Astrology

1. Astrology A Basic understanding of the cycles & rhythms of life & living

2. The 7 Planets of the Ancients • The term "planet" originally meant "wanderer": it was observed long ago that certain points of light wandered (changed their position) with respect to the background stars in the sky. In ancient times, before the invention of the telescope and before one understood the present structure of the Solar System, there were thought to be 7 such wanderers or planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and the Sun. This list is different in several respects from our modern list of planets: • The Earth is missing, because it was not understood that the points of light wandering on the celestial sphere and the Earth on which we stood had anything in common.

3. The Outer Planets • Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are missing because they would only be discovered when the telescope made them easily visible. • Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye; it was discovered in 1781. • Neptune and Pluto are too faint to see at all without a telescope; they were discovered in 1846 and 1930, respectively. • The Sun and the Moon were classified as planets because they wandered on the celestial sphere, just like Mars and Jupiter and the other planets.

4. Stars Look Different from Planets Planets (and the Sun and Moon) have some observational characteristics that distinguish them from what we would now call the stars:

5. The Modern Solar System The planets of the modern solar system are grouped into several different and sometimes overlapping classifications, as illustrated in the following figure: • The planets inside the orbit of the earth are called the Inferior Planets: Mercury and Venus. • The planets outside the orbit of the earth are called the Superior Planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. • The planets inside the asteroid belt are termed the Inner Planets (or the Terrestrial Planets): Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. • The planets outside the asteroid belt are termed the Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. • The planets sharing the gaseous structure of Jupiter are termed the Gas Giant (or Jovian) Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

6. Note: distance NOT to scale

7. In the beginning….. • Patterns of stars • ‘wanderer’ stars (planets) • Planets given status & qualities of Gods & Godesses • Events on earth corresponded to certain planetary positions • Human temperament correlated with season of birth

8. Sun seen as supreme God – Ra, Zeus – fiery, hot –giver of life & death. Moon = Sun’s consort – feminine, mysterious, Rhythmic changes effect on plant growth Mercury – quick, erratic,close to Sun -> messenger from the Gods Mars – red planet God of war Venus – morning or evening star – feminine goddess of love & beauty The Planets as Gods

9. Ancients model of the celestial realm

10. Planetary Observation • The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all observed in the night skies and their movements correlated with events on earth. Eventually the pathways of the planets were called the Zodiac, at around the time of the Greek civilisation in the 5th and 6th Centuries BC. The behaviour of the planets and eclipses were noted from high temples called Ziggurats.

11. Early predictions were of natural disasters and war, and later individual horoscopes were cast for the leaders of countries.  In Alexandria, Ptolemy(120 AD) wrote the first books on astrology; the Almagest and Tetrabiblios. These books describe how the earth is surrounded by a power, the forces of which are projected from the planets to affect life on earth. The books list benevolent and malefic influences and begin to relate to individuals rather than countries. From this time, every person who could afford it was able to have his or her horoscope read, and would find out about health, wealth, the best partner to share life with and even the time and cause of his/her death. Early Astrology History

12. As astrology developed new techniques were introduced; the ten degree portions of the signs (decans), the association of the rulers of the days and the weeks to the planets. From Egypt came a collections of texts on magic, healing and astrology attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek equivalent to Thoth, the Egyptian god of learning. The idea of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm was born (as above, so below). Various parts of the body were associated with different planets and signs, and early religions used initiation through seven planetary realms as stages of the soul. The Greeks went on to develop and complex scientific method of astrology. Philosophy, medicine, and religion all accepted this system Astrology Development I

13. Astrology Development II • As Christianity developed, astrology all but disappeared in the west. It was kept alive by Muslims, and some Jews in the books Sephir Yetzira and the Zohar which develop the Jewish mystical tradition known as the Kabbalah. • In the Renaissance, astrology/astronomy was once more acceptable but further setbacks occurred in the 17th century. At this time laws were passed which made fortune telling illegal. • By the late nineteenth century, there was an interest in esoteric religions and Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society delved into astrology and the journey of the soul. • Today, there is a huge interest in the subject and the Sun Sign columns in newspapers are a product of the twentieth century. This is often a starting point for the further study and understanding of a huge and enlightening subject.