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outdated with his thoughts on the decline of astrology.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)
Burckhardt, Jacob, The Greeks and Greek Civilization, St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10010, 1998.
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
Daly, Kathleen N. Greek & Roman Mythology A to Z. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Print.
“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.
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.
Martin, Richard P. Myths of the Ancient Greeks. New York: New American Library, 2003. Print.
Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. Print.
Brennan, C.(2008) “Reflections on the United Astrology Conference – UAC 2008”, Retrived on March 6, 2014 http://horoscopicastrologyblog.com/2008/08/06/reflections-on-the-united-astrology-conference-uac-2008/
James Randi, a professional magician, author, lecturer, and investigator, determined scarce ways of predicting one’s future. Randi predicted the future by the stars or palmistry, predicting a person's future and character by "reading the life lines" on the palm, or numerology, predicting one's future by interpreting the order of numbers in the birth date, or the numbered order of the letters a person’s name (Randi, James). Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted and no evidence has been found to support the properties of astrological backgrounds. In conclusion, the theory that Astrology influences people involving palmistry, zodiac/galaxy readings and numerology is the best example of a pseudoscience.
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
In Hindu culture, astrology remains an important practice to this day, because it is thought that planetary bodies are the “fruits of Karma”; due to this, many Indian newborns are traditionally named based on their Jyotisha chart. Other areas of life, like decisions made about marriage, starting a business, and moving into a new house, are carefully analyzed with astrological cha...
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.
Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. London: Harper-Torchbooks .
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.
Astrology has had its ups and downs through history, but it always maintained that station of being. (www.astrologers.com/history.html# Relevant, p.1) After some aspects of religion became prevalent, astrology became known as the “work of the devil”. (Weblinker.com Enterprises, p.1) During the Renaissance, though, astrology became more liked than before. (Weblinkers.com Enterprises, p.1) Even religious leaders began to practice astrology more often. (Weblinkers.com Enterprises, p.1) People of the royal families had their own astrologers. (Weblinkers.com Enterprises, p.1) That is how worldwide astrology was. (Weblinkers.com Enterprises, p.1)