Article: The Backstory to Astrology Part 2
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Identifying four broad stages of in the development of Western Astrology
To look at Western Astrology’s development it will help to divide it up a bit. Astrologers generally recognise four broad stages in the history of Western astrology. These are as follows – and can be found in The Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology:1
• Prehistorical astrology (preceding recorded history)
• Ancient astrology from the dawn of history to about the second century AD
• Classical, [Hellenistic] or Traditional astrology from the second century AD to 1700; and following demise
• Modern (Western) astrology, rediscovered in the 20th century.
Note, the term “traditional” (to me, and I suspect to a number of Western astrologers) is an umbrella term that can apply to any form of astrology prior to the modern psychological development of it. I would also place traditional astrology as falling out of favour later than 1700, more towards the late 18th century, in line with the discovery of Uranus – a breaking with the past.
Let’s take a look at these stages more closely…
Prehistoric astrology
Astrology’s origins lie in the Fertile Crescent area of the Middle East – Egypt, Phoenicia, Assyria, Mesopotamia and Sumeria. This is modern day Egypt, Syria, Iraq.
This is also the area where the beginnings of (Neolithic) settled farming is considered to have begun. This began to happen at least by the 7th millennium BC – and possibly as far back as the 10th or 9th millennium BC.
In context, the development of a calendar for anticipating the months and seasons of the year would have been a natural necessity – for planning ahead with settlement, agriculture and husbandry.
The development of the calendar, in turn, depended upon recording the seasons in context with the “moving lights” (the planets; particularly the Sun and Moon) against the background “fixed stars.” And there follows the possible link between the beginnings of the calendar and the early beginnings of astrology – a developing system being used for predicting natural cycles for the land and harvests.
In context, I’d suggest the beginnings of astrology could stretch back to between nine and possibly up to thirteen thousand years ago.
It is even likely that Mesolithic hunter/gatherers, who moved with the seasons, came to mark and anticipate the changing seasons by observing and giving meaning to the Sun, Moon and planetary bodies. It is fair to assume that at that time people didn’t know the actual mechanisms or causes behind the changing seasons, and thereby treated these changes with huge reverence – and again the possibility for a form of astrology to be born.
Ancient astrology
Ancient astrology, on the other hand, is considered to have had its beginnings in the same Fertile Crescent (specifically Chaldea and Babylonia are cited), in and around the 3rd to 2nd millennium BC.
The Babylonian zodiac, with its system of planetary exaltations, the triplicities of the signs and the importance of eclipses, [also] incorporated the Egyptian concept of dividing the zodiac into thirty-six decans of ten degrees each, with an emphasis on the rising decan, the Greek system of planetary Gods, sign rulership and four elements.2
The Babylonian zodiac brought sophistication with it. It incorporated some major components that have carried through: The 12 signs, planetary exaltations, the triplicities of the signs, and the importance of eclipses.
Classical or Hellenistic astrology
The astrology we came to use in the West was further developed and handed down via the Greeks (referenced by Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato and most notably Claudius Ptolemy – especially Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos circa 100AD3). It is otherwise known as Classical or Hellenistic astrology – or commonly “traditional astrology” that greatly influenced the astrology we use today.
This version drew on the Babylonian zodiac and added the Greek system of 7 planetary Gods, sign rulership and the four elements.
The 36 decans4, mentioned in the quote above, also possibly stemmed from a Greek source. Their association with being an Egyptian invention is disputed…
A common misapprehension is that astrology originated in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians were certainly involved in divination and astronomy; however, there is no evidence to support a use of astrology. It was not until Alexander the Great invaded Egypt in 332 BC that astrology became part of Egyptian culture.5
Application and interpretation may change – and indeed has – but these early components still provide the basis for much of what is the modern version of astrology.
Back then it was a time when a multitude of myths, legends and beliefs existed regarding how the existence of gods and the forces of nature played with the lives of people. And the various levels of astrology would have been a part of that. Throughout this large stretch of time, into the modern era, the main function of astrologers was to advise on natural cycles and occurrences, medical matters, and people in power.
The demise of astrology
You could say that while not everything was rosy in the garden, things were okay for astrology during the Middle Ages – so what changed?
Well, as suggested above, the acceptance of the heliocentric system damaged Western astrology, which came to be thought as no longer workable. But the truth is there was much more to it than simply that one albeit major event. It was however, I’d suggest, the spark that lit the fire.
Due to a number of reasons, by the end of the 17th century the Church and astrology were going their separate ways. Explaining this, Hamish Saunders writes:
However, there can be no denying the seeds of the 17th century’s eventual disaffection with astrology had already been sown in the earlier part of the century. Astrologers were increasingly at theological odds with the Catholic Church. Their cause would probably not have been assisted by a prediction against the life of Pope Urban VIII in 1631 by a somewhat over-eager astrologer. This understandably earned the Pope’s displeasure and the re-assertion by him of a 16th century Papal Bull against the practice of judicial astrology.6
But of course, the decline of astrology more generally during the 17th and into the 18th century, can be attributed to the scientific revolution that was taking place. The focus was turning to what we can know for certain than by belief.
