases, why may we not suppose a greater &uantity of spirit is
sent up into the fruit, when the attraction of the heavenly bodies is
greatestA $f so, $ gather my apples at the time of their greatest perfection,
when they have most in them that tends to their preservation ...
There were a few consultant astrologers practising in America at this timeB
+oseph 'tafford of 7hode $sland, >athaniel )ow of *oston, +ohn +arman,
>athaniel Ames and 2aniel )eeds of ,hiladelphia, +ohn Tobler of >orth
1arolina. )ow and Ames were rivals in the first half of the 10th century,
Ames claiming to have foretold the death of ;eorge $$ and the victories of
;eorge $$$(s forces in the -rench and $ndian war, while )ow warned, on
the eve of the -rench and American revolutions, that certain planetary
aspects (may stir up great politicians in contriving new ways and methods
of regulating the affairs of governments.( :ventually, the polymath
*enjamin -ran!lin disposed of )eeds by emulating the pran! played by
'wift on $saac *ic!erstaffB he predicted )eeds(s death, (proved( it, and ran
the poor man out of business despite all his protestations that he was still
alive and well.
There is not much information about the practices of these American
astrologers, but a contemporary diary reveals at least that on 7hode
$sland privateers were consulting astrologers about the time at which they
should set sail 4though two of them, advised to sail on -riday, C/
2ecember, did so in the middle of a snowstorm and went down with all
hands5; merchants seem to have employed astrologers similarly % and
even -ran!lin himself did so, on one occasion.
$n general, although there were several different emphases, astrology in
America 4li!e much else5 was broadly imitative of astrology in *ritain;
there, as in the mother country, astrologers relied on the popularity of
their almanacs to !eep them afloat.
119
'ince the earliest days of the printed almanac, it had been the case that
the livelier an astrologer(s pen was, the more success he had; )illy(s
popular success was in a very large measure due to his paw!y, roistering
style. At the end of the 10th century, when natural scepticism made the
simple provision of predictions unacceptable, it was even more important
for astrologers to entertain their readers, and the tradition of the
astrological journalist became much stronger % to reach its apogee a
century and a half later, in the newspaper astrologer.
$n the early part of the 1.th century, the most popular almanac in *ritain
was the #o 'tellarum, which by 10D. was selling over half a million
copies % rather surprising, perhaps, when one considers that it was
editorially very much on the side of the Americans in the =ar of
$ndependence, believing that the result (paved the way for freedom(, and
positively welcomed the -rench 7evolution with its (glorious and happy
spirit of liberty(. $t did, however, ta!e :ngland(s part in the war against
-rance.
:normous sales of almanacs, especially the cheaper ones, continued
through the 1.th century; in 10.6 over a million copies of Old <oore(s
,enny Almanac were printed, and every one sold within two months of the
end of the year 4the predictions were, of course, for 10.05. $t was
complained, halfway through the reign of Gueen #ictoria, that practically
no one among the (lower classes( did not possess an almanac, and most
lived their lives by it, refusing to cut their grass if rain was predicted,
declining to dose their cattle if the day was inauspicious.
'ome of the credit, if that is the word, for the growing popularity of purely
astrological maga"ines 4combining the !ind of predictions offered in the
old%style almanacs with feature articles and gossip5 must lie with two
men, 7obert 1ross 'mith and 7ichard +ames <orrison, both born in 16.8.
'mith was in 10C/ appointed editor of a new periodical, The 'traggling
Astrologer of the >ineteenth 1entury, in the twelfth issue of which
appeared for the first time his pseudonym (7aphael(, which was to become
famous in the net few years. 3e also introduced a wee!ly feature
predicting the planetary effects on love and marriage, finance, business,
travel % the first wee!ly predictions to be made in a journal.
The 'traggling Astrologer did not last long; 'mith had better luc! with The
,rophetic <essenger, the first issue of which came out in 10C6, and which
on his death in 10DC was ta!en over and continued until 1080. There were
at least five (7aphaels( after 'mith.
$t was <orrison, however, who was the more important of the two men,
wor!ing under the pseudonym (Jad!iel(. An e%naval officer he became a
professional astrologer in 10D@ and founded Jad!iel(s Almanac, sales of
which rivalled those of The ,rophetic <essenger. Apart from his
journalism, <orrison did much to ma!e astrology mildly respectable
again; 3e complained, for instance, about the cheapjac! astrologers who
would wor! for as little as five shillings, when (no man of education would
120
stoop to receive such beggarly remuneration(, and recommended that
anyone wishing to consult an astrologer should go to one possessing the
2iploma of the *ritish Association for Astral 'cience 4founded in 10// with
1@6 members, but short%lived5.
$n his 1061 almanac, <orrison published a suggestion that 'aturn(s
position during that year would be (very evil for all persons born on or
near the C6th August; among the sufferers $ regret to see the worthy
,rince 1onsort of these realms. )et such persons pay scrupulous attention
to health.( On 1/ 2ecember 1061, the ,rince 1onsort died of typhoid.
-ar from being congratulated on his accuracy, Jad!iel was conse&uently
attac!ed by a leader writer in The 2aily Telegraph, and forced to sue a
rear%admiral who blac!guarded him in the same newspaper. 3e won the
case, evidence having been given for him by a large &ueue of titled
clients; but the )ord 1hief +ustice was deeply unsympathetic, allowed
continual laughter in court, and recommended low damages. Jad!iel
received only twenty shillings and had to pay his own costs. The sales of
his net almanac profited by the publicity, but as a consultant astrologer
he almost vanishes from sight from that moment.
