history of astrology
4 articles tagged “history of astrology”
The length of life problem: why ancient astrologers could not agree
Ptolemy, Valens, Firmicus, Paulus, and later Persian and Arabic astrologers preserved competing methods for the Hyleg, Alcocoden, and length of life. This source-based history shows the surviving sources preserve no single standard procedure.
The handing over of the year: profections and the Hellenistic time lords
The year-lord doctrine in Dorotheus and Valens, what the word profection actually means, and how annual profections anchor zodiacal releasing, firdaria, and the other Hellenistic time lords.
From seven to five hundred: the 2,000 year transmission of the Arabic Lots
How seven Hellenistic formulas became five hundred. Trace the Arabic Lots from Valens and the lost Panaretus through Abu Ma'shar, Al-Biruni, and Bonatti to the modern Hellenistic revival.
The 15 behenian stars: medieval astrology's most powerful fixed stars
The behenian stars are a group of 15 fixed stars used in medieval astrological magic, each linked to a gemstone, herb, and talisman. Here's where the system came from, what it looked like in practice, and why modern astrologers still track them.