History Of Astrology

A Quick Look At The Long History Of Astrology

The history of astrology dates back to prehistoric times and spans many centuries, civilizations and cultures. Through out time man has always had a divine connection between the gods in heaven, the sky and its relationship to those on the earth. The evidence of the beginnings of astrology dates back to ancient Mesopotamia in around 4000 BC. Through the study of the history of astrology one can see that the Sumerians who lived in Mesopotamia at that time worshipped the Sun, Moon and Venus. The nearby Akkandians located in close proximity to the Sumerians adapted the Sun, Moon and Venus as their gods as well.

The Sumerians had priests that read the signs in the sky. These can be considered in the history of astrology the first astrologers. They were the kings seers and would interpret the signs in the sky, such as eclipses. The priests at that time had to predict natural events and do so accurately to keep their power. As a result these ancient priests designed a calendar, identified basic cycles of the sun, moon, planets and stars as well as divide the year up into 12 months based on the moons cycles.

With the previous information in mind, it is said that the origins where astrology actually began is in ancient Babylonia. It was around 1300 BC that the Babylonian priests formulated the precursor to the horoscope. The priests would make predictions based on the month of a child’s birth. It was in Babylonia and Assyria, which was an offshoot of Sumerian culture that astrology takes precedence with the priests as one of the two means of divination, the other was interpreting the liver of a sacrificed animal.

By 600 BC the Assyrians who developed the constellations, developed the twelve constellations of the zodiac. These were not yet the twelve zodiac signs, as we know them. It was during the period of 600 to 300 BC in the history of astrology, which was considered the new Babylonian period that the signs of the zodiac were created along with the birth chart. Even up until 11 years ago the Babylonians created birth charts that focus on the planets as opposed to predictions.

The Greeks had their influence in the history of astrology at around the middle of the 4th century BC. They were the ones that incorporated mythology into astrology. The Romans were not as opened to the idea of astrology. In Rome in 250 BC a group had become interested in astrology but the conservatives of that society fought their interests.

With the introduction of Greek culture into Egypt astronomy and astrology was further accepted and developed during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In terms of the history of astrology, astrology was particularly cultivated along the Nile. From the 7th to the 13th centuries the Arabs further developed astrology. It wasn’t until the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe that the courts had astrologers.

In Asia particularly in India and China astrology developed independently during these historic periods. The same is true for the Mayan and Aztec civilizations as well who developed their own system of astrology in ancient times.