<orrisonIJad!iel could certainly not be dis&ualified from the accusation of
having an interest in the occult % especially in crystal%ga"ing, an
occupation which was really at the root of his libel case. *ut he was a
serious astrologer too, preparing and publishing in 108C a popular
abridgement of )illy(s 1hristian Astrology; and there were others % such as
=illiam +oseph 'immonite, elected to the 1ouncil of the )ondon
<eteorological 'ociety 4of which <orrison was also a member5, and
7ichard ;arnett 410D8%1.@65, on the staff of the *ritish <useum, an
amateur who impressed 'amuel *utler with some predictive successes.
$t was ;arnett who, in an essay entitled The 'oul and the 'tars, published
in The Fniversity <aga"ine in 100@, put forward a view of astrology which
was at odds with that of many professional astrologers, still much caught
up with almanacs and predictions. ;arnett too! the view that far from
being an occult science, as most people thought, it was (necessary to
insist on the strictly empirical character of astrology(, that (astrology with
the single eception of astronomy, is, as regards the certainty of its data,
the most eact of all eact sciences(, and that the astrologer(s calculations
(are performed by no more cabalistic process than arithmetic. The
influence he attributes to the heavenly bodies may be imaginary, but in no
sense occult ...(
;arnett was loo!ing towards our own time, when astrologers would for the
most part share his view. Others, however, were to pave the way for the
C@th%century resurgence of interest in the subject. Alan )eo 4=. -. Allen,
106@%1.165 was one.
)eo is an important figure in =estern astrology, his tetboo!s still on sale.
Through his friend ('epharial( 4=. 7. Old, 106/%1.C.5 he found his way
121
into <adame *lavats!y(s Theosophical 'ociety in )ondon. 3e became a
professional astrologer, and set up a sort of factory in 3ampstead, where
other astrologers were set to calculate charts, and several cler!s to write
out )eo(s opinions on them; it was the #ictorian e&uivalent of today(s
computeri"ed horoscope firms, and )eo(s <odern Astrology ,ublishing
1ompany soon had branches in ,aris and >ew Kor!.
$t was )eo(s chief cler! who devised the system by which cheapjac!
astrologers still wor!B answer their advertisements in the best%selling
astrological maga"ines, and you will receive a number of cyclostyled
sheets stapled together, one for the 'un sign, one for the rising sign, one
each for the positions of the <oon, #enus, <ercury and so on. :. 3.
*ailey, who cordially disli!ed him, later described an average morning in
)yncroft ;ardens % one that has often been reproduced sinceB
The morning mail had just been delivered and Albanus )eon M)eoN was
busily engaged in sorting out a large pile of letters of all shapes and
si"es ... <ost of them contained money orders, for )eon had an immense
clientele, and the income from his business had now reached four figures
a year, and bid fair to greatly increase as time went on. The mail this
morning was an eceptionally heavy one and the pile of postal and money
orders was rapidly mounting. $t was true that the great majority were only
for a shilling, but these, with the five and ten shillings orders, and three or
four for a pound, as well as various che&ues for various amounts, made
up a very goodly sum.
(7aphael( and (Jad!iel( were of that generation of astrologers faced with
the problem of assimilating into the tradition the (modern( planets Franus
4discovered in 16015 and >eptune 410/65; ,luto was to be added in 1.D@.
The discovery of these planets was another handy weapon for the anti%
astrological camp % but astrologers replied that rather than creating new
problems, they solved old ones. )oo!ing at a horoscope of, say, Gueen
:li"abeth $ or one of the 1aesars, it was clear that there were some
elements of the character which were not to be accounted for by the
positions of the planets !nown to ancient astrologers. These were
obviously the result of the influence of those planets recently discovered,
and if they were filled into the old birth charts, the picture was much more
complete.
'imilarly, the effects of the (new( planets in a progressed chart were
slowly discovered by a process of trial and elimination. 3arvey(s discovery
of the circulation of the blood had not devalued what was previously
!nown about the bodily processes; it had simply enlarged that process.
The same was true of the (modern( planets.
122
Into the T%entieth Century
=hilst Alan )eo too! the lead in maintaining the popular interest in
astrology in :ngland, it was the great psychologist 1arl ;ustav +ung
41068%1.615 who probably more than any other single person encouraged
at least a few scientists to begin to thin! about the subject.
+ung(s interest in astrology seems to have been a natural offshoot of his
preoccupation with the (collective unconscious(, his belief that (although
our inheritance consists in physiological paths, still it was mental
processes in our ancestors that created the paths(; that, in fact, C@th%
century man(s attitude to life is shaped by his remote history. +ung saw
the signs of the "odiac as archetypal % that is, as having for us a
significance deeper than we !now; and we are conscious of archetypes
when stirred by highly emotional circumstances, such as those that
provo!e people to consult astrologers.
+ung himself seems to have used the horoscope as a starting point from
which to build a bridge of understanding between himself and a patient by
finding within it and his own chart some common ground. 2uring the
preparation of his essay on synchronicity 4the term he coined to eplain
the wild coincidences that occur in almost everyone(s life, and can be not
only pu""ling but frightening5 he and his assistants eamined the birth
charts of 10@ apparently happily married couples, and sought in them the
traditional astrological indications of satisfactory partnership. )ater, he
added more data, and eventually investigated the .66 charts of /0D
couples, not only in their original pairings but in chance couplings % so
altogether DC,CC@ pairings were postulated and eamined.
The results of the test were considered by +ung to be, in the end,
somewhat unsatisfactory; but he did point out that in the twinned charts
of the happily married couples there was a statistically significant
presence of the aspects traditionally considered indicative of a satisfactory
relationship. 3e epressed this very dramaticallyB
Kou ta!e three matchboes, put 1@@@ blac! ants in the first, 1@,@@@ in the
second and 8@ in the third, together with one white ant in each of them,
shut the boes, and bore a hole in each of them, small enough to allow
only one ant to crawl through at a time. The first ant to come out of each
of the three boes is always the white one.