By the turn of the seventeenth century, astrology disappeared from the discourse of astronomers and natural philosophers and, at least in appearance, it also disappeared from elite social and intellectual life. But the popular astrology of the labouring classes continued almost untouched.7
And…
The end of the long-term relationship between medicine and astrology can be located only after the first decades of the eighteenth century.8
Philosophically this was a revolution in seeking to emancipate the human spirit from that of a destiny controlled by the planets or gods. Astrology at the time was stuck in a hierarchical interpretation of “as above, so below” with little or no room to manoeuvre itself into a better position.
In a growing Age of Reason and Enlightenment, astrology had to go. But some would argue (myself included) the process, at that time, also involved the spiritual baby being thrown out with the bathwater, being replaced by a more materialistic worldview.
The emergence of Modern Western Astrology
For all intents and purposes astrology had all but disappeared by the 17th/18th centuries. As we know this wasn’t to be the end of the astrology story however.
Symbolically the discovery of Uranus (on the 13th March 1781 by Wilhelm Herschel) marked an ending and a new beginning. It was the first trans-Saturn planet to be discovered since ancient times and, for astrology, it marked a clear break with the past, the old seven planet system. If astrology was to re-emerge from the ashes, now with eight planets, it had to be different. Hardly surprising, Uranus has come to be directly associated with the modern art of astrology, with new and emancipating ways of seeing things. It has come to symbolise a forceful breaking with tradition, what is old, outdated and no longer serves a purpose.
Over a century later, astrology re-emerged into the light, in the early 20th century. Arguably a number of astrologers contributed to the early start of this but it is recognised as essentially through the work of one astrologer, Alan Leo (William Frederick Allan 1860–1917; he took his pen surname from his Sun-sign). Leo is often quoted as the father of modern astrology. He stimulated a revival of astrology in the West. He was:
… a devout theosophist and he worked many of its religious concepts such as karma and reincarnation into his astrology. He used the Theosophical Society’s vast international connections to publish, translate and disseminate his work across Europe and America.9
This wasn’t just a revamping of the old-time religion of astrology either. This was to be new and refreshing. What was different is that Leo encouraged people to move away from the predictive form of astrology towards a more psychological approach:
Let us part company with the fatalistic astrologer who prides himself on his predictions and who is ever seeking to convince the world that in the predictive side of astrology alone shall we find its value. We need not argue the point as to its reality, but instead make a much-needed change in the word and call astrology the science of tendencies.10
At the same time as Leo was reviving astrology in Britain, it was also gaining momentum in other parts of the world – notably in the United States and in Germany.
Thus, after Leo, there followed other pioneers of the modern psychological approach. Pioneers such as Alfred Witte (1878-1941), Charles Carter (1887–1968), Margaret Hone (1892–1969), Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985), Reinhold Ebertin (1901-1988) and Jeff Mayo (1921–1998). The books of all are still in print.
Notably since the 1930’s:
An increasing number of astrologers have applied psychological interpretations to their work. Dane Rudhyar led the move towards a more “person-centred” form of astrology as opposed to a fatalistic, predictive model. Psychological astrologers tend to work more as counsellors than consultants and incorporate the teachings of leading psychological pioneers such as C.G. Jung and Assagioli.11
For more recent times we should mention the astrologer Stephen Arroyo and the Jungian psychologist and astrologer, Liz Greene, for their contribution to the development of this psychological approach of astrology. Greene also co-founded (with Howard Sasportas) the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London.
Like Dane Rudyar, there are a number of astrologers (I’d include myself in this), who have drawn on the humanistic psychology approaches of pioneers like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
Of course, we cannot overlook that the Sun-sign astrology we find in our media has arguably also helped to keep astrology alive, if unhealthily so. It may have encouraged some people to explore astrology further. I hope so. It seems a bit unlikely however.
Astrology, a global phenomenon
To round off this overview on Western astrology’s backstory, it needs to be remembered, however briefly, that just as the need for a calendar was a global concern, so astrology also developed globally.
Versions of it developed across almost every settled culture. For example, it spread across the Middle East, India, Tibet, China, Europe, and South America – in different forms I hasten to add.
Today, the most common approaches used are the Western, Indian (Vedic) and Chinese versions of astrology.
References
1. Brau J-L, Weaver H, and Edmands A. (1980) Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology. McGraw-Hill Book Company (p19).
2. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_astrology [Accessed 12/06/2020]
3. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy [Accessed 4/07/2021] for more on Ptolemy.
4. Decans or decanates are ten degree subdivisions of the circle that in each sign are shared by the rulers of the same element. E.g., Cancer is a Water sign, the first decan is ruled by its natural ruler, the Moon, the second is ruled by Pluto (or Mars old ruler) and the third ruled by Neptune (or Jupiter old ruler.
5. Saunders, H. (1998) Article: A Brief Overview of the History of Western Astrology. www.astrology-house.com [Accessed 17/12/2019].
6. Ibid., Saunders, H. (1998).
7. Avalos, A. (2007) As Above, So Below. Astrology and the Inquisition in Seventeenth-Century New Spain; Dept., of History and Civilisation, European University Institute. P37.
8. Ibid., Avalos (2007) p42.
9. Alan Leo see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Leo [Accessed 09/10/2020].
10. Ibid. Alan Leo.
11. Ibid., Saunders, H. (1998).
Links you might also like:
The Twelve Star Signs
Article: What is a birth-chart and how can it help me understand myself better?
Book: Learn to Read Your Birth-chart in 5 Steps