A Brief History on Origin of Astrology

Astrology literally means the study (or science, depending on how one translates the Greek word logos) of the stars (astron).

The first sun sign column appeared in England in 1930 after the birth of Princess Margaret. R.H. Naylor wrote an astrological profile of the newborn princess in the London Daily Express.

Ancient Astrology in Mesopotamia:

Mesopotamian civilisation started to come into being around 4000 BC in the region now occupied by Iraq. Commonly referred to as "the cradle of civilisation", the cultures that flourished here gave birth to the Judeao-Christian tradition that has lasted into the present day. The first inhabitants of the region were the Sumerians who developed the earliest known form of writing, cuneiform. Cuneiform tablets became the principal method of record keeping throughout the Mesopotamian period and our primary source of information about ancient astrology. The Sumerians were interested in divination and astronomy, and their mathematics is said to have been as sophisticated as the mathematics of 17th century Europe. It is thought that the merging of these three sciences took place around about 2000 BC and laid the foundation of a structured astrological system. The earliest known astrology texts we have are the Enuma Anu Enlil, a series of some 7000 omens on 70 tablets, and the Venus Tablet of Amisaduqa. The Enuma Anu Enlil dates from the 8th century BC and contains older material such as the Venus Tablet, which is thought to have been written during the reign of the Babylonian king, Amisaduqa, c 1600 BC.

The first known personal horoscope is dated by A. Sachs to April 29, 410 BC. This horoscope was fairly rudimentary, comprising the planets into the constellations. The first use of planetary ephemerides is dated from 308 BC, and in 4 BC the Ascendant (rising sign) and the houses were first used.

Astrology in Egypt:

It was not until Alexander the Great invaded Egypt in 332 BC that astrology became part of Egyptian culture. Alexander is attributed with the spread of astrology to Egypt and India. He is known to have consulted astrologers and to have them counted among his entourage during his campaigns. Alexander is responsible for the cross fertilisation of Greek, Persian, Mesopotamian and Indian astrologists.

Astrology in Classical Greece:

The earliest mention of astronomy in Greece is by Hesiod in his poem Works and Days 750 BC.

Pythagoras introduced the idea that the human being was a microcosm, a minature universe reflecting the macrocosm, the universe as a whole. Plato supported this idea and mentions astrology in his Timaeus.

Hippocrates stated "A physician who has no knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician". Hipparchus discovered the precession of the equinoxes in the 2nd century BC, and laid the foundation for the development of the tropical zodiac.

The most famous astrologer of antiquity is Claudius Ptolemy c 100 AD. A Greek, Ptolemy lived in Alexandria during the Roman occupation of the city. He is remembered in history for his two great works on astronomy and astrology, the Algamest and the Tetrabiblos respectively.

The Tetrabiblos became the standard astrological text of the Arabs and the European astrologers until the 17th century, and his earth-centered Ptolemaic universe the astronomical model until Copernicus established that the Sun is at the centre of the solar system.

Astrology During the Roman Empire:

Legend has it that astrology was brought to the Romans in the 2nd century BC by the slave Antiochus. The early Roman astrologers were commonly referred to as Chaldeans, as it was the Chaldeans coming into the Empire that promoted and practised the art.

Caesar Augustus had his Moon sign, Capricorn, minted onto coins.

Tiberius was an accomplished astrologer, as were Hadrian and Domitian later. The major astrological figure of the Roman era was Julius Firmicus Maternus, an astrologer, lawyer and Christian. Firmicus lived in the 4th century AD and is notable for spanning the divide between Christian and pagan thought. His masterwork, the Mathesis, is a practical textbook of astrology. The decline of the Roman Empire after the sacking of Rome by the Goths in 410 AD began the decline of European Scholarship.

Astrology in the Arab World:

Learning and astrology were virtually in a state of suspension during the Dark Ages in Europe. The centre of learning shifted to the Islamic states of the Middle East, and was fostered during the Arabic expansionism of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabian Empire ranged from the Middle East to China, India, France, Spain and North Africa. The Arabs were able to appreciate the culture and knowledge of the civilisations they had conquered and they were seized by a desire to understand and develop the mathematics, astronomy and astrology of the Greeks.

Medieval and Renaissance Astrology:

The resurgence of astrology in Europe can be traced to an English monk by the name of Alcuin (born 735 AD). Alcuin received the patronage of Charlemagne who brought him to France and had him set up the first great Medieval school at the Abbey of Saint Martin near Tours. Among the subjects he taught was astrology and, under his tutelage, Charlemagne himself became a competent astrologer.

Roger Bacon (1214? - 1294), one of the greatest thinkers of all time, was a skilled astrologer whose encyclopaedic knowledge embraced philosophy, science, mathematics, physics and geometry was convinced the planets influenced human behaviour.

One of the most important figures of 13^th century astrology was Guido Bonatti, professor of astrology at the University of Bologna. Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae is one of the most important astrological texts of all time. He made his living as an astrological military adviser to Count Guido de Montefeltro.

In the 15th century Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) launched an attack against astrology deeming it unscientific.

Queen Catherine de Medici was patron to the most famous astrologer of all time, Michel Nostradamus (1503-1566). Elizabeth I in England employed John Dee (1527-1608). A colourful personality, for his life in and outside of astrology, Dee has the distinction of successfully electing the most fortuitous time for Elizabeth's coronation.

William Lilly (1602 - 1681), the last of the great European astrologers, predicted the Great Fire of London fourteen years before the event and drew up war charts for the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. In his heyday, Lilly was seeing 2000 clients a year. Famous scientists of this period who were also astrologers were Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo.

John Flamsteed (1649 - 1719), the first Astronomer Royal, used astrology to elect the best time to found the sacred heart of modern astronomy, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

20th century astrology owes its revival to William Frederick Allen, commonly known as Alan Leo (1860 - 1917). A Theosophist, Leo ran a successful postal horoscope service, he wrote numerous books and founded the Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society in London in 1917.

By World War II astrology was well established in Germany through the efforts of Alfred Witte and Reinhold Ebertin and their followers.