Ancient astronomy - Astrology

Anyone who is interested in the solar system for any reason knows that the relationship between the heavens, the Earth and the seasons changes over time. Popularly, this is known as the precession of the equinoxes that has given us two astronomical-astrological systems, the sidereal and the tropical zodiac. Ancient astronomy is the source of astrology, the calendar, the clock and two main ways of time calculating. Yet, every civilization including the present one, attempts to "fix" the heavens in a specific highly predictable pattern. This is evidenced by the plethora of abandoned celestial sites that dot the globe. From Egypt to Tikal, Anghor Wat to Teotihuacán, Machu Picchu to Chichen Itza, El Mirador, Nazca to Stonehenge, Medicine wheels to Ley lines, the theme is perpetually the same. That theme reverberates down to us today and can be summed up in the phrase, as above, so below".

There are many astrological myths around the world. They all converge on one point though, and that is nature and how the stars related to regional natural realities and events in each area. Our own astrology was born from the lineage of Babylon, Egypt and Greece. The fundamental zodiac evolved in the arid regions of the Middle East and Mediterranean. The signs of the zodiac are also founded in a specific time. Our tropical zodiac was born when Taurus initiated the year, marked by the spring equinox. It has been suggested by Cyril Fagan that Alderbaren, the bull's eye, one of the four principle brightest fixed stars located within the zodiac of antiquity, marked the exact spring equinox at the time the zodiacal myth was laid down. This suggestion is vindicated by structures within the pyramid complex that would have lined up with Alderbaran on a specific date in history. Due to the precession of the zodiac, this no longer holds true. Long ago, the pyramids fell into disuse except for the basic annual transits of the sun. A crucial link to Sirius, an off zodiac bright star and also the brightest in the heavens, was lost due to the zodiacal precession. Today, the whole complex stands as mute testimony to the power of the heavens over humanity that still affects us now, even if it is just curiosity over archeoastronomy. This is not the only temple complex in the world. They dot the globe and all relate to the heavens. Unfortunately, the precession of the equinoxes rendered these marvelous complexes obsolete and they fell into disuse when they could no longer predict the cycles of nature exactly. A whole precession of civilizations fell into ruin and oblivion when cycles no longer matched the temple complexes exactly. Some exceptions exist, such as in Mesoamerica and India, where the precession was understood and incorporated. Yet one of these civilizations too collapsed, although for different reasons. Our current astrology traces its source to the middle east of antiquity.

Even many of our words are rooted in ancient astronomy, such as the words mercurial, zenith, ascension, nadir, starboard, house, venereal, martial, and jovial and so on, so that even our languages carry over influences, though the meaning of the words may be applied differently today. For mercurial, we often apply the word to something that is rapidly moving or changing. The word zenith is applied to mean something of the same meaning, though more generalized to mean overhead or at its peak of height or performance. Ascension has come to mean something that is on the increase. Nadir is used to indicate that something has waned and approached a low point. Starboard originated in the days of the square rigged ships that charted movement to the west by sighting stars on the right beam of the craft. Starboard has been carried aloft on aircraft and even space vehicles that typically no longer navigate using stars. House was originally a term used to describe a division of the heavens that could apply to a 13 degree, 20 second part of the sky or a 30 degree division, depending on where one is sourcing. Sometimes they were called mansions as well. Today we call what we live in houses or mansions depending on the level of opulence. The tern venereal originates from Venus, the so called goddess of love, and since love is associated with Eros (from the Greek) for sex, diseases that come to us this way are called venereal after Venus. The term martial is used in context of the military and can apply to military law or deeds and comes from the god of war, Mars. One of the more interesting ones is jovial from Jove or Jupiter that applies to states of joy and to old St. Nick himself; that great benefactor of Christmas. "By Jove" comes straight from Rome, as Jove was considered one of the great gods of fortune of the Roman pantheon. We even name some of our products after planets and constellations, such as the Saturn and Taurus cars. A cleaning product once in common use was called "Comet”.

