A Brief History of Astrology By Judith Goldberg, MFA	327 Route 105 Jay, VT 05859 Phone: 802-988-9664 In Baltimore (once a month for 5 days): Chase Executive Suites 10710 Beaver Dam Rd Hunt Valley, MD Phone: 410-340-2722 Email Us

What's really new about the "New Age"? Actually, a lot of popular trends assigned to the category "New Age" (Mayan prophesies, Shamanism, Chinese medicine, feng shui, and omigosh, astrology!) are pretty ancient stuff. An explosion of occult knowledge is now re-surfacing, migrating and finding new audiences. For centuries, many esoteric systems were held close to the fold in order to avoid the persecution of those who practiced their tenets. Others existed inside of closed cultural boundaries. Now, even East (mysticism) and West (scientific rationalism) are finally meeting and in some cases merging. A gateway opened in the 1950's when the “Beat Generation” popularized Zen in America. The wisdom of many indigenous cultures, long lost to the "civilized" world, is also moving into the mainstream; Amazon.com is its new repository. In the land of the Bible, important ancient texts have been rediscovered in caves or unearthed in the desert. They give us insight into the mystical roots of our modern religions. There is even talk of a yet-to- be-discovered “Atlantean Hall of Records" buried beneath the paws of the Sphinx.

Rebirth

In the true sense of the word, the “New Age” is a renaissance, in literal translation a “rebirth”. The resurrection of the spiritual wisdom of ages past, demonstrates that, as expressed in the Tao, “to everything there is a return”. Cycles are the natural order of the universe and the study of astrology clearly validates this truth. However, cycles exist within evolutionary spirals, so while on the surface, a return may appear to be a replay, with each recurrence a broader understanding evolves. For example, in former times, occult knowledge was the sole purview of initiates--shamans or priests who held sway over largely ignorant and superstitious masses of followers. Today, metaphysical information is widely available to the general public and significant numbers of individuals have reached a level of sophistication equal to, or surpassing that, of ancient priestly castes. Nothing less than a whole new cosmology, is responsible for enabling this shift.
An evolution of progressively more enlightened worldviews has led to our contemporary perspective. The practice (or rejection) of astrology was altered within each successive paradigm, making the history of astrology a useful vehicle through which to investigate these changes. Astrology has been a major component of the intellectual, religious, philosophical and scientific history of civilization. Spiritual themes seem to endure throughout--from the earliest primitive drawings of moon cycles on the walls of caves to the satellite photos of the outer reaches of space. Man has always been questing for his place in the cosmos.

Omens, Fate and Magic

Astrology has been around for thousands of years; the first Babylonian cuneiform texts, 4000 years old, contain astrological omens. Early astrology was a kind of pagan astral theology in which the planets were thought to reveal the intentions of the gods. In ancient civilizations astrology was indistinguishable from astronomy. Science and religion were merged, as man struggled to explain the mysterious workings of the world around him. From the beginning of recorded history (and no doubt before) the destiny of man was understood to be integrally connected to nature and the cosmos; but until Greco-Roman times interpretive systems were primitive. In classical Greece, astrology reached new heights. Coupled with Aristotelian philosophy, it became more theoretically sophisticated and mathematically complex. In fact, Hellenistic astrology spawned all subsequent Western astrological traditions. Greek astrologers were the first to interpret individual natal charts, believing that the stars at birth held a blueprint of an individual's destiny. Later, in accordance with Roman stoic philosophy, this fate became “cast in stone”. Divination (prediction) techniques were added to the astrological lexicon, practiced by ancient astrologer/priests. Magic and religion were widely employed as attempts to thwart fate and, in turn, enriched their practitioners.

Onward Christian Soldiers

The fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity in the fourth century A.D. resulted in the suppression of astrology in the West for the next 600 years. While Europe was plunged into darkness, Arabic Astrologers were enjoying a Golden Age. East and West would meet again in 1085 when Christians conquered Spain and Arabic astrological texts were translated into Latin. Astrology thrived, temporarily, until the church became alarmed at the influence of Islamic philosophy and theology and the Inquisitors ended the latest star search. The conflict between “church and fate” would continue for centuries, and in fact, survives today. With the European Renaissance came a rebirth of Aristotelian scientific thought and the restoration of astrology to a place of dignity. Aristotle's “natural philosophy” was highly regarded as a natural science, the rational study of which, it was believed, would lead to an understanding of the divine working of the cosmos.

The Forward March of Science

The scientific revolution of the 17th century created a paradigm shift that changed our worldview permanently and unalterably. Copernicus turned the universe topsy-turvy with his (blasphemous) heliocentric theory. Early proponents, however, were duly imprisoned (Galileo) and executed (Bruno) in the long standing tradition of “church and stake”. Newton later built upon Copernican theory and subsequently produced a new, widely accepted model of a clockwork universe. Newton's deductive, empirical brand of science, which expressed all natural phenomena mathematically, created a rift between the physical and non-physical realms. Newton's theories became ensconced, along with the philosophical theories of philosopher Rene Descartes, in a new paradigm of “reductionism”—one in which God created and then vacated the universe, leaving its operation to the predictable laws of physics. The church agreed to allow science to prosper through an agreed upon division of territory—a separation of spirit and matter. The Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm is the foundation of our present day mainstream science. Notwithstanding disapproval by the religious establishment, science has replaced God in the minds of modern secular materialists, who are free to exercise their beliefs under the sanctions of the doctrine of separation of church and state.

The Long Road Back

The rise of scientific reductionism, once again, marked the demise of astrology. Although many astrologers went underground and continued to practice, the road back to legitimacy would be long and winding. The first crack in the dike appeared more than 200 years after Newton's death, in the final decade of the 19th century. Theosophists, a spiritualist movement in search of the unseen causes of manifest phenomenon, introduced the Eastern mystical doctrines of karma and reincarnation to the West. The emergence of Theosophy also coincided with the birth of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud developed many of his basic concepts during the years 1895-1900. Freud's discovery of the psychological unconscious created a renewed interest in astrology as a tool for self understanding. In the early 20th century Carl Jung unleashed his theory of the collective unconscious, a repository of “archetypes,” or primordial images common to all humanity. Jung's work was to have a profound influence in many fields--psychology, literature, anthropology, and astrology. Jung himself was a practicing astrologer, although in order to protect his professional reputation, he kept this information secret during his lifetime.

The Conscious Universe

Studies in spirituality and human consciousness would not only resurrect, but revolutionize the practice of astrology. As a result of these alliances, a new brand of humanistic astrology emerged over the last century. Within this paradigm, an amalgam of spirituality, mysticism, and transpersonal psychology, the birth chart came to be viewed as a map of the psyche or soul, rather than a description of fated events. In the twenty-first century, the clockwork universe is giving way to the quantum universe. Our understanding of the nature of reality is expanding, giving rise to a new cosmology. The emerging model is holistic--one in which humanity is an integral part of a conscious universe. As such, we participate fully in the co-creation of our lives and in our collective destiny. A new astrological model is needed for this New Age. Coming next month…

All material is copyrighted by Judith Goldberg and may be reproduced only in full with permission and full credit.

Judith Goldberg, MFA has a Master's Degree in Art Education from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a certificate in Karmic Astrology from Creative Choices, Inc. Judith is a Vocational Astrologer in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland. She welcomes your comments and questions. You may reach her at judith.goldberg@verizon.net .