The Case for Astrology 0356029379, 9780356029375

Citation preview

After Centuries of Debate,

Astrology Is Bigger Than Ev

This Book Tells Why.

John Anthony West and Jan Gerhard Toonder

'

The Case

The Case for Astrology John Anthony West and Jan Gerhard Toonder

COWARD-McCANN, New

Inc.

York

SAN BRUNO PUBLIC LIBRARY. SAN BRUNO.

CKOL

Copyright First

©

1970 by John Anthony West and Jan Gerhard Toonder

American Edition 1970

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,

duced

in

any form without permission

Library of Congress Catalog Card

in writing

may

not be repro-

from the

Number: 79-104692

Printed in the United States of America

Publisher.

1

Contents

Introduction

13

One History and Technique 17 Dreams the Chaldeans Never Dreamed 19 The Whore of Babylon She Seduces Greece;

Part 1

2

:

Rome

She Corrupts 3

54

Foolish Daughter Carries

4 Sleeping Beauty Part

Two

Objections

The Queen

2

Queen's Counsel

Notes

199

1

251

2

257

260

Bibliography

Index

117

3

The Future and

of Astrology

Appendix Appendix

99

The Evidence

Part Three

Part Four

1

279

275

76

115

Humbug

1

of

On

Awakes

145

Significance

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2015

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Illustrations

follow page 144

:

5

Acknowledgements

The authors and

publishers

FOR the figures -

would

like to

Oxford

thank the following

Illustrators

Limited.

Mile

Lucie Lamy. Figs. 9 and 10 adapted from those in Le Miracle Egyptien by R. A. Sch waller de Lubicz, Flammarion, 1963. M. Gauquelin. Figs. 12 and 13 adapted from those in Les Hommes et les Astres, Denoel, i960. The Astrological Journal. Figs. 14 and 1 New adapted from those in The Scientific Point in Astrology Discovery' by John M. Addey, Vol. Ill, No. 2, March 1961. for THE plates - Radio Times Hulton Picture Library. :

Plates

1,

11, 12

and

13.

Mile Lucie

Lamy and

A

Editions Caracteres.

and 6 originally reproduced in Le Temple de VHomme, by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, 1958. Mile Lucie Lamy and Le Caire. Plates 3 and 5 originally reproduced in Le Temple dans r Homme, by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, 1948. A. Burgess and B. Sandkiihler. Plates 7 and 8. Sam Siegel, Metropolitan Photo Ser-

Plates 2, 4

Vol.

II,

vice Inc. Plate 9.

C. Bernstein, Black Star Publishing Co. Plate 10.

was easy to be on the negative side. ... ‘I deny that Canada is taken, and I can support my assertion with pretty good arguments. The French are a more numerous people than we; and it is not likely that they would allow us to take it. - “But the Ministry tell us so.” - True. But the Ministry have put us to an enormous expense, and it is their interest to persuade us that we have got something for our money. - “But we are told so by thousands of men who were at the taking of it.” - Ay, but these men have still more interest in deceiving us. They don't want you should think they have gone on a fool’s errand; and they don’t want you should think that the French have beaten them, but that they

Dr Johnson

said

it

have beat the French. it is so,

we

that

Now

would only

will not believe you.

Boswell’s

We

London Journal

14 July 1763

suppose you should go over and see

satisfy yourself; for

will say

if

when you come home

you have been bribed

.

.

.’

Introduction

by

Vilified

science for

three centuries, derided

by philosophy,

psychology, medicine, the law and every other orthodox branch of modern learning, astrology refuses to die. As we enter the space age

enjoys a popularity unmatched since the decline of Rome.

it

Yet other

superstitions,

rudely

by

uprooted

science,

have

withered away and died. The

Flat Earth Society puts forth few

convincing claims these days;

its

appeal

Whooping Crane, than their number or significance astrology be so much with us?

vive, but, like the

is

Witches surmore publicity

limited.

receive rather justifies.

Why

then should

appeal purely that of wish-fulfilment - as Freud would

Is its

it? Can it be ascribed entirely to man’s (or woman’s) eternal immunity to reason, and equally eternal susceptibility to humbug? Or is it possible - as Jung thought - that there might be something

have

to it?

Most educated men our

affect

lives

dismiss the subject.

and characters?

Is it

How can

distant planets

not a biological fact that

physical and mental traits are transmitted

by heredity? And

so

But what proof actually exists to support the objections to astrology ? How do astrologers answer, or pretend to answer, such on.

.

.

.

objections? Is there

any legitimate evidence

in favour of astrology?

some evidence that supernovae can be a factor in epidemic major influence upon evolution. There is at least one sense in which our lives are influenced by the stars, even though we have freed ourselves from the superstition of astrology. [Our .

.

.

there

is

diseases, as well as a possible

italics.]

G. Maxwell Cade, Chief Research Engineer (Infra-red Devices) and Manager (Medical Physics) with Smith Industries Ltd, writing in

New

Scientist, 19

The further we go universe

is

September 1968 in science, the

a unity. ...

We

more we become convinced that the

when we find we may be dealing

thus have a right to suspect,

rhythms in so many kinds of phenomena with related parts of a whole.

.

.

.

that

INTRODUCTION

14

Dewey and Dakin, Cycles, The Science of Prediction, Holt, 1950. (Edward R. Dewey is President ot the Foundation for the Study of Cycles, affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh) certain phenomena which take place in geophysical space and all of phenomena which take place in solar space and astrophysical space act at a distance. No matter what the nature of far-off spacial phenomena, their action is exercised by means of radiations of an electromagnetic or corpuscular nature, or by means of variations in the general .

.

.

the

electrical,

field,

may

today be

magnetic, electro-magnetic or gravitational. All of this

listed as distant actions.

[Our

italics.]

Giorgio Piccardi, The Chemical Basis of Medical Climatology, Charles C. Thomas, 1962, p. 120. (Professor Piccardi is Director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Florence)

In the last few years

some strange and inexplicable

emerging between lunar phase,

rainfall,

storms and mental disturbances.

It

moving through belief in the Sir

links appear to be

meteoric impact, magnetic

almost seems as though

we

are

a series of scientific fantasies to a proof of the ancient

connection between the

moon and

lunacy.

Bernard Lovell, Director of Jodrell Bank, writing in the London

Sunday Times,

However

15

March 1963

foolish the astrology in the

newspapers

may

appear,

astrology is based upon the fundamental premise that celestial phenomena affect life and events on earth; the quotes above made by scientists, not by astrologers - suggest that such effects exist

and are recognized.

Particularly interesting

who that

only four years

he looked upon

Is it possible

is

the statement

earlier, in his

by

Sir

Bernard Lovell,

Reith Lectures, had declared

astrological doctrines 'with

amused contempt'.

that the astrologers will have the last laugh after

This question, after three centuries of rationalism,

is suddenly Yet there can be no doubt that the attitude of science in general remains unaffected, and the following extract may be

all?

a valid one.

regarded as typical.

some confusion between the science of astronomy on hand and the medieval hocus-pocus of astrology on the other. Astronomy is the study of the universe; astrology, which purports to foretell human characteristics and destinies by observing the positions of the planets, is without any scientific foundation, and may be aptly summed up by the word ‘rubbish’. I cannot resist making a slight digression here in order to dispose of First there is still

the one

.

.

.

!

INTRODUCTION astrology, the so-called science according to

planets affect the lives and characters of instance, the planet

Mars

is

15

which the positions of the

human

beings. Suppose, for

in the constellation of Scorpio.

.

.

.

Astrolo-

upon the child (bom meant by saying that a

gers claim that this will have profound effects

under

this configuration). Yet,

planet

with the

stars.

.

.

Taxed with arguments of

.

Esoteric Influences.

name

to

patients’

Flow

No more need

is

comparison

this kind, astrologers usually

among ills

:

be said.*

Mr Moore

of science,

of astrology

‘dispose'

lightened

precisely

muttering in their beards about Ancient Teachings and

retire baffled,

In the

what

a constellation? Planets are very near to us in

is ‘in'

is

practising magic; hoping

by incantation, rather

as

the less en-

ancient Egyptian physicians ‘disposed' of their

‘Flow out, fetid nose, flow out, son of fetid nose

out, thou

who

breakest bones, destroyest the skull ... go

out into the ground, thou fetid one, thou fetid one n !

The statement

that astrology

is

‘without any scientific founda-

not the same as presenting evidence

tion’ is

‘What,

precisely,

is

to this effect.

meant by saying that

a planet

‘‘in” a

is

constellation?’ asks Moore.

No

one pretends that astrologers are

heard of the telescope, and

it is

all

savants, but all have

certain that the giddiest

and most

- would never be reduced to mutterings by this enigma. Rather, he or she would answer ‘When, in relation to the earth, the planet Mars appears against that portion of the celestial sphere which astronomers call Scorpio, Mars is said to be ‘‘in Scorpio”.’ hysterical

among them - bearded

or otherwise

:

Now may

under

astrologers do indeed claim that a child born

planetary configuration will be affected by

it.

And

be without foundation and ill-conceived. But

descend to incantation to dispose of scientific disproof to

it?

this if

Why not bring

this

claim

so,

why

inexorable

bear?

‘There does not exist,

it is

true, a single

immediate and decisive

proof making the astrological error apparent,’ comments Paul

Couderc, a French astronomer, whose hostility towards astrology blinds

him

to the illogic of talking of the ‘astrological error’

the lack of proof of

its

erroneousness within the same sentence

and 2 .

astrology were dead and buried, there

would be no need to But in view of its current resurgence, a full scale inquiry would seem long past due. What has happened to that spirit of If

exhume

it.

* Patrick Moore.

Naked Eye Astronomy, Lutterworth,

1966, pp.

2,

17-18.

INTRODUCTION

l6

objective curiosity

upon which

science so prides itself? Surely,

a society willing to spend billions to put a to be willing to

man on

spend a few million to study the

the

moon ought moon

effects of the

on the man. Particularly since mounting evidence suggests that such

effects exist.

Our

dual purpose in writing this book has been to collect and

correlate this evidence,

ogy. But before

we

and

to analyse the prejudice against astrol-

discuss the case as

make an important distinction. To the credulous, the nonsense

it

in the

stands today,

newspaper

is

we must astrology.

Unfortunately, to the educated sceptic as well, the nonsense in the newspaper

is

astrology. Yet

it

to realize that the astrology that

ought not to take much reflection engaged the minds of such men

as Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, St

Thomas Aquinas, Kepler and

many others was an astrology of an entirely different order. To make this distinction clear we shall have to look closely into astrology’s long history.

Part

One

History and

Technique

Dreams the Chaldeans Never Dreamed

i

The

birth of astrology took place in the distant past, under un-

known

conditions.

Astrology

is

one of the oldest and most widespread of superstitions,

prevailing in very early times

among

the Egyptians, Hindus, Chinese,

and Etruscans and especially among the Babylonians through

came

to

Greece in the fourth century

centuries later.

The

rise of astrology

B.C.,

may

spreading to

be regarded as

whom

Rome

it

few produced by a

man’s impatient curiosity and desire for harmony. Regularly operating laws were discerned in the more marked changes of material nature,

among which

the motions and influences of the

heavenly bodies were conspicuous. The movements of the sun ruled and

The rains, the storms and the floods also came from was natural then, to suppose that the overruling powers

vivified the earth.

the heavens.

It

which ordered the apparent chances of human life resided in the heavens and that their decrees might be read there, the motions of the heavenly bodies proving on trial to be predictable. The sun, the moon and the planets were regarded as divine powers and given the names of gods and and interpret aright the activity of these would be known what the gods were aiming to bring about. So along with the growth of a system of interpretation based largely upon the relative positions of the planetary bodies and, later, the fixed stars, there developed the study of the position and movement of these bodies. Thus there grew up a strange mixture of science and fantastic

goddesses. If one could read

powers,

imagery

it

.

.

.

The fundamental flaw

in the

whole system of astrology

is

the arbi-

trary character of the presumptions made. In part they were derived from

happenings accompanying cerphenomena, with the assumption that the same phenomena occurring again would be associated with a similar event; in part they depended upon the association of ideas, a phenomenon being regarded

recollections or written records of past

tain

as favourable or unfavourable according to

whether

it

had been

associ-

ated with something good, such as victory over the enemy, or something bad, such as a famine or a flood; in part they

were mythical based on

the supposed transference of the character of a deity or a planet.

The

.

20

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

spell

with which astrology bound men's minds was due

scientific basis

When

to its

apparently

l .

.

.

try to see the Universe as a Babylonian saw it around must grope my way back to my own childhood. At the age of four I had what I felt to be a satisfactory understanding of God and the world. I remember an occasion when my father pointed his finger at the white ceiling, which was decorated with a frieze of dancing figures, and explained that God was up there, watching me. I immediately became convinced that the dancers were God. Much in the same manner, I like to imagine, did the luminous figures on the dark ceiling of the world appear as living divinities to Babylonians and Egyp-

3000

I

B.C., I

.

tians

.

six

.

human mind was still half were standing on watch towers, scanning the

thousand years ago, when the

Chaldean

asleep, .

.

.

Some stars

.

priests

?

The watchtowers

built

by these dreaming Chaldeans were hun-

dreds of feet long, hundreds of feet wide and a hundred feet high;

and in the topmost chambers finished richly in mosaics of gold and precious stones. Meanwhile, over in Egypt, the drowsy Pharaohs had already built the greatest of their pryamids and temples (see plate 1), structures of such magnitude, and involving such prodigious architectural and logistic problems that even wide-awake modern man cannot quite figure out how it was done. Something is wrong. If astrology is superstition produced by man's impatient curiosity, what happened to the same impatient curiosity after the development of astrology? Why was it inadequate to the task of unmasking the error for some six thousand years? Can men patient and tenacious enough to calculate the motions of the planets have been so dim-witted as to neglect to put to a similar trial the predictions based upon those motions ? lined with glazed brick,

In view of the astrology that has actually come

down

to us, it is

worth trying to visualize an astrology as it might be put together by dreaming Chaldeans on watchtowers. The dreaming Chaldeans would be bound to notice the rising and setting of the sun; the fact that the sun gives light and warmth, and that its strength appears to regulate the seasons. Since nature herself obeys the sun,

it

would be

a logical step for

our proto-

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

21

in adastrologer to attempt to calculate the influence of the sun relationdirect vance; and we should expect this influence to bear a

We

might also expect to find ship to the actual season of the year. since, obviously, the indays, cloudy for made provision special fluence of the sun cannot be operating at full force under such conditions.

The second most important planet would not fail to be impressed by its

is

the moon.

fickle

Our Chaldean

changes of phase.

He

might well observe that his own wife shared in this inconstancy of behaviour and, by analogy, conclude that the moon was feminine.

He

would,

if

he could see the sea from the top of his watchtower, some way controlled by the moon. He

notice that the tides were in

would not if

fail to

observe that, despite the swift changes of mood,

observed long enough, the moon, like his wife, was predictable.

attempt to add observations made on the

And he would

moon

to

was making simultaneously on the sun. infinitesimal and one-dimensional compared to the sun and moon, the planets are the next most striking objects in the those he

Though

sky.

They move

in

very erratic courses indeed. So

much

so that the

The planets exert no upon the events of the earth. Nevertheless, having deified the sun and moon, it might perhaps seem right to our Chaldean to apply the same logic to the planets. And while it is difficult to see why there should be any agreement between any two Chaldeans over the characters of these deities, to

ancients called visible

them

‘goats’ or ‘wanderers’.

or detectable influence

say nothing of agreement from nation to nation,

some point the planets, and their

sible

to

that at

definite characters

still

would be

it

is

pos

ascribed

alleged influence incorporated into the

canon.

Meanwhile, gained.

efforts

Knowledge

would be made

to systematize the

of the motions of the

serve the immediate, practical purpose of

knowledge

sun and moon would

making

calendars, arrang-

ing planting schedules and so on; while observations of the planets, serving a

no immediate

practical purpose,

and

far

more complicated

procedure than observing the sun and moon, would in the end

serve to provide

employment

for

an increasing and greedy

priest-

hood, bent upon hoodwinking the public.

Having nothing else to do, the Chaldeans would also fancy they saw strange beasts - bulls, crabs, lions, centaurs - in the patterns of

22

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

the fixed stars.

happened

to

And when

the sun,

moon

or

any

of the goats

be in that portion of the sky presided over by one or

the other of these star-figures, they might like to think that

was modified by the nature

influence

its

of the particular constel-

lation.

And

apart from

all this,

we might

expect our Chaldean to be

duly impressed by abnormal phenomena of floods, comets; sort; famines,

all

kinds

:

earthquakes,

human

perhaps even striking events of a purely

wars, pestilences, and so on.

And

all

of this

would

be added into the increasingly unwieldy and topheavy doctrine,

which ultimately might be expected

to

topple under

its

own

weight.

But the actual astrology we find does not much resemble

this

postulated astrology of associations, analogies, and omens. In one is much more illogical. For instance, mind could it have been that would maintain that a child born 18 March under Pisces would be 'watery’, mystical, reclusive, artistic, while the child born a week later, under Aries, would be hot-headed, 'fiery’, rambunctious, militant? Why should the Cancerian, born 18 July, come under the influence of the moon

sense, the actual astrology

what kind

and tend

week

of

to poetry

later,

and introspection, while the Leonian, born a the influence of the sun, and take after his

come under

Leonine prototype? Either

the

ancients

were

even

sillier

and

sleepier

than

modern scholars believe, or there was some method to their madness which the same scholars are unwilling or unable to countenance.

The Principles oj the Zodiac and Astrological Technique Let us look at this actual astrological picture of the universe. In

its

removed from the astrology of the marketplace, the astrological doctrine may be seen as an expression or affirmation of the harmony pervading the universe, and as a

purest, symbolical sense, far

guide to the understanding of

its

laws.

Apart from the fact that it never existed, the astrology accumulated from the observations of dreaming Chaldeans was ugly though logical. The real astrology is illogical, but elegant; the representation or choreography of a cosmic dance.

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

23

SUN SIGNS The

zodiac, or circle of the heavens,

is

divided into twelve equal

These are the signs - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, etc. with which everyone is familiar. These sectors are supposed to be, or to represent, or to embody cosmic functions, and the animal or sectors.

3

character applied to the particular sector aid,

a

is

more

of a

mnemonic

shorthand to what would otherwise be a cumbersome

terminology.

HOUSES AND ANGLES The earth revolves about the sun but it is the sun which appears to move about the circle of the zodiac, and it is this apparent position of the sun at the time of birth that determines the so-called sun sign in the horoscope. This is the familiar, ‘Are-you-a-Gemini ? I'm- Aquarius’ of cocktail conversation.

Meanwhile, the earth turns on It

therefore goes through the

making

the sun does in a year,

axis every twenty-four hours.

its

same

circle of ‘influence’ in a

day

as

logical the division of the zodiac into

a corresponding twelve. These divisions are the ‘houses’ of astro-

logy;

and

this further

but crucial complication enters but rarely

into the cocktail conversation.

Thus

a child

may

be born in April, with the sun in the

degree of Taurus, but at his

moment of birth the degree may be 25 0 Libra. Libra

zodi ac rising at the Easterly horizon

the ‘Rising sign’, and the degree rising

is

first

of the is

then

called the ‘Ascendant’.

The highest point the sun will reach on the day of birth - which will depend upon the place of birth and the season of the year - will determine th e Midheave n, or Medium Coeli, or MC. And from the position of the Ascendant and

ascertained (see

The point

MC

the division of the ‘houses’

is

fig. 1).

opposite the Ascendant

point opposite the Midheaven

is

is

called the Descendant.

called the

The

Nadir. These four

apparently arbitrary points are the ‘angles’ which have had imputed to

them

astrological importance. In a general

that the position of sun,

moon and

way

it

may

be said

planets in the sun signs deter-

mines the character of the individual while the placing in relationship to the angles and in the houses determines his ‘destiny’, his circumstances and relationships; the uses to which he will put the character he has been given.

:

24

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

Planets

©

Sun

Moon

J)

Mercury

^ Q

Venus Mars

O

I.C.

Horoscope for child born 20 April 1889, 6.22 p.m., Braunau (Austo whom this horoscope belongs was born with the Sun 0 in i° Taurus. His Ascendant (marked Asc.) is in 25 Libra, however. An astrologer interpreting this horoscope would expect its owner to be psychologically ‘Taurean’. (Taurus is a sign of great fixity of purpose and willpower. As a Taurean you are apt to decide to decide early in life what you want. You may be a slow starter, but you have determination and persistence, and once you have set your goal there is almost nothing that can stop you.’ Caroll Righter, in The Astrological Guide to Marriage and Family Relations .) In this case, the generalization seems particularly apt - the Figure tria).

l.

The individual

horoscope

is Hitler’s.

Other Taureans

dard in quite so striking a fashion.

may

decline to conform to the stan-

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

25

THE PLANETS The

planets, according to astrology, differ in nature; they are held

to represent or

symbolize specific cosmic functions, and individual

planets are supposed to ‘rule' over the signs corresponding to their functions,

which

in turn correspond roughly to their distances

from the sun. The table below

gives, in

astrological nature of the planets

much

abbreviated form, the

and the signs they rule

(see

fig. 2).

Planet

Rales

Principles Symbolized

Saturn

Aquarius and

Contraction, Crystallization

Capricorn

and

Pisces

Jupiter

Expansiveress, Prodigality

Sagittarius

Mars Venus Mercury

Passion, Energy, Virility

Moon

Aries and Scorpio Taurus and Libra Gemini and Virgo Cancer

Sun

Leo

Creativity, Consciousness

The ‘new’

planets,

Harmony, Intellect,

Artistry,

Sympathy

Mobility

Receptivity, the Subconscious

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto present an obvious

challenge to the ancient allocation of planets to signs. discussing the problems raised

We

shall be

by the new planets further on

(see

pp. 132-4).

