Christianity and Astrology

Early Christianity took far more interest in the stars than did Judaism or Islam. The Revelation of St. John is full of astral allusions. Jesus is referred to as the "light of the world" in the astronomical sense also, and the twelve disciples represented the twelve months of the solar year. John the Baptist stood for the Moon, and was assigned as many disciples as the month had days: 29,5. His one female disciple was counted as only a half! The Mother of God was identified with the constellation of the Virgin, the ancient Queen of Heaven, and the ear of grain was placed in her hand. Mary's Ascension took place on August 15 because that was when the corn star Spica set. Her birth was given as September 8, when Spica reappeared on the other side of the Sun. When the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion, the birthday of Jesus was shifted to December 25, the winter solstice, since that date had been the holiday of the Sun. Thus Christ became the old god's legitimate successor. The Emperor continued to use the coronation mantle embroidered with the signs of the zodiac, and he had a horoscope east for his new capital of Constantinople. it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that for a time the Christian religion was in danger of losing itself in Chaldean magic.

Home Astrology Astrology - lrresistible Magic Picture Writing in the Sky The Origin of the Horoscope Christianity and Astrology Stargazing and StarReading Fitness Vitamins Protein Minerals Training and Diet Dietary Mistakes General Models of Feeding The Fathers of the Church fought this tendency. Origen admitted that the sky contained picture writing, but declared that only the angels could read it. Tertullian sharply admonished: "The magical relationships in the heavens existed only up to the appearance of Christ. Through Christ man was raised from servant of the stars to master of the stars." Henceforth, astrology was to be considered a form of idolatry. But such a stern position could not be sustained. Did not the Old Testament hold that the Creator had placed the stars in the sky as signs? And no Christian at that time dared to deny that the signs had same significance: that comets were heralds of God's wrath; that the signs of the zodiac made medicines effective and governed the winds; that the Moon influenced the weather and in some mysterious fashion produced the tides and woman's monthly rhythm.

Is salt intake necessary Augustine conceded to the stars their influence over nature, but denied that they affected human during effort? life-since such a relationship was not consistent with God's omnipotence and man's free will. This

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life-since such a relationship was not consistent with God's omnipotence and man's free will. This became the official doctrine of the Church. Thus stargazing was permitted for the purpose of noting warnings and weather signs; but fortunetelling astrology was banned. For if character depended on the stars, how could anyone be responsible for his acts? if a person neglected same good work because of an unfavorable constellation, what was left of trust in Gad, and where lay the decision between good and evil? If the horoscope showed predestined days of good and ill fortune, if it foretold spiritual changes and the day of death, then Providence was calculable and the will of God no longer inscrutable; the Almighty himself was subject to the stars. Yet, for all these grave consequences, astrology won a place for itself in Christianity-so powerful a place, indeed, that we may well ask how it was possible. The point was that Christianity, emerging out of a weary civilization, entered the awakening culture of the Germanic peoples-and encountered their firm belief in fate. The Teutons thought that even their gods were subject to fate-as is evidenced by their myths of the Twilight of the Gods and of the three Norns, whose names me ant Past, Present, and Future and who spun the thread of fate for mortals and immortals alike. Later times called the thread "the Law," law in the widest sense, the law of nature and history and individual life. Christianity could not remain uncolored by these traditional beliefs. They came to the fore during a second era of development in Western culture, in the form of a new mysticism and a new ecclesiastical dogma, that of scholasticism.

That elements of the old Germanic belief in fate had penetrated scholasticism is revealed by Saint Thomas Aquinas's attitude toward astrology. He did not accept the boundary line that Medicare Issues Augustine had drawn, and held that the stars had influence upon men's bodies and character. Health Services - How Dante conceded them dominion over our instincts. Nevertheless, the principle of free will was Should We Decide How carefully guarded. The Church could sanction such a belief in the stars so long as horoscopes Much to Spend and fortunetelling were left out. Fashion Fashion Questions & Answers Revolt or Style - The Designer Culture Sport Sport and Tourism Partnerships Sporting Superstars Pele, Muhammad Ali Tourism and Culture Partnerships Olympic Memorabilia Collecting Sport and physical activity Family Recipes Some Characteristic of Second Home Towns One- and two-family houses The Problem of Ageing - Long Term Care Mortgage Terms Santa Clara County, California, and Prince George's County, Maryland Housing: What the Consumer Wants Phases of the Housing Problem But once the narrow portal had been opened, Chaldean magic penetrated the Christianity of the Middle Ages. it became known through Arabic literature, and at once flooded the Occident. The invasion came with the suddenness of a hurricane, and can be dated almost to the year. In 1108 the Archbishop of York was refused Christian burial because a book on astrology had been found under his pillow. In 1109 Adelard of Bath called astronomy the science of the past, present, and future-equating it, as it were, with the oracle of the three Norns. From then on there was virtually no further resistance to astrology. Medicine was practiced according to the stars. For simple surgery such as bloodletting complicated prescriptions related every part of the body with a sign of the zodiac, and hence with particular times. Medicinal herbs must be gathered and administered only on certain nights. Even analysis of mine depended upon the positions of the planets. There were propitious hours for signing political treaties, laying foundation stones, waging battles, for receptions, travel, baths, chess, and changing clothes. The astrologer marched out with the army, gave the signal for the cavalry to mount and the infantry to march. The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I suffered all his life under the oppressive knowledge of being a child of Saturn, and Diller attempted to console him with his "Melancolia"; every tiny detail of this engraving contains an allusion to astrological mysteries. Ultimately, even the popes capitulated to astrology. Leo X founded a professorship in astrology at the University of Rome. Julius II had his coronation day set by astrologers, and Paul IV consulted them for the date of every consistory. The Church, ordinarily so watchful of the purity of dogma, was overwhelmed by the ancient mysticism derived from the long-suppressed sky-religion of the Babylonians. Not until astronomical science came along was the freedom of the Christian restored and destiny once more understood as unfathomable.

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