“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day to day they pour forth speech, night to night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech, there are no words, their voice is not heard; yet their music carries throughout the earth, their words to the end of the world”. Psalm 19.

This article does not address the tangible origin of astrology according to factual testimony. There are greater minds than mine who have published comprehensive material on the origin of astrology based on artefacts, tablets and other items discovered in the “ancient” world, originating in places such as Babylon and Assyria. Nor is this article aimed at proving the worth of astrology, as I see no reason to justify the existence of our craft. It is a philosophical look, from my perspective, at how I make sense of astrology within my religious frame work.

I believe it is important to ponder topics such as this for the simple reason that you will, in the course of your astrological career, come up against formidable adversaries who, in their ignorant and indignant state, will attack you and label you as one of Satan’s little helpers. Far better to have knowledge and conviction on your side, not that those types are worthy of the rules of engagement anyway.

As an astrologer of The Tradition the Bible is, to me, a compulsory text book and as a religious monotheist, it is a compulsory book for my moral wellbeing, so either way, the study of the Bible is essential.

The Tradition of Astrology

I have written extensively on this subject (Footnote 1) as have other leading astrologers of The Tradition (Footnote 2), and The Tradition I refer to is the astrology that is based on monotheism, the astrology which only makes sense in light of revealed faith. If those words are unpalatable to you then by all means, discard this article or burn it, and return to the astrology of your choice, which is your prerogative. One of my students once disputed the fact that there was astrological reference in the Bible, as she could only locate a handful of references to the celestial bodies in the entire book. The first rule of thumb, if you are going to comment on something, is read the book or material in its entirety in the first place. The Bible commences with immediate references to the luminaries and the planets in Genesis and from there onwards it is rife with these references. The Bible, as with astrology, does not expose its wisdom and its teachings in a blatant format.

The Bible is allegorical and is filled with parables – it is a language that requires interpretation, just as the language of the symbols of astrology requires interpretation. I am of the opinion that even dim-witted people can study the methodologies and techniques of astrology, just as most can read the Bible – but it is the interpretation of the information that not everyone is able to do. This requires years of poring over a wide variety of texts, setting time aside for reflection, commitment to hard work and extreme diligence, and in light of astrology of The Tradition, adding the one thing that cannot be qualified or quantified – that of faith. Both the Bible and astrology of The Tradition require a shift in the reader or students' mindset or make up, not the arrogant brutality of pummelling the information into something they can understand.

The Philosophy versus The Theology

Aristotle, Maimonides, Averroes, Aquinas and Gersonides, to name but a few of the greatest minds known to man, all pondered the (supposed) opposition of philosophical truth versus religious truth. It is in the writings of Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides) that I found the most resonance with my own train of thought. The work of Thomas Aquinas comes a close second, and to read the work of both these great men is to commence a love affair that I believe will last a lifetime. Gersonides attempted to construct a system of thought that was philosophically demonstrable yet compatible with Scripture (Footnote 3), and his entire philosophical model was centered on “The heavenly bodies and their movers; relationships amongst these movers and the relationships between them and God.” (Footnote 4)

According to Gersonides everything revolved around God and was a reflection of Him, therefore the ability to conceptualise and debate philosophies, which were God-given abilities, would automatically lead you back to the Scriptures – the two were congruent. In his Biblical exegesis he applied his extensive knowledge of the Halakhah (Footnote 5), and his profound understanding of the machinations of the universe and all that resides within it, in relation to God, is exquisitely beautiful. Gersonides was an optimist whose faith in the Divine was unwavering – scepticism, lack of faith and the possibility that anything that reflected any form of (pure and good) truth, not being God-given, were completely foreign to him.

In astrology of The Tradition, the monotheistic principle is paramount, and without it, the astrology is nonsensical. The order of the spheres, the houses in which the planets joy, the planetary rulerships, and all of the other astrological symbols and data are devoid of substance and meaning if not viewed in this light. Many people, even astrologers themselves, call astrology a sacred craft, a notion that I do not adhere to. One could argue that everything on earth is scared as everything was conceived by God, but that is being obtuse. The fact that we have charlatans and silly people practicing various disciplines of astrology underpins this, and it is the astrologer and his belief system that brings an element of the sacred or the Divine to the astrology, not the other way round.

Astrology is a practical tool given to man, just as all things were given to man, by God, and it is up to us how we apply it – do we apply the four cardinal virtues, by the grace of God, or do we use it for seditious (or other) purposes? Quite simply, the moral, spiritual and ethical model that the astrologer brings to the table will determine his ability to understand the astrology initially, and then to be able to interpret and convey it. His own personal model will determine how well he is able to do this and his lack of abilities are a reflection on him and his model, not on the craft, which although not “sacred” in nature, is most definitely pure and uncorrupted.

