Introduction
Franz Cumont’s introduction in Astrology and Religion Among The Greek and
Romans, the Dover 1960 edition of the unabridged and unaltered original work
published, by G P Putnam in 1912, is aimed at the general historical and
theological audience.
On reading Franz Cumont introduction it is obvious he is scathing in his comments
towards the practise of astrology. Along with his contempt of the continuing growth
in the belief of astrology and how, throughout humankind, intellects, academics and
ordinary folk continue to show interest in it.1 It will be argued that Franz Cumont is
outdated with his thoughts on the decline of astrology. He makes reference to the
scientific discovery of the heliocentric theory which he suggested made all
astrological calculations, findings and influences prior to this discovery useless
and meaningless.2 It will also be argued that Babylonian astrology and astral
mathematics, has been considered important in the academic world prior to its
introduction to the ancient Greek intellects.
Critical Analysis
Cumont states that the scientific discovery of the heliocentric theory was responsible
for the breaking down of the power of astrology. The fact that the Earth rotates in
space and is not centre of the universe, as was believed with the geocentric theory,
Cumont suggests, this gave astrology no respectability. The ‘planetary influences, no
longer made their prophetic voices audible to mankind’ which Cumont claims was the
decline of astrology.3
Keith Thomas, author of Religion And The Decline Of Magic, discusses the decline in
status of astrology towards the latter part of the seventeenth century. Ac...
... middle of paper ...
...ion. Therefore, he does not seem to have much in the way of substantiating his
opinions within this entire introduction, making his attack on astrology weak.
Works Cited
Campion, N. "Prophecy, Cosmology And The new Age Movement: The Extent and Nature of Contemporary Belief In Astrology".(PhD Thesis, Bath Spa University College 2004)
Clarke, Leonard W.‘Greek Astronomy and Its Debt to the Babylonians' The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 1, No. (Cambridge University Press. 1962)
Cumont, Franz. Introduction to Astrology and Religion Among The Greek and Romans (New York: Dover Publications 1960). G.P Putnam’s Sons ( 1912)
Thomas, Keith. Religion And The Decline Of Magic (London: Penguin Group 1991) (1971)
Willis, Roy. and Curry, Patrick . Astrology Science and Culture. Pulling Down the Moo. (Oxford: Berg 2004)
The zodiac calendar is an astrological theory that divides the path that the sun seems to follow around the earth into twelve equal sections, each of which are associated with a sign, a symbol and a personality type. John Gardner embraces this astrological theme in his parallel novel, Grendel, by connecting each of the twelve chapters to its coinciding zodiac.
Caldwell, David & Rea, Paul. “Handke’s and Wender’s Wings of Desire: Transcending Postmodernism.” The German Quarterly 64.1. (1991): 46-54. Web. 19 Mar 2012. JSTOR
Music derived from astrology is surprisingly rare. The ancient Greek philosophers, whatever their intellectual attitudes towards astrology may have been, were certainly not ignorant of astrological teachings and ideas. It was they, after all who put forward the idea of the "Music of the Spheres", the idea that these vast objects twirling around and whirling through space, must have hummed a tone as they went along their courses, much as a ball spun on a string will whistle. They knew of seven planets: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Not surprisingly, western music evolved with seven-tone scales. Music and astrology come together again in this suite devoted to the seven planets, though Uranus and Neptune have displaced the Sun and Moon. Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was apparently fascinated by various esoteric pursuits, such as astrology and Hindu philosophy, suggesting in particular a yearning to get to grips with matters of a spiritual nature. How far he got in this pursuit is unclear, but what is quite beyond doubt is the fact that The Planets is a deeply spiritual work, reaching a level of spirit expression that is rarely experienced in other works. Even without this added strength, the whole work is a sonic spectacle and has so many wonderfully exotic harmonies. Coloration, dramatic contrast and inventiveness make this the work of a genius. It was first performed in the autumn of 1918.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1–4). The book Psalms was written by King David, and in this verse he was talking about how the heavens proclaim the glory of God ,but does it really? Yes, the sky really does proclaim the glory of God; there are actually three areas of Christ's life when the sky shows signs. The first was when God showed signs of Christ's conception. The second sign was when the star of Bethlehem appeared and how it showed Christ's birth. The final sign of Christ's life was at the crucifixion of Christ.