The chances of this actually happening are etremely improbable. :ven in
the first two cases, the probability wor!s out at 1B1@@ 1@,@@@, which
123
means that such a coincidence is to be epected only in one case out of
ten million. $t is improbable that it would ever happen in anyone(s
eperience. Ket in my statistical eperiment it happened that precisely the
three conjunctions stressed by astrological tradition came together in the
most improbable way.
+ung was conscious of the statistical blemishes of his eperiment, and
never claimed that it proved anything other than that, in the words of +.
'. 3aldane, (the universe may be not only &ueerer than we suppose, but
&ueerer than we can suppose.( *ut his astrological essay 4'ynchronicity,
an acausal connecting principle, 1.885 had the effect of directing some
serious minds towards the disreputable science, and it is during the past
thirty years that interest, in particular, has steadily grown.
*efore +ung(s rather speciali"ed interest too! shape, isolated eamples are
to be found of a revival of serious attention to the subject. $n 10.1, in
-rance, while popular interest was scant 4and it was possible for a
scientist to assert that astrology was an ancient science whose rules had
been completely lost5, a !ind of cabalist astrology was revived, which led
to the publication of a translation of part of <orin de #illefranche(s
Astrologia ;allica of 1661, which in turn interested an artillery officer
called ,aul 1hoisnard 41066%1.D@5, who became the first modern
astrologer to attempt to get together a reliable body of statistical evidence
about the planet(s influences on the human personality.
$t was <adame *lavats!y who triggered off the renewal of interest in
;ermany, which spread largely as a result of the wor! of 9arl
*randler,racht 4born 106/5, who seems to have learned astrology in the
Fnited 'tates, where he wor!ed as an actor. 3e founded the ;erman
Astrological 'ociety, and started the Astrologische 7undscbau, the most
prominent astrological journal in ;ermany until the >a"is shut it down in
1.D0.
$t was after the -irst =orld =ar, among the uncertainties of the peace,
that astrology really began to gain ground in ;ermany, and the
publication of ephemerides 4tables of the positions of celestial bodies5 and
almanacs boomed. The best%!nown astrologer of the years between the
wars was without doubt :lspeth :bertin 4born 100@5, a serious astrologer
with a genius for popular journalism, which she combined with
consultancy. $t was -rau :bertin who, sent the birth data of Adolf 3itler in
1.CD, wrote in her yearboo! that he (could epose himself to danger by
lac! of caution( % which he duly did during the <unich putsch, when he fell
and bro!e his shoulder before being arrested and imprisoned. -rau :bertin
received concommitant publicity.
Although the ;erman police from time to time prosecuted individual
astrologers for fortune%telling, interest grew, and annual conferences of
astrologers were held between 1.CD and 1.D6, only internecine rows
hindering ambitious plans for scientific study. The ;ermans have the
distinction of recogni"ing the putative importance of astrology in the
124
developing art of psychoanalysis, and one of +ung(s admirers, @. A. 3.
'chmit" 4106D%1.D15 led the way in proposing how this could best be
done, though 3erbert -reiherr von 9loec!ler 410.6%1.8@5 was the pioneer
in dragging astroanalysis into the psychology%conscious C@th century, with
his ;rundlagen fur die astrologische 2eutung 4-oundations of astrological
interpretation5, 1.C6.
$nterest in astrology being as intense, in ;ermany, as it was % :llic 3owe,
in Frania(s children, 1.66, estimates that during the twenty years after
1.C1 at least four hundred specialist boo!s and pamphlets were published
in that country % it was inevitable that it should be suspected that 3itler
and the >a"i party made use of astrology for their own purposes. As with
other homogenous groups, some astrologers supported the >a"is, some
did not; on both sides, there were unhappy conse&uences. 2r 9arl%
;unther 3eimoth, for instance, a doctor and psychologist who published
an astrological study of homoseuality and through it became a friend of
:rnst 7ohm, the chief of the 'turm%Abteilung 43itler(s private army5, was
murdered by the -uhrer with 7ohm and others in +une 1.D/. The
Astrological 'ociety in ;ermany, on the other hand, managed to stay out
of trouble, integrating with the establishment and providing a certain
amount of protection for astrologers even after 1.D/, when the >a"is
banned all (fortune%telling(, ma!ing the publication of almanacs and
astrological journals illegal.
There is no evidence that 3itler himself was interested in astrology, and
some evidence that he positively mistrusted it. 3e is often accused of
having a personal astrologer, and the name most often connected with the
accusation is that of 9arl :rnst 9rafft 41.@@%/85. 9rafft was born in
'wit"erland, of ;erman descent, and became a very competent
astrologer. 3e also became a fervent admirer of 3itler, and on C
>ovember 1.D., wrote to a 2r -osel 4then wor!ing for the 7'3A,
3immler(s secret intelligence service5 warning that between 6 and 1@
>ovember 3itler(s life would be in danger because of (the possibility of an
attempt at assassination by the use of eplosive material(.
The >a"is were as disapproving of astrological predictions about the life of
the head of state as the 1aesars had been, and disregarded the warning.
=hen on . >ovember a bomb eploded at the *urgerbrau beer hall in
<unich minutes after 3itler had left it, 9rafft could not resist sending a
telegram to 7udolf 3ess pointing out that he had told them so. 3is original
letter to -osel was dug out of the files and shown to 3itler, who passed it
to 2r ;oebbels. The same day, 9rafft was arrested by the ;estapo and
ta!en in for &uestioning. 3e managed to convince them that under certain
circumstances such accurate predictions were possible, and was released.
