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- Lucifer, vol. 6, no. 35, July 1890, pp. 387-392
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Title for references: Old W.R. - Astrology as a Science
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387
IN submitting the proposition that Astrology is entitled to a position among the sciences, I am conscious that in the mind of many the subject is associated with many forms of Divination and other unscientific methods of prognostication, and one half of my object will be attained when it is shown that Astrology is in no way dependent for its present comparative perfection on the entourage of old women’s tales and impossible associations with which, in the half-informed mind, it is usually connected. And yet in presence of such widespread bigotry and prejudice as is often shown towards Astrology, the work of discrimination is no mean task; for as Max Müller, the learned Orientalist, has said, “So great is the ignorance which confounds a science requiring the highest education, with that of the ordinary gipsy fortune-teller”.
Therefore, in proposing that Astrology is entitled to a position among the sciences, I shall submit in the first place that it has a mathematical basis; and secondly, that the conditions of a science have been followed in its development.
Astrology was received into Europe through Claudius Ptolemy, the learned geographer and mathematician, who wrote in the early part of second century his immortal Tetrabiblos. Since then the subject has been considerably amplified and illustrated by other writers down to our own day. And even Ptolemy complained that in his days, “the incompetency of unqualified persons who pretend to exercise it”, had brought Astrology into disrepute.
But centuries before Ptolemy saw the light of day, Astrology in the East had reached a degree of perfection which, if we may trust the records within our reach, is certainly not yet attainable in the Western world.
Now it is not to be supposed that a superstructure, such as Astrology imports to be, can have been building through the centuries upon the basis of a mere conceit of the imagination, or such like insecure foundation, which would not stand the test of the plumb-line and level of science. On the contrary, I affirm that the celestial science is set firmly in the secure foundations of nature, and that the whole plan is but a presentation or model of certain well defined laws operating in and from the archetypal world; and just as all the handiwork of man is but a modification of natural products according to the laws of art, so Astrology as a science is but an extension in a specific mode of certain knowledge appertaining to the general laws of life, i.e., of generation, development, decline and death, and of the more cataclysmic effects resulting from the collision of contrary forces in nature. Pythagoras held it as a truth that all things were made after a type existing in the kosmic mind, and that all forms were but the expression of certain numbers existing in the soul of things. It is in the imperishable rock of numbers that the fadeless footprint of astral science was first set, like the mighty seal of an eternal compact made between Urania and the Law.
It will be quite out of place, in this necessarily short paper, to detail the methods of prediction which the practice of Astrology entails; suffice it to say that the initial conception of the mathematical basis of the science is in the rule, that changes of the electric and magnetic interaction 388of planetary bodies are due to certain angular distances formed between them in respect of a common centre. These angles, commonly known as aspects, are found to be “all the angles or complemental angles of any regular polygon that may be inscribed in a circle; the major aspects being those at which the superior metals crystallize”.
Now it is submitted that if there were no special influence in these several angles or astrological aspects, then the calculations upon which predictions are made would be useless. But that there is a special magnetic and electric action set up between planetary bodies at these precise angles is beyond dispute, as I shall presently show. The question may be a difficult one so far as causation is concerned, but most of the sciences of which we are so proud are nothing more than “facts made evident to the senses, though inexplicable to us by reason”. Indeed, the familiar names under which we classify natural phenomena are nothing less than veils to hide our ignorance of causes.
If any one should object that the distance of the planetary bodies of our solar system is too great and the bodies themselves comparatively too small to exercise any interaction, I would remind them that the centripetal and centrifugal forces, known as attraction and repulsion, are not too weak to bind them like the atoms of one solid body to a common centre, which carries them through space continuously at the rate of about 846,888,000 miles per year.
Now we know that the chemic action of light differs according to the angle at which it may be transmitted to certain bodies. Different angles produce different rates of atomic vibration, and these effects are registered by the eye as different colors. As Plato says “God geometrizes,” and it is a fact that nature in all her departments is most successfully studied upon the principles of Geometry.
Newton informs us in his Principia, that every atom exerts a direct influence on every other atom in the system to which it belongs, and what may be said of an atom as an integral part of a composite body, applies also to every such body or system on a larger scale. It does not appear that there is anything unscientific in this idea of a physical constitution; and if we regard man as a composite being, subject to limitations in time and space, is it not reasonable to suppose that the great theosophic fact of Human Inter-dependence is shadowed forth in the inter-atomic action of even the least of the material bodies to which man is related?
Astrology recognizes that man is a composite Being consisting of body, soul, mind, and spirit; two of which (the body and soul) are formative, and two formless; the relationship existing between these instituting a septenate. But it was never taught, nor within my knowledge intended, that man was altogether under planetary influence, but only so much of man as is by nature beneath the stars, i.e., the forces which control and move them. The limitations set upon human existence in this world are those of time and space, imposed by the physical body through and in which he functions. It is this body with its informing principle, the animal soul, that brings man within the radius of planetary influences; and though the mind of man is not impelled, it is nevertheless conditioned by these limitations towards definite modes of expression, as the same force expresses itself variously when moving in different strings of a musical instrument, producing various sounds. If there were no inter-dependence between force and form, and no interaction between the mind of man and his body, then indeed it could be said that the planets do not exert a reflex action on the mind, disposing, though not impelling, towards a certain disposition; but while the fact remains that the mere quarter from which the wind may blow makes man, in harmony with his physical environment, to be either glad or gloomy, buoyant or depressed, the fact will remain that the mind of man is controlled by planetary influence in just such degree as his sense of happiness 389is dependent on the health of his physical body and its environment; or in other words, in so far as he is the slave of his lower nature.