Even people that are staunchly anti-astrology will use terms like mercurial and martial without considering the ancient sources of such expressions. Lost in the mists of history, they have taken on altogether different meanings, though some of the original thinking is still contained therein.

Astronomical terms are even carried forward for thousands of years in major religions. We often pray, "God's will be done on Earth as it is in heaven"; a different rendition of "as above, so below" with the Lord's Prayer. Little used passages from the Genesis and Psalms tells all in reference to such ideas when we read;

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and I was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and morning were the fourth day." Genesis 1:14-19; Genesis 17:21;18:14; 21:2

“The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. Psalm 19:1 - 8

To continue in the Old Testament, we have a wonderful vision from Ezekiel who provides a wonderful description of the heavens and the four fixed signs of the zodiac. See it you can make out the four signs and the celestial spheres as described therein.

"Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD." Ezekiel 1:4-28 NKJV

Jesus is said to have remarked;

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Luke 21:25

There are many examples of this contained in the Holy Bible that are passed down to us and are more or less unknown by most Christians. You may wish to check Ecclesiastes chapter 3 in the Old Testament as well as, Isaiah 45:5-7 and John 14:2, 3 in the New Testament as well as others. The effect of ancient astronomy on the world from this direction is profound. We celebrate Easter based primarily on the spring equinox, and Christmas on the first lengthening of the day after the winter solstice. Cylindrical systems as they exist have even split Christmas day into two celebratory days being December 25th for the followers of the Gregorian calendar and January 7th, for those still on the Julian system. This was most pronounced in Russia prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Today, Russian Orthodox Christians still celebrate January 7th as Christmas day. But for those of the 67th parallel north, such as in Denmark and Sweden, it is as clear as the rising sun why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, as they visually sight the northward returning sun for that day from times immemorial. The Christmas stories of St. Nick originate from here.

Even mathematics as we have come to know them, have origins connected to ancient astronomy. From the mapping out of ancient sites oriented to the sky, surveying-geometry, to spherical astronomy, algebra, trigonometry and logarithms all have ties to the skies. Later, with the development of the calculus by Newton and Leibniz, this was applied to stellar problems with large teams of mathematicians to verify their observations and theories. New discoveries were founded on more ancient ones. We still do this today. In calendars, whether the long count based on the meshing of three calendars of the Maya, to our Gregorian calendar, to clocks, we are influenced by all the work of the ancient astronomers. Ancient societies were sky obsessed and a lot of labor went into massive works to help track the stars and make predictions necessary to survival. We owe our existence today to many of these ancient cultures. Today, except for sailing affectionados, we wouldn't know how to "shoot a star". Yet at one time this knowledge was essential for survival. With the advent of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), which are also founded on location finding based on ancient astronomy, we have become somewhat removed from the stars directly, depending on our own electronic ones stationed in geosynchronous orbit at strategic locations above us. With them, we can accurately position anything or anyone on Earth within a meter as opposed to a kilometre of so under older traditions using triangulation and the stars by naked eye sighting. Yet there are ancient observatories in India that are so accurate, that a careful observer can even track seconds of a day by naked eye observation alone. Many sites in India are still in active use, but one wonders for how much longer with the advent of GPS, global telecommunication and the computer. But India, being highly religious, will like us, be influenced by the Vedas that have sky lore of their own, particularly in the Vushu Puranas.

From the ancient astronomers we stand on the shoulders of giants and prepare to launch ourselves into the deep of space, to seek out new Earths under different heavens, with different stars and potential constellations. If indeed there are intelligent civilizations, they'll have different myths suited to their locale in space-time, but with a vague similarity to our own. Such a find would be indeed interesting. The ramifications of such a find would be enormous, impacting every facet of our lives and theirs.

This work is co-written by myself and W. F, Raymond, who provided the inspiration for this series.