$n 1./@, 9rafft was summoned to *erlin by ;oebbels to loo! through the
prophesies of >ostradamus and translate any of them that could be used
as propaganda against the Allies. $t was felt that these, if dropped into
unoccupied areas, might well do something to persuade the people that
125
government by the >a"is was in the natural order of things. And indeed,
after some wee!s( wor!, 9rafft claimed to have discovered verses
predicting the invasion of 3olland and *elgium, and foreseeing the Third
7eich and the 'econd =orld =ar. 3e produced a pamphlet based on forty
&uatrains of >ostradamus, designed for circulation in *elgium and -rance,
and predicting the imminent downfall of *ritain. *ut in <ay of 1./1, about
three months later, 3ess, second in command to 3itler 4after ;oering5
flew to 'cotland in an independent attempt to arrange a peace % an
attempt rewarded by the Allies with over forty years( imprisonment.
<artin *ormann decided that the best way of presenting the story to the
;erman people would be to announce that 3ess was actually insane, and
shortly afterwards it was announced that he had been cra"ed by
(hypnotists, astrologers and so on(. $n *ritain, The Times actually reported
that 3ess had been 3itler(s private astrologerE
This gave the ;estapo the ecuse to clamp down on astrology in general,
and those who had formerly enjoyed the protection of a sympathetic
3immler 4who had arranged the release of one of their number, =ilhelm
=ulif, from a concentration camp to wor! for him and his wife5 now found
themselves arrested and at worst sent to concentration camps. This
delighted a number of members of the >a"i 3igh 1ommand, few of whom
admired 3immler, and many of whom regarded him as derangedB
7einhard 3eydrich, for instance, used to compare 3immler to another
officer, saying (One is worried about the stars on his epaulette, and the
other about the stars in his horoscopeE( Along with faith healers,
clairvoyants, graphologists, 1hristian 'cientists and spiritualists,
astrologers were definitely out of favour. 9rafft was among those
arrested. $n prison, he continued to wor! for a while on astrological
propaganda, but at the end of 1.// caught typhus, and in +anuary of the
following year died en route for *uchenwald.
$t is doubtful whether astrology had any effect on the ;erman conduct of
the war, despite 3immler(s sympathy to it. :ven ;oebbels was infected, to
some etent, for he sent from the besieged *erlin bun!er in the last days
of the war for copies of 3itler(s birth chart and that of the 7eich, pointing
out to the -uhrer that both charts agreed in showing the outbrea! of war
and the present disastrous reverses, but also promised an overwhelming
victory for ;ermany in April, and peace by August. 3itler preferred not to
wait for the planetary change, and !illed himself.
$n *ritain, newspaper horoscopes played a part in !eeping up national
morale; but the most curious *ritish astrological story of the war is that of
)ouis de =ohl, a ;erman, part%+ewish, who spent much of its duration in
)ondon, having persuaded the government, or at least some members of
it, that he could tell them what advice 3itler(s astrologers were giving him,
and thus predict some of his plans. The venture seems to have been
successful only for de =ohl, who made a lot of money from syndicated
journalism, wor!ed for the ,sychological =arfare :ecutive(s (blac!
126
propaganda( unit, and flourished a *ritish army captain(s uniform to which
he was not entitled.
$n America, there was the same uneasy blend of serious and popular
interest in astrology as in most parts of :urope. $n 10.0 )u!e *roughton
410C0%..5, an astrologer and doctor of medicine, had published his
:lements of astrology, the first original American tetboo! 4though it is
fair to remember that *roughton had been born in )eeds, in :ngland5. And
in the 1.C@s came the first independent American popular astrologer,
:vangeline Adams 41068%1.DC5, who leapt to popular attention after a
spectacularly successful prediction of a hotel fire in >ew Kor!, and for the
net thirty years collected an enormous public for her syndicated columns
and radio programmes 4at one stage she broadcast three times a wee!5.
3er success was consolidated after a prosecution, in 1.1/, for fortune%
telling. 2uring the trial she was given an anonymous horoscope to
interpret; on reading the result, the judge announced that the chart had
been that of his son, that she was totally accurate on all points, and in his
view had (raised astrology to the dignity of an eact science(. 3e
dismissed the case.
A more serious practitioner was 2ane 7udhyar 410.8% 5, a distinguished
composer who came to astrology through an interest in oriental music and
philosophy, and believed that through astrology (man can discover the
pattern or order which reveals both his individuality and his destiny
underneath or within the often seemingly chaotic and bewildering events
of his personal daily eistence(. 3is The ,lanetari"ation of consciousness,
1.6@, remains probably the most impressive astrological wor! to have
come out of America.
*etween <iss Adams and 2r 7udhyar came a multitude of other
astrologers, professional and amateur. $n 1.6@, <arcia <oore had no
difficulty in finding nine hundred professional astrologers to &uestion for a
thesis she was writing; in 1.6. one journalist estimated that over ten
thousand Arnericans were ma!ing a living from astrology 4probably the
majority of them by ma!ing predictions that would be mistrusted by more
serious astrologers5.
The incursion of astrology into the popular press was pioneered in )ondon
as recently as 1.D@ by 7. 3. >aylor 4100.%1.8C5. 3e was invited by the
editor of The 'unday :press to cast the horoscope of the newly born
,rincess <argaret 7ose, daughter of the future 9ing ;eorge #$. 3e did so,
not only outlining in his article a character now recogni"ably that of the
,rincess, but predicting that (events of tremendous importance to the
7oyal -amily and the nation will come about near her seventh year(.
Fnforeseen events indeed resulted in her father(s accession to the throne
a few months before her seventh birthday.
*ut.more important for astrology, the newspaper(s editor invited <r
>aylor to contribute another article to the following wee!(s issue; and in it
he suggested that *ritish aircraft might be in danger. On the very day of
127
publication, the airship 7%1@1 crashed in northern -rance. The newspaper
gave <r >aylor massive publicity, and he became famous overnight. 'ince
then no popular newspaper or maga"ine has been able to escape the
necessity to publish regular astrological forecasts for its readers.