The Old Testament

According to an ancient tradition, common to both Gnostic and Syriac Christians as well as to the Persians and Jews, Adam received the doctrine and mysteries of astrology directly from the Creator, and by knowledgeably scanning the constellations in the skies foretold that the world would one day be destroyed by water (the desire nature of man), then by fire (anger, haste, hatred and violence) (Footnote 6). The words in brackets are mine. It is largely forgotten that the tradition of Judaism is an oral one, and even today, many of the rabbinical teachings are passed from generation to generation in an oral format, as opposed to a written one. When reading the Old Testament one cannot help but note the numerous horoscopic references and in my mind, the Jews were undoubtedly the forefathers of astrology. In Paradise Lost, Milton provides his thoughts on the subject, and offers his view that astrology only commenced with the Fall, and the Fall involved Adam who was a Jew.

In The Tradition we have 7 planets, and I once set myself the task of counting how many times I could find the number 7 in the Bible. Needless to say, I stopped after Genesis as it was a pointless exercise. The 12 signs of the zodiac - the 12 tribes of Israel mentioned by Joseph when recounting his second dream, the 4 divisions or camps that marched through the wilderness, each containing 3 tribes, the four cherubic forms of ox, eagle, lion and man – to me the astrological references are crystal clear. More than one third of the constellation figures thus appear to have a close connection with some of the chief incidents recorded in the first ten chapters of Genesis as having taken place in the earliest ages of the world's history (Footnote 7).

The worship of the Sun and the other heavenly bodies is one of the most profound sins mentioned in the Old Testament – and this is, I believe, where things (internally and externally) can go horribly wrong, and why for me, astrology of The Tradition is the only astrology that makes sense.

The Sin of Astrology

When studying the ancient astrological texts, the reverence afforded to God is unmistakable. Whether it is Lilly, Bonatti, Simmonite, Cardan, Ibn Ezra or any of the Arab authors like Al Khayyat, Ibn Arabi or Masha Allah that you read, all pay homage to the Creator. Just as money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money, neither is astrology the devil’s tool, but I believe its application can be if placed in the wrong hands or in the custody of ignorance. All of the ancient authorities stress that nothing is delineated but by the grace of God, and it is from Him that the skill to interpret the language of astrology is derived. Monotheism means that there is only one God, the God of the Bible, and the servants of God do not worship false gods.

Any astrologer who believes that the celestial bodies “make us do things” is allotting these bodies a god-like status, any astrologers (or even their clients) who believe that astrology is the primary mover and not the Creator, are worshipping false gods. And it is at this point that the religious model that accompanies your astrology has such a profound impact. To my knowledge, which is based on extensive reading, no clergyman has stated that astrology itself is wrong or evil; it is once again its application that is thus construed. If astrology is used simply for divination and removes the essence of God from the equation, then therein lays the problem.

The fundamental issue here is one of essence and intent, and these (again) will be underlined by the religious model of the astrologer. Throughout history it is recorded that Popes and other orders of the cleric were renowned and gifted astrologers, and the modern (post 1700) ignorance that astrology itself is demonic was fuelled by the Vagrancy Act of 1824 in Britain and by Alan Leo who remade astrology in the image of Theosophy. Even one of the most astute theological minds, that of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, states that we can indeed learn something from the naturall sciences.

The Traditional Model

The model of the world and its surrounding universe showcased in great works such as Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Dream of Scipio by Cicero and the Summa by St Thomas Aquinas is beautifully depicted in the gem of a book by C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image. So too does astrology of The Tradition have a model, using the Ptolemaic or geocentric model as its foundation. The geocentric universe pictures what is true or real in the eternal world of the spirit and provides a perfectly adequate means of tracking its material phenomena (Footnote 8).

The geocentric cosmos reflects the spiritual truth and it is for this very reason that the astrology only makes sense in light of revealed faith. We commence, as always in the traditional manner, from the outside in and the first sphere is the sphere of the zodiac. From this first layer of the creation of the world by God, we then work inwards, moving through the sphere of the fixed stars, the sphere of the planets in their Chaldean order from Saturn to the Moon, and finally we reach earth and its inhabitants. As it states in Genesis, God created man on the last day before he rested, after he had created the heavens and the spheres. Nothing in this model is random, everything exists in its pure form and in its specific placement for a very profound reason, but without the religious model to encase this, it makes no sense. As stated already it requires a shift within the human being, a shift which some battle to make, and they would rather remake the model and thus the astrology in their own image, completely negating the image of the Creator and his bountiful gifts to mankind.

Gersonides sums it up succinctly when he states “Let us say, at the outset, that since this law of the sub-lunar world cannot be achieved except through the collective activities of all the spheres, if there were no one intelligence that apprehends this plan in its entirety, the achievement of this perfection in the sub-lunar world from the various spheres would be fortuitous. This is similar to the different crafts, where it would be impossible for one piece of work to be accomplished by them collectively, unless they were subordinate to one craft which orders the activities of the others”.

