Considerations

Because of its almost poetic approach to reality, astrological predictions sometimes may sound like fairy tales, but that doesn’t mean they are such just because “they sound like”. When we really being to investigate through the theory/lenses of astrology, that what is invisiable begins to become crystal clear with the Sun’s rays shinning through, metaphorically speaking. 

Humans and animals partake on this great adventure, this long Solar Journey where the planet and the Sun moves at about 70,000 km/hr towards the direction of the bright star Vega at Lyra’s constellation). Planet Earth is like this organic ship – when we are (alive) on board we are to witness the stars moving positions, much like the ancient sailors did, but with mathemathics/calculations at hands, humans are able to further evaluate the skies and the things they represent below – we realize nativities are in this great ship together, that is no different from the ships aboard on our oceans and seas but both the inside and outside conditions of the ambient` which we all participate. The natives of this great planet will/are born with an astrological mark/imprint, which is only “visiable” when calculating the chart of the time of birth or even inception. 

At introduction [click here], Ptolemy made sure that we know Astrology is a blend of trigonometry + reflection/philosophy and thus of universal patterns, or, you can’t discuss astrology without astronomical facts but one should also be highly intuitive (and common sense: one should agree that Aries is the first sign, and not Taurus, Gemini etc.). He also wanted us to know that the Solar System is the base of life and what is nowadays known as Astrology, and that life, like all the interaction of the planets also has multiple alternatives and various possibilities and aspects.

In this chapter, Ptolemy begins the treasitse with the subject of how far and what can be attained by astrological mastering, from the fact that even some dumb animals and uneducated in astrology could foretell, now we can only imagine when one masters the system some way or another and how far that could go. 

– All bracelets attached to the quotes are mine observations and info which otherwise would be harder to read/grasp in contemporary times. The Underline texts are also mind, as I realized many things were said in a single paragraph. 

That Knowledge by Astronomical Means is Attainable, and How Far [According to Egyptian Ptolemy]

Ptolemy wanted us to know that Fire and Air are the major elements, that is, they come earlier before Earth and Water, probably because fire means genesis & life while air circulates and distributes, whether earth and water are when things get grounded and finally felt/experienced:

Fire & Air Dominate Earth and Water: “A very few considerations would make it apparent to all that a certain power emanating from the eternal ethereal substance is dispersed through and permeates the whole region about the [planet] earth, which throughout is subject to change, since, of the primary sublunary elements, Fire and Air are encompassed and changed by the motions in the Ether [“uncorrupted/none-elementary”], and in turn encompass and change all else, Earth and Water and the plants and animals therein [therefore, Fire and Air dominate Earth and Water]. 

Intersting enough, Aristoteles believed and taught that the “empty” cosmic space we see ’till the Moon was/is filled with this “5th element/essense”, the “Ether”. The terrestrial elements Fire, Earth, Air and Water are then somehow “dispersed” into this state of “neutral” motion and as a direct result it “contaminates” all else on Earth’s plane, “conducting” such “energy” combination. Such concept of ether was/is used by astrologers trying to explain the influnce of the planetary essentials, where it was/is said to contain no quality (hot, cold, dry, wet) or contrary substabce/force to dispute with. 

The Powerful Sun & Constitution of Seasons: For the Sun, together with the ambient, is always in same way affecting everything on the [planet] Earth, not only by the changes that accompany the seasons [revolutions] of the year to bring about the generation of animals, the productiveness of plants, the flowing of waters, and the changes of bodies, but also by its daily revolutions furnishing heat, moisture, dryness, and cold in regular order and in correspondence with its positions relative to the zenith.”

The most powerful apparent period of the day where humanity and animals witness the Sun’s message of recognition and notoriety is when the clock strikes midday, or the time the Sun is closest to the Zenith of the observer, and no matter the season, we can experience the beginning of the hottest/warmest part of a day when such phenomenon daily repeats, and contrary, we usually begin to feel the coldest/coolest part of the day when the Sun anti-culminates, where temperature drops. Everything has a quality, a temper, a temperament, a pattern that shall be break down by demystifying it (except for “ether”), and the Sun is the beginning of all and through its daily revolution as well as its annual path, human has a sense of continuity & cohesion, and the chance to note/observe correlations. 