THE ASPECTS In interpreting a horoscope, the astrologer factors into account. to character.

cause of

The

must take

Thus, a child born with Mars in Taurus will

this, significantly

and predictably affected by

Similarly, his character will manifest itself differently

astrologers if

-

all

if

Mars

is

these

planets in the signs allegedly give the key

found

he had been born an hour

in the seventh

earlier

house than

be, be-

this fact.

- claim would

it

and Mars had been instead in

the sixth house.

But above and beyond these complexities, both character and

its

manifestation are modified by the relationships formed by the planets to each other*. to each other,

When

planets stand in certain specific angles

which correspond

to the

laws of harmony, they are

held to be in ‘aspect’.

Thus when two

planets are separated

by

a distance of 180° they

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

26

Planets: Ci m oun

V

Moon

T)

Mercury

0 ¥

Venus Mars

U

Jupiter

VT

*

Saturn

Figure 2. The Signs of the Zodiac, and the planets that are held to ‘rule’ them. This drawing illustrates the traditional rulerships before the discovery of the

new

planets. These rulerships are not arbitrary but are

made upon

Modern

astrologers

the basis of complex numerological considerations.

wonder whether or not the new planets should be incorporated, and if this can be done without destroying the rich, interrelated symmetry of the traditional scheme. It is thought possible that Uranus is co-ruler of Aquarius, and Neptune co-ruler of Pisces.

are said to be in 'opposition',

when

separated by a distance of 90

etc.; and these aspects are held to be some tending to be 'harmonious', others 'dis-

they are in 'square' aspect, different in nature,

harmonious'. The principle aspects are as follows (see

Angle

Name

o°

Conjunction

of Aspect

fig. 3).

Nature Neutral, depending

upon other relevant factors

6o° 90°

Sextile

Square

120°

180

0

0

Trine Opposition

Harmonious Disharmonious Harmonious Disharmonious

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

Figure Saturn.

3.

Aspects.

Venus

is

Venus and Mars

27

in a double ‘square’ (90° distance) to

the ‘ruler’ of Hitler’s horoscope both

by sign and by

house, since both Taurus, Hitler’s ‘sun-sign’ and Libra, Hitler’s Ascendant, are held to be ‘ruled’ by Venus. The power of Venus is even further enhanced by its position in the seventh house, held by analogy to have affinities with the seventh sign - which is Libra. Here Venus could scarcely be more seriously ‘afflicted’ than it is. The conjunction to Mars, by itself capable of blending ‘the charm of Venus with the energy of Mars’, is turned both sour and violent by their mutual square to Saturn. The Venus-Saturn square is held to bring out the worst and most selfish aspects of any given nature, while the Mars-Saturn square is traditionally conceded to generate the most violent qualities of which human nature is capable. Needless to say, not all people born with such a

configuration turn out to be Hitler, but an astrologer

would expect some-

thing ‘Hitlerian’ from anyone with such a Venus-Mars-Saturn configuration.

28

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

Figure

4.

The Signs

of the Zodiac, divided into polarities.

This means, for example, that Mars in conjunction to Venus in

Taurus, in square to Saturn in Leo, from the seventh to the tenth

mean something quite different to the astrologer from Mars conjunction Venus in Virgo, in trine to Saturn in Capricorn,

house, will

from the first

to the fifth

house

(see fig. 4).

Types oj Astrology and houses, aspects between the and between planets and the angles - especially between planets and the Ascendant and Mid-heaven - are the chief factors Signs, houses, planets in signs

planets,

taken into consideration in the erection of the ‘horoscope' or of the hour. In theory a horoscope can be set

gency, and - again in theory of analysis,

it

ought

to

if

a horoscope

up is

for

map

any contin-

valid for

one sort

be valid for another. Thus a business ven-

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED ture, a

baby and an idea or question

'born' the

all

29

same instant

share an identical horoscope.

In theory, the same cosmic ‘influences' attend their birth. Astrol-

- with widely divergent degrees of confidence - that the ‘character' of a business, a baby and an idea can be determined upon the basis of the horoscope; and - with still more widely varying degrees of confidence - that the future of the business, ogers believe

baby and idea can be determined by studying the positions of the planets at any given time as they relate to the positions on the root or ‘radix' horoscope.*

Though

the methods employed for the casting and interpretation

of horoscopes

subject

much

is

the

same no matter what the nature of the

under consideration, astrologers make a distinction in

nomenclature between the different sorts of analysis. Astrology used to analyse and predict the future of businesses, states, nations, races, political parties, etc., is calle d

Mundane

Astrology; astrology

used to analyse and predict the future of individuals

is

called

Genethliacai Astrology; and astrology used to determine the answer to a question

upon

the basis of a horoscope erected at the time of

Horary Astrology Generally speaking, the more cautious modern astrologers have little faith in astrological prophecy of any sort but rather more its

asking

is

called

in the ability

to

.

determine ‘character' upon the basis of the

horoscope. Since the popular interest in astrology

has been, in

its

putative ability to prophesy

such as the present in which astrology misused. But leaving open for the misuse,

it

is

moment

should be clear that astrology

we

is,

and always

find a situation

widely and flagrantly

the problems of use and is

of a complexity far

beyond what the casual reader would be led to expect from the stargazer columns in the newspapers. However, complexity and nonsense are by no means mutually exclusive.

And

if

the principles underlying the division of the

zodiac into signs and houses within the signs are false;

if

the prin-

meaning to the planets and to the relationships formed between them are purely arbitrary and based upon fancy, complexity becomes no more than an intellectual

ciples that dictate the ascription of

exercise. * The methods used to attempt to read the future in the stars are many, complex and often ‘symbolic’ and there is little agreement among astrologers as to

what

is

valid.

:

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

30

So

we can

than

mind more space

us look briefly at these principles, while bearing in

let

that an adequate treatment of allot in this

them would require

far

book.

The Principles Underlying the Zodiac

The

division of the zodiac into twelve sectors (or into eight, sixteen,

or twenty sectors)

universe

man

is

based fundamentally upon the belief that the

is

coherent and that numbers are not mere inventions of

allowing

him

to

make purely

quantitative distinctions but

rather the symbolic keys to qualitative laws that govern the

coherent universe. All esoteric traditions have always sought to express the multiplicity within unity, and this has always involved the use of numbers, and the use of symbols; astrology cularly ingenious If

we

method

look at the

of

is

a parti-

combining them.

way the zodiac is divided, we see that the signs way as to express first the Law of Two, the

are arranged in such a

law of duality, or of polarity familiar :

negative or active-passive. negative,

Gemini

positive,

on around the zodiac

Next we

We

to us asjnale-female, positiv eis

positive,

Taurus

Cancer negative, Leo

positive,

and so

find that Aries

(see fig. 4).

Law

find that the signs are divided so as to express the

of Three, the principle of relationship.

The

triad, the principle of three, expresses relationship. If the

universe were homogeneous, nothing could happen.

merely dual, nothing could happen

either.

A

If it

were and

state of eternal

unbridgeable tension between two equal and opposite forces would

There must be a reconciling principle, a Third Force. A sculptor and a block of wood will not produce a statue - he must

result.

have an

-

idea; a

man and woman

must be

are not

enough

to

produce a child

and a test tube an experiment - he must have curiosity. But polarity is incorporated within triplicity. Three is not merely two plus one - though it sounds illogical put that way. In esoteric there

love, or at least desire; a scientist

will not result in

terms, the descent of unity into multiplicity as

:

is

sometimes expressed

one becomes two and three simultaneously.

schematically thus 1

1

1

And

this is

shown

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

T

Figure

5.

The Signs

3

>€

of the Zodiac divided into triplicities

Impossible to put clearly into so

many

words,

it

:

the ‘Modes’.

can nevertheless

be seen here that one has become both two and three depending

upon how the diagram

regarded.

Law

In astrology, the called

is

of Three finds expression in

the 'Modes of Action’.

The

signs, as

same time they

are

seen, are

with the principle of

either positive or negative, in accordance

duality, but at the

we have

what

reflect the principle of tripli-

city.

Man-Woman

is

a polarity,

but Lover-Beloved-Desire

same

tionship. Lover-Beloved are not the

were merely ance

is

Man-Woman, no

the same and their

Law of Three

is

the

is

a rela-

were when they

matter that their external appear-

bills still

come

superimposed upon the

superimposed upon modes.

as they

polarities;

the

same address. The Two. The modes are

to the

Law

of

polarities

pervade

the

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

32

Thus, in astrology, the modes of action are called ‘Cardinal’ (that

upon which

all else

depends), ‘Fixed’ (that which

acted

is

upon), and ‘Mutable’ (that which effects the exchange of force).

Aries

is

cardinal,

cardinal, Leo

is

Taurus

fixed,

fixed,

is

Virgo

is

Gemini

begin to differentiate themselves. Aries

Gemini, though also positive, fixed (see

Figure 6

.

is

mutable; Cancer

mutable, and so on.

is

positive

is

And

is

the signs

and cardinal, but

mutable, and Leo

is

positive

and

fig. 5).

The Signs

of the Zodiac divided into quadruplicities

:

the ‘Four

Elements’.

Three terms, however, are insufficient or an event.

A relationship

Lover-Beloved-Desire

is

is

to describe either a thing,

theoretical. It

cannot be said

not a household, or even an

affair.

to exist.

For

it

to

be a household four terms are necessary, four terms which incorporate the three of the relationship within

it.

The four terms

family might be Father-Mother-Responsibility-Household

of a

itself.

:

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

33

4

not merely tacked on and Father-Motherthe same as Lover-Beloved-Desire (as most not are Responsibility

But the fourth term married

is

men - and women - are well

aware).

In most ancient traditions this foursome Fire, Earth, Air,

We

is

the four ‘elements'

Water - from which all matter is derived. up on schoolbooks that deride and dismiss

are brought

And

notion as superstition.

of course,

if

taken

literally,

this

the four

elements are meaningless. But the principle of the four elements was sound and remains sound, though the terminology may ring quaint

and medieval to our ears. Organic chemistry is principally concerned with the interaction of four chemical elements Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen. :

The functions of these elements, the parts they play in organic life, can be shown to correspond neatly to the roles played by Fire, 5 Earth, Air and Water. Though imprecise from a scientific point of view, the ancient terminology has the advantage of being more fluid and therefore more easily applicable to the manifold contingencies of life than modern terminology. Everyday language continues to reflect the wisdom of the words chosen by the ancients to symbolize the ‘elements'. It makes sense, still, to refer to personalities as ‘Fiery', ‘Earthy', ‘Airy', ‘Watery'.

One need only

try

imagine the opposition that would greet an imposed esperanto

to

designed to weed out old ambiguities and that would have us refer to people as ‘hydrogenic' or ‘carbonic'.

In astrology, then, four elements are superimposed upon the

modes and upon the polarities. Aries is Fire; Taurus, Earth; Gemini, Air; Cancer, Water; Leo, Fire and so on. Aries is positive, cardinal, fire;

Leo

positive, fixed, fire, Sagittarius is positive, mutable,

is

fire (see fig. 6).

Each sign

no repetitions; and quadruplicity work themselves out within a twelve-sign system. The modes representing force - are linked together by the square, or cross representing matter. The elements - representing matter - are all

is

different,

linked together

The diagram

by the

are alike, there are

trine (triangle), reprsenting force (see fig. 7).

of the zodiac, constructed in this fashion,

regarded as containing all

no two

possible permutations of polarity, triplicity,

potential ,

all

upon which,

may

be

the consonants of a language containing like

moving vowels, the sun, moon and

planets play, creating the inexhaustible and ever-changing words that

make up C.F.A.

2

the world

we call

reality.

34

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE And

it is

this celestial

language that the astrologer believes he

can interpret.

Whether point

we

Figure

7.

or not he can does not concern us at this

wish

to

make here

is

that this system, with

The Zodiac divided simultaneously

moment. The its

simultan-

into polarities, triplicities

and

quadruplicities. Notice that the square or ‘Cross’ of matter will always

connect each of the four ‘elements’. Signs 90 0 apart are always of opposite polarities.

The

trine of Force (or Spirit) connects like ‘elements’.

eous fusion of polarity,

triplicity

and quadruplicity, and

harmonically-determined aspects and angles, of aimless observation,

is

a whole.

its

No amount

no matter how accurate or painstaking,

could develop willy-nilly into such an elegant and internally consistent system. In short, astrology

ing Chaldeans on watch towers.

was never dreamed up by dream-

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

35

The Evolution oj Astrology But because

among

this fallacious

scholars

it

will be

notion of astrology’s origins prevails

worth digressing

briefly into the origins

of the fallacy.

though upon no evidence, that astrology piecemeal and fortuitously just as they suppose organic

Scholars suppose, 'evolved’ life to

have done.

But whatever

may

applied to organic religions,

easily

be the value of the theory of evolution

life,

when

when

applied to the development of ideas,

or even superstitions

it

is

a manifest impossibility;*

demonstrable as such, and demonstrable not merely philoso-

phically or theoretically, but scientifically, as a matter of

common

and universal and unalterable experience. In the realm of man, nothing evolves mindlessly. No coherent body of knowledge - such as astrology - simply accumulates, taking form as it goes. Works of art, religions, scientific hypotheses, train schedules all

must be thought of. And only then can they be brought into - the perfection or imperfection of the manifestation

existence

depending upon the expertise of the creator and the basic validity of the idea.

by and

But without that

large right

idea than to

its

:

idea,

wrong only

manifestation.

have made his case

nothing can happen. (Plato was

in ascribing 'more’ reality to the

A

'higher’ reality

would perhaps

clearer.)

In the history of man’s institutions nothing has ever evolved in

Darwinian way - including the Theory of Evolution itself. The Origin of Species, in its formulation, was not first a comma, then a

a

word, then a sentence, then a paragraph, then a chapter, then a theory. It was - like every other idea man ever had - an inkling, a * Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, there is no one book in which the theory of evolution of organic life is systematically reduced to its minimal validity. But see Marjorie Grene, The Knower and the Known (Faber, 1966) for a critique of Fischer’s and Haldane’s statistics; L. L. Whyte, ed., Aspects of Form (Lund Humphries, 1951), especially the contribution by Albert M. Dalcq in which accident and selection are held to be insufficient to account for ‘Form’; Wilhelm Schmidt, Beginnings of Religion (Methuen, 1931) shows the inapplicability of Darwinian theory to the findings of anthropology. Beyond Reductionism, ed. A. Koestler (Hutchinson, 1969), collects some of the biological evidence against the theory. :

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

36

sort of

adumbration of the whole.

And

after

much hard work,

concentration, research, and the necessary period of gestation,

was born; whole;

as

is

it

everything else in the universe. True, the

actual writing progresses

word by word and

line

by

line,

but

this

in a sense, the least important part of the process.*

is,

How

strange, then, that in science, in

insisted that a theory

fit

which above

all else it is

the facts of experience, scientists exempt

the universe from obeying the same laws they themselves cannot

The universe happens by 'accident', while man - the grand and sole exception - is

escape.

it

'coincidence',

is

forced to think

first

before he can do.

The growth

of science itself

would seem

to be responsible for the

perpetuation of this idea. All pre-scientific thought

is

held to be

inadequate, and the headlong accumulation of fact that characterizes science

is

offered as the only legitimate system for the acqui-

knowledge. Meanwhile, it is assumed that science is growing increasingly ordered and coherent - a myth easily dispelled sition of true

by reading or the

New

at

one go any

Scientist

.

six consecutive

And, conveniently

months' issues of Science forgotten,

is

every single contribution to the fund of knowledge

not of 'evolution' but of inspiration,

or, to

put

it

the fact that is

the result

into scientific

jargon, 'hypothesis formation'.t

But to return to astrology. ... If it is safe to say that it did not and could not 'evolve’ accidentally, it is safe to challenge the accepted chronology of its origins as well. For not only is this chronology based upon scanty evidence but

upon the *

it is

also

dependent

'evolution’ hypothesis. Scholars maintain that astrology

Any number

of esoteric schools and traditions hold that organic

‘evolved’ in exactly the

same way.

life

E.g. that the familiar cat is the final

manifestation of the idea of catness.

We

must admit that we

find

it

impossible to visualize a cat at a half-way stage of semi-corporality, but this

may

well be our fault. In any case, this theory does have the merit

of corresponding

to

man’s

own

anthropomorphize, quite possibly

experience, and it is

if it is dangerous to even more dangerous not to.

t ‘The certainties of science are a delusion. They are hedged round with unexplored limitations. Our handling of scientific doctrines is controlled by the diffused metaphysical concepts of our epoch. Even so, we are continually led

into errors of expectation. Also,

observational experience inaccuracies.’ A. Press, 1933).

is

whenever some new mode

of

obtained the doctrines crumble into a fog of

N. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas (Cambridge University

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED as

we know

it

seventh century

37

today originated in Babylon no earlier than the B.C.,

and was further developed

in the orientalized

Greece of the third and second centuries B.c. It is

interesting that traditional or legendary accounts of astrol-

ogy's genesis say otherwise and, in view of the inadequacy of the

accepted theory, the traditional view

may

be worthy of closer

examination.

Astrology in Egypt Traditions but

no

historians maintain that astrology

was one

of the

products of 'divine inspiration’ of the 'Sages of Atlantis'. This

knowledge,

it is

claimed, in one form or another passed to Egypt,

China, India and the vanished civilizations of South America.

It

was handed down orally from master to pupil, and though attempts to keep it secret were made, it gradually leaked into the marketplace, losing, not gaining coherence and force, as wars, natural disasters and generally degenerative influences contributed to man's increasingly sorry state.

But asked cannot do

While

so,

it is

produce evidence, the supporters of such theories and can only fall back on the tradition itself. legitimate to demand evidence of legendary sages, and

to

of legendary astrology,

scarcely legitimate to dismiss as irrelev-

it is

ant or imaginary evidence which happens to be circumstantial and

not 'hard'. The credulity of scepticism takes no more thought than the credulity of acceptance

the blind

:

man who which

different descriptions of a tree, all of

who therefore dismisses trees as Active is man who accepts as gospel the very first even though

it

happens

illustrated aptly in the

is

given a hundred

differ in detail,

and

as big a fool as the blind

description he

is

offered,

to be a description of a horse; a point

Koran by the Bridge

leading to Enlightenment,

is

of Sirah which,

but as wide as the razor

s

though

edge and

flanked on either side by chasms, the one the chasm of Credulity, the other, the

chasm

of Logic.

In academic circles, blind scepticism

the fashion, and has been become dogma; contrary romanticism and heresy, and the is

for several centuries. Hypothesis has

thinking

is

rejected a priori as

process has long since

become self-perpetuating - contemporary

‘authorities', schooled in the

new

orthodoxy, referring back only to

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

38

those older authorities

who

thought exactly the same way. There

however, good reason to believe that tradition

is,

than scholars find

Atlantis aside for the

known to knew of it.

more accurate

is

convenient to believe, and that - leaving

it

moment -

astrology

may

well have been

the Egyptians thousands of years before the Greeks

That the Egyptians were interested ancient people

-

is

evidently copies of

in the

heavens - like every other

of course recognized. Star charts that are

much

earlier charts

show

the positions of the

and the accuracy of these charts has enabled scholars date them back to 4240 B.c. or very close to it. Imhotep, the

fixed stars, to

architect responsible for the first of the great pyramids

-

the step

Dynasty - was equally renowned as the founder of medicine, and as a great astronomer. One of his titles was ‘Chief of the Observers'. Observers of what? Meanwhile, some scholars even assert that the Egyptian interest in the stars was purely astronomical, and that the Egyptians had no astrology pyramid of Zoser,

Illrd

.

at

all.

.

.

6

would make the Egyptians the only ancient civilization have made such a distinction; a peculiar one in view of the Egyptian predilection for every other form of magic and myth. Yet it is certain they were skilled astronomers. The Egyptian calendar was so accurate that only in very recent times has it been possible If so, this

to

improve upon

to

it.

And

the pyramids are oriented in such a

way

that they face the cardinal points to within seconds of a degree of

accuracy.*

Egyptian mythology appears obvious to the astrologer that

And

it is difficult

to

to us hopelessly garbled.

it is

Yet

it is

loaded with astral symbolism.

imagine such symbolism without an accom-

panying astrology. The Sphinx

(at Thebes), ancient

ally regarded as a synthesis of all past science,

is,

symbol

esoteric-

astrologically, the

Fixed Cross of Bull, Lion, Eagle (the Eagle was anciently used for the Scorpion) and *L.

Borchardt,

Man. At

the same time the Sphinx embodies the

one of the most highly regarded authorities among

Egyptologists, stressed that the alignment of the pyramids to the cardinal

was such that it could not be surpassed in his own he came to the quaint conclusion that Egyptian science was in its infancy. It is worth remarking that Neugebauer ( Exact Sciences in Antiquity, Brown University Press, 1957) particularly recommends Borchardt as a model of solid, archaeological thinking. points of the compass

day

(c.

1922).

From

this,

:

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED four elements

:

Bull-earth; Lion-fire; Eagle-water; Man-air.

39

Did the

Egyptians, bereft of astrology, simply combine the figures because the design

amused them ?

Yet despite a wealth of could do

astrologers

support this case,

clues, until recently, to

little

more than

reiterate the legend that

had existed in Egypt had been handed down orally from master to pupil. Though the argument begs the issue, scholars at least agreed that oral traditions of one sort or another were at one time a reality astrology, along with other secret sciences,

and that

it

Hippocrates

shown

to

(fifth

century

B.c.)

holy men. The profane

have been initiated into the as this are

asserted,

‘But holy things are

may not be shown them

rites of

Science ’,

7

until they

and statements such

not generally disputed.