7ecently, astrologers have managed to persuade editors to allow them to
ma!e use of and mention various planets and their possible effects on
readers( lives; but it was >aylor who invented the 'un sign column. 3e
had to find a way of writing so that each reader could feel involved, and
chose to divide his essays into twelve paragraphs, one for each person
born when the 'un was passing through a particular "odiac sign. This is by
no means a predominantly important part of astrological forecasting, but
it is one recogni"able by every reader, because it depends on the day,
rather than the precise time, of birth. Fnrelenting concentration on the
'un sign has done untold damage to astrology, for even those who claim
to be intelligent critics are often under the impression that astrologers
base serious character analyses on this single aspect of a birth chart.
+ournalists often write of a booming interest in astrology % by which they
mean, on the whole, the growth of an almost entirely superstitious
interest in the subject. There was a time, in the 1.6@s and 1.6@s, when
you only had to sit net to a stranger on a plane, or stand net to
someone at a party, to be as!ed (=hat(s your signA( $n those days, the
'un sign was almost the only element of a birth chart to be !nown. This
left the field open for (astrologers( who were really clairvoyants. <aurice
=oodruff, the :nglishman who numbered so many international film stars
among his clients 4,eter 'ellers, for one, hardly made a move without
consulting him5 was much more clairvoyant than astrologer. $n America,
1arroll 7ighter was more conventional, but probably no less uncritically
consulted % by among others a film star called 7onald 7eagan, whose
publicly epressed interest in astrology has recently diminished.
Those who consulted =oodruff or 7ighter would have been unli!ely to
have heard of 2ane 7udhyar or of +ohn Addey 41.C@%0C5, the :nglishman
whose advanced wor! on what he termed (the harmonics of cosmic
periods( is believed by many astrologers to be crucial. $n some areas of
the world there was a more informed wide interestB in the east, especially,
where <rs $ndira ;andhi has never disguised her trust. >or have many
prominent $ndian politicians and public servants, despite a far more
fatalistic astrology than is acceptable in the west. $n 'ri )an!a, astrology
plays a prominent part in public affairs.
$n general, prejudice seems to be the only factor to stand in the way of a
serious scientific consideration of the astrological theory. $n private, even
the most sceptical of critics may admit to a suspicion that not enough
eamination has been made of the available facts, despite the availability
of statistical evidence on a large scale. Fntil fairly recently, such evidence
has been prepared by astrologers themselves, and has thus been open to
criticism. *ut e&ually, critics have been unprepared even to loo! at that
128
evidence, or indeed to ma!e any real attempt to understand what it is
that they critici"e. 'ome years ago, two hundred scientists at a :uropean
convention issued a statement warning the public that belief in astrology
was futile and could be dangerous. =hen &uestioned, it was found that
the great majority of them believed that astrologers wor!ed only on the
basis of the position of the 'un at the time of birth. 4$t is ironical that their
warning, better epressed, would have been supported by most
astrologers, as concerned at uncritical belief in 'un%sign astrology as
anyoneE5 >either has it been publicised that a greater number declined to
sign the statement than put their names to it.
'ome scientists are able even to ignore (astrological( facts that turn up,
unprompted, in their own fields. 'urgeons provide statistics which relate a
difficulty in stopping bleeding during surgical operations at certain phases
of the <oon, and doctors at blood transfusion centres note with surprise
that donors bleed more freely when the <oon is full. Tell them that
ancient astrologers pointed this out, and they are dumbfounded.
<eteorologists announce that there seems to be a correlation between the
position of certain planets and events on the surface of the 'un which
affects the weather, but assert that this has nothing to do with astrology.
Occasionally, however, those with absolutely no interest in the subject are
sufficiently intrigued to involve themselves. The most notable of these is
perhaps the -rench statistician <ichel ;au&uelin, assisted by his wife
-rancoise. ;au&uelin(s interest was prompted by his decision to chec! the
statistics on which 9rafft based his Treatise on astrobiology, published in
the 1.D@s. =ith the help of a computer, ;au&uelin showed that these
were improperly correlated. *ut certain interesting facts emerged from
them, nevertheless, and ;au&uelin decided to test two of them % the
propositions that people born during (odd( months of the year were
introverts, while those born during (even( months were etraverts. This
seemed obviously one of those lunatic traditional astrological propositions
that could not, in a sensible world, be believed. To his ama"ement and
irritation, ;au&uelin found that his computers confirmed it 4as far as
introversion and etraversion are measureable5.
To summari"e, ;au&uelin went on to eamine the birth charts of
thousands of sportsmen, actors and scientists chosen on the basis of their
success in their professions. 'tatistically, sportsmen tended to be born
when the planet <ars was, astrologically, dominant; actors under +upiter;
scientists and doctors under 'aturn. ;au&uelin(s propositions have been
re%eamined by 3ans :ysenc!, who agrees with them.
There have been other incidental illustrations of the astrological
proposition. <a!i Ta!ata has eamined the effect of sunspot activity on
the flocculation inde 4the rate at which blood albumin curdles5 and found
a close relationship; ;iorgio ,iccardi has shown that both sunspots and
the <oon(s cycle affect various chemical reactions; K. 7ocard has recently
shown that men and women have a very delicate sensitivity to the earth(s
129
magnetic field % the sense homing pigeons use to find their way bac! to
their lofts over many miles of countryside. All this has a very obvious
relationship to astrology, as have more obvious correlations of planetary
movements and events on earth 4such as the eample of +ohn 3. >elson(s
wor! in meteorology5.