And then is it not more reasonable to suppose that the exigencies of human life are controlled by regular laws rather than by the intervention of a capricious power so-called Divine?
Requiting for knee-worship, prayer, and praise, |
And this leads me to the consideration of the question of Free Will, so often raised against Astrology, and, indeed, against any philosophy which imposes the necessity of an inviolable law as the moving power in life, in which “Free Will in man” becomes almost “necessity in play”.
It is argued that as man is a responsible agent, endowed with free will, his course in life can in no sense be prefigured or predicted. But such a bald statement as this, in which the wish is more than “father to the thought”, shows but a very imperfect conception of the nature of man, and of his limitations, his relationship to others, his necessities, his possibilities, and above all, of the true nature of free will.
’Tis the nature of birds to fly |
And is it not in the nature of man to live under the necessity of his own finiteness; of humanity to be human? Where then comes in free will? I call that free will in man which determines his course of action under given conditions, and be it remembered that free will is not conceivable apart from conditions which admit of a choice of action. Now let it be supposed that much wealth be determined by the horoscope, or the disposition of the planets at the hour of birth, to a certain individual – and with wealth what things of sense are not our own? – then let it be supposed that such a person is brought once in his lifetime face to face with the misery and awfulness of want in the lives of some fellow-creatures. Here then comes free will like a monitor of Life and Death, and with it comes the opportunity and the power to choose between the life of self and that of sacrifice. And all unconscious of the fierce struggle in that human heart the stars move on in silence – scenes change, unhelped, unhindered – and the free will of one man may become the necessity of a thousand.
“Eighty years hence it will not matter whether we have lived a peasant or a prince; but it will matter much if we have done our duty in one state or the other.” These words of the Unitarian thinker, Stopford Brooke, put before us in one view the limitations of time, and the free will of man which is superior to all such limitations.
I shall now call your attention to some proofs of the possibility of prediction, but first, though briefly, it will be necessary to set down the rules of Astrology with regard to the angles formed between planetary bodies, under which human affairs are brought to a crisis. The angles, 45°, 90°, 135° and 180°, together with the conjunction of the extremely magnetic Saturn or the electric Mars, are held to be inimical both to health and fortunes. The angles 60°, 72°, 120°, and 144° with the conjunction of the temperate planets Jupiter and Venus, are shown to be good in all affairs of life.
It is further to be noticed that an accidental evil cannot overcome a radical good, nor vice versa; so that it is from the Radix or Nativity that 390we predict the course of life whether even or rugged; and temporary modifications are shown by the successive formation of the above-named angles by a mathematical process termed “Directing”.
Regarding the uniformity of cause and effect as shown by the celestial chart, the following instance will bear repeating as an authentic and striking example: –
In the newspapers of February 1820, the death of a Mr. Samuel Hemmings was noticed. He was born 4th June 1738 at the same time, and in the same place as King George III. He went into business in October 1760, when George III came to the throne; he married on 8th September 1761, the same day as the king; and finally, after other events in his life had resembled those of the royal personage, he died on Saturday January 29th, 1820, on the same day as his Majesty. “Coincidence”, I fancy one to say. Yes! coincidence of cause and effect truly!
Guido Bonâtus, the Italian Astrologer, predicted that the Earl of Montserrat would gain a victory on the field on a certain day and hour, but that the nobleman would receive a wound in the knee. The event came off, and Guido, who trusted his science, carried the bandages to dress the knee that was to be wounded. The victory was won as predicted, and the bandages were brought from the field on the Earl’s wounded knee!
Valentine Naibod of Padua predicted he would die at a certain time through violence; to avoid which, during the period of the evil “directions”, he shut himself up with sufficient food, and barricaded the gates, doors, and windows, of his house, and resolved to continue thus till the evil time had passed. Some passing thieves, seeing the house so securely barred, imagined that some great treasure was there, and resolved to break in, which they did, and meeting Naibod, they barbarously murdered him. Thus his fears were realized even against his precautions.
Michael Scott, who was patronized by the Emperor Frederic II, predicted that his patron would die at Florence, which afterwards happened. He also said that he himself would die by the fall of a stone, which accordingly happened, for, being one day at his devotions in the church, a stone fell from the roof, which gave him a mortal wound.