But acknowledging the existence of an oral tradition is not the same as acknowledging its validity. Amateur attempts to get to the meaning believed to be implicit in Egyptian architecture were invariably unsatisfactory, unconvincing and vulnerable; while from the authorities nothing could be expected beyond extensions to the familiar daisy-chain of dogma ‘However primitive and material:

istic

the Egyptian conception of the After-life

conceded that

it

was responsible

greatest masterpieces in antiquity .’

Without entering ‘masterpiece’

it is

may seem,

for the production of 8

into a discussion as to

what

safe to generalize to this extent

art, ‘masterpieces’ are rarely if

it must be some of the

ever produced

constitutes a

in the history of

:

by

primitives,

and

never by materialists. But until quite recently the riddle of

Egyptian civilization remained unsolved; the authorities insisting

upon the existence

of that manifestly impossible

‘Dreaming Chal-

dean’ while the ‘occultists’, unburdened by evidence, felt free to

bestow upon the Egyptians whatever doctrine

may have

suited

their personal fancy.

Over the past two decades, however, in a series of books little outside France, and there only in specialized circles, an Orientalist and scholar, R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, has produced a body of work which, in documented detail, establishes a likely portrait of a civilization from which the familiar masterpieces of Egyptian art and architecture might arise 9 And in this civilization, as legend has always insisted, it would appear that astrology played an important role.

known

.

Unfortunately, to abstract astrology from the rest of Egyptian

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

40

thought would be that

employed

it;

to falsify

both the astrology and the civilization

while to discuss de Lubicz’s work in sufficient

detail to do justice to it is beyond the scope of this book and the competence of its authors. But the future of astrology will to a certain extent depend upon

the attitude students and scholars take to

its past.

And

it is

adumbrate the Egypt brought

fore necessary to at least

Schwaller de Lubicz, particularly since

from the textbook Egypt of 'primitive

it

differs in

materialists’

there-

to life

by

every detail

which common-

sense informs us could never have existed along the banks of the Nile.

THE SYMBOLIST INTERPRETATION OF EGYPT Schwaller de Lubicz’s picture of Egypt

dozen years spent on the plates 1-6) built

site,

is

the result of

more than

studying the Temple of Luxor

by Amenhotep

III (c.

1500

B.c.)

a

(see

with a team that

included his wife, Ischa, an expert in hieroglyphics, Alexandre Varille, an archaeologist attached to the French Archaeological

Commission, and Clement Robichon,

director

of

the

Institut

d’Archaeologie de Caire (Cairo).

According

to

de Lubicz, the sages of Egypt considered the uni-

verse a whole, in which every part

To them

the universe was, in

its

is

related to every other part.

entirety, conscious. This conscious-

ness manifested itself in the hierarchy of levels

What man

as diversity.

consciousness, and

higher

level.

The key

regards as 'matter’

what he regards

which man observes

is

as 'mind’

is

a manifestation of

consciousness at a

10

to

an understanding of the laws that govern the universe They regarded the universe as number,

lay in the study of number. insofar as

number is

the expression of function (the laws of polarity,

etc., touched upon on p. 30 ff.). Egyptian and Egyptian mathematics, condemned as clumsy and primitive by scholars,* is so only when the attempt is made to force it to do the tasks of modern mathematics for which it was not designed. In the hands of the Egyptians - as Schwaller de Lubicz demonstrates - their mathematics was a marvel of fluidity and

triplicity,

quadruplicity

science

precision.

*

The Egyptians

believed that the laws of the universe had

‘Ancient science was the product of very few men; and those few

happened not

to be Egyptian/

Neugebauer, op.

cit.,

p.91.

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

41

been written into man; that if he understood himself well enough, he would understand the universe. The temples of Egypt, and all sacred Egyptian art, were intended to embody and translate this understanding into human terms; they were designed, down to the minutest detail, to convey a wisdom at

once deeply spiritual and rigorously

exercises,

scientific.

They were

but on such a gigantic scale that our

own

didactic

imaginations

can barely envisage what went into them; perhaps they can best be regarded as projects in cooperative virtuosity; in which the

theme

down by

laid

the master

executed by the disciples, and in

is

the process of execution they are permitted to share in the under-

standing of the master, and so become masters themselves.

De Lubicz proves, beyond any hope of doubt, that the strange asymmetric plan of the Temple of Luxor (see plate 4) cannot be fobbed

off as multi-stage caprice, in

which various builders hap-

pened to change their minds in mid-construction ultimately producing a structure devoid of rhyme or reason yet possessed of undeniable

artistic merit.

Rather, the Temple of Luxor was created

an embodiment of the laws pertaining to the birth and growth of man (see plates 2-5). And all other Egyptian temples were deas

signed with similar deliberation each to express the cosmic functions

and laws decreed proper for the particular time and

place.

In this system astrology played an integral and unifying

The laws governing were not,

to the Egyptians,

of those governing

role.

the solar system and the motions of the planets

man. By

dead formulae, but living correlates utilizing in their architecture the

proportions and ratios prevailing between the planets the Egyptians

knew they

could produce the desired instructive effect upon those

who were prepared

to receive such knowledge. That is to say the apparently lifeless data of astronomy can be used by those who know what they are doing to produce a calculated and objective emotional effect. This is astrology. But it is an :

astrology quite unlike astrology today. 11

Unfortunately, at the

more about

moment

it is

impossible to say very

much

beyond that de Lubicz provides striking evidence that it existed and that the Egyptians used it. Concerned with presenting in one book a picture of Egyptian this ancient astrology

civilization as a whole, de Lubicz does

how

not go into

details.

the Egyptians employed both the Golden Section

mathematical data of astronomy C.F.A.

2*

to

He shows 12

and the

determine the proportions and

:

HI

42

STORY AND

T

ECHNIQUE

forms of their art and architecture, and in principle

it

should be

from these

possible to deduce the details of their astrology

clues.

THE ORAL TRADITION But if such an exalted astrology actually existed, why do we have no evidence of it in writing? Is it conceivable that the Egyptians were capable of transmitting intricate knowledge of this sort orally?

Schwaller de Lubicz solves this problem, almost off-hand as

it

were. He points out that in all that has come down to us from Egypt there has never been discovered a single instance of the 13

He

techniques of architecture committed to writing. cludes that this refined and complex knowledge orally, and, short of archaeologists

to the contrary,

we can

no

see

therefore con-

was transmitted

suddenly discovering evidence

possibility of

denying

this con-

clusion.* If the

Sages of Egypt considered

it

imperative to keep architec-

would have taken particular care themselves. In the wrong hands, a developed

tural techniques secret then they

keep astrology to

to

astrology

would be

So while *

a singularly malevolent

weapon.

true that the final ‘proof of a developed ancient

it is

‘The defect of an oral tradition

is

that

it

can change imperceptibly from

generation to generation, and cannot easily be transmitted from one culture to another.'

John Ziman, Public Knowledge: The Social Dimension of Science The defect of this typical view is that its author makes no understand what a tradition is or what it is supposed to do, or

(C.U.P.) p. 101.

attempt to

how

it

works.

Egyptian architecture retained its integrity for four thousand years changing only deliberately when astrological or other considerations dictated change.

A

tradition

misinterpretation the inquisition

if

is

which are less open to committed to writing. E.g.

a corpus of values,

transmitted orally than

was based upon

if

a gross misinterpretation of the written

Gospels.

A with

tradition that lives should change. its

time, then

it is

When

decadent (the Church

it

cannot change in keeping

vs. Galileo).

Only brute fact can be safely committed to paper and transmitted from one culture to another without change. But brute fact, and compilations of brute fact do not constitute a tradition. And when contemporary physicists begin to question such brute facts as the constancy of the velocity of light, it would appear that even brute fact may show considerable animation. ‘Baffled Physicists Facing Collapse of the Laws of Nature’ announces page one of the Observer (13 April 1969). .

.

.

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

43

astrology has yet to be produced, there are at least good reasons for believing in its probable existence. First,

because the clues provided by Sch waller de Lubicz - and

-

several others

are too

impossible to explain

numerous and

away

otherwise.

too strong to ignore

And

and

second, legend and

tradition apart, the academically-accepted views of Egyptian civili-

zation are so vulnerable to criticism from

all sides

that

some other explanation is essential. Though we have made this latter point already,

it is

obvious

that

illustrating

it

it

is

worth

in rather greater detail so as to provide a fair picture

of the sort of thinking that actually does prevail. Let us

examine

upon those Egyptian

artefacts

the views of a highly-regarded expert

which, above

all

others,

have been responsible for

stirring the

imagination of the modern public, and which tradition has always linked, at least indirectly, to astrology

the Pyramids of Gizeh.

:

Apart from their obvious purpose as tombs, in the often wild and woolly literature concerning them the pyramids have been held to

be,

variously, ancient centres of initiation of esoteric cults;

gigantic

conundrums whose measurements themselves contained

the key to the future of mankind; astronomical and astrological repositories;

and

tomb theory

:

to

is

many

other things.

Modern

scholars

buy only

the pyramids were built as tombs and that

is all

the

there

it.

Two contemporary scholars, in separate books, dismiss all nontomb theorizing in no uncertain terms. One writes, ‘Important mathematical constants; e.g. an accurate value of n> and deep astronomical knowledge are supposed to be expressed in the dimensions and orientation of this building (Great Pyramid). These theories flatly contradict all sound knowledge obtained by archaeo14 logy and by Egyptological research Z The acknowledged authority cited by both authors is the threepart article by N. F. Wheeler in the archaeological magazine. Antiquity (Vol. IX, 1935) in which the Tyramidologists’ are annihilated once and for all. .

.

After reading these articles the reader will be in a position to decide whether he should accept without question the wild and

for himself

theories current, or whether he should keep commonsense and archaeological evidence (p. 5)

fantastic

.

Age

.

to

ordinary

.

get very close to an understanding of the people of

It is possible to

the Pyramid

.

.

.

(p. 9)

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

44

Clear, logical thinkers

.

.

they [the Egyptians] were in no

.

of tackling the most difficult

mediums

way

afraid

which to work, and preferred them at this time to the more easily worked materials (p. 10) One can imagine the architect who designed the present pyramid coming to Khufu (Cheops) with his plans and having them enthusiasticin

.

.

ally

approved at once

.

.

.

.

176)

(p.

One can imagine the representative of the workmen (p. 177) One can imagine the feelings ... of Khufu ... (p. 181) ... we can say that where objects used today as symbols are depicted .

.

.

in ancient Egypt, they

significance.

There

is

have nothing but their obvious and operative no evidence to the contrary (p. 302) .

Wheeler’s appeal to ‘commonsense’

not stand up to scrutiny.

Told

to dig a ditch, a

What

is

man with no

may

.

.

be seductive but

commonsense,

it

after all?

does .

.

.

previous experience will use a

is commonsense. But no amount of commonsense will tell a man not to touch a stove if he does not know from previous experience that a stove may be hot. Such commonsense is precisely what ought not to be used in the interpretation of archaeological evidence. The Rosetta stone was never deciphered through the exercise of commonsense. Then, having plumped for commonsense, Professor Wheeler adjures the reader to suspend it, and to use his ‘imagination’ - the

shovel, not a teaspoon. This

very antithesis of commonsense; can one really imagine

how Khufu

felt?

Men

cannot understand their

The Victorians

own

children, or their parents.

and stuffy world of positivism and bogus morality. The Elizabethans are more like stage-figures than live in a distant

real people to us. gists,

the Egyptolo-

spent their entire time thinking about death, and preparing

for death

and yet never even conceived

(Edwards, op. to

The Egyptians, one gathers from

cit., p.

39).

anything in contemporary

tion that

it is

a clear idea of the afterlife

This behaviour life

quite without parallel

is

or experience. Therefore, the asser-

possible to get close to an understanding of such

people must stand as one of the great psychological naiveties of time; justifying not only

permanent scepticism

to

all

any and every

made by its author, but also to the work of those who recommend him. To continue ‘clear, logical thinkers they were in no way afraid of tackling the most difficult mediums in which to work’. This is a non sequitur. Clarity of thought and logic in no way interpretation

:

.

.

.

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

work with difficult rather than Commonsense of the sort prevail-

lead to the deliberate decision to

easy material. Quite the contrary. ing today

tells

possible.

But

decision

to

make our

us to

this

is

make

more than

a

difficult,

art

45

lives as

easy and comfortable as

mere verbal quibble. The deliberate rather than easy,

not taken

is

mean

accidentally, or in a state of semi-consciousness. It can only

that the Egyptians understood that

by taking

this stance contrary

they put themselves in the position where they might experience that form of inner illumination known as Mastery. to logic

This principle implies that the Egyptians

knew

precisely

what they

were about, and why.

And

finally,

significance?

how

can there be 'evidence' of alleged symbolic

in five thousand years, future archaeologists dig

If,

up a church, they may conclude from its graveyard, its crucifixes and its sculpture that this, too, was a structure designed as a tomb. There would be no 'evidence to the contrary’. Without for a moment believing that the number of stones in the king's chamber of the Great Pyramid can tell us who is to be the next president of the U.S., the non-specialist reader

no compulsion

to accept

Wheeler's equal and opposite

is

under

illogic in

regard to the pyramids, or any other aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization.

Meanwhile, Egyptologists ignore the esoterically accepted symbolism of the pyramid - as a geometrical solid, not as a specific architectural structure.

The square base

is

held to represent the 'earth', or the fourfold

principle of matter; the triangular sides represent the threefold principle of creation, or relationship, or force.

that the Zodiac and the

And

it is

pyramid embody the same

obvious

principles;

moreover, the twelve divisions of the Zodiac are easily derivable

from the superimposition of the trine upon the square (see fig. 8). Recognizing the need for an explanation of the pyramids that is

neither 'Pyramidology' nor the sort of conclusion

drawn

from

Professor

Wheeler’s

'ordinary

commonly

commonsense'*

Sch waller de Lubicz corroborates the one theory out of the that genuine *

commonsense would

light

upon

as

most

likely.

many Sym-

Dr Kurt Mendelssohn, an archaeologist, discussing the pyramids in March 1968, asserts, ‘They were built because man had

Science Journal,

reached the stage at which he was able to build them/

Dr Mendelssohn's

article is entitled:

It is significant

‘Science at the Pyramids’.

that

46 bolic

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE significance

apart,

astronomical observatories

they were, he claims, constructed as :

the long, precisely aligned corridors

leading from the faces of the pyramids into the interior served as sighting tubes, permitting astronomers to

make

observations of

great exactitude.

%

—

Figure 8. The Pyramid, combining the Principles of Three and Four, or Spirit and Matter. Below, the Zodiac of Twelve Signs derived from the schematic

pyramid.

:

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

47

For example, the Egyptians employed three separate calendars one based upon the cycles of the moon using a 360 day year, another based upon the sun, using a 365 day year - the additional five days were holiday; and a third, extremely accurate 365.25 day calendar based

upon the

ous orthodox authorities

nomy from

heliacal rising of Sirius. 15

Quoting numer-

de Lubicz shows that Egyptian astro-

earliest antiquity

was

of the highest order,

and that

such a science could not have developed without some master plan

and an organized - not random - system of observation. He suggests that the pyramids, in particular the Great Pyramids of Gizeh, were the instruments that permitted the Egyptian astronomers to achieve such accurate results. They could not have been achieved by the unaided eye. the

method

And,

in a sense, de Lubicz justifies the spirit,

or the results, of the scorned 'pyramidologists'

if :

not the

dimensions of the pyramids are indeed significant. The pyramid of

Cheops was built to express the Golden Section in one way, the pyramid of Chefren to express it in another; while the pyramid of Snefru

is

a synthesis.

And de Lubicz shows nomy (e.g. Neugebauer,

that prevailing views of Egyptian astro-

Exact Sciences in Antiquity) are based

upon hypothesis and correspond to no facts; which comes welcome news to the mind logical enough to see the flimsiness of

entirely as

the Establishment argument, but too unspecialized to effectively

counter

takes no special genius to realize that had mighty pyramids intended them for use purely tombs they could easily have devised far more fitting and it.

After

all, it

the architects of the as

impressive funerary arrangements than

those strangely placed,

senselessly sloping corridors leading to the interior.

The Egyptians put their astronomical knowledge to use in a number of ways that may fairly be called astrological. Due to a purely astronomical phenomenon known as the 'precession of the equinoxes' the earth gradually changes relative to the zodiac so that

its

roughly every 2,160 years

position

a different

'sign' rises at the time of the spring equinox. To modern astronomers the signs of the zodiac are of course no more than arbitrary divisions of the heavens. But to astrologers each sign is supposed to put its 'stamp' upon the age that corresponds to it. We are now about to enter the so-called Age of Aquarius (about which most readers will have heard). The Piscean Age, dating

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

48

roughly from the century before Christ, it

is coming to a close, and by the Arian, Taurean and Geminian corresponding roughly to 2000, 4000 and 6000 b.c. respect-

was

ages,

in turn preceded

ively.

Geminian Age remains to make much sense of Age ushers in what we know of history in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and it is a fact that this age was strongly imbued with 'bull cults'. Both Egypt and the concurrent Minoan civilization show a tremendous prevelance of Taurine imagery, while the preoccupation with monumental architecture is singularly apposite to an age supposedly under the influence of an

Too

it,

little

of the

but the Taurean

‘earth' sign.

Taken but to

it is

alone, this

might of course be ascribed to ‘coincidence', B.c., bull imagery in Egypt seems and images of the Ram, and other fire-conse-

remarkable that by 2000

have spent

itself

crated principles begin to appear, right on cue, to herald the

Age

of

Aries.

The symbol

of the early Christians, used as a secret code to

when it was dangerous to do so openly, was a The explanation customarily offered is that the word for fish, Greek, closely resembles the word for Jesus. But this need not be

identify each other fish.

in

the complete, or the only explanation. It is

too

much

only

to

to ask of the great god, coincidence, that Bull,

Ram

impinge themselves upon their respective eras, be chosen after the fact by a newly-arisen band of astrol-

and Fish should

all

ogers.

no early zodiacs have been found, the application of imagery to art and architecture in their respectively appropriate ages, and the utilization of astrological symbolism in works such as the Sphinx, strongly suggest that the Egyptians had not only named the constellations, but had attributed to them the So, while

earth and

fire

symbolic significance

At

we know

today.

same time, the very obvious astral symbolism of Egyptian mythology may well be susceptible to deciphering, and de Lubicz the

provides scholars

innumerable insights into the process. For example,

make much

of the fact that in astrology the

moon

is

sometimes male, sometimes female, depending upon the place, culture and era; and this is ascribed to the arbitrariness of the priest/ astrologers.

But

this, in certain

instances at least,

may

be

less arbitrary

than

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED it

appears. In astrology

traditional that the planets

it is

49

embody

within themselves both male and female principles (just as does

man) and

that depending

upon the

time, the nature of the situation,

possibly even the geographical position, male or female principles

Seen this way,

will predominate.

it

comes

as

no surprise that

Egyptian gods and goddesses* over the course of four millennia

change character and even gender. But from the evidence it

would appear

that symbolic sense can be

made

available,

of the apparent

chaos, once the proper methods are applied.

Many leads have been made available by tion of Egyptian art

particularly prone to tear sors

and

assumed

to build to be

politicians,

the symbolic interpreta-

and architecture. The Pharaohs of Egypt were

new

down

temples erected by their predeces-

ones in their stead. This has always been

an ancient instance of a modern commonplace:

out of

spite,

and psychological cunning, glorifying

themselves at the expense of their forerunners.

De

Lubicz maintains that Egyptian temples were not destroyed,

but deliberately and systematically dismantled

which they were consecrated had outlived

to

when their

the principles

span of

astrol-

ogically-determined relevance.

An

old temple

was not merely

a

quarry for the new;

it

was

literally the progenitor. Stones and inscriptions were chosen from

the superannuated temple as the symbolic germinal material from

which the new temple grew. built into the rising temple at

great deliberation

embedded

And

this material

in the foundations, in the cores of the

columns, and in other strategic spots, no

subsequent

was not simply

random, but was carefully and with less

precisely for

its

invisibility.

The Egyptian temple was not an instrument of Pharaohonic was a living analogue of the life process itself; a work of art in a state of perpetual renewal, and perpetual consecration to the principle from which all true art must spring. self-glorification. It

Now, the profusion of taurine imagery, and arian or ‘fiery’ symbolism during the appropriate ages is evidence that an astrology existed, and one that was organized from the top down and therefore able to *

impose

its

will

upon the

art

and architecture of the

According to de Lubicz it is a mistake to refer to the Egyptian ‘Neters’ and goddesses; rather they stand for cosmic principles, and in hieratic art their dress, position, and gesture provide the keys to the knowledge the particular work has incorporated within it. as gods

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

50

period; but

it

does not

tell

much about

us

the particulars of that

astrology.

However, from the Egyptian habit of tearing down and erecting temples to astrological considerations,

it

may be possible to reDe Lubicz discusses

construct something of their ancient science.

various still-extant tablets in which one Pharaoh or another has inscribed into a

new

temple his opening speech. Thought by

scholars to be merely a formal rite, de Lubicz

- but not

addresses convey an accurate

the heavens at the

was used temples.

moment

shows

precise

-

how

these

description of

of inauguration. Astronomical data

in determining the dimensions and proportions of the

would seem, now, that

It

with appropriate

scholars

qualifications could re-deduce the astrological principles behind all this

architecture,

though

it

principle

what

may

and embodied within

be at present,

would provide

Astrology,

it.

nevertheless

still

a basis

with which

to

the ruins divulged. For

it

may

Egyptian knowledge, their astrology

is

chaotic

and in compare and test

is

with

us,

be that, like the rest of written into the stones of

the temples.

