Astronomy For Astrologers

An in-depth treatment of astronomical factors which bear most heavily on astrological interpretation.

In the Middle Ages, Astronomia - one of the Seven Liberal Arts - was as much about astrology as astronomy. In fact the two disciplines only parted company in the seventeenth century, as the materialistic world-view gained greater prominence. Where once human destiny was connected to stars and planets, and spiritual or soul qualities were associated with the natural world, now the cosmos was seen as consisting of gases, fire and dead rock. Rudolf Steiner brings a new spiritual perspective to our study of the heavens. Humanity, he says, is intimately connected to cosmic beings, who in turn are related to planets and stars. There is meaning in the cosmos. Although Steiner rejects the simplistic notion of the planets determining our lives and behaviour, he makes a clear connection between the heavenly bodies and human beings. Whilst criticizing the superficial nature of much astrology, Steiner shows that as individuals, and with the guidance of spiritual beings, we choose an appropriate time of birth to match the destiny we are to live. This enlightening anthology, expertly collated by Margaret Jonas, features excerpts of Steiner's work on the spiritual individualities of the planets, the determination of human characteristics by the constellation at birth, the cultural epochs and the passage of the equinox, cosmic influences on the individual and humanity, life in the planetary spheres between death and rebirth, solar and lunar eclipses, comets, and much more.

A collection of articles which originally appeared in Today's Astrologer, the monthly journal of the American Federation of Astrologers, this 10-part series thoroughly & completely explains astronomy & the history of the science in a simple, easy to understand format, complete with many illustrations.

This new volume of papers by Julio Samsó deals with the development of astronomy and astrology in al-Andalus and the Maghrib between the 10th and the 19th centuries. Opening with a survey of the social history of the exact sciences in al-Andalus, the book then looks at astronomical tables: the first stages of the introduction of al-Khwarizmi's and al-Battani's tables through the school of Maslama al-Majriti, the development of Ibn al-Zarqalluh/ Azarquiel's theories in Maghribi zijes (Ibn al-Banna' and Ibn Azzuz) and the abandonment of this tradition towards the end of the 14th century. From this period onwards new Eastern zijes (Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi, Ibn al-Shatir, Ulugh Beg) are introduced in the Maghrib and, towards the beginning of the 17th century, a translation of Abraham Zacut and José Vizinho's Almanach Perpetuum (end of the 15th century) becomes well known in the whole Islamic world, from Morocco to the Yemen. As well as zijes themselves, the author also deals with theoretical astronomy (the use of an elliptical deferent for Mercury in Ibn al-Zarqalluh's equatorium and the criticisms of Ibn al-Haytham and Jabir b. Aflah on Ptolemy's determination of the parameters of the same planet), and with the use of zijes for the calculation of horoscopes, and an experimental astrological method for the correction of mean motion planetary tables (Ibn Azzuz).

'Bite-sized, cutting edge science delivered with enormous enthusiasm - all you need to travel the cosmos' CHRIS LINTOTT 'A lot of astrophysics is packed into this neat little book . . . I guarantee you will come away knowing your dark matter from your supermassive black holes' JIM AL-KHALILI This book is for anyone who wants to easily understand the mind-blowing fundamentals of our extraordinary, expanding universe. Written by Oxford astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst and composed of ten captivating, simple essays, it guides you swiftly through the galaxies, explaining the mysteries of black holes, dark matter and what existed before the Big Bang, presenting the evidence as to whether we really are alone, illuminating what we still don't know, and much more besides. If you have big questions about Space, this book will provide you with the answers in an engaging and succinct way.

Two professors of astronomy, Roger B. Culver and Philip A. Ianna, have produced a highly readable and well-referenced response to the different claims of astrology.

Pliny wrote of Babylon that "here the creator of the science of astronomy was". Excavations have shown this statement to be true. This book argues that the earliest attempts at the accurate prediction of celestial phenomena are indeed to be found in clay tablets dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC from both Babylon and from Nineveh. The author carefully situates this astronomy within its cultural context, treating all available material from the relevant period, and also analysing the earlier astrological material and the later well-known ephemerides and related texts. A wholly new approach to cuneiform astral concerns emerges - one in which both celestial divination and the later astronomy are shown to be embedded in a prevailing philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe, and in which the dynamics of the celestial divination industry that surrounded the last Assyrian monarchs account for no less than the first recorded "scientific revolution". This work closely adheres to the original textual sources, and argues for the evolution on the basis of the needs of the ancient scholars and the internal logic of the divinatory and predictive systems employed. To this end, it offers, for the first time, a Mesopotamian contribution to the philosophy, and not only the history, of science.