The Powerful Moon & Phases/Facets: “…The Moon, too, as the heavenly body nearest the Earth, bestows her effluence most abundantly upon mundane things, for most of them, animate or inanimate, are sympathetic to her and change in company with her [phases]; the rivers increase and diminish their streams with her light, the seas turn their own tides with her rising and setting, and plants and animals in whole or in same part wax and wane with her [more about the Moon in Mundane go to Book II Part II]. 

The most important planet in the Tropical Zodiac is indeed the luminaries of Earth which never go retrograde as contrary to all others planets, the predominating Sun, followed by the mysterious Moon, then the fixed stars followed by the astrological Planets, which the last add or diminish the dynamics of the Sun which the Moon co-operated. 

Astrologically, we are sublunary beings that depend on the Sun to live on planet Earth – The Moon rules our Home, and it is this very satellite (5th largest in the solar system) which makes Earth conspicuously habitable while moderating the planet’s wobble on its axis, resulting such phenomenon to a relatively stable climate.

The Transiting Stars & Atmosphere: Moreover, the passages of the fixed stars and the planets through the sky often signify hot, windy, and snowy conditions of the air, and mundane things are affected accordingly. Then, too, their aspects to one another, by the meeting and mingling of their dispensations, bring about many complicated changes. 

Moon’s 29.½ Days & the 7 Aspects to the Sun: For though the Sun’s power prevails in the general ordering of quality, the other heavenly bodies aid or oppose it in particular details, the Moon more obviously and continuously, as for example when it is new, at quarter, or full, and the stars at greater intervals and more obscurely, as in their appearances [mode of visibility], occultation, and approaches [declinations].

Inception/Electional: If these matters be so regarded, all would judge it to follow that not only must things already compounded be affected in same way by the motion [and operation] of these heavenly bodies, but likewise the germination and fruition of the seed must be moulded [shaped] and conformed to the quality proper to the heavens at the time [of the impregnation or inception as well as time of birth ].”

I suppose that whenever a new civilization emerge on The Ground (Earth), what surrounds them [constellations and planets] would be one of the first thing to notice and to mark/relate down on Earth, before anything else, any other kind of knowledge, the language of the stars is that of first and foremost, for survival aspects [directions and weather] or further understanding of life as it is when knowledge is advanced once the species master language and writing. 

Because of the annual revolution of the Sun due to Earth’s rotation and its orbit and the Moon’s assistance to maintain it human-friendly, we ought to understand the seasons & weather in general. Animals and humans react and put things into action and movement according to Day [Sun] and Night [Moon], but also to the rest of the celestial spheres that are not directly obvious to us at first glance, even when unaware or unconscious of their operation.

Electional/Inception: “The more observant farmers and herdsmen, indeed, conjecture, from the winds prevailing at the time of impregnation and of the sowing of the seed, the quality of what will result [like the action of penetration and then ejaculation/impregnation resulting pregnancy, and finally birth afterwards]; and in general we see that the more important consequences signified by the more obvious configurations of Sun, Moon, and [fixed] stars are usually known beforehand, even by those who inquire, not by scientific means, but only by observation. 

The Uneducated that can Foretell & The Intuitive System: Those which are consequent upon greater forces and simpler natural orders, such as the annual [revolutions of the Sun] variations of the seasons and the winds, are comprehended by very ignorant men, nay even by some dumb animals [generally reacting or acting unconsciously to the seasons]; for the Sun is in general responsible for these phenomena. 

Experient by Actual Observation & Necessity: Things that are not of so general a nature, however, are comprehended by those who have by necessity become used to making observations, as, for instance, sailors know the special signs of storms and winds that arise periodically by reason of the aspects of the Moon [phases] and fixed stars to the Sun. 

The Error of Prediction Only By Observation Without Astornomical Data: Yet because they cannot in their ignorance accurately know the times and places of these phenomena [without ephemeris specially], nor the periodic movements [cycles & motions] of the planets, which contribute importantly to the effect, it happens that they often err.”

Previous Investigations & The Future: “…If, then, a man knows accurately the movements of all the stars, the Sun, and the Moon, so that neither the place nor the time of any of their configurations escapes his notice [even if not literally observing the skies], and if he has distinguished in general their natures as the result of previous continued study [suppose he noted that when a configuration happened above, something of such and such quality happened below, so from there the investigator may forecast when such and such may happen again within its variations in the future], even though he may discern, not their essential [Planets’ physical composition], but only their potentially effective qualities, such as the Sun’s heating and the Moon’s moistening, and so on with the rest ;”

The System is Predictable: “…and if he is capable of determining in view of all these data, both scientifically and by successful conjecture, the distinctive mark of quality resulting from the combination of all the factors, what is to prevent him from being able to tell on each given occasion the characteristics of the air from the relations of the phenomena at the time, for instance, that it will be warmer or wetter? Why can he not, too, with respect to an individual man, perceive the general quality of his temperament from the ambient at the time of his birth [genetlhiacal], as for instance that he is such and such in body and such and such in soul, and predict occasional events, by use of the fact that such and such an ambient is attuned to such and such a temperament and is favorable to prosperity, while another is not so attuned and conduces to injury? Enough, however; for the possibility of such knowledge can be understood from these and similar arguments.”