ASTROLOGY AND MEDICINE

IN

EGYPT

What we know of Egyptian medicine comes from only nine papyri, most of which are fragmentary, and which appear to be copies of about how to date both the papyri and the information contained in them. But recently it has been shown that, when copies were made, they were made in the language of the original. Therefore, data couched in older language earlier papyri. Scholars disagree

is

held to be the more ancient

:

and

this

has in turn 'revealed the

whose originals appear oldest are most devoid of magic, whereas the more recent ones have gradually peeled off their medicinal knowledge and kept only the disquieting paradox that the papyri

superstition’. 'Scientific

medicine produced

at the time of the

Dr is

its

masterpiece, the Smith papyrus,

Pyramids in the dawn of Egyptian History.’

Paul Ghalioungui, Professor of Medicine at Cairo University,

at pains to dispel once

and

for all the idea that

Egyptian medicine

was developed out of superstition. But he is disinclined to speculate upon its origins. Nor does he express any desire to pursue the astrological/magical/incantatory side of Egyptian medicine any further.

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

51

But in the light of leads furnished by de Lubicz, certain conclusions become astrologically intriguing. Ghalioungui believes it essential to take the legends of secrecy seriously.

be feared, however, that these papyri do not contain the whole

It is to

of pharaohonic medical knowledge, for level teaching

was purely

oral.

[revealed, as opposed to

Strabo

who

how

relates

.

.

.

‘esoteric'

it is

probable that above a certain

The imposition

of limits to exoteric

teaching

or secret]

is

by Eudoxus

attested

the priests of Egypt kept from Plato and

the greater part of their knowledge, even after these had spent thirteen

years in Egypt. This

is

confirmed by Arab historians. ...

It is also

amply

demonstrated by quotations in the papyri. The Book on the Heart and Vessels

.

.

.

starts thus

ledge of the heart’s

matter of

fact, this

:

The

beginning of the physician's secret

movement and knowledge

of the heart’;

:

know-

and

as a

book contains notions on the circulation of the blood

that escaped the Greeks.’*

16

In this fragmentary but impressive medicine that has come to us from Egypt, the time at which remedies and medicaments are ad-

ministered given.

A

is

of the utmost importance,

treatise

on eyes

lists

and precise instructions are which to do one

six different times at

thing or another. Similarly, elaborate instructions are given for the

proper time to pick herbs and prepare remedies.

Presuming that these instructions are not mere caprice, their existence leads us to believe that they must have been astrologic-

would seem that the Egyptians believed - or them different principles corresponding to the principles symbolized by the planets and by the signs of the zodiac, and similarly with the various diseases, and with the human body itself. The curious diagrams of Cosmic Man so prevalent in medieval times, in which the various parts and organs of the body are supposed to be under the domination of various planets and signs, are shown by de Lubicz to have come down from Egypt (see plate 6). The symbolism of the Temple of Luxor exactly matches the ally determined; it

knew -

that different herbs embodied within

medieval drawings. This sort of analogical medical thinking

by the

rigidly orthodox, but the fact

is

may

be scoffed at today

that the

same

principles

apply in homeopathy and, in a different way, in acupuncture, both

which

of *

are receiving serious attention these days.

There

is

con-

‘Ancient science was the product of very few men; and those few to be Egyptian.’ Neugebauer, op. cit., p. 91.

happened not

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

52

temporary evidence planets and

show

to

men change

that the electrical potential of both

according to the phases of the moon, the

time of the day, and the season of the year; and other properties of the

human and

natural world change as well.

that healing properties

And

may vary

as time goes on,

stands to reason

It

accordingly.

some of the more absurd and revolting

notions of the ancients are found to be based

upon sound medical

understanding. The much-derided ‘dreckapotheke’ (neat in the Ger-

man, this translates clumsily into ‘sewage pharmacology’), which recommends the application of moulds, urine and dung for various tantamount in many cases

disorders, turns out to be

to the use of

natural penicillin and antibiotics.

would appear, then, that much

of what ancient Egypt bequeathed us in the medical realm is sound - and an overwhelming amount remains a mystery since Egyptologists cannot figure out It

what

the recipes and instructions refer

to. It is

an undeniable fact

that the Greeks were deeply indebted to the Egyptians for their

medicine, as were the Arabs; and from the Greeks and Arabs, medicine

- or what remained

of

Christendom in general. Does it really matter if not another?

Is a

- came down

a patient

to

Medieval Europe and

given a drug at one time, and

is

herb collected at a certain time, and prepared at

a certain time efficacious,

And

another time?

it

but not so

if

collected

and prepared

at

are these related to the positions of the planets

at these times?

Modern

discoveries in a

number

of fields

make such

questions

reasonable. Should this aspect of Egyptian medicine turn out to be

founded largely or partially on legitimate grounds

its

importance

could scarcely be over-emphasized.

But

this is a

matter for hypothetical Egyptologist /Physician/

Astrologers, just as coaxing Egyptian astrology out of the stones of the temples will require Egyptologist/Architect/Astrologers.

Such specialists are in short supply at the present moment, and from the reception given to Schwaller de Lubicz’s work (see

Appendix

Though

I) it

appears unlikely that a surfeit

the structure of astrology

is

is

at

such that

hand. it

could not have

‘evolved’ out of accurate astronomical observation and idiotic de-

ductions

made upon

the basis of these observations; and though

sufficient evidence suggests that today’s astrology

has always affirmed

it

to

is

what legend

be - a part of an ancient doctrine that at

DREAMS THE CHALDEANS NEVER DREAMED

53

philosophy and science into one internwhole - the academic attitude towards it remains curiously unchanged. ‘Compared with the background of religion, magic and mysticism, the fundamental doctrines of astrology are pure science/ 17 declares Otto Neugebauer And compared with the food, the chef, and the recipe, the stove is ‘pure science’ as well. Professor

one time fused

art, religion,

ally consistent

.

.

.

.

Neugebauer is ‘exceedingly sceptical of any attempt to reach a synthesis - whatever this term may mean’. But he is meanwhile convinced that ‘specialization .

.

.

that

is

the only basis of sound knowledge’

may mean. Although perhaps he means by studying the stove minutely enough, ‘science’ will ulti-

whatever those terms

mately understand the chef.

The Whore of Babylon

2

When

Jupiter stands in front of

be slain, or a great

When Mars

army

Mars there

.

.

will be corn

and men will

will be slain.

approaches Jupiter there will be great devastation in the

land.

When Mars

approaches Jupiter, in that year the king of

and the crops of that land

die

When

the

Moon

Akkad

will

will be prosperous.

rideth in a chariot, the yoke of the king of

Akkad

will prosper.

When

moon

the

is

of a far country will

When Mercury Leo

low in appearance, the submission

come

culminates in

Tammuz,

there will be corpses.

dark, the heart of the land will not be happy.

is

of Kings

(of the people)

to the king.

Long

When

live the

Lord

from Asandu. When Jupiter goes with Venus, the prayers of the land will reach the heart of the gods. Merodach and Sarapanitum will hear the prayer of the people and will have mercy on the people. .

.

.

them send me an

Let itir.

!

ass that

it

may

ease

my

feet.

.

.

.

From Nirgat-

18

B.C.), King of Assyria, received the above from his magicians and astrologers. Marked confidential, and intended only for the king, these reports, inscribed in cuneiform upon clay tablets, were among the thousands recovered from the ruins of the library at Nineveh. Egyptian astrology must be deduced from its medicine and architecture, but the magicians and astrologers of Nineveh have provided us with an astrology that sounds all too familiar. Marked ‘unconfidential’ and put in less orotund language, it might come right out of a contemporary newspaper; no esoteric interpretation as far as we know can be made of

Assurbanipal (668-626

as daily reports

these reports.

On

the other hand, the astrologers and magicians of Nineveh and

Babylon

may

not be quite as guilty of superstition and/or char-

latanry as they appear.

We do not know how

conclusions. Accurate astronomical data

And

if

on

was

they arrived at their available to them.

their tablets they predicted disaster because Jupiter stood

THE WHORE OF BABYLON in front of Mars, they

who,

may have been no guiltier

after a battery of tests

55

than the physician

and examinations,

his

tells

layman

patient that because he has high blood pressure and a coated tongue

The method by which the expert arrives at no concern to the non-specialist. The accuracy of the diagnoses is another matter. We have never heard anyone suggest that the magicians of Nineveh and Babylon he ought

go

to

his diagnosis

may have

is

to bed.

of

been right, or at

least right fairly often.

No

one has

proved the contrary. Perhaps Assurbanipal was not so big a fool as

he looks, and was receiving sound advice. Or perhaps the reports were formal

rituals

not taken seriously by anyone. Or perhaps there

an esoteric meaning

is

can fathom. involving

It is

to

them which neither we nor anyone

conceivable that even a situation such as

what appears

to be astrology of the

else this,

lowest order, ought

not to be taken at face value.

The prophet Daniel,

living a century later,

was renowned

being wiser than the magicians and astrologers at their

for

own game

and was made master over them, according to The Book of Daniel; though if the chronicler tells truly, wisdom was not the salient feature of Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Nevertheless,

wise

men from

it is

impossible to judge the knowledge of genuine

their behaviour at court.

biblical hint that a

And

there

is

at least

one

more sophisticated astrology may have been

going on in the background. In 597, the prophet Ezekiel, along with King Johakin of Juda, exiled to Babylon. Prophesying the sufferings of Israel, Ezekiel

was

6) testifies, quoting the Lord, as He appeared before vision T have appointed thee each day for a year.’

(4

:

him

in a

:

To an

astrologer this looks very

of prediction

still

used, in

a year in another. thirtieth

day

That

which is,

a

much

it

scale

is

system

equated with

the position of the planets on the

after the birth of a child will in

his thirtieth year. (Illogical as this

that

like a reference to a

day on one

may

some way

prevail in

appear, astrologers insist

works.)

Now,

Ezekiel’s

symbolism

is

famous vision of the Wheel with its Sphinxsaw things in astrological terms

a strong hint that he

(mystics typically describe their experiences within the context of their particular beliefs) and the reference may not be merely arbitrary. 19

Mesopotamia, lacking the natural borders and defences of Egypt,

HI

56

STORY AND

T

ECHNIQUE

more fragmented and chaotic historical picture. The construction of the Ziggurats in three, four or seven tiers,

presents an even

and the prevalence of such geometric symbols as the seven-pointed from the earliest times an esoteric tradition of some sort must have existed. From earliest antiquity Babylonian star indicate that

boundary stones were marked with the symbols of the sun, moon and Venus; and from the days of King Sargon (c. 2800 B.c.) the stars are

mentioned, in conjunction with the inspection of the

livers

means of prophecy. The Mesopotamians were avid and inveterate star-gazers, and their astronomy had attained a high level of observational precision at a very early date. The movements of the planets were being of sacrificial animals, as a

recorded in cuneiform at least as early as 1700 B.c. In

astronomy there

is

no mention

of astrology; yet

does appear in the reign of Assurbanipal of astronomical precision, in a

No

dent rather than incipient.

into the elegant Zodiac with

all

this

astrology

does so with no mention

form that could be considered decaamount of prophesying on the basis

Mercury

of Leo darkened and

it

when

in

Tammuz

could organize

its polarities, triplicities

itself

and quadru-

ple ties. Schwaller de Lubicz has pieced together the tradition behind the actual history of Egypt, and

Mesopotamian history

is

esoteric traditions must,

it is

probable that the tradition behind

not dissimilar - whatever their differences,

by

definition, agree in essentials.

Certainly, the histories of both cultures differ

:

in Egypt, tradi-

from the surface of life, though the outer manifestations of Egyptian political life seem not unreminiscent of the Vatican with its closed doors, internal rivalries and varying degrees of tyranny and corruption. Mesopotamia, on the tion can never

have been

far

more reminiscent of New York; sprawling, infinitely which anything goes. But the history of Mesopotamia - to a lesser extent of Egypt more remarkable for what we do not know than for what we do.

other hand,

is

faceted, a society in

is

And

while de Lubicz

oral tradition

and

may

satisfactorily

account for secrecy of the

for the lack of written evidence for

it,

he does

not account for the strangely fragmentary state in which

knowledge has reached Recently, however, a

this

us.

number

of books have appeared

which may

help to explain the mystery. Legends everywhere are

rife

accounts of cosmic disasters of varying proportions.

Amongst

with

4

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

57

few proponents of ‘catas trophism’, but since Lyell and Darwin such notions have been distinctly unpopular and unorthodox to the point of heresy.

scholars there have always been a

Father Xavier Kugler, the scholar largely responsible for destroying the hypotheses of the Pan-Babylonian School of Archaeology (believing that all the great civilizations had their roots in Babylon),

had come to the conclusion that the civilizations of Mesopotamia had undergone violent physical disruptions far exceeding the normal, or even the abnormal limits. 20 The discovery of vast underwater ruins off the island of Thera has given further impetus to catastrophe adherents. And a book just published by James Mavor, an oceanographer, develops this theme still further. According to Mavor the disaster that plunged Thera beneath the waves and destroyed the civilization of Crete was five times as great as that which blew up Krakatoa in 1888; (the latter killed thirty thousand people, sent tidal waves around the world levelling most of the ports of the Pacific, and reddened the sunsets with volcanic dust for three years). If the earthquake that destroyed Thera was five times as great as this, it means that virtually nothing around or

near the Mediterranean could survive.

Evidence from other quarters suggests that tremendous as this disaster

may have

been,

it

was not

localized to

diately adjacent civilizations. Claude P.

had come

Thera and the imme-

A. Schaeffer, a French

1948 that the whole of had been shattered on five separate occasions between the third and second millennia B.c. The greatest of these he dated c. 1500 b.c., tying in with the strongly supported archaeologist,

Middle Eastern

to the conclusion in

civilization

dating of the Cretan disaster.

And

finally, the boldest

and the most despised of these scholars,

Immanuel Velikovsky, contended

in a

number

of books 21 that

these disasters were world-wide in scope, and that they were caused by planetary disturbances - specifically by Venus, which, accord-

ing to Velikovsky, historical past;

is

a

new

planet, born out of Jupiter in the recent

and which, before

settling into orbit, buzzed the earth (causing the catastrophe of 1500) and then continued behaving erratically for the next eight hundred years, ultimately engag-

ing in a cosmic duel with

Mars bringing on

the final series of

disasters.

Since Velikovsky’s theories run counter to history, geology, archaeology,

all

that

is

accepted in

astronomy and anthropology

it

is

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

58

no

surprise that they

were and are regarded with an unbeneficent

eye by experts in the affected areas. Subsequent discoveries in science over the past

twenty years, however, have tended

to bear

out some of his more outrageous contentions and predictions; while

only a few relatively minor points have been conclusively refuted. 22

The arguments pro and con Velikovsky tend

we

dictions

to

be complex, so

only mention a few of the most striking points and contra-

shall

Venus

:

in her role as

morning and evening

seems so

star

well established in Egyptian mythology that her very recent birth is

unthinkable; and the sun,

upon the

earliest

moon and Venus symbols

inscribed

Babylonian boundary stones ought not to be over-

looked. Yet one of the strongest pieces of evidence Velikovsky

brings to bear supporting a Venusian disturbance

is

his account

Ammizaduga astronomical tablets c. 1600 B.C., which, at a time when astronomical precision was being practised with great deliberation in Babylon, showed Venus behaving in an erratic and of the

incomprehensible manner. Scholars attribute the inscriptions to faulty observation. Velikovsky argues that tions are precise to a remarkable degree,

if all

why

the other observa-

should the observa-

tions on Venus be faulty? Velikovsky also cites Aztec astrology which portrays Venus as a bloody and avenging force, to be feared and propitiated. 23

But we should expect this to be reflected in Western astrology As we have said, the changing character of planets is not necessarily due to arbitrariness, but to the emphasis placed upon as well.

one or another aspect of that planet at a particular place or time. Velikovsky asserts that in one of these historically-recent disasters the earth shifted

on

its axis,

bringing on

‘ice ages',

altering

the climate permanently, and the entire ecology of the surface of the earth.

A

vast

amount

of geological evidence

is

brought in

to

support the theory of cataclysm; most convincing to our minds, the incidence of

mammoths

in the Siberian tundra.

He

points out

that these sub-tropical animals, weighing several tons, were frozen

had no time to decompose. When mammoths are dug out of the permanently frozen earth of the tundra even their eyeballs are intact, and the meat can be fed safely to dogs. Yet,

so quickly that they

examination of the contents of their stomachs reveals a diet of subtropical herbs.

Velikovsky argues that nothing short of a

the axis of the earth could freeze five tons of

and keep

it

frozen.

mammoth

shift in

instantly,

THE WHORE OF BABYLON But Velikovsky holds that

59

and

this took place in historical times

seems to be impossible in the light of the history of Egypt.

this

The pyramids most

certainly antedate the catastrophe of 1500.

These structures are deliberately and unmistakably oriented wards the cardinal points; and the star-charts paintings on the

to-

ceil-

show the same picture of the sky over Egypt as found today. The positions of the stars are given with such

ings of the tombs is

accuracy that, with minor disagreements, scholars date the charts to 4240 B.c. If Velikovsky were right, a star chart of the Egyptian sky would be unrecognizable today, and the pyramids would be

aligned with nothing. Moreover, Egyptian climate in

its

own way

would have changed as drastically as Siberian. But the earliest tomb paintings show a way of life that is unmistakably Egyptian, and which does not change in four thousand years.

Whether Velikovsky

right or not the event that destroyed

is

Crete around 1500 B.c. and most of the Mediterranean world substantiated from a

number

of sources and

tered the traditional doctrines irreparably.

is

it may well have scatEven Egypt never at-

tained her former heights.

which Velikovsky postulates c. 700 B.c. to the history of astrology. But we significant more could be even do not know of any subsequent scholarly work done which either

The

series of disasters

substantiates or contradicts him.

What

is

certain however,

is

that before the seventh century B.c.

both Eastern and Western history

is fragmentary and incomplete; while thereafter - with certain important gaps - it becomes more

or less coherent, and this

is

surprising, since the heights of art

and

architecture in Egypt, in South America, and to a certain extent in India

and China antedate

this period.

Moreover, in the centuries immediately following, civilized

pendently, taught doctrines which reverberate

Yet

it

is

all

over the

world a spate of great teachers arose who, apparently inderemarkable that

all

these

men

down

to

our times.

refer for their authority

to the legendary wise men of the past. Is it not unlikely that Buddha, Lao Tse, Pythagoras and Zoroaster should all, independently of each other, hit upon the same scheme for impressing

back

the gullible with their credentials? assert

- man

at this time took a step

And

if

higher level of consciousness and civilization, less

reason to refer back to the 'sages of

-

some scholars new and there would be still as

forward towards a old’.

HI

60

STORY AND TECHNIQUE

Meanwhile, the only astrology we know from this period comes from Babylon and Nineveh, and seems to have been of a low

to us

order.

And yet

‘Pythagorean'. Legend insists

call

- that these

principles are

She Seduces Greece Pythagoras

.

.

much

.

580-500 B.c.) may well have been the single greatest development of Western thought. Like so many of the

world's great teachers, he

left

accounts of his work and his

many

questioned. But

pendium

older than Pythagoras.

(c.

force in the

where, for

what we today would - and Schwaller de Lubicz proves

the principles of astrology are

nothing in writing, and subsequent life

have been distorted

to the point

years, even his actual historical existence

was

now accepted that he was not a mere comand that he taught his famous doctrines at his

it is

of legend,

‘school' in Croton, opened after his return from prolonged unauthenticated - travel in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

if

Pythagoras has always been given credit for the discovery of the laws of harmony and the geometrical Rule of Pythagoras, and he has been condemned by logicians for fostering the superstition that numbers had meanings, which led in turn to many further despised superstitions, among them the famous ‘Harmony of the Spheres' which is, of course, central to astrology. It is, however, impossible to avoid Pythagoreanism. Even the logician, in his monochrome world of yes-or-no, pays tacit homage. For if two were not different in meaning from one, there could be no distinction between true and false. While in the subtler worlds of mathematics and physics, ‘Neo-pythagoreanism' is a recognized movement. 24

not

It is

tised

known

if

Pythagoras himself taught astrology, or prac-

it.

Victorian and classical scholars, tracing their intellectual genealogies, and, like

nouveau-riche industrialists, anxious to prove them-

selves of noble lineage, successfully pretended for several centuries

that the Greeks were untainted

Alexander brought

until

it

by astrology

altogether; at least

back with him from his conquests; at

which point it was supposed to have spread unchecked. But by 1900 this view was contested by Franz Cumont. .

.

.

another pupil of Plato, the astronomer, Eudoxus of Cnidos de-

THE WHORE OF BABYLON dared

‘No credence should be given

:

to the

Chaldeans,

who

6l

predict

and

mark out the life of every man according to the day of his nativity.’ Certain modern philologists - who doubtless look upon Greek history as a kind of experiment in a closed vessel, which a providence anxious to

exclude every disturbing element conducted for the fullest instruction

of the savants of the future

- certain

philologists,

whether Eudoxus in the fourth century could

condemned

oriental genethlialogy (prophesying

But

birth).

treatise

like

on

Eudoxus, Theophrastus, a

‘Celestial Signs'

Chaldeans

:

say,

I

really

have doubted

have known and

from the moment of

little later,

spoke of

it

in his

he regarded with surprise the claim of the

be able to predict from these signs the life and death of and not merely general phenomena, such as good or bad

to

individuals,

weather.

