Page 18 - Talented Astrologer • Volume 2 Number 1 • Winter 2019

First, in general terms, I expect any theory, technique, or methodology to be built on the fundamental principles of the language of astrology. I classify a lot of the tools of modern astrology as “astrology- adjacent.” I’m often dismissive of these tools. This is less because they’re entirely made up and more because they’re not practical. That’s my other standard.
I am a practical astrologer. I care about results. I don’t limit myself to Hellenistic tools, and I don’t embrace new astrological ideas simply because they’re new. I want to deepen my understanding of the language of astrology. I want to discover all that it can (and can’t) do. My primary focus is on natal chart interpretation, and when I consider a technique, I evaluate how much detailed, specific, practical information it can offer me. I’ve discovered that many techniques that appear to be useful, such as aspect patterns, turn out to have no practical value.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a smart-ass, and this also contributes to my bias. I intend to be factually accurate, but I may dismiss an idea for the sake of a joke. And this is not a comprehensive survey of all things astrological. I can only speak
to the techniques I’ve studied and worked with in my own practice. Your mileage may vary.
To keep things reasonably brief, we’ll focus on the highlights. We’ll start with a quick recap of the origins of astrology and what led to a two-century break with tradition. We’ll then explore the rebirth of astrology in the West
in the 20th Century, highlighting some of the individuals, organizations, and books that have shaped astrology as we know it today.
Astrology originated approximately 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.
Ancient civilizations watched the movements of the planets and began to correlate these movements with significant events. By the time Ptolemy wrote the Tetrabiblos sometime in the 2nd century a.d., the foundations of Western Astrology, including the
12-sign zodiac, and the connections between the planets and the signs, were
well established.
Keep in mind that astrology and
astronomy were one and the same. Throughout the Greek and Roman
Empires, astrology was revered as an essential science. After the fall of the Roman Empire, astrology moved to the Middle East, where it continued to grow and evolve. Trade between Europe and the Middle East brought astrology to the West, while further East, in India, Hindu astrologers, having translated the Greek astrology texts into Sanskrit, developed their own
astrological system using the Sidereal Zodiac.
Astrology continued to flourish in the West through the middle ages,
despite ongoing conflicts with the Church, who felt that they should have exclusive rights to any glimpses into the future. The first significant blow to astrology didn’t happen until 1543, when Nicolaus Copernicus proposed his model of the Universe.
18 Talented Astrologer