William E. Burns - Astrology Through History: Interpreting the Stars From Ancient Mesopotamia to the Present

Astrology through History

Copyright 2018 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Burns, William E., 1959- editor.

Title: Astrology through history: interpreting the stars from ancient Mesopotamia to the present / William E. Burns, editor.

Description: Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018025825 (print) | LCCN 2018026668 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440851438 (eBook) | ISBN 9781440851421 (hardcopy: alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: AstrologyHistoryEncyclopedias.

Classification: LCC BF1655 (ebook) | LCC BF1655 .A88 2018 (print) | DDC 133.509dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018025825

ISBN: 978-1-4408-5142-1 (print)

978-1-4408-5143-8 (ebook)

22 21 20 19 18 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

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This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedicated to the Memories of Lucretia Sargent and Chris Sargent

Contents

Biographical

American

Adams, Evangeline (18681932)

Goodman, Linda (19251995)

Omarr, Sydney (19262003)

Quigley, Joan (19272014)

Righter, Carroll (19001988)

Rudhyar, Dane (18951985)

Arabic

Ab Mashar Al-Balkh (787886)

Al-Qab (d. 967)

Mashllh Ibn Athari (740815)

British and Irish

Ashenden, John

Ashmole, Elias (16171692)

Chaucer, Geoffrey (ca. 13401400)

Dee, John (15271609)

Forman, Simon (15521611)

Gadbury, John (16271704)

Leo, Alan (18601917)

Lilly, William (16021675)

Partridge, John (16441715)

Pont, Robert (15241606)

Sibly, Ebenezer (ca. 17501799)

Yeats, William Butler (18651939)

Chinese

Sima Qian (ca. 14587 BCE)

French

DAilly, Pierre (13501420)

Gauquelin, Michel (19281991) and Franoise Gauquelin (19292007)

Morin, Jean-Baptiste (15831656)

Nostradamus (15031566)

German/Austrian/Swiss

Albertus Magnus (12001280)

John of Saxony (14th Century)

Jung, Carl G. (18751961)

Kepler, Johannes (15711630)

Paracelsus (14931541)

Greek

Dorotheus of Sidon (fl. First Century CE)

Ptolemy (Second Century CE)

Pythagoras of Samos (ca. 570490 BCE)

Valens, Vettius (Second Century CE)

Indian

Raman, Bangalore Venkata (19121998)

Varhamihira (505?587 CE)

Italian

Bonatti, Guido (ca. 12101290)

Bruno, Giordano (15481600)

Campanella, Tommaso (15581639)

Cardano, Girolamo (15011576)

Cecco dAscoli (d. 1327)

Ficino, Marsilio (14331499)

Galilei, Galileo (15641642)

Machiavelli, Niccol (14691527)

Morandi, Orazio (15701630)

Placidus (16031668)

Other European

Brahe, Tycho (15461601)

Mercator, Gerardus (15121594)

Villena, Enrique de (13841438)

Roman

Firmicus Maternus, Julius (Fourth Century CE)

Manilius, Marcus

The Astrological Skies

Asteroids

Comets

Decans

Fixed Stars

House Systems

Zodiacs

Astrology in Times and Places

Chinese Astrology

Enlightenment

Hellenistic Astrology

Indian Astrology

Islamic Astrology

Medieval European Astrology

Mesoamerican Astrology

Mesopotamian Astrology

Nazism and the Third Reich

Renaissance and Reformation Astrology

Roman Astrology

Thai Astrology

Astrology and Society

Age of Aquarius

Agriculture

American Stars Debate

Antiastrological Thought

Apocalypticism

Art

Astral Magic

Astrological Associations

Astrotheology

Buddhism

Bureau of Astronomy (China)

Christianity

Court Astrologers

Fate

Feminist Astrology

Gender

Judaism

Legal Regulation of Astrology

New Age

Politics

Science

Sex and Love

Stoicism

Theosophy

Astrological Terms and Tools

Astrolabe

Electional Astrology

Hamburg School of Astrology

Horary Astrology

Horoscopes

Lots

Medical Astrology

Mundane Astrology

Natal Astrology

Primary Directions

Sun Signs

Tjika Astrology

Transpersonal Astrology

Texts and Media

Almanacs

Bible

Centiloquium

Indian Cinema

Information Technology

Newspapers

Picatrix

Zadkiel

Whats your sign? Whether or not you believe in astrology, you almost undoubtedly know your sun sign. Astrology, the practice of divining human meaning in the motions of the stars and planets, permeates our society. Its validity remains fiercely debated, but despite the efforts of those who oppose it as unscientific or even blasphemous it remains widely believed among all social levels and throughout much of the world.

Astrology has a long history. Ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes called the cradle of civilization, was also the cradle of astrology. It was further developed in Greece, Egypt, and India and transmitted to Rome, the Islamic World, and medieval Europe. Other astrological traditions were found in China and Mesoamerica. Astrology flourished in the European Renaissance, to be largely but not entirely abandoned in the Enlightenment, then revived in the 19th century. In the 20th century it rapidly expanded, reaching mass audiences through newspapers and then the Internet while facing a variety of new challenges.

Astrology is not practiced in a separate realm apart from the rest of what people do. Over the millennia it has influenced politics, religion, science, and art as well as many other areas of human endeavor. Great scientists, historians, philosophers, and poets have practiced it, and it has profoundly influenced their work. But for a long time astrology was seen as a subject unworthy of serious study, merely a superstition identified with people living in the past and their irrational beliefs. The fact that astrology was associated with socially marginal groups in 20th-century societythe lower classes, the uneducated, and womendidnt help. Fortunately, in the past few decades this has changed. Astrologers have become more aware of the historical roots of their discipline and have reprinted and translated many of the classic works of Western astrology (the Internet has been a big help here). Historians, sociologists, and anthropologists, following the cultural turn, have taken astrology, along with other disreputable subjects, more seriously. A flood of good books and articles on astrology in its social and historical context has poured from university and other academic presses. Many of the scholars who have contributed to this revival of interest are also contributors to this volume.

There are already numerous reference books on astrology, some of them excellent, but their purpose is very different from this book. Their subject is astrology, and they concentrate on astrological terms, techniques, and concepts. This books subject is the history of astrology. The most common question I was asked when I told people I was editing a reference book on the history of astrology was whether I believed in it. My response is that it doesnt matter. The influence of astrology in human history is undeniable whether one believes in it or not, and that is the subject of this book. Contributors to this volume include practicing astrologers and nonbelievers in astrology, and the articles are designed to be informative to everyone, regardless of their position on astrologys credibility. The book is divided into an introduction, giving an overview of the history of astrology concentrating on the Western tradition; a timeline of the history of astrology; a glossary giving brief definitions of key terms; and a selected bibliography for those interested in learning more about the history of astrology. The heart of the work is a collection of more than a hundred articles on astrology and its history, arranged in an AZ format.