The

insatiable curiosity of the Greeks, then, did not ignore astrology

its hazardous doctrines, and their keen was able to distinguish the scientific data observed by the Babylonians from the erroneous conclusions which they derived from them. It is to their everlasting honour that, amid the tangle of precise observations and superstitious fancies which made up the priestly lore

but their sober genius rejected

critical sense

of the East, they discovered and utilized the serious elements, while

neglecting the rubbish.

As long

as Greece

remained Greece,

gained no hold

stellar divination

on the Greek mind, and all attempts to substitute an astronomic theology for their immoral but charming idolatry were destined to failure. The efforts of philosophers to

impose on their countrymen the worship of

the ‘great visible gods', as Plato terms them, recoiled before the might of a tradition

And

supported by the prestige of art and literature

the time comes

when

25 .

the son of the nouveau-riche indus-

repudiates his father’s crasser pretensions and

trialist

owns up

to

the scoundrel at the root of the family tree, insisting, however, that

he was Robin Hood.

How sense’

are

we

to reconcile that 'sober genius’

with a concomitant

belief in idolatry

- be

and ‘keen it

critical

never so charm-

ing or immoral ? *

How could

these Greeks

on the one hand

sift

the science out from

the superstition of Babylon and on the other bestow ‘prestige’

upon

an art and literature founded entirely upon idolatry? *

Even allowing

who

for the subjectivity of language; to call, say,

and devours his father and commits incest with somewhat permissive. castrates his father

his children - or his

Oedipus -

Kronos -

who

slays

mother - ‘charming' would seem

:

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

62

It is

obvious that a nation of such sub-Sagittarian creatures (half

genius, half-jackass) never existed.

Sober genius and a keen

critical sense

have nothing

belief in or a repudiation of astrology. Socrates

and and

a

keen

who

critical sense,

but the bureaucrats

to

do with a

had sober genius

who put him

to death,

expressed the will of the majority at that time, did not.

A

is the hallmark of a decadent and for several hundred years in the Greek citizenry were too busy fighting both their enemies and themselves to succumb to this particular form of national despair. In Cumont’s time, no pre-Christian horoscopes had been found. Yet it is possible to deduce from the testimony of Eudoxus and Theophrastus that genethliacal astrology must have existed at least as early as the fourth century B.c. And it was not unreasonable to suppose - accurate astronomical data being available - that

widespread passion for prophecy society,

the Chaldeans had at their disposal

some systematic method of

cal-

culating and prophesying, conceivably dating from antiquity

though

this

view has been challenged by Robert

Eisler,

-

among

others It

follows then that the claim of the various ‘Chaldean' and ‘Egyptian’

star-clerks writing in

pay

Greek for a Hellenized public able and willing to on the secular, nay millennial

for ‘nativities’, to base their forecasts

experiences of their respective ancestors, was and

healthy bouncing

Never

lie.

Assyrian, Babylonian,

or, for

at

is no more than a good, any time did an early Sumerian,

the matter of that, an old Elamite, Hurrite,

or Hittite astrologer writing in cuneiform script on clay tablets ever establish

any

relation whatsoever

between the position of the planets in

the various zodiacal signs and the fate or character of any individual 26 child - royal, noble or plebeian-born or conceived at a given hour.

Yet despite the conviction with which rests

upon the assumption

this

view

that Eisler had read

all

is

expressed,

it

the Sumerian,

Assyrian, Babylonian, Elamite, Hurrite and Hittite tablets that

were ever written and that ever will be found. This assumption turns out to have been premature. Recent discoveries (1952) have brought to light the postulated horoscopes of the Babylonians, in which planetary and Zodiacal positions are noted.

back

to

This to

The

earliest of these

horoscopes can be dated

27

29 April, 409 tells us that personal, genethliacal astrology - as opposed

mundane

B.c.

astrology,

which

predicts national or local events, in

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

63

conjunction with the future of the king, such as that of Nineveh existed centuries before it was supposed to have begun; and in Babylon.

But

it tells

us nothing about that astrology

itself.

And

here, just

where it might be possible to learn something, scholarHaving gone to the considerable and commendable trouble to unearth and translate all this new data, no attempt is made to evaluate or interpret it, and we are left with mere ‘informa-

at the point

ship stops short.

tion’.

Reduced

may be seen as the struggle of civilizawith barbarism predominating - since it

to essentials, history

tion against barbarism,

takes a thousand civilized

men

a

hundred years

while a single barbarian with a howitzer Certain societies

- Egypt seems

to

to build a cathedral

flattens

have been one -

it

in a minute.

effect a

balance

for a time. In others, civilization runs like a thick visible thread

through the barbarian tapestry, holding builders of the so-called is

Dark Ages. In

it

together - the cathedral

a truly dark age, the thread

invisible.

Scholars cannot legitimately talk about ‘religion’,

‘art’,

or ‘astrol-

ogy’ without specifying which level of religion, art or astrology

they mean.

By

patiently following the connections of mathematical and astro-

we moved from period to period and from civilization to Our road often went parallel to the road pointed out by

nomical theory civilization.

alchemy and many other

historians of art, religion,

surprising. It only underlines the intrinsic unity of role of

astronomy

is

perhaps unique in so far as

it

fields.

human

carried in

is

not

culture.

The

This

its

slow but

steady progress the roots for the most decisive development in

human

modern exact sciences. To follow this specific history seems to me worthy of our efforts, however

history, the creation of the

aspect of cultural

fragmentary our results

But

may

be

28 .

‘the road ... of religion, art

and alchemy’ goe$ in exactly the which in any case

opposite direction from that of the exact sciences

are not exact, but merely quantitative. ‘Decisive’ for ‘valuable’.

The A-bomb was

is

not a synonym

the most ‘decisive’ event in the

history of Hiroshima. Civilizations operate

The

upon

a

number

Beatles, accomplished in their

own

order as Bach. Billy Graham’s religion

of levels simultaneously.

not of the same incommensurable with

right, are is

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

64

Meister Eckhart's.

It

is

not a matter of better and worse, but

of higher and lower.

That such

a hierarchy exists

to falsify history hopelessly.

any instrument that

And it is

is

is

But

unmistakable. it

To overlook

it is

cannot be measured - not by

an extension or refinement of the

five senses.

this that provides scholars with their loophole.

Arbitrary, metaphysical standards - such as measurability - are erected.

Everything

is

then subjected to this standard as a

cation for ‘serious' consideration. the fault

is

does not

fit

held to

lie

qualifi-

When the standard is inapplicable,

in the subject. If

cannot be measured,

it

if it

Red China, it is detrue - except that in the

into the plan, then, like ESP, or

clared non-existent.

A vote may be taken,

discussion preceding the vote

all

who

point back to the long-since-

forgotten original arbitrariness of the standard are branded cranks

and excluded from the vote as mentally incompetent and the universe is then, by a unanimous vote of experts, decreed or dreamers

spiritually flat.

Unaware ogy

a

first

of the crucial idea of ‘level',

and misguided attempt

to

Neugebauer

sees in astrol-

quantify knowledge.

He

Greek development, with the height of in the second century B.c. as Euclidean geometry

believes astrology to be a activity falling

and improved Greek astronomy were grafted on to Chaldean superBut this is impossible, since the astrological canon with its dance and fusion of numbers is a whole, clearly implicit in all that

stitions.

is

known

of Pythagorean teaching.

Did the Pythagoreans actually have and teach like the Egyptians,

keep

it

astrology, but,

to themselves?

Admittedly, falling back upon secret doctrines every time the evidence

fails

us smacks of dcus cx machina.

Still, it is

common

knowledge that the Pythagoreans took pledges of secrecy.* Was a knowledge of astrology among the secrets? We don't see how it could have been missing. Pythagoras, and Plato after him, taught that man is a microcosm, and that in him are contained all the laws applicable to the macrocosm of the universe. This is a fundamental principle of astrology. Empedocles, a fairly early Pythagorean (c. *

‘The mysteries most jealously guarded by the Brotherhood (of Pythawere of supposed cosmic and practical importance. It is both tragic

goras)

were preposterous nonsense.’ doubly tragic and ironic that E. T. Bell did not secrets, and so was talking through his hat.

and

And

ironic that they

E. T. Bell, op. cit., p. 198.

know

the nature of those

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

65

has been credited with the invention of the 'four elements’.

450

B.c.)

We

have seen that these are a part of Egyptian mythology. They

are also central to the astrological doctrine. Pythagoras taught that

harmony was but that expression of cosmic harmony to which our organs of sense had access; an earthly taste of the 'music of the spheres’. The same mathematical ratios of the musical musical

applied to astrology, produce the astrological doctrine of

scale,

'aspects’.

Was

unknown

all this

to the

Egyptians and Pythagoreans and

only grafted on later by clever eclectic con-men ?

Our own

guess would be that Pythagoras and his followers

the principles of astrology, but that their study of

it

knew

was confined

symbolism of the zodiac and the planets and the harmonic relationships between them; an early Pythagorean would be more to the

meaning of Mars in Scorpio than he would which Mars in Scorpio manifested itself in the personality of X, born under Mars in Scorpio. And if he concerned himself with whether X, born under Mars in Scorpio, should buy a interested in the abstract

be in the

poodle

was

way

in

when Jupiter stood in conjunction to Sirius because Sirius known as the 'Dog Star’ and Jupiter symbolizes good for-

also

tune, he

would be dismissed from the Brotherhood. And he might

then set up business in the agora as a 'Chaldean’. This brings us back to the notion of

but at

least

picture that

making is

it

'level’,

complicating matters

theoretically possible to present a historical

not a priori a

lie.

The examples above roughly distinguish the principal levels of astrology - symbolic, psychological, and fortune-telling. But the levels are not mutually exclusive. Or, to be more precise, while it is possible to practise the lower

without knowledge or regard of the impossible to study the higher without knowledge of the lower, though it may be impossible to put it into practice. A hypothetical example a king, acting upon the advice of his

higher,

it is

:

Wise

Men (many

know in advance that youth was in the stars, and perhaps take measures to gear educational methods to the changing conditions; thus consciously directing all that energy - in itself neutral - into useful instead of destructive channels. didn’t,

one gathers) might

a generation of particularly chaotic

But

as history

existed, unless

it

makes

clear,

Nevertheless, once astrology C.F.A.

3

no such

multi-level astrology has

existed in Egypt. 29 is

seen in terms of level, a

number

.

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

66

of otherwise

themselves;

among

Cumont who,

speak-

inexplicable questions resolve

them, that raised by a baffled and irate Franz

ing unofficially for the entire academic brotherhood, asked

spread and force

could this absurd doctrine

arise, develop,

upon superior

century after century?

...

cination

brain

intellects for

:

.

.

.

'How itself

this hallu-

the most persistent that ever haunted the

human

.’ .

.

The answer

is,

by

of course, that superior intellects,

virtue of

their very superiority, recognize the validity of the principle of

Such men knew that the important

'leveF.

facts of the universe

will never yield themselves to tape measures wielded cripples;

and they were therefore open

by emotional

to the belief that the

sym-

bolism of astrology, as the epitome of Pythagorean thinking, provided a key into the otherwise inaccessible nature of these deeper universal truths - a belief that subsequent lifelong study did noth-

ing to dispel.

The wave

by Pythagoras and mementoes the Greek

of genuine civilization represented

Plato passed swiftly over Greece, leaving as

number

temples, Greek art, a

of streams of Pythagorean teach-

ing in varying degrees of impurity, and a thriving but chaotic astrology.

By

the third century B.C., improved astronomy and geometry

permitted astrologers to

make more

horoscopes, though

impossible to gauge the effect this had on

it is

their interpretive skill

open

fire

30 .

precise calculations in erecting

(The master chef can do more with an

than the novice with a gas range.)

ing astrology was

carried throughout the

And

this scientific-look-

then-known world by

Alexander. Aristotle's

most famous pupil largely succeeded in the physical

realm in emulating the intellectual achievements of his master; and in the guise of harbinger of enlightenment, managed to misunderstand, pervert

and destroy nearly

of his predecessors.

As

all

that

was valuable

in the

work

Aristotle distorted the teaching of the

Pythagoreans and substituted the arrogant and false notion that man, through the exercise of intellect alone, could arrive at a knowledge of the real world; so Alexander, pursuing a parallel path,

ground the palace of Darius, and with it the great wisdom that had managed to survive other conquerors and catastrophes; and by way of compensa-

burned

to the

library then containing the all

THE WHORE OF BABYLON the city of Alexandria in

tion established

Nor

did the parallel quite stop there.

The

honour

67

of himself.

particularly malignant

aspect of Aristotle’s teaching mentioned above did not infect the

West

until

it

was

falling apart

from other causes anyhow; while

through no fault of Alexander’s, Alexandria became in spiritual

thriving centre for the exchange of esoteric

turn the

the world, melting-pot of cultures, and a

of

capital

its

all

manner

of astrological

and

knowledge.

Over the course of several centuries, scholars collected and modern scripts and tablets. Undoubtedly, new work was undertaken; and another famous library, the Museion, grew to a reputed 700,000 volumes.

studied ancient and

If

horse-racing

is

the sport of kings, then book-burning

sport of conquerors; and

it is

partially

due

to this

is

the

pastime that

knowledge of the teachings of the past is so hopelessly fragmentary. During Caesar’s wars, the Museion was burned, destroying most of the astrological texts.

Babylon, over

Nineveh, and A.D., the

its

long history, was destroyed repeatedly, as was

the seats of ancient culture. In the second century

all

Emperor Septimus Severus pillaged the Egyptian temples which was subsequently destroyed or

of all their sacred literature, scattered about the world.

The

Serapeion, the library slowly built

from the remains of the Museion and from the accumulated

memories of

scholars, incurred the

wrath of the Bishop Theophilus

three centuries after Caesar; 200,000 offending scripts were lost.

Remnants found their way to Byzantium where they were momentarily safe. Meanwhile, the Emperor Constantine decreed that his version of Christianity - which bore a certain resemblance to the Christianity of today, but none to that of Christ - was to be the only and official religion of Rome, and burned all the pagan archives. In

Byzantium, Theodosius

century; not only closing

all

II

followed suit in the fifth

the universities

still

teaching Greek

philosophy but putting to the torch what had come to Byzantium from Alexandria. In Alexandria itself, however, the indefatigable

nth generation of scholars was piecing together what was left of and for several centuries lived in peace to enjoy what was left of .

the fruits of

its

.

.

labours. In 641, however, Alexandria again

Scholars begged the

Arab

general, ‘Amr, to spare the library.

fell.

But ‘Amr, a proto-Logical Positivist, declared the matter a pseudoproblem. ‘Either,’ he reasoned, ‘these books contain what is already

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

68

written in the Koran, in which case they are unnecessary; or else

they contain what

And

is

not in the Koran, in which case they are

the library burned. (This legend, alas

!

is

false.’

held to be apo-

cryphal.)

.

.

She Corrupts Rome

.

The

earliest

our

own day

complete astrological is

treatise

that has survived to

the Tetrabiblos of Claudius Ptolemy, Alexandrian

neo-platonist, astronomer, geographer, mathematician, astrologer,

of the second century A.D.

Seven centuries had elapsed since Pythagoras - the span of time separating the

Magna

Carta from ourselves. During this time

astrology flourished on every level the lower

Out

- and

- with increasing emphasis on

in every corner of the Hellenized world.

of these seven centuries comes astrology as

today - very volved in

its

it is

practised

has been added or changed. Yet the steps

little

in-

supposed development remain unknown, making the

history of astrology

more

Who first decided

elusive than ever.

Mars should be God of War; and that the Mars should therefore be important in the horoscopes of soldiers? And by analogy (Mars /Iron /Weapons /etc.) the planet of Butchers and Surgeons? Saturn was already playing his tradithat

planet

Egyptian myths. Mercury, the and Thoth to the Egyptians is invariably messenger to the gods; he rules the intellect; is the planet of writers (and of magicians, jugglers, pickpockets). Who first thought of this? And upon whose authority was it accepted? Did hundreds and thousands of independent astrologers scattered over the Hellenized world all suddenly agree that this was Mercury’s function ? If the scholars are right, and the meanings assigned to both the signs of the Zodiac and the planets are utterly arbitrary without even a grain of truth, then the historical fact that in two thousand years these meanings have gone unchallenged - and by the best, not the worst minds - stands as a psychological enigma too great to be shunted aside. In the pre-Christian era no known single astrologer, and no tional role in the earliest of the

Hermes

of the Greeks,

known

astrological or esoteric school, possessed the authority to

impose decrees upon hosts of independent astrologers of every pos-

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

69

and religious persuasion. And in the Hellenized was world there no organization big enough or stable enough to carry on systematic astrological observations - which would require sible philosophical

the detailed records of generations. Eisler (op.

p. 79) scoffs at

cit.,

the Chaldeans for boasting that their divinatory art of millennial experience.

Why is

there

no

What

was the

fruit

has happened to those records?

single instance of such massive statistical compila-

tion extant?

These are legitimate objections. them. But his oblique defence

moment

And

the astrologer cannot meet

interesting. Putting aside for the

is

the aesthetic satisfaction of astrological symbolism, astrol-

two thouno one has seriously attempted

ogers have actually been working with the material for

sand years. Yet, in these millennia to revise the astrological

was

canon.

No

really saturnine in character, or

moment

that astrology

is

one has claimed that Venus

Mars

jovial.

Suppose for the

absolute rubbish, and that the results

returns are always and inevitably false. It

who

is

it

possible then, that for

were so benumbed by its symbolism, so awe-struck by the imaginary authority of remote Chaldean dreamers, that not only did they fail to repudiate the

two thousand years

all

practised

it

doctrine, but they did not even attempt to radically reorganize

it

and fragments give

a

upon

more

a

clue as to

effective basis. Certain hints

how

this astrology

may have managed

through the centuries, more or

down

to percolate

less intact.

There was, for instance, Berosus,

a

Babylonian priest of Baal

who

opened an astrological school on the island of Cos in 280 B.c. We do not know what he taught, or how, but there is usually something behind a reputation that becomes legendary.

The

was Posidonius. work, but second-hand reports and a num-

greatest teacher of the pre-Christian era

Nothing remains

of his

ber of works from other writers for their ideas provide clues. So

who were indebted known that his

it is

based largely on Plato’s Timaeus - which entirety

- and

is

to Posidonius

teaching was

Pythagorean in

its

that he incorporated into his doctrine elements of

the rather ornate mystical doctrines then

coming

in

from the

East.

In his day, only Epicurus (preaching an altogether different doctrine) rivalled

him

as a teacher.

age were his pupils,

A number

among them

Cicero

of the great

(who

men

of the

later bitterly repu-

diated astrology).

Posidonius was by repute one of the most ardent advocates

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

70

astrology ever had. Apparently he inspired a long astrological

by the Roman, Manilius, which

among

in turn

had

poem

a long-lasting influence

astrologers.

Hipparchus, the greatest of Greek astronomers, was an astrologer - much to the regret of contemporary historians.

But it would appear that the Greek contribution to astrology was technical, not interpretive. The advanced astronomy and mathematics of the Egyptians of the Early and Middle Kingdoms had been lost, or otherwise vanished, and the Greek mathematicians and astronomers Aristarchus, Seleucis, Hipparchus and others, were forced to rediscover it for themselves. The application of improved astronomy and geometry permitted the calculation of an accurate horoscope. And to this was applied the already extant canon of symbols and meanings - no doubt to some extent adulterated and confused

As

by

this time.

the founders and adherents of Stoicism, the Greeks also

provided a philosophical atmosphere in which an astrology could flourish that

was not Pythagorean symbolism, nor cheap market-

place prophecy, nor even psychological study, but a philosophical

prop used to support Stoical pantheistic materialism; a doctrine in

many ways (in

its

similar to the atheistic materialism prevalent today

varying guises of 'Humanism', 'Existentialism', 'Ethical

Religion', etc.).

Like

modern materialism, Stoicism was

influential

among

the

and astrology served Stoicism in the same emotional capacity that modern science serves modern materialists. Astrology was to the Stoic the study of the manifestation of divine will; modern science is to the materialist the study of the manifestations of undivine accident - but both

ruling and

intellectual classes of the day;

presuppose the ineluctable operation of cause and

modern counterparts, the

effect.

were unhaving and taken this step were aware unable to reconcile the idea of free will with that of cause and effect. And while, in a universe pre-determined by divine will, just as in one in which meaningless effect follows automatically upon accidental cause, an interest in the nature of the causes is an absurdity, the Stoics could not help wanting to know - like their modern descendants - which effect would follow which cause; Like their

Stoics denied or

of the principle of ‘level',*

*

‘Never speak of the higher or the lower in evolution.’ Charles Darwin, quoted by Marjorie Grene, The Ktiowers and the Known, p. 266.

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

Jl

two thousand years later, was pressed into providing this cheerless and futile information. By the time of Claudius Ptolemy, astrology had 'developed' or perhaps more accurately 'conglomerated' into the recognizable

astrology, like science

parent of the astrology

still

practised today. Christianity was, at

many conflicting beliefs vying for prominence; all of which in one way or another concerned the supposed nature of the 'soul', and all of which in one way or but another of the

this time,

another took astrology into account. But

if

astrology could be cast

its techniques were more sceptical practitioners such a manner that no subsequent revisions

into every imaginable philosophical image, settled

- never

but, as

we have

to the satisfaction of its said, in

have been made that withstood the For

all his

test of time.

excellence as a geographer, astronomer, and mathe-

matician, Ptolemy's knowledge of the physical universe

scanty as anyone

else's of his age.

But

in his astrological

was as works he

attempts to account for astrological 'influence' by scientific explanations.

