Stuckrad describes astrology as “a discipline that reckons the meaning of celestial bodies (Stuckrad 4).” This means that through celestial bodies, astrologers can predict the future and provide reason in terms of what is happening in the present. The article notes that being an astrologist was deemed hereditary and through this mechanism, it has survived for many years. Astrologists used different planets and the moon to forecast the future (Struckrad 5). As a result, this has attracted a number of people including the priests and royalties into the belief of astrology as an important segment in the society. Prediction of the future enticed a number of people into believing in astrologists who believe they have the power to foresee one’s future (Mazur 23). Thus, astrology can be deemed as a form of superstition. However, it is important to note that astrology was embedded in the Christian and Jewish way of life. This was because they differentiate astrolatry with astrology. Astrolatry is the worship of astral bodies which is against the Christian commandments (Mazur 28). This paper will discuss how astrology was part and parcel of the Jewish tradition by explaining certain aspects of the Jewish traditions and explaining how astrology can be paralleled to horoscopes in the present world.
Struckrad writes that celestial bodies are materialized forms of deity in that some people believe stars to be gods (Stuckrad 2). This is known as astrolatry as they apprehend stars to symbolize other gods that control the earth. This belief is in contrast to the monotheistic tradition that believes on one God and not multiple Gods. However, astrology was an important spectrum among the Jews as timing was a key facet in celebrating various Christian holidays. This means that through the study of the Astrology, Jews could apprehend the time of the year as to when it was crucial to celebrate their Christian festivities. Stuckrad indicates that studying the calendar was a highly religious act as the priests were responsible in leading these festivities so that the people can pay tribute to God (Stuckrad 5). Some of these Jewish festivities are the Passover which was important to the Jewish people. Thus, priestly astrology was important to measure time and prepares the calendar during the ancient era. The calendar was prepared by the people who could interpret the different patterns of the celestial bodies so as to enable the priest in the long run to arrange the date of the festivities (Stuckrad 6). These points out the priestly astrology dwelt on celestial bodies to record time unlike astrolatry that worships the celestial bodies.
Stuckrad examined the story of Solomon to support the use of astrology as a form of magical power (Stuckrad 15-20). When King Solomon prayed to God, he was given magical power. Solomon communicated with celestial bodies who indicated that the stars were tiny features to the humans but they represented gods and lived in harmonious. These gods were seven in number just as the zodiac signs (Struckrad 18). The Bible elaborates how different zodiac signs are in love and compatible with each other and some of their physical characteristics which are used by the modern day astronomers. These stars are God’s creation and Solomon received the power to invoke the stars such that he can communicate to God as well as gave Solomon a sense of power over his enemies (Stuckrad 17). This indicates that theologically that astrology was a God’s given gift to human kind making it part of the Christians and Jewish culture.
It is crucial to note that celestial bodies were used in the second temple to decorate the temple of holies. As the people celebrated the temple, while chanting the Songs of Sabbath, the “recalled how angels danced praise the Mighty in His Kingdom (Struckrad 12).” The angels mirror the purity and the Grace of the God, whom Christians serve ((Mazur 63). This can be interrelated to the planetary angel images that were drawn on the temple of Holies to show the purity nature of the temple. The article further explains how the priest breastplate was designed and ornamented in twelve stones (Struckrad 13). These stones reflected the cosmetology as well as the four seasons experienced throughout the year. The twelve stones can be interpreted that they represented the 12 zodiac signs used today (Stuckrad 12). These points out that cosmic ornamentation represented all the people in that at birth everyone was given a zodiac sign based one the time and date when one was born. Thus, cosmic ornamentation can be used to show a sense of unity of all people despite the time one was born and that all people were before the eyes of God (Mazur 75). This indicates that astrology gave people reasons and answers as to why cosmology was important. Cosmic symbolism is important as the stars can be interpreted as God’s writings on the sky (Struckrad 10). This indicates that theology and astrology can be interrelated through theological explanations.
Astrology was also used by the Roman Empire to create a sense of hierarchy between those in power and the ordinary people. Emperor use cosmology as a way of imposing sovereignty of a nation as the emperor was responsible in interpreting the cosmology (Mazur 68). This means that the leaders could socialize people into believe certain aspects and laws used by the emperor. For example in Num 24:17: "A star will go out of Jacob, a scepter will rise from Israel (Stuckrad18)." This illustrates that cosmology could be used to impose power over the people as the emperor can connotes that he is the divines and the chosen one. Thus, the idea of engraining cosmology and politics was biased and manipulative to the people as one could easily claim political power in the name of being the chosen one (Stuckrad 20). In addition, when Jesus was born, the star led the shepherds to the manger where baby Jesus had been born (Mazur 56). This indicates that astrology can be used to define and claim power by both Jews and Christians. Thus, the Bible can be used as a justification for power through embedding the belief in astrology that one is the chosen king or leader of a particular community.
Esoteric astrology is another component that describes one’s purpose in life. Esoteric astrology uses the planets as a way of defining one’s character and expectations in the world (Stuckrad 15). When one was born in ancient Jewish culture and tradition, one was assigned a planet based on one’s descendants and time of birth. This indicates that at birth one knew what image to perceive and what level of expectation was required for one to achieve in the society (Stuckrad 21). This means that one’s fate and destiny was determined at birth. For example, Venus is known to reflect one’s physical beauty and charming appearances. In today’s world, this can be seen as horoscopes that are published in various magazines and one’s birth date correlate a certain planet and some of the characteristic features that one is supposed to portray. In most cases, people use horoscopes to give a human reason as why their life is shaped the ways it is or to give one a sense of hope (Stuckrad 32). Though some people believe in the astrological signs, it important to note that there are a number of people that share same planet but do not necessarily share same behavior or beliefs. Thus, esoteric astrology has been imitated today through the wide spread use of horoscopes, which have been embedded in today’s society.
In conclusion it is clear that astrology was used for power; shape one’s destiny, give human reason, unity and many more in Jewish tradition. The aspect of power is used by the leaders to explain why they had been chosen and why they were destined to be the leader. Through this idea, they could use theology to explain and support their beliefs such that people are socialized into believing that the King is the chosen one. Secondly when one was born, they are given a planet based on the time of their birth. Through planetary astrology, one’s destiny is shaped as one is given certain expectations that one is supposed to accomplish. Thirdly, the esoteric astrology brings about unity in the Jewish tradition as the breast plate had twelve ornamental stones that symbolized the twelve zodiac signs of the community. This shows that astrology is important to the human kind both at the present and the ancient times. In today’s world, horoscopes are used globally to represent certain expectations and characteristics of respective people in a given planet.
Works Cited
Mazur, Allan. Implausible beliefs: in the Bible, astrology and UFOs. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2008. Print.
Stuckrad, Kocku von. "Jewish and Christian Astrology In Late Antiquity." Numen: International Review for The History Of Religions 47.1 (2000): 1. Religion and Philosophy Collection. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