$n recent years some astrologers have made great efforts to loo! critically
and coolly at their wor!; a lengthy boo!, 7ecent Advances in >atal
Astrology 4first published 1.665 related both successes and failures,
sought out false propositions, astrological legends, badly devised and
conducted (eperiments( and unsupported claims with such rigour and
objectivity that many astrologers condemned it as an attac! on their craft.
-ar from that, it is an almost uni&ue attempt to loo! seriously at the
subject and to eamine it critically but not dismissively. There are
relatively few areas of astrology which it suggests are worth thoughtful
and constructive eamination 4though these are widely spread, and
include the 'un%sign elements as well as more arcane theories5. As the
authors, ;eoffrey 2ean and Arthur <ather, put itB
$n recent years properly controlled eperiments have failed to sustain
many of astrology(s claims, and have shown beyond doubt that much of
its apparent validity can be eplained by the demonstrable gullibility of
practitioners and clients ali!e ... On the other hand the same eperiments
have revealed that not all is fallacious. :nough remains that cannot be
eplained by gullibility or coincidence to justify further study.
>o one who has seriously loo!ed at the evidence 4and a great deal of
evidence now eists5 could argue with that.
,rogress is being made. The Astrological Association in *ritain and the
American -ederation of Astrologers hold annual conferences as well as
wee!ly meetings; certainly theories are aired that seem decidedly
(chint"y(, but a great deal of serious wor! is also done. 1orrelation, a
regular journal published by the Astrological Association, is probably the
most serious periodical in the history of the subject. $n )ondon recently as
many as four hundred astrologers and students met for an evening(s
study, on a serious level; and there are regular meetings and conferences
in most western countries, many of them international. The *ritish -aculty
of Astrological 'tudies holds classes in )ondon and has a correspondence
course which has been ta!en by students in most countries of the world.
$ts final eamination involves several papers, and there is a high and
rigorous standard of mar!ing, with relatively few passes each year.
Kes, 'un%sign boo!s continue to be published, and account for the
majority of sales of astrological boo!s. *ut many of them now have tables
of planetary positions which enable the reader to wor! out a virtually
complete horoscope. 3istorians too are beginning to eplore the
documents left by the astrologers of the past. :ven science begins to
show a reluctant interest through the study of various natural rhythms, of
cosmobiology, and of correlations of terrestrial events and planetary
130
movements. $t seems li!ely that the net fifty years or so will ma!e it
clear to what etent the longest%living scientific tradition is based on
superstition, and to what etent it can help to illuminate the nature of our
eistence.
Early Concepts of Heavenly Influence
13$>A
The oldest evidence of astrological study and practice are found within
1hina. These developments predate those of <esopotamia, dating bac!
thousands of years. The ancient 1hinese were meticulous in preserving
their astrological records. :ven today we may respect their comprehension
of the heavens. *y C@@1 *1: the astronomers of 1hina had determined
the length of the year to be D68 days as well as the cardinal points of
direction. They also clearly mapped the paths of the 'un and <oon well
enough to predict eclipses.
$>2$A
1urrent records in *harat indicate a well developed !nowledge of
astrology dating bac! to far ancient times. 7emnants of wor! still eist
from sometime around D,8@@ *1:. Although most of the original
manuscripts were lost, certain Astrologers reproduced their own versions
of these earlier wor!s. 'ome of these copies can be found in libraries
belonging to <aharajahs.
Apparently, $ndian astrology was held in very good standing elsewhere in
the literate world of the time. $n his boo!, Ancient 1alendars and
1onstellations, :. <. ,lun!ett writes WThe opinion of the ;ree! writers at
the beginning of the 1hristian era may be &uoted as showing the high
estimation in which $ndian astronomy was held. $n The )ife of Appollonius
of Tyana, the ;ree! philosopher and astrologer, written by ,hilostratus
about C1@, the wisdom and learning of Appollonius are set high above his
contemporaries because he had studied astronomy and astrology with the
sages of $ndia.W
There is still much that remains un!nown about the function of ancient
megalithic monuments found throughout the world. $n most cases it is still
uncertain who the actual builders were. =hat we do !now, from
contemporary observations, is that most of these sites were used for
astronomical observation. The dominant theory places their function
within agricultural ritual.
131
<:'O,OTA<$A
Astrology(s ancient beginnings are also traced to <esopotamia at least as
far bac! as C@@1 *1:. These early records reveal a comple cosmology in
which the 'un, the <oon and the planets represented gods who possessed
the power to direct and intervene in the course of physical events.
*A*K)O>$A
These early concepts progress through the growth of *abylonian
civili"ation. -undamental to this world view, was the idea that the planets
had a divine nature and the ability to influence human destiny. The
*abylonians established a pantheon of gods, each possessing dominion
over a particular area of human eperience. -or instance, <ercury, the
god of the intellect was seen as &uic! and cunning, with a special &uality
of calculating intelligence. <ars was seen as the ruler of violence and war;
+upiter, a !ingly figure and sovereign of men; 'aturn, &uic! tempered and
cruel.
3ere we can begin to recogni"e the basic forms of Astrology as we !now it
today. As *abylonian Astrology evolved, a correlation was recogni"ed
between happenings in the heavens and events on earth.
13A)2:A
-rom ancient *abylonia, we follow Astrology to the fascinating, yet
mysterious, 1haldeans. These <esopotamian people are famed in history
as magicians and sages. Two most noted figures were *elsha""ar and
>ebuchadne""ar. They reigned for nearly 1@@ years during the seventh
century *1:.
The 1haldeans were !een observers and mathematicians. They recogni"ed
that the events in the s!y followed a pattern. They watched the stars
move in fied order across the heavens and the planets wandering in
eccentric orbits, though in much the same plane. $t was apparent to them
that although the planets had their own individual movement they
behaved in coherent cycles. $t is here in 1haldea, that the charting
patterns of the planets began. The very first :phemeridae, tables of
planetary motion, were constructed during the reign of 9ing Assurbanipal.