He

replaces the personalities ascribed to the planets with the

de-humanized terminology of Aristotle’s 'primary to the

modern

ear sounds ridiculous

qualities',

which

31 .

Ptolemy does not invent astrology; he attempts

to

apply what

he believes to be physical science to the vast corpus of rules-of-

thumb

that have

come down

sources. Thus, explaining

to

how

him from unknown

or

rumoured

the planets determine the kind of

death to be expected, he maintains

:

'.

.

.

if

the dominion of death

be vested in Saturn, he will produce death by means of lingering diseases;

cough, rheumatism, flux, ague, disorder of the spleen,

dropsy, colic, and complaints in the

womb;

and, in short, by

such diseases as proceed from the super-abundance of cold, moist, dry are so-called 'primary qualities'.) Jupiter effects death

cold.’

by quinsey, inflammation of the lungs, apoplexy,

spasm, pains in the head, morbid performance of the heart, and by diseases arising

all

(Hot,

from superabundance of

air,

all

and from immoderate and

impure respiration.

Mars causes death by constant fevers, semitertians, sudden and spontaneous wounds, diseases of the kidneys, expectoration of the blood, and haemorrhages of various kinds; by miscarriage, or abortion, and by by erisipilas, and, in short, by such diseases as proceed from abundant and immoderate heat. Venus produces death by disorders of the stomach, and of the liver,

child-birth,

.

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

72

by scurvy and dysentery;

also by consumption or wasting away, and by and poison, and by all diseases incident on the super-abundance or poverty of moisture, and its corruption. Lastly, Mercury causes death to proceed from fury, madness, melancholy, epilepsy, falling fits, coughs and obstructions, and by all diseases as arise from superabundance or disproportionate dryness. ... if it happen that Saturn be in fixed signs, and in quartile or opposition to the Sun, and contrary in condition, he will produce death by suffocation, occasioned either by multitudes of people, or by hanging or fistula

strangulation. ...

If

he [Saturn] be posited in places or signs of

form, the native will be destroyed by wild beasts, and,

same time badly

offer testimony, being at the

if

bestial

Jupiter also

afflicted, the

death will

then occur in public, and by day; for example, by being exposed to

combats with wild

beasts. If

Saturn be posited in opposition to either of

the luminaries in the ascendant, he will cause death in prison

configurated with Mercury, and especially

if

he be

if

:

near the constellation of

the Serpent in the sphere, and in terrestrial signs of the zcdiac, he will

produce death by venomous wounds or beasts.

And, should Venus

bites,

and by

and wild and Mercury

reptiles

also attach herself to Saturn

thus combined, death will then ensue by poison or female treachery.

watery signs, and configurated with by means of water, by drowning and suffocation and if found near Argo, by shipwreck Mars, if in signs of human form, and posited in quartile or in opposition to the Sun and Moon, and contrary in condition will operate death by slaughter, either in civil or foreign war, or by suicide if Venus add her testimony, death will be inflicted by women, or by assassins in the employment of women and should Mercury also be configurated with If

Saturn be in Virgo or

the

Moon, he

Pisces, or

will operate death

.

;

.

:

:

them, death will happen from robbers, thieves, or highwaymen

What

has happened to Pythagoras?

Egyptian sages?

How

Is

32 .

.

,

this the legacy of the

could Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos remain an

And how could a sane man commit such nonsense to papyrus in the first place? Half the men in the world are born with Saturn in a ‘bestial astrological textbook for sixteen centuries?

sign’.

Of

Jupiter.

those, at least

Even allowing

century Alexandria, are

thousand

How

men were

one in twenty are in

for a

we

to believe that twenty-five

torn apart

by wild

could such a notion arise?

half a dozen

men were

killed

by wild

Is it

out of every

beasts in public

combat?

possible that at one time

examining happened to have Jupiter; hence it passed

beasts in the arena;

their horoscopes, astrologers discovered that all

Saturn in

‘malefic’ aspect to

high incidence of violence in second-

‘bestial signs’ in malefic aspect to

—

:

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

73

into the astrological canon that all men born under such conditions would be torn to bits by wild beasts, and, having been incorporated, went unchallenged forever after? Could it have been that at another time, four different men were done in by their woitien; each was found to have a similarly unfavourable Venus; and it >vas concluded that all who have ill-aspected Venuses are doomed to die

violent female-inflicted deaths?

it

Modern scholars believe that this is the answer. And, certainly, must be part of the answer. A keen, critical sense has never been

the general rule

such

among

Thus, even today, statements

astrologers.

much

as the following are

less rare

'Saturn has a reputed temperature of 270 fore the “icy” planet of the heavens.

0

As

than they ought to be

below zero; and

is

there-

every schoolboy knows,

heat expands while cold contracts.

'When,

therefore, a

woman

born with Saturn mixing his rays

is

with either the Sun or the Moon, her restricted

and cramped.

.

.

.

Saturn

is

life

becomes

a very sincere

much

too

and conscien-

was and appeared in in print 1954, Prediction magazine (November 1954); its perpetrator, A. W. Pole, tious planet,

but he

is

essentially the planet of fixity/ This

written, incredibly enough, in

in a subsequent advertisement calling attention to his services, des-

cribed himself as 'The World’s

But

Most

not the whole story.

it is

complete textbook on astrology

Praised Astrologer’.

First, it

must be

realized that a

an impossibility; a foredoomed attempt to quantify the qualitative. Each horoscope is a whole. Each horoscope is individual.* And every astrologer knows is

(Ptolemy certainly knew) that to abstract individual elements from the horoscope is to eliminate part of the truth. Thus, it is misleading to it

say that Venus in opposition to Saturn means 'thus-and-so’. For only does under special circumstances when a myriad of other

enhance the probability of

factors

the subject at

generalizing

all,

it is

the astrologer

its is

working out. But

to talk

forced to generalize.

about

And

in

impossible to talk in the sort of infinite conditional

tense the subject demands.

Let us put Ptolemy’s grand-Guignol sense of illustration aside for the moment. Not many men are actually murdered by women, or even

type of

by

assassins hired

man who

by women. But there is a recognizable mercy of women. He has been

lives his life at the

* In Part Three we shall deal with the problem of horoscopes of children born almost the same minute, but otherwise unrelated. c.f.a.

3

*

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

74

known

and dramatists from time immemorial.

caricaturists

to

own

Obviously, every henpecked husband has his a

modern

astrologer

would not be surprised

if

peculiarities,

but

a test group could

be selected upon a pre-arranged and satisfactory scale of henpeckedness

show

-

by statistical methods, and, Mars /Venus /Saturn affliction.

indeed, to

to see this validated

a high incidence of

Ptolemy and other astrologers of his age took astrology seriously. Though even from this era very little written evidence has come

down

number

to us, a

were making

of sources attest to the efforts astrologers

improve and refine their art. Vettius Valens, a near contemporary of Ptolemy, tried to make statistical observato

unaware

tions,

made use

of the subtleties of statistical techniques. Doctors

and prescriptions, without had disour mind one of the many good reasons to take the

of astrology in their diagnoses

The high

great success one gathers.

appeared - to

science of Egypt

catastrophe theory of ancient history less lightly; of of

human

knowledge, medical knowledge ought

to evaporate.

By

form original

astrological

The demise

all

to

the varieties

be

least likely

the end of the second century the impetus to per-

of the

work had

Roman

died.

Republic and the inauguration of the

Empire was the beginning of

a

heyday

for the marketplace astrol-

oger that lasted four full centuries.

The

accession of

astrologers, despite

had coins

cast

Augustus to the throne had been predicted by heavy odds, and Augustus was so impressed he

bearing

his

sun-sign

(Capricorn).

Subsequent

emperors relied heavily upon their star-gazers.

But Rome never was a

Though

civilization in

civilizing currents ran

through

it

our sense of the word.

-

early Christianity, the

purer forms of neo-platonism, certain of the gnostic sects tion never reached the

defensible

upon grounds

vapidity of

its

emanating from

By

Roman

art its

-

civiliza-

population at large; a generalization

of the paucity of

and sculpture, and the

Roman

literature, the

spirit of

bureaucracy

architecture.

the time of Christ the fervour of the Republic

Empire had nothing to offer in its place but bread and in this atmosphere of bored frenzy the masses turned

had

died; the

circuses;

and

to the street-

corner soothsayer for advice and solace.

Rome and the United States - and, with it, Western world - have been made often enough, and are valid

Analogies between the

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

75

enough. (The current wave of pop astrology comes as no surprise.) But conditions in Rome under the Empire for this sort of entertain-

ment were even

better than they are today.

of people could actually

view the open

air

Only

TV

a limited

the newspaper had not yet been invented, and those

need

number

in the amphitheatre;

who

felt

the

maintain 'an intelligent interest in current events’ were

to

forced to rely

upon the

agency of rumour for their and misinformation. Psychoanalysts had was the astrologer who performed spiritual

less satisfactory

daily ration of titillation

not yet appeared, and

it

phlebotomies upon the rich

33 .

Instant horoscopes were cast in the streets. If a client did not the exact moment of his birth - and few did - a stick was thrown upon the soothsayer’s marble zodiac; where it fell marked the ascendant. It was believed that if the stars impelled the passerby to inquire into his destiny, then the stars would see to it that

know

the stick indicated the correct degree

34 .

Pythagoras played no more of a role in this astrology than he does in today’s newspaper astrology. But

draw

it

would be

a mistake to

too close a parallel between the corner ‘Chaldean’ in

Rome

(every pop astrologer called himself a ‘Chaldean’) and his apparent

descendant. gist.

The Chaldean was no mere

journalist-cum-psycholo-

His economic and psychological part in society was greater.

He

combined in himself the triple function of manufacturer, adverts ing agency and retail outlet; and his product of garbled mysticism and spurious hope differed from the material products of today principally in that, when it had served its emotional purpose, it left no disposal problem in its wake.

The

was by no means new. Centuries

situation

earlier,

the

prophet Isaiah had issued his famous pronouncements against the

and get thee into darkness, oh daughter Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy astrologers

:

‘Sit

thou

of the Chaldeans.

.

.

counsels. Let

now

silent .

.

.

.

the astrologers, the star-gazers, the

prognosticators stand

have come upon

up and save

monthly which

thee from those things

thee.’

But resounding prose has little effect upon the course of empires. Jerusalem fell in due course, and Rome in her time followed suit.

Whether lifespan

is

astrology added or subtracted as

an open question.

much

as a

day from her

:

3

Foolish Daughter Carries

For several centuries astrology,

the

church

Christian

not actually embracing

if

On

at

least

tolerated

Since the fundamental

it.

doctrine of astrology presumes the coherence of the universe, and

purports to be the means of understanding the divine will of the macrocosm as

it

manifests

no fundamental

there can be

rift

the microcosm of men,

itself in

between astrology and any genu-

ine religion. But the actual practice of astrology

is

quite another

matter. St Augustine, in the third century,

had consulted astrologers

himself before his conversion, and did not deny that their predic-

were often accurate, but being more theologically astute than his predecessors or contemporaries he understood the dangers of astrology in relation to faith. Augustine contended that astrology replaced the will of God with purely mechanical motions of the tions

stars;

that

it

led

men

Augustine held to

to exist

themselves to fate instead of appeared to deny free will - which

to resign

struggling towards grace; that

it

only insofar as

it

granted

man

the freedom

choose or refuse salvation.

The

potential evil of astrology heavily outweighing

its

potential

good, Augustine threw the full weight of his authority against

move

it

and politically - judging from the level of astrology then practised throughout the Empire. Astrology was not banned by the Church, nor quite driven underground; but its de-emphasis was sufficiently strong to preclude its resuscitation a situation that prevailed into the Middle Ages. a wise

theologically

The Neo-Platonists

of Alexandria were chiefly responsible for the

survival of astrology in the West. Plotinus, the great expounder of Plato and Pythagoras (third century a.d.) argued against a fatalistic interpretation of astrology.

a

number

continued.

And

it is

due

to Plotinus

and

of gifted followers that astrology as a serious study Proclus,

the

most distinguished of the

later

Neo-

Platonists (fifth century), wrote a paraphrase of Ptolemy’s Tetra-

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON was largely through was handed on. tradition the and

biblos

Where

it

there

is little

the Neo-Platon is ts,

this

work

that

what remained

77 ol

evidence of actual astrological practice by

going on it may be that a certain amount was ‘Hermetic the as us to down come What has

behind the scenes. Writings’ - fragments from a gigantic work allegedly containing two thousand volumes, which burned with the Museion in Caesar s time - was to be found in Alexandria. These strange and tantalizing

books contain what was

left of (allegedly)

Egyptian knowledge; a

mixture of alchemy, astrology, magic, medicine;

much

of

it

obscure,

35

and apparently deliberately so. Meanwhile, in other corners of the by

now dismembered

Empire,

an interest in astrology flickered on. Aetius of Amida, physician to the court of lioti,

Byzantium

(sixth century) published his Tetrabib-

from earlier works. Much book brought about a revival of

largely a compilation of excerpts

respected, and popular,

this

Ptolemy’s ideas which had been forgotten in the East, including his idea of the earth as a sphere. Aetius also drew attention to the much older

works of Philolaus

(d. c.

390

asserted, designed a cosmological

B.c.) a

Pythagorean who, Aetius

system in which the earth was

to the sun and moon, whirling about 36 ‘eternal fire’. somewhat abstract a And in Western Christendom the direct stream of Pythagorean thought was kept alive by Boethius, the last philosopher who could be called technically a Roman. Writing at the turn of the sixth century, when Rome itself was a crumbling town with but a few thousand inhabitants, and what remained of the Imperial Court had moved to provisional safety in Ravenna, Boethius in two books, De Institutione Aritmetica and De Institutione Musica attempted to reconstruct what was then known of the teachings of Pythagoras.

merely another planet, similar

,

Boethius wrote with that brilliance and fervour that seems to settle

upon

a

few chosen men

at the dissolution of a civilization,

and his

books exerted a persistent influence throughout the Dark Ages unjustly maligned, though crude and incommodious, these Dark

Ages were pitch black only to those who believe ‘illumination’ contingent upon electricity the art that survives this period, the Book of Kells, for example, was not created by simpletons. Though :

not directly astrological, Boethius’ works at least served to keep alive

the numerological and harmonic principles

astrology

is

based.

upon which

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

jS

Among

the various pejoratives hurled at astrology perhaps the

most common

is

‘medieval’ (see p. 14). But in fact the medieval

resurgence of astrology was due entirely to the Arabs.

Unlike almost every other great as

an esoteric

religion, Islam did

discipline. Rather, the warlike faithful of

reconquered and unified the Eastern and African

first

of the former

Roman

Empire, and

it

- the astronomers,

territories

was only afterwards, when the

martial enthusiasm abated, that the Sufis)

not begin

Mohammed

Mohammedan

doctors, scholars

mystics (the

and mathematicians -

came to the fore. A great astronomical observatory was built in Baghdad and systematic observation of the heavens began; many new fixed stars were discovered and named. And, because the Arabs, like every other pre-industrial people, did not understand the value of compiling facts for the pure quantitative joy of astronomy was unthinkable without astrology.

Muslim Spain was

And

in

the greatest of the

Arab

it,

centres of learning.

Granada and Seville astrology, along with the other ancient was studied on its symbolic and psychological levels, and

sciences,

with a particular emphasis upon

its

supposed relationship to

medicine. Throughout Islamic Spain, the Jews were

among

the

foremost philosophers, astrologers and physicians. Tolerated by the

Arabs

as ‘Children of the Prophets’,

Catholic Church as the cause of

and not yet

all its

vilified

by the

woes, for several centuries

the Jews lived unmolested amid the Arabs, yet were free to travel

and transtwo irreconcilably opposed forces. Welcome for their learning and their medical lore, the Jews also brought the rejuvenated Arab astrology into Europe. The debased soothsayers of Rome had been forgotten. The Augustinian objections - entirely valid for their time - were no longer binding; the greatest of the medieval churchmen with almost no exceptions warmly embraced the study of astrology, especially for its symbolic meaning. St Thomas Aquinas, one of the more in Christendom,

and so served

as unofficial go-betweens

mitters of culture between the

hesitant, gave

it

his blessing only in principle, not in practice;

Grosseteste, first chancellor of Oxford,

championed

it,

as did

Roger

Bacon, the ‘father’ of the experimental method.

There can be

little doubt that the medieval concept of the world But the contempt in which the Middle Ages are now held is a measure of the misunderstanding of this epoch and the result of a world view that is equally distorted.

was

one-sided.

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON To to

the

modern mind, the universe

an infinity of constituent

facts.

which phenomena

a symbol; in

reflections of the will of to matters of fact, the

is

To

79

a gigantic fact, reducible

the medieval

mind

was

it

were but

in all their diversity

God. Indifferent, or downright hostile

medieval mind was interested only in the

To

modern mind, facts count, and The scientist distrusts or even denies the reality of inner experience; he relies upon the evidence of his senses or those instruments which are extensions of his senses - if he can measure it, it is 'real’. The medievalist called the world of sense an illusion; only inner experience was real. He believed the world was flat but knew the universe to be a hierarchy of value. The modern thinker knows the earth is round, but thinks value ‘subjective’, a mere invention of man. The medieval mind ignored the facts of the physical world, and so produced a society that was all cathedrals and no sanitation. The modem mind ignores the

principle behind the fact.

the

principles take care of themselves.

values of the spiritual world and so has produced a society that all

and no cathedrals. Rationalists

sanitation

rejoice

and

is

call this

But the increasingly fraught psychological state of our sanitary society seems to indicate that in the end cathedrals may

progress.

prove to be a necessity, sanitation the luxury. For the two extremes are not opposite and equal. Fact pursued

and produces H-bombs and Value pursued to the exclusion of fact is merely foolish, but dangerous if carried far enough to produce an environment so unhealthy and uncomfortable as to to the exclusion of value is insane

striped toothpaste indiscriminately.

make

the values themselves appear irrelevant.

Moreover, the present has no monopoly upon pedants. Thinking about values order of

is

mind

not the same as acting upon them.

And

the

same

responsible today for linguistic philosophy and the

Ages was engaged upon the construction of vast and equally inutile conceptual schemes. The famous angelologies and demonologies were in effect various ‘philosophies’ of science, in the Middle

attempts to apply reason to the recorded experiences of the great saints

and mystics, despite the admonitions of the same

saints

and

mystics that this was impossible.

Roughly speaking, the world was an arena

in

which the

forces

of Good, or order, were engaged in eternal battle with the disruptive forces of the Devil (the quaint

the Second

Law

name given by

of Thermodynamics).

And

the medievalists to

astrology, studying

and

So

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

purporting to explain the multiplicity of interactions between the

movements

of the heavenly bodies

and the things of

earth,

became

the instrument par excellence for the establishment of prodigiously

complex

systems

describing

the

operations

of the

forces

of

order.

The danger, indifference to

were concerned, lay in their the way in which the physical facts conformed to

as far as the medievalists

the theory. Obviously,

judging an idea, there

when harmony

is

is

the only criterion for

nothing to restrain the imagination; and

while the symbolic hierarchy of medieval thought

may

well have

been an accurate schematic plan of the structure of the spiritual world, there was nothing to prevent the addition of every of scholastic

whim and

manner

caprice.

Actually, most of the connections for which the Middle Ages take the blame had been established in the astrological past.

alchemists had long associated the metals with the planets.

The The

shows the Saturn-lead connection earliest antiquity; and the other traditional relationships may be Egyptian as well - in any case they are at least as old as the Hermetic fragments (which are held to be Egyptian in 37 origin). The planet-herb connections were studied by the Arabs, and by the Jewish astrologer-physicians; while Ptolemy, the greatOsiris legend

with

its

lead coffin

stemmed from

est

geographer of his time, carefully attributed zodiacal dominion to

the various states and cities of his time.

The Hermetic

texts proclaimed, 'As above, so below',

and medie-

val thinkers sought replicas of the zodiac everywhere and in things.

Man,

all

the microcosm, contained the zodiac within himself,

and the various members and organs of his body (see plate 6) were supposed to be under the dominion of the various planets and signs. The four humours - phlegm, blood, choler and black bile corresponded to the four elements, and diseases were held to result from imbalances, excesses and deficiencies of one humour or another. A proper balance was called a 'good humour’ and medicines were prepared that were supposed to effect such a balance. Though medieval medicine seems to have been somewhat less appalling than currently reputed, it was far from efficient, and the medieval disdain for empirical method must have helped stave off the overpopulation problem.

But

if

the principal astrological correlations were ancient, the

medieval mind with

its

obsession for classifying and pigeon-holing

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON

8l

make a single tapestry of the innumerable threads that had come down to them from Arab, Neo-Platonic and Byzantine sources. Because it made little differwas responsible

for attempting to

the physical facts corresponded to the principle, it does not seem to have bothered astrologers unduly that their astrology

ence

if

was unsatisfactory, and they did not attempt to improve it. It was spiritually more rewarding to look for as yet undiscovered connections and correlations. At its worst, this produced such theories as the one claiming that because there were seven planets there were, necessarily, seven orifices in the

human

body.

determination to see connections everywhere may be absurd, but it is no more absurd than the equal and opposite determination

A

to see connections

nowhere. For example, a well-known physicist

38 ,

having alertly contrasted the crudity of the first man-made stone implements to the incredible complexity of the hand that fashioned them, then marvels that the hand should be the product of 'unconscious forces’; a conclusion put forward in the service of ‘the search for objective truth’. to

But the objective truth would seem

be that in the face of such thinking the medieval numerologists

and demonologists need not hang

their heads.