Martin, Richard P. Myths of the Ancient Greeks. New York: New American Library, 2003. Print.
Guerber, H. A. & Stuart, D. M. (1938). The Myths of Greece and Rome. (Rev. Ed.).
Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. Print.
The basic astrological assumptions are not hard to grasp. For if astronomy is the study of the movements of the heavenly bodies, then astrology is the study of the effects of those movements. The astronomers of the ancient world assumed a division of the universe whereby the superior, immutable bodies of the celestial worlds ruled over the terrestrial or sublunary sphere, where all was mortality and change. It was assumed that the stars had special qualities and influences which were transmitted downwards upon the passive earth, and which varied in their effect, according to the changing relationship of the heavenly bodies to each other. They were led to postulate a single system in which the seven moving stars or planet shifted their position in relation to the earth and each other, against a fixed backcloth of the twelve signs of the zodiac.
In the world today, there is a huge battle emerging whenever professional astrologers of the tropical and sidereal gather together. This appears to happen due to viewpoints based on the unproven vs. proven ideological in relation to the cosmos. The primary focus of this comparison and contrast will review both with a secondary cruise into the neglected and provisionary keys that affect the awareness herein. It’s time we move along in the stream of thoughts moving into the river of knowledge that carries humanity onto the oceans of quality life.
It was not up until 200 years ago that people started identifying their zodiac sign with the position of the Sun. So when a person is asked what is his or sign, the Sun was passing through on the day that person was born. This can be demonstrated on a birth chart. Our birth charts are special "sky maps" which reflect the quality of the exact moment we drew our first breath. With that first breath, we each began our own incredible hero's journey through life on planet Earth. The birth positions of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all play their own unique symbolic roles as messengers and ambassadors of the universe.
The meaning behind horoscopes, astrology, has provided countless discoveries for humans over the past thousands of years. Astrology comes from the Greek meaning ‘word’ or ‘logic’ of the stars; astronomy means ‘law’ of the stars. The idea of horoscopes was used thousands of years ago to explain people’s personalities and fates by
Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. London: Harper-Torchbooks .
...usands of years by many cultures to answer questions not yet answerable by ordinary means. It’s core philosophical idea is that you are what happens to you, and that you can find a better meaning of yourself by carefully analyzing your origin of birth and its relationship with the positions of external celestial objects in this universe. Astrology is not a belief system, whereby there are a set of mutually supportive precepts from which you are to live your daily life, directing thoughts, words, and actions. On the contrary, astrology is the study of the positions and characteristics of celestial bodies in the belief that they have an exogenous influence on the natural course of earthly occurrences, and, thus, human affairs. In this sense, astrological readings are not meant to provide answers to personal issues, but are rather meant to be seen as a life guide.
Modern day astrology is meant to be a philosophy to put into detail different aspects of life instead of predicting the future. (www.astrology.net/about.html, p.2) Astrology has been the stuff that has brought people together. (www.astrology.net/about.html, p.2) It explains the power that people contain in their lives. (www.astrology.net/about.html, p.2)
Today there are numerous places where one can look up a daily horoscope: magazines, newspapers, and a plethora of online websites. Horoscopes are not just randomly thought up each day by the writer. They are carefully researched, interpreted, and written by analyzing the placement of the stars and planets on a given day. The growth of astrology, and the resulting knowledge, is closely tied to the study of constellations. Astrology has grown from the past and by researching the history of astrology and constellations one can infer that they have a similar history and future to the world.