History of Astrology from Chaldeans to Modern Science

Table of Contents (continued):

26 In-Depth Studies: Christ's Horoscopes 121
V Theosophy and Ascetic Astrology 123
27 An Overview: Astrology and Astrosophy 125
28 Böhme, Gichtel and the Centers of Force 127
28.1 Jakob Böhme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
29 Helena Blavatsky and Oriental Doctrines 129
29.1 A New Theosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
29.2 Blavatsky and the Role of the Orient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
29.3 Leadbeater and the Centers of Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
30 Palamidessi and Ascetic Astrology 131
30.1 Mundane Astrology and Zodiacal Eras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
30.2 Astrological Methods and Spiritual Ascent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
V 31 In-Depth Studies: Astrology and Psychic Experiences 133
Frontal Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Cardiac Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Basal Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Aptitude for Asceticism and Astral Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

"We are all citizens of heaven" - Camille Flammarion

Chapter 1: Introduction

The book "History of Astrology from the Chaldeans to the Dawn of Science" was created to accompany the exhibition organized by the Archeosophical Association in 2009, with the aim of filling a serious gap in the dissemination of human thought history. The affirmation of modern scientific thought led, from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, to dogmatically and categorically rejecting a large part of the previous history of human thought in order to allow the acquisition of a decisive identity for the New Science.

In the transition from "the era of approximation to that of precision," as Koyré defined it, a large number of traditional knowledge concerning man and his psyche has been lost. Now that the scientific system has acquired its own individuality and well-defined contours, it is necessary to proceed with the recovery and contextualized dissemination of those traditional knowledge and currents of thought that can broaden our worldview and push us to reflect on the transitory nature of scientific paradigms; thus promoting reflection and personal thought for the individual formation of an autonomous, broad, enlightened gnoseological system, capable of transcending the transitoriness of cultures and time.

In this process, the History of Astrology occupies a unique place. Only Astrology has been capable of maintaining throughout history such a large number of knowledge, symbols and traditional precepts, while simultaneously combining archaic and ancestral lines of reasoning with contemporary and even future realities and events. In the time of the great theocracies, astrology was seen as the instrument for reading the divine plan for peoples; when fate decreed the unappealable future of individuals, this was read by mathematicians through the marvels of judicial astrology; when human Will arose to emancipate itself from its destiny, it did so through the wise use of astral influences; when humanity sank into the meanders of the unconscious, it found in the stars splendid universal archetypes; when it entered the scientific era, here appeared the statistical astrology of Von Klocker and the biological astrology of Krafft.

If the currents of human thought have succeeded one another uninterruptedly throughout the centuries and history, Astrology has always remained present, almost as if it were a subject rather than an instrument of study. The History of Astrology is a history of human thought; in it is reflected the history of Man in his relationship with the Cosmos, conceived not as an external reality independent of man, but as an integral part of him and containing his intimate mystery.

Let us now describe the approach of this book. The book is not encyclopedic in character but wants to highlight an articulated discourse in three great phases. There are some notable absences: such as Ptolemy, Greek and Latin astrology.

In the development of the book, some themes that have played a fundamental role in the history of Astrology will be highlighted and that, more or less directly, have contributed to the development and reworking of this discipline, such as the theme of free will, the theme of micro-macrocosmic correspondences and the theme of philosophical or spiritual astrology. Far from presenting themselves in a linear progression, all these themes live naturally in astrological doctrine and appear periodically in the history of astrology following connections that are not always evident and difficult to trace back to a single schema.

In the first part dedicated to the Middle Ages, we will therefore examine one of the fundamental themes for this period and which can rightly be called the main engine of numerous changes at the foundations of Astrology and Astronomy...