Indeed, in certain respects, medieval numerology was not only

under the circumstances, logical within the context then-known physical world. The number seven had been invested with magical and mystical significance since time immemorial, as the sum of Heaven and Earth, or Spirit and Matter, respectively symbolized by the numbers three and four. The folk lore of innumerable peoples and the traditions of all the great civilizations are rife with seven the seven Pleiades, the sevenheaded dragons, the seven-branched candelabra, the seven strings of Orpheus’ lyre, the seven Sirens of the seven spheres. The periodic justified, but,

of the

:

table of elements

quantum

with

its

octaval structure, the discreet energy

would come as no surprise to the medieval mind, but above all, and by far the most evident and conclusive proof of the significance of seven, was the apparent fact that there were seven planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, levels of

Saturn, each in

Who

its

theory,

crystal sphere, circling serenely about the earth.

blame the medievals for accordingly looking for seven everywhere and in all things? will

Astrology went out of fashion.

It

was

not, nor has

it

ever been,

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

82

disproved, either in fact or in principle, and the reasons for falling into disrepute are

more complex than

its

historians acknow-

ledge.

The

decline of astrology

is

generally attributed to the rediscovery

by Copernicus, to Kepler’s laws, Newton’s mechanics, the discovery of Uranus and Neptune, and, last but not least, to modern man’s healthy scepticism and more conof the heliocentric system

sidered

deployment of

his intellectual faculties. This account of the

decline of astrology has

become

so general that

no longer even

it is

questioned. Yet, with the exception of the discovery of the these scientific milestones in

no way

the practice of astrology; a fact

new

planets,

affect either the principles or

known and

accepted by Copernicus,

Kepler and Newton, and obvious to anyone acquainted with these principles.

For several centuries - roughly from the time of the cathedrals

break-up of medieval society around the end of the fifteenth century - astrology’s practical limitations were less important than to the

its

symbolic soundness. Astrologers were far more interested in the

many

numerological, mystical, alchemical, and cabalistic implica-

tions of their art,

gained

its

and Roman-style

fortune-telling

had not yet

re-

hold over the masses.

But in the increasing chaos of Europe, largely brought on by the simultaneous growth and power of states, and by disenchantment with the corrupt and manifestly unspiritual Church, astrological prophecy again became fashionable. Most of the Renaissance popes consulted astrologers on a more or less openly acknowledged basis.

Melancthon, Luther’s right-hand man, was an ardent astrologer, and Luther himself was not above providing the preface to an astrological

work by Johannes Lichtenberger - in which he

declared

the signs in the heavens to give warning to the godless.

Meanwhile, a few individuals were attempting

to refine

the

techniques of astrology.

Johann Muller (1436-76), mathematician and astronomer, improved upon the crude theory of 'houses’ that had held sway since

was Muller, writing under the euphonious Latinized pseudonym, Regiomontanus (Muller came from Konigsberg), who provided the astronomical basis for the twelve houses, and related them in function to the twelve signs. The basis for this had been established by Ptolemy’s division into Ascendant, Midheaven, Ptolemy.

It

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON

83

Descendant and Nadir, but it was Regiomontanus who worked out the rather complex mathematics involved. In theory, the twelvehouse division was accepted by astrologers

all

over Europe; in

practice unfortunately, defining the exact boundaries of the houses

between the angles

is

a problem that bedevils astrologers today as

much

as then. For a variety of technical reasons, there are argu-

ments

for

and against the different methods of

division,

and while

almost everyone agrees as to where the angles should be, and that there should be twelve houses corresponding to the twelve signs,

the conflicting systems

more degrees

to the

may make

boundary or

a difference of five, ten, or even

one of the houses. Thus,

'cusp' of

powerful configuration of planets in the ‘personality'

method

by one method of house

of division fall in the second

first

division,

house

(or

may by

another

house of attachment

and attitude towards the corporeal world). Obviously,

make

a

house, the house of

this

ought

a big difference in the interpretation given to the

to

whole

horoscope; and the problem of house division remains an embarrassing and unsettled one. So,

with interest in the spiritual

side of astrology declining,

and

with an augmenting public demand for astrological prophecy - met,

and neurotics - the very real inadequacies of astrology, and even more so, astrologers, became increasingly apparent to thinking men. A situation was created in which the worst aspects of astrology were stressed, while at the same time a new breed of predominantly secular and cerebral thinkers was coming to the fore. These men were immune to symbolic or hierarchical thought, and so this increasingly debased astrology was seized upon and ridiculed for being what it was never intended to be, and never would have been, had a decadent and as always,

by

a

new wave

of charlatans

aimless society not provided the breeding ground.

This icus,

is

a far cry

Kepler and

from the customary contention that Copern‘destroyed' astrology between them.

Newton

Copernicus (1473-1543) in fact was led to his rediscovery of the by his study of Pythagorean ideas, with which he became acquainted in Italy, at the school begun by the theoloheliocentric system

gian and mystic, Nicholas de Cusa (1401-64); whose teaching was based upon Boethius.

Thus, the heliocentric theory was very

among

much

the scholars of the Renaissance. But

it

a topic of discussion

remained for Copern-

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

84

icus to go to the considerable trouble to confirm

it

through observa-

tion.

—

Ultimately, opinions on astrology - Copernicus’ or anyone else’s either Mars in Scorpio means something are of no importance :

does not. But since historians insist that the great names of early science failed to repudiate astrology only through force of habit, muddled religiosity, or fear of public reproach, it is worth or

it

devoting some time to this otherwise barren controversy. Trained as a diplomat, Copernicus was able to apply that training to his life,

and recognizing the psychological potency of his

covery, wisely refrained from publishing during his lifetime

caution that seems to have been characteristic.

what Copernicus thought of he thought his theory might have upon for instance,

We

dis-

-

a

do not know,

astrology, or of the effect astrology.

We

do know,

however, that among his close friends was Joachim Rheticus (who saw to the posthumous publication of Copernicus’ ideas), an ardent astrologer and author of

N arratio

Primo (1540), a book that

used the Copernican theory to make astrological predictions of the

imminent Second Coming

of Christ.

These being the inclinations of his likely that

closest friends,

it

seems un-

Copernicus should have been particularly hostile to

astrology. But the situation is ironical. Copernicus, taking his cue from the Pythagoreans, proved the point that was to usher in four

centuries of rational, anti-Pythagorean thought. ican theory,

which

in

no way

astrologers to base their interpretations

vations

-

is

And

the Copern-

- beyond allowing upon more accurate obser-

affects astrology

credited with bringing about

its

downfall.

No

one remembers Joachim Rheticus. Surely there are few today who study arratio Primo. But in reality it was the flood of

N

books of

this genre,

books conceived in support of astrology, that

were responsible for astrology’s decline. There was no Second Coming. And sceptics were increasingly disinclined to give credence to the astrologers who predicted there would be. Galileo (1546-1642), responsible for the final public triumph of

was happy

the Copernican theory, predicting a long and

who

a practising astrologer life for

(famous for

his then patron, the

Duke

of

nowhere intimates only to make a bit of money practised on the side, or that that he he privately repudiated the subject. Indeed, Galileo was willing to stand up to the whole of the Inquisition to defend his beliefs, and it

Tuscany,

died a fortnight later), and he

:

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON is

unlikely that such a

85

man would keep a disdain for astrology secret.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was an outspoken champion of astromade one discovery that did more to disrupt the psychological faith in astrology than any other single scientific fact. Brahe proved that a Nova which flared in the sky was a fixed star. Since Aristotle, astrologers and everyone else had believed that the fixed stars were eternal, unchangeable, immutable and that they were gods. Astrologers had always welcomed a new light in the sky with a noisy abundance of predictions - usually dire - but a logy, yet, as an astronomer,

strange silence

supposedly of

its

own.

fell

over them

when

‘fixed' star, living a life,

And

while this

new

fact

they learned that here was a

and apparently dying a death was seized upon by astrology's

opponents who, just then, were beginning

most astrologers managed

to

overlook

it

to voice their objections,

altogether. Particularly

vulnerable was the elaborate system of relationships built the

medieval

astrologers

upon numerological and

up by

theological

grounds, and which the astrologers as well as their opponents by

not symbolically. Facts change, but prinatoms and galaxies disintegrate but the harmonic principles upon which they are formed remain. Yet our intellect this

time took

literally,

ciples are eternal;

seems incapable of accepting religion

and tradition

to intellectualize

is

this in

good grace, and the history of

invariably the story of man's attempting

what must, by

right, be

understood

.

In Brahe's time, the mass of believers in astrology - almost

everyone - as well as the astrologers themselves, believed astrology to be the effect of causes which could now be shown up as illusory the literal hierarchy of the seven spheres, the literal immutability

and divinity of the fixed stars, and so on. Confronted by the confirmed experimental results of Copernicus and Brahe, most astrologers turned their backs, stuck their heads in the sand, shouted ‘fraud' or simply rationalized

-

for example, the

astronomer

who

away

the facts

refused to countenance the

moons

of Jupiter because if they were too small to be seen by the naked eye they were of no importance, and if they were of no

importance, they did not exist. In short, astrologers reacted in

manner as do modern scientists when faced with phenomena of ESP, or with massive statistical surveys proving beyond a shadow of doubt that the position of a planet at birth exactly the same the

influences the later choice of profession.

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

86

And Brahe himself was no exception. Though able to reconcile own discovery of exploding Novae with his astrological beliefs,

his

he was never able to countenance the Copernican heliocentric theory, which he repudiated on theological grounds; and to account for

undoubted observed

data, invented

an elaborate geocentric

theory of his own.

By

this act of wilful obtuseness,

beliefs intact,

but made

it

Brahe not only kept his pet

easy for future historians to classify him.

Though an indefatigable observer and experimenter, and endowed with great technical ingenuity, 39 Brahe’s anti-Copernicanism and unabashed advocacy of astrology make him a 'forerunner’ of science

- not

a scientist, but a

man

of the transitional period.

‘With

the overthrow of the authority of Aristotle and Ptolemy and the

ever increasing emphasis placed on accurate observation and experi-

ment, a

new

phase in men’s outlook developed. Full freedom of

unhampered by religious limitations, took many cen40 turies to mature That is to say, men had not yet degenerated / to the point where the exercise of pointless curiosity (the same kind that killed the cat) would take precedence over understanding; indifference to value - called ‘intellectual freedom’ - had not yet supplanted an interest in values themselves. No one had as yet tried to graft two heads on to a dog just to see if it could be done. Brahe may be safely classified Not a Scientist. But his successor speculation,

.

.

:

Observatory of Prague, Johann Kepler (1571-1630), keeps getting his elbows stuck outside the pigeon-hole. Kepler made at the

observations and experiments and let the chips

fall

where they

might. Yet he was, at the same time, an intensely religious man, a Neo-Platonist, whose scientific approach was part of a grander

scheme

to

provide empirical confirmation of the

harmony

of the

spheres.

Because his salary depended upon the emperor, and because the emperor had other matters on his mind and did not take kindly to being reminded, Kepler was in permanent financial straits. To supplement his erratic income he wrote astrological almanacs predicting events in the coming year, and cast personal horoscopes; both of which he regarded as a waste of time. ‘Astronomy, the wise mother/ he commented, ‘astrology, the foolish little daughter, selling herself to as to

any and every

maintain her wise mother

Had

client willing

and able

to

pay so

alive.’

the matter stopped there, subsequent scholars

would have

:

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON

87

been free to attribute Kepler’s astrological interests entirely to discretion;

but the matter does not stop there.

'A most unfailing experience

(as far as it

can be expected in

nature) of the excitement of sublunary natures by the conjunctions

and aspects of the planets has instructed and compelled

my

un-

willing belief / 41 Kepler repeatedly writes to friends of his intention slag’. He issues 'a warning to certain and philosophers who rightly reject the superstitions of the astrologers, not to throw the baby out along with the bathwater’. And declares: 'nothing exists and nothing happens in the visible heavens that is not echoed in some hidden manner by the faculties of Earth and Nature the faculties of the spirit of this world are affected in the same measure as heaven it42 self / Yet upon this basis such Kepler scholars as Mark Graubard

to separate the

'gems from the

theologians, physicians

:

find

it

possible to

remark

Kepler’s attitude to astrology

is

as inconsistent, irrational

most people's attitudes toward dying

valent, as are

institutions in periods of rapid change.

.

matician and scientist and an obstinate

was

sopher, Kepler

a great mystic

.

if

.

and ambi-

institutions, or to

Beside being a great mathe-

not profound religious philo-

and dreamer, an ingenuous personality

without a trace of slyness, cant or insincerity in him.

Much

of astrology is mysticism, poetry or harmony to him, and cerby no stretch of the imagination natural law. ... He struggles with astrology at every turn because he is a lover of its folklore. But his efforts are those of an animal trapped in a cage, or more correctly tainly

.

of a

man

But

web of his

trapped in the

Mr

beliefs

.

.

43 .

Graubard’s club-footed figures of speech, meant to be

complementary, only

trip

each other up. The animal trapped in a

it is trapped. The man trapped in own beliefs never struggles because he does not know trapped. The man trapped in the web of his own beliefs

cage struggles because the

web

he

is

it

knows

of his

believes himself to be free, enlightened, sentient

and when he

and progressive,

not putting Galileo to

trial,

signing manifestoes, or

carrying placards for social reform he

may

be found hard at work

is

on paragraphs such

as those just quoted.

Kepler’s attitude towards astrology

was

and

entirely consistent,

expressed unmistakably in the passage already referred to 'An unfailing experience has compelled my unwilling belief / 'Now that Kepler has been, as it were, on the couch before us/

is

:

.

Graubard continues,

.

.

'the

.

.

most conspicuous feature of his attitude

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

88

...

inconsistency.

is

which he

accepts,

personality finds

This

is

It is

obvious that t&ose parts of astrology

he believes in because he inherited them and his

harmony with

so 'obvious’ that

it is

their tenets/

exactly the opposite of

what Kepler

himself says. According to Kepler, he was initially sceptical of the

matter in it

its

and only

entirety,

after

having practised

compelled that 'unwilling belief.

it

did he find

was the blind and un- that he

It

empirical belief in astrology - the heritage of his age

ranted and inveighed against.

Experience and observation objectivity.*

Men

discoveries of science

new way what

is

not in

what they want

see

itself

to see.

any guarantee of

And many

of the

have been the result of one man’s seeing in a

everyone had always seen but overlooked. So

managed

possible that Kepler

to

delude himself over

all

it is

those

decades of astrological practice. But scientists and historians of

and sometimes the only valid method of acquiring knowledge. Kepler was one of

science value experience

and observation

the very greatest of scientists, a

as the best

man who

fully understood the

value of experiment and observation. Kepler a practising astrologer,

and

made

his living as

after a lifetime of astrological experience

and observation concluded there was something to it. The scientists and historians of science have never erected a horoscope. Yet on this basis they call Kepler 'irrational, inconsistent rejoice that

modern man no longer

lives in

and ambivalent’, and an age of ignorance

and superstition. ... as a serious and systematic world view claiming the allegiance cf

many it

of the best intellects in every rank of society, astrology

be asked what dethroned astrology the answer

gress of science

lies in

and scholarship. Astrology had been born

world and the Copernican revolution dealt

it

is

dead. If

the general proin a geocentric

a shattering blow.

The

predictions of the astrologers do not survive the test of the experimental

method. Scholarship, in

its

concern with the history of

ideas,

shows how

Johnson Abercrombie, The Anatomy of Judgement. The author, a shows how science students, learning to read X-ray plates, are incapable of distinguishing between what is actually shown and what they believe to be shown. Interestingly enough, the initial reaction of the students, when confronted by proof of the extent to which preconception influences their judgement, is surprise and anger. Only after long - and painful - training do they achieve anything approaching objectivity. And this, it must be remembered, is in the ability to read X-ray plates, which must be as emotionally unfraught an activity as any in human existence. * See L.

psychologist,

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON

89

genuine elements of knowledge can combine with illusory notions form grandiose systems of thought in which the mind is content to

easily to

dwell for a time

44 .

So shattering was the blow of the Copernican revolution that its two greatest exponents, Kepler and Galileo, were practising astro-

Figure

9.

According

to Kepler, the orbits of the planets circumscribe

them the

perfect solids.

logers

Somewhere along

!

the line

it

may

within

not be disrespectful to

question the putative ‘general progress of scholarship’

if

not of

science.*

Kepler’s astronomical discoveries (of the elliptical orbits of the planets, life’s

*

and of the

work

From

ratios

between

their distances)

were part of his Pythagorean

to find the literal, physical proof of the

a psychological point of view, the last sentence of the

quoted above

is

of particular interest

:

its

author

is

a Marxist.

paragraph

90

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

o"

Figure

io.

5 2

$

$

? S

cf

Orthogonal projection. Orbits of Mars, the Earth, Venus, and

Mercury around the sun.

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON notion of the

harmony

of the spheres.

He

91

attempted to demonstrate

that the distances between the planets could be related to the perfect solids (see

figs.

re9 and 10) which in turn bore harmonic - relationships that were believed to be

lationships to each other

not coincidence but keys to the meanings of these shapes and 45

Using rather complicated mathematics, Kepler tried to by the planets and contended that this music could only be ‘heard' by the sun, which stood

forms.

calculate the exact literal sounds emitted

embodiment of the Divine had found the key to it

as the

Principle.

And when

he thought

he exulted, believing he had re-discovered the secret of the Egyptians; an interesting remark in that it shows that Kepler knew, or thought, that these relationships were known to the Egyptians. that he

These being his

all,

interests, it is quite

understandable that he

should chafe at having to cast horoscopes to finance his work. But

when

the ‘foolish daughter’* quote

is

trucked out as evidence of

no mention is ever made of the fact was astronomy carried out in the was not the quest after ever more distant

Kepler’s disbelief in astrology

that the astronomy Kepler praises

name

of Pythagoras;

it

and meaningless astronomical

facts,

And

principle behind the facts.

but the attempt

for that

it

was

to get to the

first

necessary to

discover the relevant facts. In short, Kepler’s astronomy

what

a

modern astronomer would

call

astronomy

:

it

was

was not

astrology.

Astrology in Disgrace affair. But if we deal with it on and symbolic astrology, (2) Psychoand medical astrology, (3) Fortune-telling - a clear picture

Astrology’s decline was a complex three levels logical

-

(1) Spiritual

will emerge.

Since Ptolemy, no one had given a satisfactory account of the

physical basis of astrology this

didn’t matter;

:

the

HO W?

the emphasis

physical nature of reality.

To

of

it.

In medieval Europe

was on the

the

spiritual not the

medieval mind, astrological

symbolism was an instrument for understanding. *

It

was not

so

Actually, the word Kepler used was buhlerische which means ‘whoring’ or ‘wanton’ rather than ‘foolish’. But since generations of Keplerian scholars have translated buhlerische as ‘foolish’ we feel it would be indecorous to

break with tradition.

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

92

much

a system of acquiring

nature of the universe. To

knowledge

make

ability to think in terms of ‘level’

By

as a

key

to the hierarchical

use of this sort of astrology, the is

essential.

Kepler’s time, the ability had largely vanished. In principle,

the quest for factual knowledge and the quest for spiritual under-

standing should go hand in hand. In practice, in the Western world, they have been by and large mutually exclusive. Kepler

few men who attempted to combine the two quests, had already turned and there were almost none who

was one

of the

but the

tide

would follow his example. Religion was swiftly degenerating into Fundamentalism (the belief in the literal truth of Scripture), dogmatic Catholicism, and various systems of empty ethics. The spiritual quest went on, not exactly underground, but in isolation and opposed to the intellectual current of the time. (Splinter groups of Rosicrucians, Alchemists and Freemasons - however much or little they may have retained of the old traditions; Boehme, William Law, Fenelon, Swedenborg, Goethe.) But apart from a few individuals, no one was interested in or capable of understanding the astrological symbolism. To pass muster astrologers were expected to provide a satisfactory physical explanation for astrology,

and

they could not do, though not for lack of ideas.

this

One

respected old theory held that the stars transmitted their influence

through the dew - that pervasive the stars influencing everything

according to the position of the

With

fluid

it

which

at night dripped

from

touched; the influence changing

star.

the realization of the nature of condensation this theory

was abandoned. A more serious notion, holding till the sixteenth century, was that the stars and planets exhaled winds and vapours according to their sign it

were.

and position, and the newly-born inhaled his ‘soul’ as learning that the atmosphere does not even reach

Upon

the planets, this theory

The Renaissance

was abandoned in turn. had ‘explained’ astrology

astrologers

in terms

of the principle of musical resonance: just as a glass vibrates in

the

room when

a violin

is

played at a certain pitch, so the

vibrates to the music of the spheres. This, of course,

is

‘soul’

not an

explanation but an analogy, and the intellectuals of the seventeenth

and particularly the eighteenth century would have none of it. (Later, however, we shall see that this idea has a renewed lease of life.) But astrologers could no more explain How their astrology

5

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON

93

worked than musicians could explain how their music worked, and the temper of the time was such that the musicians were allowed to keep fiddling with no questions asked, but the astrologers were not. Kepler had warned the growing band of sceptics not to throw out the baby along with the bathwater. But few were in a mood to and there was an inordinate quantity of bathwater. Astroon its psychological and medical levels was essentially Ptolemaic. Only two technical refinements - and those disputed had been applied to the astrological method. One was Regiomontanus’ method of house division, the other Kepler’s contention that the harmonic basis of the aspects demanded its logical expansion. 0 That is if the 90 angle (corresponding to the 4th Harmonic) was operative, then its harmonic fractions and multiples of those 0 0 fractions, the 45 and 1 3 angle, should also be sensitive points, and should be incorporated in the interpretation. But these were minor improvements in view of the general nebulousness of the accumulated doctrine. 46 listen,

logy

:

Unable

to explain

how

astrology worked, honest and less credu-

lous astrologers were forced to admit that

and that to make it work at all by definition can be taught to one and

well,

was the

it

it

all)

but

interpretation that counted, and

impossible to

come

to

any

did not

work very

required not science (which artistry; in the

on

this basis it

end

was

sort of definite conclusion. In other

words, while the advice not to throw out the baby with the bath-

water

may have

In

over a century astrology declined from a serious pursuit

little

practised

it was impossible to diswhat was baby and what bathwater.

been sound, in practice

tinguish categorically between

by the

best

minds of the age

game.

to a parlour

John Dee (1527-1608), astrologer, magican, occultist, and early experimenter in ESP phenomena, had been the trusted adviser and confidante of Queen Elizabeth. But by 1638 astrology had become so unfashionable (at least in France) that the astrologer,

Morin de Villefranche, had the exact

protocol

physician

moment

be hidden behind the arras to record

XIV.

would have given him the place .

