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Astrology

Astrology - lrresistible

Magic

Picture Writing in the

Sky

The Origin of the

Horoscope

Christianity and

Astrology

Stargazing and Star-

Reading

Fitness

Vitamins

Protein

Minerals

Training and Diet

Dietary Mistakes

General Models of

Feeding

Is salt intake necessary

Christianity and Astrology

Early Christianity took far more

interest in the stars than did

Judaism or Islam. The Revelation

of St. John is full of astral

allusions. Jesus is referred to as

the "light of the world" in the

astronomical sense also, and the

twelve disciples represented thetwelve months of the solar year.

John the Baptist stood for the

Moon, and was assigned as

many disciples as the month had

days: 29,5. His one female

disciple was counted as only a

half!

The Mother of God was identified

with the constellation of the

Virgin, the ancient Queen of

Heaven, and the ear of grain was

placed in her hand. Mary's

Ascension took place on August

15 because that was when the

corn star Spica set. Her birth was

given as September 8, when

Spica reappeared on the other

side of the Sun.

When the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion, the birthday of Jesus was

shifted to December 25, the winter solstice, since that date had been the holiday of the Sun.

Thus Christ became the old god's legitimate successor. The Emperor continued to use the

coronation mantle embroidered with the signs of the zodiac, and he had a horoscope east for his

new capital of Constantinople. it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that for a time the Christian

religion was in danger of losing itself in Chaldean magic.

The Fathers of the Church fought this tendency. Origen admitted that the sky contained picture

writing, but declared that only the angels could read it. Tertullian sharply admonished: "The

magical relationships in the heavens existed only up to the appearance of Christ. Through Christ

man was raised from servant of the stars to master of the stars." Henceforth, astrology was to be

considered a form of idolatry.

But such a stern position could not be sustained. Did not the Old Testament hold that the

Creator had placed the stars in the sky as signs? And no Christian at that time dared to deny

that the signs had same significance: that comets were heralds of God's wrath; that the signs of

the zodiac made medicines effective and governed the winds; that the Moon influenced the

weather and in some mysterious fashion produced the tides and woman's monthly rhythm.

Augustine conceded to the stars their influence over nature, but denied that they affected human

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The Achilles Tendon

Gastronomy, a Modern

Discipline

Total calories per 24

hours referred to

weight

Health

Repose or absence ofmuscular activity

Health Status and

Health Costs

Health Insurance -

Demographic Factors

and Income

High Blood Pressure

Medicare Issues

Health Services - How

Should We Decide HowMuch to Spend

Fashion

Fashion Questions &

Answers

Revolt or Style - The

Designer Culture

Sport

Sport and Tourism

Partnerships

Sporting Superstars -Pele, Muhammad Ali

Tourism and Culture

Partnerships

Olympic Memorabilia

Collecting

Sport and physical

activity

Family

Recipes

Some Characteristic ofSecond Home Towns

One- and two-family

houses

The Problem of Ageing

- Long Term Care

Mortgage Terms

Santa Clara County,

California, and Prince

George's County,

Maryland

Housing: What the

Consumer Wants

Phases of the Housing

Problem

.

became the official doctrine of the Church. Thus stargazing was permitted for the purpose of

noting warnings and weather signs; but fortunetelling astrology was banned. For if character

depended on the stars, how could anyone be responsible for his acts? if a person neglected

same good work because of an unfavorable constellation, what was left of trust in Gad, and where

lay the decision between good and evil? If the horoscope showed predestined days of good and ill

fortune, if it foretold spiritual changes and the day of death, then Providence was calculable and

the will of God no longer inscrutable; the Almighty himself was subject to the stars.

Yet, for all these grave consequences, astrology won a place for itself in Christianity-so powerful

a place, indeed, that we may well ask how it was possible. The point was that Christianity,

emerging out of a weary civilization, entered the awakening culture of the Germanic peoples-andencountered their firm belief in fate. The Teutons thought that even their gods were subject to

fate-as is evidenced by their myths of the Twilight of the Gods and of the three Norns, whose

names me ant Past, Present, and Future and who spun the thread of fate for mortals and

immortals alike. Later times called the thread "the Law," law in the widest sense, the law of

nature and history and individual life. Christianity could not remain uncolored by these traditional

beliefs. They came to the fore during a second era of development in Western culture, in the form

of a new mysticism and a new ecclesiastical dogma, that of scholasticism.

That elements of the old Germanic belief in fate had penetrated scholasticism is revealed by

Saint Thomas Aquinas's attitude toward astrology. He did not accept the boundary line that

Augustine had drawn, and held that the stars had influence upon men's bodies and character.

Dante conceded them dominion over our instincts. Nevertheless, the principle of free will was

carefully guarded. The Church could sanction such a belief in the stars so long as horoscopesand fortunetelling were left out.

But once the narrow portal had been opened, Chaldean magic penetrated the Christianity of the

Middle Ages. it became known through Arabic literature, and at once flooded the Occident. The

invasion came with the suddenness of a hurricane, and can be dated almost to the year. In 1108

the Archbishop of York was refused Christian burial because a book on astrology had been found

under his pillow. In 1109 Adelard of Bath called astronomy the science of the past, present, and

future-equating it, as it were, with the oracle of the three Norns.

From then on there was virtually no further resistance to astrology. Medicine was practiced

according to the stars. For simple surgery such as bloodletting complicated prescriptions related

every part of the body with a sign of the zodiac, and hence with particular times. Medicinal herbs

must be gathered and administered only on certain nights. Even analysis of mine depended upon

the positions of the planets. There were propitious hours for signing political treaties, layingfoundation stones, waging battles, for receptions, t ravel, baths, chess, and changing clothes. The

astrologer marched out with the army, gave the signal for the cavalry to mount and the infantry to

march. The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I suffered all his life under the oppressive knowledge

of being a child of Saturn, and Diller attempted to console him with his "Melancolia"; every tiny

detail of this engraving contains an allusion to astrological mysteries.

Ultimately, even the popes capitulated to astrology. Leo X founded a professorship in astrology at

the University of Rome. Julius II had his coronation day set by astrologers, and Paul IV consulted

them for the date of every consistory.

The Church, ordinarily so watchful of the purity of dogma, was overwhelmed by the ancient

mysticism derived from the long-suppressed sky-religion of the Babylonians. Not until

astronomical sc ience came along was the freedom of the Christian restored and destiny once

more understood as unfathomable.

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Student Loans:

Variations in Loan

Programs

The care of the dog

Decoration

Where Your Painting

Hangs

Cleaning a Painting on

Your Own

How Water Damages a

Canvas Painting

How a painting can

change without any

apparent cause aging

What happens when a

painting is restored

What to do with your

paintings when you are

redecorating yourhome

Structural Composition

Of A Canvas Painting

Aging Of A Canvas

Painting

Aesthetics Of Cleaning

A Painting

How To Roll A Painting

If It Must Be

Transported That Way

What to do when you

need to ship your

painting

Varnishing and Other

Finishing Touches

More

Is Anything at Rest in

the Universe?

Computer Graphics

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