$n preparation of the new cosmological system, the 1haldeans made use
of the twelve main constellations through which the 'un and <oon
regularly pass. These were the precursors of the "odiac.
A>1$:>T :F7O,:
The great importance attached to the movements of the 'un, <oon,
planets and stars was not limited to Asia and the <editerranean basin.
132
Throughout the world are found systems of Astrological study. $n =estern
:urope this is attested to by the many megalithic sites spread across the
continent, and in *ritain. $t has been documented that one of the principal
functions of these sites was to compute the yearly movements of celestial
bodies.
The monument at 'tonehenge in :ngland is perhaps, the most impressive
of these sites. $t possesses a sophisticated method of calculating a
calendar with great accuracy. The positioning of its stones pinpoints the
solstices and predicts eclipses. The layout of this stone circle was
submitted to computer analysis, and a wide range of alignments were
found showing this monument to be a gigantic megalithic computer. 7adio
carbon dates estimate that it was constructed about C8@@ *1:. $t is,
indeed, a outstanding and baffling achievement for this *ron"e age
civili"ation.
:&ually impressive, in its astronomical eactness, is the stone wor! of
>ewgrange in $reland. Thought for a long time to be merely a large
passage tomb, this 8,@@@ year old structure is in fact an observatory
which the ancient $rish used to mar! the solstice point of winter. +ust
before .am on each 2ecember C1, the shortest day of the year, the
morning sun enters a small 0 inch portal and ignites the interior of this
impressive mound. :vidence that these earlier people were not only
s!illed architects, but learned astronomers as well.
:;K,T
The :gyptian ,yramids remain singularly impressive to this day among all
ancient astronomical buildings. They are aligned to the >orth ,ole and the
cardinal points. They were set so accurately, that a 1I1C degree deviation
was discovered and accounted for by scientists as Africa(s participation in
the (continental drift(, rather than an error in :gyptian engineering.
The pyramids served a dual purpose; burial place of the pharaohs, and
astrological calculators. There are sloping corridors leading from the faces
into the interior. These were used as sighting tubes, allowing :gyptian
astrologers to ma!e na!ed%eye observations of great accuracy from which
astrological calculations were progressed.
;7::1:
$mportant to the foundation of ;ree! Astrology, was a *abylonian, named
*erosus, who lived about C8@ *1:. 3is writings had a great influence on
early astrological concepts in ;reece. Fnfortunately, no manuscripts of his
wor! have survived. *ersosus established a school of Astrologers on the
$sland of 1os.
2uring the net /@@ years, the ;ree!s "ealously converted 1haldean
Astrology to their own traditions. 3ere, it became formal and complicated.
133
The ;ree! tradition is credited with developing a system of diagnosis; and
a method of calculating individual destinies based upon the moment of
birth.
The ;ree!s also associated myths with the star groups. The heavens
became an array of sacred objects, monsters, animals and heroes. They
added human &ualities to the heavens in constellation figures which
embodied arrogance, love, fear, strength, compassion, vanity and
tenderness. Alongside this mythologic view, another based on geometrical
and mathematical relationships was seeded in ;reece. 'cience began
when the ;ree!s applied mathematics to the study of the heavens.
,TO):<K(' F>$#:7':
*y about the third century *1:, Aristarchus calculated the distances to the
'un and <oon. 3is calculation for the <oon proved correct, but he was
way off on the 'un. 'till impressive, as he did this measuring without the
availability of $nstruments.
'uch tools were finally invented by 3ipparchus. 3is instruments were so
accurate that by 18@ *1: he determined the length of the year to within
si minutes. Three centuries later ,tolemy relied almost entirely on
3ipparchus( data as the basis of his world system. ,tolemy constructed a
model of the universe that could eplain the retrograde movements of the
planets as well as the variations in their speed and brightness. The
,tolemaic model of the universe dominated =estern thought for over
1/@@ years. The first tetboo! of Astrology, The Tetrabiblos, was written
by ,tolemy.
$n 18/D, it was 1opernicus who put the sun at the center of the universe.
This was the same premise that had been held by Aristarchus in the
middle of the third century. Old ways die hard, and the 1opernicus system
was not accepted for another 1@@ years. $t was the wor! of both 9epler
and >ewton that dealt the death blow to the ,tolemaic system. 9epler
found that the planets actually move in ellipses, not circles, and >ewton
eplained why. 9epler believed only those people who had never studied
astrology could possibly deny it.
$n 1606, $ssaac >ewton(s boo! (,rincipia <athematica( opened the door to
the modern era of studying the heavens, called astronomy. This was the
beginning of the decline astrology would suffer until the mid%1.th century.
134
History of 'estern Astrology
Today, the average person in =estern society !nows their 'un 'ign
placement 4i.e. 3ey babyE =hat(s your signA5 and many read their daily
horoscope as a source of momentary entertainment and amusement. And
hec!E =ho !nowsA <aybe today will be your luc!y day, and you(ll finally
meet that tall, dar! stranger your horoscope is bragging about.
-rom the very dawn of humanity 4until today5, people have loo!ed to the
heavens and the planets for guidance. Thousands of years ago astrology
was, generally spea!ing, reserved only for members of royalty. There
were good points to astrology being embraced by royalty, and there were
several bad points. One of the best advantages was that an astrologer
could loo! forward to a nice, comfortable, civil service job in the palace.
One of the worst WdifficultiesW was when the astrologer inevitably made
the royal benefactor angry. That was when the court astrologer generally
lost hisIher head over the matter. And $ am spea!ing literally regarding
the losing of heads.
