Astrology

History

Mythographer Joseph Campbell suggests that the original awareness of the cosmos, arrayed with its diamond patterns of starlight, came as a result of the adoption of agriculture as a lifestyle at the dawn of the Neolithic era, at approximately 7000 B.C.E. Attention to the marvelously regular patterns of the stars helped to fix the best timing for planting and harvesting. Past this handy practicality, it was only a matter of time before the mythic imagination began to project familiar images onto the sky, connecting the dots in a grand vision that remade the stars into god carriers. Thus, the ancient art of astrology was developed in nearly every developed civilization of the ancient world, including Egypt, the Middle East, Persia, India, China, and the empires of Mesoamerica. There is possibly no more graphic example of the erection of a sphere of psychic protection in what the sociologist Peter Berger entitled the “Sacred Canopy.” The pretty star patterns of the night sky came to represent a glorious sacred canopy of dancing gods, leaping beasts, and fleeing enemies, helping to demarcate a people's all-important sense of place in the world.

The Western system of astrology was inherited from the Babylonians, and later embellished by the Greeks and Latins. Each of the planets was named after a prominent god, and as such, their titles were bequeathed to us to this day. Originally called the “zodiakos,” or “circle of animals,” the ancient system merged with many currents of influence in the Hellenistic era in a process often referred to as “syncretism,” as myriad sources mingled to produce an array of new systems including astrology, alchemy, Tarot, Kabbalah, hermetic arts, and many more.

Emerging Christianity was certainly not immune from this phenomenon of syncretism. As historian Jean Seznec details, the early Church both adopted aspects of astrology, such as the prominent role played by the star of Bethlehem in leading astrologers from the east to the birth of their savior, but also repudiated it. Astrology embodied the concept of unalterable fate, which went against their concepts of free will and irresistible grace. Still, astrology continued to enjoy extreme popularity through the Renaissance, as popes, kings, and great ladies such as Catherine de Medici employed professional astrologers, and all the major universities hosted chairs in astrology. In Seznec's words, this demonstrates well “to what extent the church yielded to the prevailing superstition.” How else can we explain, he asks, the role played by the constellations of the zodiac in the decorations at the Vatican?

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