Antiochus Tibertus delivered at the same time three singular predictions concerning himself, his patron Pandolfo Malatesta of Remini, and his friend Guido de Bogni. The latter was predicted to die by the hand of one of his best friends on an ill-founded suspicion; Pandolfo, after suffering great want, was to die in the common hospital at Bologna; while the fate the astrologer pronounced for himself was to lose his head on the scaffold! Guido was commander-in-chief of the army of the Italian Prince Pandolfo. Count de Beulivoglio, father-in-law of the Prince, warned Pandolfo in a letter that Guido was in league with the Pope. On learning this the Prince gave a great entertainment, to which Guido was invited, and, in the midst of the supper, was stabbed! Tibertus, who was present, being in great intimacy with the ill-fated man, was thrown into a dungeon and loaded with irons. From this confinement he effected his escape by the aid of the gaoler’s daughter; and just as he was making off, orders came for his release, the Prince having found that the information concerning Guido was false. The attempted escape of Tibertus again renewed the suspicions from which he had already suffered, and when recaptured, the Prince gave orders for his execution before the prison gate the next morning. This was duly carried out upon the hapless astrologer.
At a later date when the Duc de Valentinois captured the city of Remini, Pandolfo made his escape and fled from place to place. Abandoned by friends and relatives, he was at last overtaken by a lingering disease at Bologna, and, as no one cared to take him in, he was carried to the hospital, where he dragged out his days in penury and pain, till he died there as the astrologer had foretold.
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On the famous predictions of Lilly, the astrologer, which he made in 1651 concerning the plague and the fire of London in 1665-6, I need not stay. They are recorded in his own edition, and may be read at the British Museum.
Lady Davys predicted the death of William, Earl of Pembroke, on his birthday in the year 1630. Feeling so well on the evening of his birthday he said “for Lady Davys’ sake I will never trust a female prophet again”. He was found dead in his bed the next morning! [1]
The predictions of the poet Dryden are yet another proof of the possibility of prediction. He predicted that at the ages of eight and twenty-three his son Charles would be in danger of death, and would die in his thirty-fourth year. At eight he was buried under a fallen wall; at twenty-three he fell from an old tower in the Vatican; and at thirty-three died by drowning at Windsor.
As an illustration of the law of angles I have already referred to as forming the basis of astrological prediction, I may call the attention of the student to the nativity of Queen Victoria. Her uncle, King William IV, died in June, 1837. The Sun was then opposition to Uranus by direction. The Queen married on the 10th of February, 1840, when the Sun was in conjunction with Venus by direction. The Duchess of Kent died in March 1861 when the mid-heaven of the Queen’s nativity was directed to a conjunction of Uranus.
The death of the Prince Consort took place in December 1861. At this time the directions were: Sun conjunction Saturn; Moon semi-square Sun; Ascendant semi-square Venus and Ascendant semi-square Sun.
If the reader will refer to the rules already given regarding the nature of the angles, it will be seen that the semi-square angle of 45° is evil – that the conjunction of Saturn is evil; that the opposition of any planet is evil; and that the conjunction of Venus is good. Applied to the above facts, they are found to correspond to the events in time and nature.
If the reader should require further evidence as to the agreement of events in life with the arcs of Direction formed in a nativity, I can only refer him to the standard works on the subject of Astrology in general circulation.
It may not be out of place here to give the evidence of one or two more such cases as our unscientific opponents prefer to call “coincidences”; and from which we scientifically determine the existence of an astral law.
In the Annual Register of 1776, p. 127, the case of twins is recorded. They were of opposite sex, and were born at the same time. They married on the same day, died together, and were buried in one grave.
Two children were born on April 15th, 1879, the first at 5·10 p.m., and the second at 5·22 p.m. The former died on July 9th, 1881, and the latter three days afterwards.
Here the twelve minutes difference in time of birth corresponds exactly to three days, at the rate of one day for a year of life, two hours for a month, or four minutes for a day, which is the measure of time used in both scriptural and modern Astrology. Thus Daniel’s 70 weeks = 490 years. It is at all times easier to dispute than to disprove; and this no doubt accounts for the great deal that is said, and the little that is shown, against Astrology. There are thousands of persons in this country, who can attest the truth of Astrologic predictions from their own experiences, and yet all the science and learning of the world has not availed to produce a single case of a person gaining credit or fortune, or anything but trouble, sorrow, or ill-health, under the angles which astrologers have proved to be bad aspects; nor has it been shown that any person has ever died or had misfortune under “directions” or aspects which are good. Until a few authentic 392cases of this nature are put on record against the thousands which any experienced astrologer can show to the contrary, persons who are in ignorance of the real facts of Astrology will do well to keep silence. Instances might be multiplied without end, but only to show that possibility of prediction is a scientific fact! And, if it is remembered that a competent knowledge of astronomy and mathematics is alone necessary for making the calculations on which the science of prediction rests, it will be a cause of as much wonder at regret that more public attention has not been given to the development of the subject among those who have both the time and ability for the purpose.
In conclusion, I would point out that in all ages and nations great minds have thought it not beneath their intelligence to examine this science; and only those who have never examined have thought it a great thing to take up pen against Astrology.
The list of great names, among the votaries of this science, which I could bring before you would only add the weight of opinion, not proof, in favor of my proposition. I shall therefore content myself with a quotation from Du Bartas.
I’ll not believe that the Arch-architect |
Footnotes
- ↑ Manual of Astrology. Raphael. Foulsham and Co.