The history of Astrology
The Babylonians were the first people to systematically apply their myths to constellations and astrology, first describing the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Egyptians followed shortly after refining the Babylonian astrological system, although it was the Greeks who developed it until it reached its modern form. The Greeks borrowed some of the Babylonian myths and added as many of their own. In fact, even the term astrology – like the word for the science of astronomy – derives from the Greek “aster,” which means star.
Around the year 280 a. C., Beroso, Babylonian priest of Bel, traveled to the Greek island of Cos, where he transmitted the astrological knowledge of him, as well as the Babylonian culture, to the local populations. This was the first time that the universe of astrology was officially transferred to Hellenistic culture and to the western world of Greece and Egypt (under Greek rule at the time). Initially, the Greeks, known for their logical way of thinking, were skeptical of astrology, asking many questions about it.
Throughout the 1st century BC. C. there were two types of astrology: one that required the reading of horoscopes to know precise details about the past, present and future, and a second focused on the elevation of the human spirit towards the stars and the search for the meaning of existence in the Darling.
The Zodiac and Ptolemy’s Contributions to the Western Astrological Tradition
Horoscopic astrology first appeared in Hellenistic Egypt. The oldest existing Greek text where the Babylonian division of the zodiac is used in twelve equal signs of 30 degrees is known as Anaphoricus of Hypsicles of Alexandria, written in 190 BC. Furthermore, the stone-carved “Zodiac of Dendera” – a bas-relief found on the ceiling of the pronaos of a chapel dedicated to Osiris in the temple of Hathor at Dendera, containing images of Taurus and Libra dated to 50 BC. C. – It is the first known representation of the classic twelve-sign zodiac.
The Greek mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer Ptolemy played a very important role in the development of Western horoscopic astrology. His work Tetrabiblos laid the foundations of the western astrological tradition. Ptolemy explained for the first time in detail the function of planets, houses and signs of the Zodiac.
Ptolemy decisively explains the theoretical basis of the Western Zodiac as a tropical coordinate system by which the Zodiac is aligned with equinoxes and solstices, rather than with the visible constellations that give names to the signs of the Zodiac.
They discover in Croatia an astrological table with
zodiac signs of more than two thousand years.
A team of researchers has discovered what may be one of the oldest astrological charts, engraved with the signs of the zodiac and used to determine a person’s horoscope. Dating back more than 2,000 years, the table was discovered in Croatia, in a cave overlooking the Adriatic Sea.
The surviving part of the table is made up of 30 ivory fragments engraved with signs of the zodiac. Researchers spent years excavating them and putting them back together. Inscribed in the Greco-Roman style, they include images of Cancer, Gemini and Pisces.
Mesopotamia means “Land between rivers.” For many, Mesopotamia is the “cradle of Astrology”.
Many Chaldean astronomer-astrologer legends have a true historical core.
Astrologers
There is varied documentation on the existence and role of astrologers from the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian times. In the first millennium BC, the kings had a set of advisers who produced reports on divinatory practices (scribes, astrologers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, doctors, conjurers, magicians, etc.).
Astrologers were trained in the temples of the country, during an intense period and were part of the highest intellectual stratum of the kingdom. Lineages of astrologers have been known to exist for hundreds of years.
The situation of the astrologers before the king, despite its importance, was sometimes delicate, if the omens did not coincide with the royal wishes. The astrologers of this time are, therefore, both scientists and religious specialists who had to constantly reflect on the consequences of their findings.
The oldest horoscopes
“Horoscope” is the representation of positions of planets at a certain time, especially at the birth of a child (Genetlialogy). Horoskopos (Greek), in Latin horoscope, means “observation of the hour.” The oldest horoscopes are the Babylonian ones. Chronologically they precede the Egyptians and the Greeks. The oldest preserved is from 410 BC; the last in cuneiform writing, from 69 BC.
Characters in History who consulted
Napoleon
he consulted the fortune tellers. If there is one figure of the French Revolution that is talked about more than another, it is Napoleon. The memory of Napoleon, or Napoleon I, as he would later be known, is full of mysteries and contradictions. There are those who think that he was a gifted person, a person incapable of being influenced by anyone, but it is also said that he regularly consulted the seers, even that he had some on his payroll.
The astrological battle of World War II
Hitler was advised by astrologers to design his operations and England had a Department of Psychological Research, to mount astrological predictions against the “Führer”
Benjamin Franklin
professed and wrote about his own personal belief in astrology, illustrating that this topic is in no way limited to certain categories of individuals, and that its popularity is definitely not new, as it has been embraced by well-known and respected people across the world. fields.
Astrology is described as the study of celestial bodies in relation to their influence on natural events and human experiences. Celebrities, politicians, world leaders, and a large segment of the population of average citizens alike, frequently is a very strong influencing factor in people’s lives.
Astrology has been present in different cultures and each one has given it a different nuance
Astrological Zodiac signs
