On March 21st, exactly at the beginning of spring, astrologers celebrate the International Astrology Day. This day was created in 1993 to remind people that Astrology is the oldest symbolic system of western culture still alive.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." (Eccl. 3:1-8)

The Bible states that God made the heavenly bodies to show us "signs" of his intentions. These signs can be read by anyone who knows how to interpret them. Astrology is about interpreting these signs in the motions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.

The Bible is filled with references to astrology. This is because astrology was widely accepted as truth in Biblical times. Christians who believe that astrology goes “against religion” would be surprised to learn that the Bible is filled with astrology. Jesus himself made numerous references to astrology.

The concept of the zodiac is very ancient, with roots in the early cited cultures of Mesopotamia. Astrology is, more than likely, the oldest religion created by humans. The first twelve-sign zodiacs were named after the gods of these cultures. The Greeks adopted astrology from the Babylonians, and the Romans, in turn, adopted astrology from the Greeks. These cultures renamed the signs of the Mesopotamian zodiac to symbols of their own mythologies. This is why the familiar zodiac of the contemporary West bears names encompasses a great span of human history and many cultures. The belief in a connection between the cosmos and terrestrial matters has also played an important part in human history….

The history of astrology can now be traced back to ancient Babylonia, and indeed to the earliest phases of Babylonian history, in the third millennium B.C.

With the introduction of Greek culture into Egypt, both astronomy and astrology were actively cultivated in the region of the Nile during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

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 endeavour 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.

The history of astrology in Europe and the Middle East are inextricably linked, with each region contributing to astrological theories and continually influencing each other over time. Bouché-Leclercq, Cumont and Boll hold that the middle of the 4th century B.C. is when Babylonian astrology began to firmly enter western culture.

Astrology was further developed by the Arabs from the 7th to the 13th century , and in the Europe of the 14th and 15th centuries astrologers were dominating influences at court. The Mayans of Central America and the Aztecs also developed their own form of astrology. Other cultures and civilizations around the world also developed their own astrological systems independently.

Astrology became embodied in the Kabbalistic lore of Jews and Christians, and through these and other channels 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. It is now usually regarded as a pseudo-science.

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 practicing astrologers.

Astrology is believed to have originated in China about the 3rd millennium BC. Astrology was always traditionally regarded very highly in China, and indeed Confucius is said to have treated astrology with respect saying: "Heaven sends down its good or evil symbols and wise men act accordingly". The 60 year cycle combining the five elements with the twelve animal signs of the zodiac has been documented in China since at least the time of the Shang (Shing or Yin) dynasty (ca 1766BC - CA 1050BC).

Oracles bones have been found dating from that period with the date according to the 60 year cycle inscribed on them, along with the name of the diviner and the topic being divined about. One of the most famous astrologers in China was Tsou Yen who lived in around 300 BC, and who wrote: "When some new dynasty is going to arise, heaven exhibits auspicious signs for the people". Astrology in China also became combined with the Chinese form of geomancy known as Feng shui .

In the United States, a great surge of popular interest in astrology took place between 1900 through 1949. A very popular astrologer based in New York City named Evangeline Adams helped feed the public's thirst for astrology readings with many accurate forecasts, her biographers say. A famous court case involving Adams, who was arrested and charged with illegal fortune-telling in 1914 - was later dismissed when Adams correctly read the horoscope of the judge's son with only a birthdate. Her acquittal set an American precedent that if astrologers practiced in a professional manner that they were not guilty of any wrong-doing.

The earliest years of the 20th century met with a hunger for astrology. Astrologers of the time, such as Alan Leo, Sepharial (also known as Walter Gorn Old), "Paul Cheisnard" and Charles Carter, among others, further led the surge of interest in astrology by wide distribution of astrological journals, text, papers, and textbooks of astrology throughout the United States.

The serious and complex writings on astrological practice and concepts in America progressed from the turn-of-the-century years and into a new period of popular expansion in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Many complex astrological materials were simplified to attempt to carve a clear line through points of contention and controversy. The result of this attempt was to "simplify astrology" in the minds of professionals and gave the impression of settled and agreed positions on many points that were not resolved.

The period between 1920-1940 gave way to the popular media jumping on board the great public interest in astrology. Publishers realized that millions of readers were interested in astrological forecasts and the interest grew ever more intense with the advent of America's entry into the First World War. The war heightened interest in astrology. Journalists began to write articles based on character descriptions and astrological "forecasts" were published in newspapers based on the one and only factor known to the public: the month and day of birth, as taken from the position of the Sun when a person is born. The result of this practice led to the entertaining, yet largely misleading modern-day Sun-Sign astrology columns and forecasts. It further expanded to some astrological books and magazines in later decades of the 20th century.

Unfortunately, it is this very type of astrology which has served to discredit the field altogether. Many people simply are unaware of what “real” astrology is and what it can do for them, as they are falsely led to believe that the astrology in your typical Sun-sign forecast is “it.” People are not really that gullible, but are sadly uneducated to the fact that those astrology columns are basically for pure entertainment purposes only. It is absolutely preposterous that every Leo on earth could expect to have the same kind of day or week.

Astrology played an important part in Medieval medicine; most educated physicians were trained in at least the basics of astrology to use in their practice.

Under Greek influences (born from views originating in Babylonia), 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. Colors, metals, stones, plants, drugs and animal life of all kinds were each associated with one or another of the planets and placed under that planet’s “rulership”

The fate of the individual, as that feature of the future which had a supreme interest, led to the association of the planets with different parts of the body and so with medicine .

From the planets the same association of ideas was applied to the constellations of the zodiac . The zodiac came to be regarded as the prototype of the human body, the different parts of which all had their corresponding section in the zodiac itself.

The head was placed in the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, the Ram; and the feet in the last sign, Pisces, the Fishes. Between these two extremes the other parts and organs of the body were distributed among the remaining signs of the zodiac.

With human anatomy thus connected with the planets, with constellations, and with single stars, medicine became an integral part of astrology. Diseases and disturbances of the ordinary functions of the organs were attributed to the influences of planets and explained as due to conditions observed in a constellation or in the position of a star.

By Dawn Elizabeth

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