The 7ootsI;ree! Thought
The roots of =estern Tropical astrology 4the type of astrology most
=esterners are familiar with today5 date all the way bac! to ancient
<esopotamia 4CD@@ *15. -rom there, perhaps as early as 6@@ *1,
astrology made its way into ancient ;reece. Astrology(s entrance into
;reece coincided with the beginning of the first great ;ree! philosophers
and with the rise of the ;ree! state and culture.
'ocrates % /6. to D.. *1
,lato % /C6 to D/6 *1
Aristotle % D0/ to DCC *1
Then Aleander the ;reat burst into the picture by beginning his famous
con&uests over much of the entire 4then !nown5 world. Aleander(s
con&uests began and then lasted between the years of DD6%DCD *1. 2ue
to Aleander(s powerful influence and control % and his having been
tutored by the master philosopher Aristotle % ;ree! culture and thought
was then spread throughout Aleander(s vast con&uered domain. $n this
135
process of Whelleni"ingW the world % Aleandria, :gypt became the
established cultural center of ancient 3ellenistic ;ree! thought and
philosophy between the years of DCD%D1 *1. $t was during this D@@ year
period of time that the study, development, and acceptance of astrology
flourished among the prominent thin!ers of the day... and it was during
this period of time, when horoscopic, "odiacal, individuali"ed astrology %
much as we recogni"e it today % first came into eistence.
)ater ancient 3ellenistic s!y watchers such as the famous ,tolemy 408%
168 A25 served in dual roles as both the scientifically minded
mathematical astronomer searching out the s!ies and as the
metaphysically minded astrologer divining the purposes of the heavens.
The Guiet ,eriod
After a several hundred year WheydayW in ancient ;ree! and then 7oman
culture % astrology in the =est, while never totally dying out, became
rather &uiet during the period of time now called the <iddle Ages. $n
fourth century A2, the 1hristian 1hurch was busily at wor! getting ready
to establish itself as the predominant =estern world power and belief
system for the net several hundred years, and astrologers of the day
were not !een on losing their heads 4as mentioned above5. 'o out of
necessity and wishing to avoid possible persecution, those continuing the
practice of =estern astrology went underground and !ept a low profile.
2uring the net several hundred years of the 1hurch(s rule, the 1hurch in
7ome vacillated bac! and forth over its official viewpoint of astrology. At
times 1hristian church leaders condemned astrology as being heretical,
while at other times church leaders sought out the guidance of
astrologers.
7enaissanceIAge of :nlightenment
-or the most part, in the =estern world, astrology stayed &uietly
underground until its reemergence during the :uropean 7enaissance
4ranging in date anywhere from 1/8D % 18.0 to as late as the 166@s5.
'purred on in $taly by the <edicis, alchemistIastrologer <arsilio -icino
41/DD%1/..5, and the revival of ;ree! neo%,latonic philosophies.%
astrology once again gained prominence among many of the scholastics of
the day. One of the more notable astrologers during the latter
7enaissance period, =illiam )illy 416@C%16015, remoni!ered astrology as
being W1hristian AstrologyW in order to !eep the still rather powerful 4and
vacillating5 1hristian church leadership at bay.
The, all too brief, :uropean 7enaissance was then followed by the bright
rationalistic light of the Age of :nlightenment and 'cientific 7evolution of
the 16th century A2, with the scholastic world finally determining, once
and for all, that the :arth was not the center of the universe.
$deological :arth&ua!e
136
=hat we today ta!e for granted, !nowing the :arth to be a small cog in
the greater wheel of the universe, was % for the peoples of that time and
age % a huge shift in consciousness. $t(s literally impossible for us to
imagine how chaotic and devastating this paradigm shift and Wideological
earth&ua!eW was to become or how effective it would be in roc!ing the
religious world of the day.
Astrology was only one among a much larger group of metaphysical
aftershoc! casualties of this mind bending paradigm shift. As a result of
this Wideological earth&ua!e,W the physical science of astronomy and the
metaphysical art of astrology were then split off from one another % and,
for the first time, they became separate, often contrary disciplines. =hile
Astronomy blossomed under the watchful eye and blessing of the new Age
of :nlightenment % mystically minded astrology was cursed and cast aside
under its disdainful, disapproving glare... Once again, =estern astrology
disappeared into the mist, shadows, and dar!ness.
<odern 7evival
Then, around 1@@ years ago at the beginning of the C@th century,
astrology in =estern society rose up once more into public favor,
imagination, and consciousness. This final revival of astrology was due
almost solely to the efforts of the charismatic, enigmatic astrologers,
'epharial 4106/ % 1.C.5 and Alan )eo 4106@%1.165, who became the
founding fathers of the Astrological )odge of the Theosophical 'ociety in
;reat *ritain. 'ince 'epharial and )eo(s time, =estern culture(s
fascination with astrology has continued on with us and grown through the
years.
$t was during this final pop revival of =estern astrology that 'un 'ign
Astrology 43ey babyE =hat(s your signA5, ideas on !arma and
reincarnation, and the reading of daily horoscopes first began coming into
vogue. According to astrologer, 2ane 7udhyar, at the beginning of the
1.D@(s, astrologer ,aul 1lancy decided that populari"ing astrology was to
be his life mission. =hen 1lancy(s maga"ine WAmerican AstrologyW became
a huge success in 1.D/, it started a new WepochW in astrology. $t was
primarily 1lancy(s venture in WAmerican AstrologyW that brought about the
popularity of daily andIor wee!ly astrological horoscope columns, with
readings of the twelve signs, to appear in the newspapers and periodicals
throughout the Fnited 'tates and :urope. 4from the preface of Astrology,
The 2ivine 'cience by written by <arcia <oore and <ar! 2ouglas5
=hat the esteemed and &uite respected astrologer, 2ane 7udhyar, failed
to mention in this preface is that it was none other than he, 2ane
7udhyar, who was the original writer of these popular WAmerican
AstrologyW horoscopes.
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