The Language of Symbols

Other than the Bible, one of the richest sources of symbolism is the mythological texts. It is important for the student of astrology not to pay attention to books providing someone else’s interpretations of the myths, but to simply read the myths themselves. This tapestry of symbolism must then be disseminated and the essence of the stories, as in the Bible, need to be interpreted. There are numerous books available on interpreting traditional symbolism, and when purchasing such a book, once again ensure that it is more factual than interpretive.

Let us take the four elements or temperaments which are used in The Tradition. Fire equates to action and passion, that which consumes, as well as the other hot and dry properties of anger, aggression, violence and the like; earth equates to contemplation as well as things of the material world and things slow in motion, it is restrictive and has the inability to relinquish, it represents solidity thus all the cold and dry properties; air is related to thought and communication but also to criticism, curiosity, flights of fancy and space, the things that are hot and moist in nature; water is the desire nature and is fluid, cold and moist and lacking boundaries of its own, it can be tempestuous, and salt water is justice while the sweet waters, as depicted by Aquarius, are the gifts bestowed on man by God.

If we look at objects used throughout the myths and in the Scriptures, a rock symbolises the law – thus Jesus instructing Simon Peter to build his Church upon “that” rock, is meant that he should build the Church upon the law of Christ. Snakes are equated to water, the desire nature, so Jesus washing the feet of the disciples was to cleanse their “fallen” footprints, thus removing their ability to taint the world, not to show His humility; and Jesus walking on water tells us that He was able to rise above His desire nature, though faith, and that we need to do the same. The fixed star of Caput Algol and others, where snakes are to be found in the myth, have to do with the desire nature of man and how we constantly need to fight it and rise above it. A centaur represents mans' lower nature, the savage and benign aspects of the nature and the conflict between the two opposites (Footnote 9).

Sand denotes instability and impermanence, a spindle denotes fate, a staff is masculine power denoting authority and law and order, the list is endless, and these are merely some examples to align your mind with the concept of interpretation. The body parts are of the utmost importance as well, and when we find a fixed star posited in the arm of a constellation, we know it is that which we cast into the world, the foot, that which we leave behind, thus the consequences of our actions, the heart is the Divine presence, the centre and central wisdom and the head is the seat of intelligence and folly.

The Conclusion

The primary aim of a tutor of The Tradition, aside from teaching the methodologies, is to teach the age-old skill of “thinking.” It is imperative that students of our astrology learn to think for themselves and do not expect the answers to be handed to them via a text book or in a summarised form by their tutor. There is no “Interpreting the Bible through an astrological lens for Dummies” book, and as always in The Tradition, there is no quick fix - knowledge and wisdom come to those who seek it.  To practice the art of astrology is to learn how to interpret symbolism and how to discriminately fit all the pieces of the nativity together to form a coherent picture which is congruent with the subject in question. This same skill needs to be applied to reading and interpreting the texts, especially the Bible.  Nobody is going to hand you an astrological interpretation of the Bible on a gilded platter – it is the sole responsibility of the student of astrology to pose the questions to which he requires answers, and then to seek The Truth.

In The Tradition that truth starts at the source of monotheism, and it is this very fact that alienates our astrology from the contemporary branches. When the geocentric model was replaced with the heliocentric model and it’s accompanying scientific theories, God was removed from the centre of the spheres and was replaced with man. What has been conveniently forgotten by mankind in general, especially the contemporary branches of astrology that relate to polytheism and relativism, is Proverbs 10:9 “The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom but fools despise instruction.”  

Footnotes

1. “The culture of your craft” and “the Real definition of astrology”, www.traditionalastrologer.co.za (Back)
2. As always, I mention my tutor John Frawley, to whom I am deeply indebted on many levels. (Back)
3. The War of the Lord, Levi ben Gershom, Volume One, Introduction page 36, Translated by Seymour Feldman, The Jewish Publication Society of America. (Back)
4. The War of the Lord, Levi ben Gershom, Volume Three, Translated by Seymour Feldman, The Jewish Publication Society of America. (Back)
5. Halakhah (from Hebrew, “to go”), in Judaism, the body of traditional law that is based on rabbinical interpretation and supplements the scriptural law contained in the Pentateuch, the Law of Moses. Halakhah, which is also spelled Halacha or Halakha, has come to mean the 'path' or 'way' by which to walk. Transmitted by word of mouth by the highest rabbinical authorities, these supplementary laws were first written down in the Talmud, during the first five centuries of the Christian era, and in the Midrash, or scriptural exegesis. The Halakhah is the purely legal content of these works, the illustrations and amplifications of the ethical, political, and religious principles involved in the laws being set down in the Haggada. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc. (Back)
6. The Fated Sky, Benson Bobrick. (Back)
7. The Astronomy of the Bible, E Walter Maunder. (Back)
8. The Real Astrology, John Frawley. (Back)
9. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C Cooper, Thames & Hudson. (Back)