Not a System of Coincidence(s): “The following considerations might lead us to observe that criticism [& skepticism] of the science on the score of impossibility has been specious but undeserved. In the first place, the mistakes of those who are not accurately instructed in its practice [one needs years of studing before profession and true knowladge], and they are many, as One would expect in an important and many-sided [versitile] art, have brought about the belief that even its true predictions depend upon chance, which is incorrect. For a thing like this is an impotence, not of the science, but of those who practice it.“  

Profit & Easy to Fake: “…Secondly; most, for the sake of gain [profit], claim credence for another art in the name of this [charlatanism], and deceive the vulgar, because they are reputed to foretell many things, even those that cannot naturally be known beforehand, while to the more thoughtful they have thereby given occasion to pass equally unfavorable judgment upon the natural subjects of prophecy. Nor is ibis deservedly done; it is the same with philosophy – we need not abolish it because there are evident rascals among those that pretend to it [so we know the difference?].”

Beyond Comphreension: “…Nevertheless it is clear that even though one approaches astrology in the most inquiring and legitimate [genuine] spirit possible, he may frequently err, not for any of the reasons state, but because of the very nature of the thing and his own weakness in comparison with the magnitude of his profession [for astrology reaches more than we can take or understand]. 

Astorlogy is Not an Exact Science: For in general, besides the fact that every science that deals with the quality of its subject-matter is conjectural and not to be absolutely affirmed [you can’t indicate like 100% certain is the case when there are so many particulars involved which many you will miss], particularly [the] One which is composed of many unlike [unfamiliar as opposed to familiar?] elements it is furthermore true that the ancient configurations of the planets, upon the basis of which we attach to similar aspects of our own day  the effects observed by the ancients in theirs [time and period in history], 

Past Configurations can be Similar/Resemble the/to Future Ones but Not Identical: …Can be more Or less similar to the modern aspects [understating of the Zodiac in correspondence to societal contemporary language], and that, too, at long intervals, but not identical, since the exact return of all the heavenly bodies and the earth to the same positions [Planetary Return; conditions outside will be different nonetheless], unless One holds vain opinions of his ability to comprehend and know the incomprehensible [“i know it all“], either takes place not at all or at least not in the period of time that falls within the experience of man [the exact same configuration will never happen in time so the same human experience the radix twice – this makes us think about universal revolution (Proclus reminds us of “The Dream of Scipio” by Cicero); would this particular Solar System of ours cease to exist at the moment the it returns exact to the same position of creation (thema mundi radix) eons and eons of eras afterwards? It would also suggest in astrology there are then eons and eons of possibilities]; so that for this reason predictions sometimes fail, because of the disparity of the examples on which they are based [even when similar configurations happen all the time (like the Sun and the 4 seasons) predictions may fail many times when going into details of earthlings due to its almost endless possibilities in a lifetime of a nativity] .” 

The scientist & compilator Ptolemy had a sharp tooth and once again briefly related the texts above to the skeptics of the science & art of Astrology. Like all fields of study and that what can be mastered/attainable by humans’ talents, their mind and obsessions, Astrology has multiple utilization. Because we are actually humans, we have limitations and blind spots, even when a person has a genuine desire to know. Astrology can vary so much to the point of becoming redundant, and sometimes too obvious to the point they will say it is a coinscidence. No other field in the human’s knowledge has ever reached claims and reasons why we act and react the way we do but if not in sync with the spheres, nevertheless Psychology as known today blends well with astrology, even though astrology itself had already been reading characters for millenniums.

No Triviallity: “As to the investigation of atmospheric phenomena, this would be the only difficulty, since no other cause besides the movement of the heavenly bodies is taken into consideration [and not intuitive & philosophical but technical]. But in an inquiry concerning nativities and individual temperaments in general, One can see that there are circumstances of no small importance and of no trifling character, which join to cause the special qualities of those who are born.”

