Origin of Astrology

The history of astrology can be traced back to the earliest phases of Babylonian history, in the third millennium BC.

In Babylonia as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Sumerian culture (or in general the "Mesopotamian" culture), astrology takes its place in the official cult as one of the two chief means at the disposal of the priests (who were called bare or "inspectors") for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods.

The earliest extant Babylonian astrology text is the Enuma Anu Enlil (literally meaning "When the gods Anu and Enlil..."), dating back to 1600 BC. This text describes astronomical omens and their application to national and political affairs. For example, a segment of the text says: "If in Nisannu the sunrise appears sprinkled with blood, battles follow." Nisannu is the Babylonian month corresponding to March/April in the Western calendar.

Starting with the view that man's life and happiness are largely dependent upon phenomena in the heavens, that the fertility of the soil is dependent upon the sun shining in the heavens as well as upon the rains that come from heaven; and that, on the other hand, the mischief and damage done by storms and floods (both of which the Euphratean Valley was almost regularly subject to), were to be traced likewise to the heavens – the conclusion was drawn that all the great gods had their seats in the heavens.

Of the planets, five were recognized – Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Mars – to name them in the order in which they appear in the older cuneiform literature; in later texts Mercury and Saturn change places.
These five planets were identified with the gods of the Babylonian pantheon as follows:

• Jupiter with Marduk;
• Venus with the goddess Ishtar,
• Saturn with Ninurta (Ninib),
• Mercury with Nabu (Nebo),
• and Mars with Nergal.

The movements of the sun, moon and five planets were regarded as representing the activity of the five gods in question, together with the moon-god Sin and the sun-god Shamash, in preparing the occurrences on earth. If, therefore, one could correctly read and interpret the activity of these powers, one knew what the gods were aiming to bring about.
The influence of Babylonian planetary lore appears also in the assignment of the days of the week to the planets, for example Sunday, assigned to the sun, and Saturday, the day of Saturn.

The Babylonian priests applied themselves to perfecting an interpretation of the phenomena to be observed in the heavens, and it was natural that the system was extended from the moon, sun and five planets to the stars.

In this way a mass of traditional interpretation of all kinds of observed phenomena was gathered, and once gathered became a guide to the priests for all times.

After the occupation by Alexander the Great in 332BC, Egypt came under Greek rule and influence, and it was in Alexandrian Egypt where horoscopic astrology first appeared. The endeavor to trace the horoscope of the individual from the position of the planets and stars at the time of birth represents the most significant contribution of the Greeks to astrology. This system can be labeled as "horoscopic astrology" because it employed the use of the ascendant, otherwise known as the horoskopos in Greek.

Partly in further development of views unfolded in Babylonia, but chiefly under Greek influences, the scope of astrology was enlarged until it was brought into connection with practically all of the known sciences: botany, chemistry, zoology, mineralogy, anatomy and medicine. Colours, metals, stones, plants, drugs and animal life of all kinds were each associated with one or another of the planets and placed under their rulership.
By this process of combination, the entire realm of the natural sciences was translated into the language of astrology with the purpose of seeing in all phenomena signs indicative of what the future had in store.
The fate of the individual led to the association of the planets with parts of the body and so with Medical astrology.

The system was taken up almost in its entirety by the Arab astrologers. From their great centres of learning in Damascus and Baghdad they revived the learning of the ancient Greeks in Islamic astronomy, astrology, Islamic mathematics and Islamic medicine which Europe had forgotten and developed it. Their knowledge was then imported into Europe, during and after the Latin translations of the 12th century, helping to start the Renaissance. Albumasur was the greatest of the Arab astrologers, whose work 'Introductorium in Astronomiam' was later highly influential in Europe. Also important was Al Khwarizmi , the Persian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and geographer, who is considered to be the father of algebra and the algorithm. The Arabs greatly increased the knowledge of astronomy, naming many of the stars for the first time, such as Aldebaran, Altair, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Vega. In astrology they discovered a system still known as Arabic parts , which accorded a significance to the difference or "part" between the ascendant and each planet.

Astrology became embodied in the Kabbalistic lore of Jews and Christians, and came to be the substance of the astrology of the Middle Ages. In time this would lead to Church prelates and Protestant princes using the services of astrologers. This system was referred to as "judicial astrology", and its practitioners believed that the position of heavenly bodies influenced the affairs of mankind.

During the Renaissance, a form of "scientific astrology" evolved in which court astrologers would compliment their use of horoscopes with genuine discoveries about the nature of the universe. Many individuals now credited with having overturned the old astrological order, such as Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, were themselves practising astrologers.
But, as a general rule, medieval and Renaissance astrologers did not give themselves the trouble of reading the stars, but contented themselves with telling fortunes by faces. They practised chiromancy (also known as palmistry.

As physiognomists, their talent was undoubted, and according to Lucilio Vanini there was no need to mount to the house-top to cast a nativity. "Yes," he says, "I can read his face; by his hair and his forehead it is easy to guess that the sun at his birth was in the sign of Libra and near Venus. Nay, his complexion shows that Venus touches Libra. By the rules of astrology he could not lie."






Source
Image and Text: Online.