The Asc & Location of Birth; Multiplicity in the Ambient & Forms of Nature: “…For differences of seed exert a very great influence on the special traits of the genus, since, if the ambient and the horizon are the same, each seed prevails to express in general its own form, for example, man, horse, and so forth; and the places of birth bring about no small variation in what is produced. For if the seed is generically the same, human for example, and the condition of the ambient the same, those who are born differ much, both in body and soul, with the difference of countries [Mundane/Universal as opposed to Genethliacal]. 

One can be born with the “same” qualities and “temperature” of the ambient, even born in the same room at the same hour, but their direction in life differ, once their intentions (& souls) would be rather individual then a collective thing, although one can influence the other. 

Curiosity from my Personal Life: I have twins brothers that were born 9 months after me [read more on Chapter 7 of Book III, Of Twins] and the Sun was at 0 degree Gemini, everything that happens to one, happens to the other a few months later almost with the same “architecture” of events, concerning girlfriends and wives, children, money, travel, education etc. and you can tell that very objectively. Ptolemy pointed out the fact o people from different nationalities and how they are born at the same time but in other regions of the world, and that cultures also influence life-style, but the events are always similar in application and topical meaning [read more on Book II Part I].

Rearing & Culture that Influences the Future: …In addition to this, all the aforesaid conditions being equal, rearing and customs [also rank & nurture as reminded by Proclus] contribute to influence the particular way in which a life is lived. 

Don’t Understand the Wrong Way: …Unless each One of these things is examined together with the causes that are derived from the ambient, although this latter be conceded to exercise the greatest influence (for the ambient is One of the causes for these things being what they are, while they in turn have no influence upon it), they can cause much difficulty for those who believe that in such cases everything can be understood, even things not wholly within its jurisdiction, from the motion of the heavenly bodies alone.” [when we understand the wrong way, we won’t see results as claimed and therefore question the usefulness of the art]

Imperfection & The Ever Incomplete Prescience: “Since this is the case, it would not be fitting to dismiss all prognostication of this character because it can sometimes be mistaken, for we do not discredit the art of the pilot for its many errors; but as when the claims are great, so also when they are divine, we should welcome what is possible and think it enough. Nor, further, should we gropingly and in human fashion demand everything of the art [neither could we master all areas of life at once], but rather join in the appreciation of its beauty, even in instances wherein it could not provide the full answer [lack of knowladge, experience or blind spot? Or is it Ptolemy pointing to the imperfection of the subject?];”

Forecasting according to Reality: “…and as we do not find fault with the physicians, when they examine a person, for speaking both about the sickness itself and about the patient’s idiosyncrasy, so too in this case we should not object to astrologers using as a basis for calculation nationality, country, and rearing, or any other already existing accidental qualities.”

Conclusion

Religion? Because it is scientifically rooted, I think Astrology is not a belief. Although it can be religious, because of its mundane and the repetition of motion, is not a religiosity you may know nowadays like the religions from monotheism. But hey, do you believe in the solar system or you simple experience it as it is? – I can understand why many astrologers and historians tagged religion along with the studying of the stars and not caringi to say it is not Christian or this or that, but a repetition of patterns that is considered religious, its raw definition. Also, many astrologers do link astrology to their religious practices, including witchcraft.

Astrology can reach many others doctrines and disciplines of human knowledge: medical, meteorological, herbalism, entertainment, religion, psychology etc. in consequence, Astrology becomes an Artistic Tool for many practices of human life. There is an organization after all the apparent chaos, which is not everybody that will notice the link to what happens above & below simultaneously, and perhaps that is necessary. As humans, no one can master all areas of life & study/knowledge, and in result we become completely uneducated to ignorant of many others subjects, and we simple ignore how far they can reach/go [and what can be attained by] when not putting effort and understanding on it.

Astrology has stood up the test of time together with astronomy. In a certain period CE, about the 17th century, astrology took a U turn and astronomy went foward its own way. Astrology slept for a bit but recently woke up from the grave to experience once again like a vampire, its revival.

—

Extra References

(PDF) – Plato and Aristotle’s Ether: Revisited and Redefined By Declan J. O’Donnell, JD and Sherry E. Bell, PhD 

(PDF) – How Fast Are You Moving When You Are Sitting Still? by Andrew Fraknoi Foothill College & the Astronomical Society of the Pacific [www.astrosociety.org/uitc]

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/