.

.

susceptible to

By

to

of birth of Louis

A of

generation earlier,

honour over the

but then the French have always been particularly reason, as their past and present history testifies.

the time John

Aubrey (1626-97) was

writing,

necessary to adopt an unmistakably defensive tone

it

had become

when

favouring

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

94

‘We have not that Science yet Desiderata. The way to make it perfect is

astrology: the

true Genitures in order

whereunto

I

perfect,

one of

’tis

to get a Supellex of

have with much care collected

,’ 47

these ensuing

.

.

Aubrey’s empirical approach was admirable, but upon; and even had

it

been, nothing

it

would have

application of statistical methods to astrology

is

was not acted resulted

:

the

a delicate matter,

beyond the resources of the seventeenth century. Meanwhile, as astrology’s prestige diminished, no really brilliant astrologers appeared. Granted that for every Kepler there were a thousand fakers and incompetents, still, the sixteenth century had produced a number of erudite and impressive men who, as practising astrologers, had established widespread reputations for themselves. Also, there can be no doubt that the predictive and analytic aspects of astrology depend to a certain extent upon the mood of far

the recipient.

The most widespread tion of a deluge of

junction of

The

all

of

all

astrological prophecies

-

the predic-

Noachian proportions following the grand con- failed to materialize.

the planets in Pisces in 1524

rich built arks

and

all

Europe was in a turmoil, but nothing

happened, and the astrologers continued plying their trade. 1588 was supposed to be a particularly grim year. Yet apart from the single spectacular event of the Spanish

Armada (which

was, after

only bad for Spain) nothing untoward happened. astrologers were not put out of business. But eighty years all,

And

the

later,

the

William Lilly, specifically and accurately predicted both the Plague and the Great Fire which devastated London in successive years in 1665 and 1666. And all that happened was that Lilly was brought before the House of last of the

Commons

A

renowned

astrologers,

suspected of having provoked these disasters.

learned and in

many ways

admirable man, Lilly included the

following in his Epistle to the Student of Astrology, which, along with Kepler’s incessant invective, tells us something about the true state of astrology

Be humane,

and

its

decline.

curtius, familiar to

all,

easie of access:

afflict

miserable with terror of a harsh judgement; direct such to to divert his

judgements impending over them

an estate; give freely to the poor, both

:

be

civil,

call

not the

on God,

sober, covet not

money and judgement;

let

no

worldly wealth procure an erroneous judgement from thee, or such as

may dishonour

the art.

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON From

this,

we may justifiably

day did commonly

all

95

conclude that the astrologers of the

those things Lilly admonishes the student

not to do.

example inspired no new school of ethical and enlightened astrologers. And with no champions of intellectual stature, the decline went on apace. Contemporary scholars may But

Lilly's

attribute all this to the ‘progress of science

and scholarship’, but

it

then remains to account for the fact that, while in 1685 most members of the educated classes were either opponents or highly sceptical of astrology, the subject that occupied these progressives at that particular time

was witchcraft. Were

there, or

were there

not witches? Chief Justice Hale declared that there had to be witches, since there were laws against them. Others were not so sure.

Meanwhile, any number of witches were

And

tried

and put

to

was in this climate of scientific progress that Newton’s Principia Mathematica was published (1687), a work which 48 it is contended - demolished astrology once and for all. death.

it

Curiously enough, this corollary to his work does not seem to

have occurred

to

Newton, which brings up an anecdote famous

astrological circles. It

is

in

Edmond Halley

said that the astronomer

Newton for his alleged defence of astrology, at which Newton is supposed to have loftily replied ‘I have studied

once berated point

:

the subject,

Mr

Halley, and

you have

not.’

There

is, it

appears,

no

evidence in support of this tale. On the other hand, historians maintain with varying degrees of indignation that Newton was

immune

such interests, and this is patently untrue. Newton’s alchemy never flagged, and over a long life more of his time was spent studying what would now be called ‘occultism’ than what would now be called ‘science’. As a young man, at any rate, he had studied astrology. ‘Newton’s last undergraduate year was the seminal period of his mathematics when his interest in astronomy and, on his own admission, astrology, needed a fair knowledge of contemporary mathematics for their proper underto

interest in

standing.’

49

This division of labour not occultism’s gain. For

may have all

been science’s

loss,

but

his mathematical brilliance

it

was

Newton

had no inkling of the principle of ‘level’; he was a devoutly religious man, but his religion was a barely mitigated Fundamentalism. It is however, worth repeating that if Newton does not defend astrology he does not condemn it either. The Copernican revolution

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

96

and yet Newton, the greatest scientific mind of the day, did not claim that Copernicus’, or any of the discoveries following, including his own, invalidated

was already

a century

and

a half old

astrology.

In the false

dawn

of the Enlightenment,

the exercise of reason

not get at the

all

Kingdom

men

believed that through

problems could be solved. Reason could

of

Heaven (reputed by Scripture

to he

not

here nor there, but within) and therefore reason dispensed with the lish

Kingdom as a primitive illusion. such a Kingdom democratically,

which, carried to

its logical

Instead, reason

would

estab-

right here on earth; a faith

conclusion, culminated in the mystic

Illumination at Hiroshima.

Of

these early

champions of reason, there was none more out-

spoken than Jonathan Swift, none faculty to the conduct of his

Astrology at relationships itself.

At

its

its

highest

is

lowest, astrology

is

irrationality

is

harmonic

intrinsic to life

both irrational and unreasonable.

was only this lower had existed him, and equally a matter

arrived on the scene, there

astrology in evidence - and even it

capable of applying that

irrational, expressing the

whose fundamental

By the time Swift

less

own life.

if

a higher astrology

would have been incomprehensible

to

for derision.

But it so happened that a popular almanac-maker of the day, who went by the name of Partridge, incurred the Dean’s displeasure.

And

taking the

name

of Isaac Bickerstaff, Swift published a

almanac in which he promised to go one better than the pusillanimous prophets of the day. Bickerstaff claimed that he would avoid the vague generalities indulged in by the ordinary astrologers, rival

and instead would publish precise and verifiable forecasts. At that time (1708) feeling was running high against France, and Bickerstaff predicted the deaths of most of the French notables. Included amongst these forecasts there was one predicting the death of Partridge, the almanac-maker, on 29 March 1708. Partridge uncoopera tively lived through the fateful day in perfect health. But Bickerstaff refused to acknowledge the fact and published a pamphlet entitled, ‘An Account of the Death of Mr Partridge, the Almanac Maker, Upon the 29th Instant, in a Letter from a Revenue Officer to a Person of Honour’. Partridge published a furious rebuttal, but in vain. The joke had

4

.

FOOLISH DAUGHTER CARRIES ON acquired a

life

of

its

97

own, and people refused to believe Partridge's He would be stopped in the

testimonies to his continued existence. streets

and asked

for

money

for his coffin, etc.;

while at the

had been taken seriously (bureauname had been stricken from Partridge’s and change) crats never the rolls. Public derision actually forced him out of business (he

Stationer's Hall BickerstafFs tract

returned, unrepentant, several years later, with a

new

almanac).

While few could understand Newton, there was no mistaking Swift, and astrology had been subjected to a bout of ridicule which

made it taboo

in educated society.

In France the same sort of process was at work, and the finishing

touches were applied by Swift’s counterpart, Voltaire, another sedulously its

managed

to

who

keep separate the preaching of reason from

practice.

Two

Comte de

Boulainvillier, and a professional had independently predicted Voltaire’s the age of thirty-two. And some thirty-four years after this

astrologers, the

astrologer called Colonne,

death at

time had elapsed Voltaire, in a published letter, begged the humble pardon of these gentlemen for upsetting their predictions. As a literary gimmick, it lacked the magnificent ingenuity of Swift’s attack, but

it

was enough

to set all literary

served to hasten astrology on

its

way

France laughing, and

as a ‘serious’ interest there.

Voltaire, however, forgot to mention that at the age of thirty-

two - the year of his predicted death - he was insulted by the Duke of Rohan, replied with his customary acerbity, and not long after

was

set

upon by thugs, and bastinadoed, with the Duke

of

Rohan

looking on. Finding nobody to take his part, after some three

months Voltaire found himself obliged to challenge the duke to a duel, which he most assuredly would have lost. But on the morning of the duel he was providentially arrested and sent to the Bastille (for some past libel), in all likelihood saving his life and granting him the opportunity of jeering at the astrologers for failing to predict this closest of possible shaves

Two

.

.

would have been cited from an example of good predictive

centuries earlier, this story

one end of France astrology

to

another as

50 .

In the fifteenth century

men would

believe anything about astrol-

ogy; in the eighteenth and nineteenth they would believe nothing.

And

while

we make no

brief for predictive astrology

the percentage of right predictions C.F.A.

—

must be

-

negligible

statistically,

-

still,

over

g8

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

(he long course of astrology’s history there have been so great a

number

and documented predictions that to and not a little silly. For instance: in the Austrian court of Maria Theresa, the court astrologer still found employment. At the birth of Marie Antoinette (the same day as the Lisbon earthquake - 1740) the reading of the horoscope was so dire that the celebration which would have dismiss

of accurate, precise

them

all

as ‘coincidence’ is indefensible

ordinarily taken place at the birth of a royal princess was called off, and the entire court was plunged in gloom. Now, in all of history there can be few characters whose lives were more ill-starred and unhappy than Marie Antoinette’s. Yet this story is cited by Hilaire Belloc in his biography of Marie Antoinette to illustrate the unen-

lightened state of an Austrian court, superstition, astrology a fraud

and

- which

is

still

believing in that exploded

rather like attacking medicine as

as evidence citing all those

who have

been cured.

4 Sleeping Beauty Awakes

For two centuries Newtonian theory was so successful in solving mechanical problems that it was generally believed all problems

would ultimately yield to a mechanical explanation. And though this notion was hotly and effectively contested by a minority of thinkers - most brilliantly by Goethe (1749-1832), whose scientific work is not generally known to those familiar with his literary 51 reputation - it prevailed until twentieth-century physics showed it

to

be mistaken from a purely physical point of view.

But secure in this mistaken Newtonian cosmology (scientists ‘make mistakes'; everyone else is ‘superstitious') and the philosophy that accompanied it, astrology had been dismissed from serious consideration long before the one discovery was made which really did affect both

by Herschel

Of

its

theory and

its

practice

:

the discovery of

Uranus

in 1787.

the septenary examples furnished by nature, none had

all

been more convincing to the medieval mind than the seven planets.

Though

the Copernican system

of the seven did not

conform

made

it

clear that the

arrangement

to pleasing geocentric notions, there

were, nevertheless, seven (not counting the earth) and astrology itself

remained self-contained and in need of no revision. The

dis-

covery of Uranus, and subsequently Neptune and Pluto, while not invalidating the principle of celestial ‘influence' most certainly

threw the matter open

to

question on every possible level, and

these questions remain open today.

Throughout the nineteenth century astrology was accounted it was merely in a state of suspended animation. While popular and even psychological astrology had nearly vanished with the exception of a few almanac-makers and gipsies - a localdead. But

ized but intense interest in the Pythagorean level of astrology

was

maintained. Goethe himself took pains to note his exact moment of birth; he cast horoscopes, seems to have considered them of some value,

and was pleased

radix sun (5

0

to

note the relationship between his

Virgo) and the radix

moon

own

in the chart of Christiane

100

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

Vulpius, perhaps the most important of his mistresses. lowers of Goethe's scientific

work

(itself

And

fol-

descended from Sweden-

borg, alchemy, and surviving fragments of traditional teaching)

never ruled out astrology. The well-known and otherwise muchrespected psychologist, Fechner (1801-87), held that the stars and planets had 'souls' and were not merely the

sum

of their physical

view that was not sympathetically received. A scientist named Schleider, in a rebuttal entitled 'Moonshine Phantasies of a Natural Philosopher' (1857), replied forcefully: constituents

-

a

Except the forces of gravity, light and heat, we know of no powers which pass down from the heavenly bodies to our earth. All our scientific investigations, astronomy and physics with their tremendous resources of observation and experiment have not enabled us to perceive the slightest trace of further influence. Thus, today, for the

man

of

sound judgement no other opinion is possible. Dreamers, however, and fools would conspire with ‘the man in the Moon’ against healthy human intelligence. 52

And

today, in a world of cosmic rays, X-rays and

gamma

rays,

bathed by proton streams and refreshed by the solar wind, exploring the ever-greener pastures of the interplanetary electro-magnetic there is also but one possible opinion for the man of sound judgement which is that the man of sound judgement of a century ago would have done well to have expressed his only possible opinion with a bit of caution. fields,

:

But men of sound judgement prevailed a century ago and interest was virtually invisible; though it must have existed, since the one- thousand page Astrology compiled by E. Sibly around in astrology

the end of the eighteenth century in 1826; little societies of

was reprinted

in 1812

and again

gentlemen took a dilettantish but perhaps

not altogether superficial interest in astrology along with the 'occult' in general,

and

concrete evidence,

it

as a

pure surmise for which

we

can offer no

seems possible that somewhere in Europe

were passing on the handed down from the builders of cathedrals. There is no point in pursuing this point further beyond remarking that it is difficult to imagine the coherent and systematic exposition of ancient tradition as expounded by Schwaller de Lubicz and by Rene Guenon cooked up out of thin air. It is scientific to explain a mystery by attributing its cause to 'coincidence' but romantic to postulate the possibility of an esoteric tradition coming to the sursplinter groups or even isolated individuals

tradition

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES face only

The

when

the time

is

ripe for

it

- still,

revival of astrology, however,

it

owes

101

53 remains a possibility.

itself to

more

traceable

causes.

Somewhere, the 1857) had observed

August Comte (1798no importance; quantity is the

positivist philosopher, :

‘Quality

is

of

only positive criterion’ (or words to that itself a

effect).

This assertion

is

value judgement, and therefore qualitative, and therefore,

by Comte’s own standard, of no importance; but despite its unimportance it may be safely regarded as the motto of the modern and including our own day. way of life it engendered inspired the revolt in literature and the arts called romanticism, which was but part of a larger but inchoate distrust of ‘progress’ that was bound up with a renewed interest in matters that might be lumped toindustrial state,

down

to

This philosophy and the

gether as ‘the supernatural’.

One specific manifestation of who, around 1850, used America to investigate approach

to

‘spiritism’.

what now has

to

was the group of people Mr Fox in This was an unsystematic

this interest

gather in the house of a

attained quasi-respectable status as

was undreamed of and it was out of ‘spiritism’ that the familiar seance was developed with its spirit guides, ectoplasm, mysterious rappings and the rest. How much of all this was real we cannot say, but not all was fake, and spiritism attracted the attention of a number of otherwise sane and educated men and women. By 1873 interest was running high in America and in Europe. But as yet ‘spiritism’ was not a ‘movement’, a philosophy or a religion, but more of an emotional reaction against that materialism which pretended to have all the answers* and yet furnished so ‘parapsychology’. Back in Fox’s day, however, the Zener card

little satisfaction.

And

into this emotionally-fertile chaos, with characteristic fan-

came Madame Blavatsky - declaring that everything that everyone was trying to do along these lines was wrong, but that she

fare,

possessed the answers, having been vouchsafed the esoteric secrets

by

initiates in

Helena *

P.

Egypt, Tibet and India.

Blavatsky (nee Hahn) (1831-91) was forty at this time,

The chemist,

Berthelot, in 1888, declared that science

had discovered

everything of importance that there was to be discovered; only details remained. Lord Kelvin expressed a similar opinion.

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

102

and her history, though known only from what she chose to tell of it, was incon trover tibly exotic. Born of wealthy parents in Russia, as a child she displayed

remarkable ‘psychic’

Blavatsky,

faculties.

At

the age

the seventy-year-old general, Nikifor

of seventeen she married

who bestowed upon

her her invaluable name, legally

upon Helena the freedom to leave the parental home and then, it would seem, vanished from the scene. From this time on (1848) Mme Blavatsky roamed the world, seeking out esoteric knowledge. She spent time in Egypt where the

conferred

otherwise

unknown

‘Brothers of Luxor’ initiated her into their

went

doctrine. In 1855 she

to Tibet,

then virtually inaccessible to

foreigners (this trip seems to have been authenticated sources) and studied under the

Lamas

for seven years.

by outside From Tibet

she went to India and studied there.

Her appearance in America caused a sensation, and a wave of which though largely derisory did not prevent her from converting into a recognizable movement the energy being wasted publicity

in milling

about with

‘spiritism’.

In 1875, with her pupil, Colonel Olcott, she founded the Theosophical Society

Mme Blavatsky

which spread swiftly about the world. Meanwhile, threw her energies into teaching her doctrine, fero-

ciously but gleefully battling her hosts of detractors, and yet some-

how

finding time to churn out her voluminous

(1877),

works

The Secret Doctrine (1888) and which she made her knowledge

in

Personally,

we

a

number

we do not

of other

minor

public.

we do not

to special individuals to

believe that

and

While willingly special knowledge has

trust her sources.

conceding that, over the course of history, sions,

Unveiled

find Blavatsky’s endless talk of ‘Initiates’

‘Adepts’ repellent, and

been vouchsafed

Isis

Mme

accomplish special mis-

Blavatsky was one of these.

Purporting to effect a synthesis of the great traditions of the world, Blavatsky creates a hodge-podge. Nevertheless, she was a

woman

of prodigious learning

and great

personal power, and at least some of the ingredients in the hodge-

podge are authentic.* *

When

was believed that the major problems had all been solved, summed up the almost unanimous conception of the structure of matter ‘No material constituent of a body, no atom, is in itself originally endowed with force, but every atom is absolutely dead, and without any inherent power to act at a distance.’ it

Professor Philip Spiller

:

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES

103

Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement she founded that astrology owes its revival. ‘Yes, our destiny is written It

is

Mme

to

not superstition, least of all is it fatalism. proved that even horoscopes and judiciary astrology are not quite based on fiction, and that stars and constellations consequently have an occult and mysterious influence on, and in the stars

...

.

!

.

This

.

is

now amply

It is

connection with, individuals.

And

if

with the

latter,

why not

with

and mankind as a whole?' As a piece of Blavatsky somewhat unrepresentative, both for its comparative

nations, races,

prose this clarity

are

is

and

relative restraint;

drawn from purely it is, is

simply

Mme

typical in the

to reverse the

mistaken notion that astrology

But had

it is

way conclusions

by no means ‘amply not quite based on fiction, and to main-

proved’ that horoscopes are tain that

but

assertive premises. It

is

is

commonly held and

equally

amply disproved.

Blavatsky been a model of coherence and caution

would have remained unimpressed - as they have in the number of cautious and coherent works covering similar

the sceptics face of a

ground - while the diminution of the movement’s apocalyptical flavour

would have

restricted its appeal

In

any

case,

theosophy,

one blow, brought knowledge of the existence of ancient and Eastern traditions to a multitude of people, and it inspired a rein

newed and

serious inquiry into astrology, first in England, then not

long after in Germany, France and America.

By bringing in ideas prevailing in Indian astrology, and Indian philosophy (or perhaps due to Blavatsky herself - it is very difficult, detail, to know what is what Blavatsky) the extremely embarrassing question of the new planets, Uranus and Neptune, was side-stepped, and the rigid numerology of the medieval Church shaken loose.

without going into the matter in great tradition,

Indian astrologers had always maintained that

man

manifested

twelve ‘layers’ of consciousness, corresponding to the twelve signs of the zodiac,

whether we

and

see

also to twelve postulated planets

them or not

Blavatsky, however, asserted:

appears inert.

A

wooden

which

are there

54 .

\

.

.

Matter

or a stone block

is

is

the most active

when

it

motionless and impenetrable to

and purposes. Neveitheless, and cie facto, its particles are in which is so rapid that to the physical eye the body seems absolutely devoid of motion; and the spatial distance between those particles in their vibratory motion is - considered from another plane of being and perception - as great as that which separates snow flakes or drops of rain. But to physical science this will be an absurdity 55

all

intents

ceaseless eternal vibration

.

104

As

history and technique a conceptual scheme, this

was particularly useful

since

it

answer the more embarrassing questions facing astrologers, and the appeal of theosophy, in any case, depended in part upon its high disdain of experiment and observation. A new wave of astrologers, led by the English theosophist, Alan Leo 1860 seemed

to

(

1920 ), was gathering force - which while appearing as a tsunami to the astrologers

concerned was in fact not yet a visible ripple in

the world of science

Mercier in

'Astrology

is

already dead.

It

has been dead

it

Physicians in 1913

How

:

no longer stinks/ announced Dr Charles Arthur the Fitzpatrick Lectures before the Royal College of

so long that

.

statement struck Alan Leo

this

we cannot

say,

but his

works were, by this time, a considerable financial success. Leo combined a sincere and by no means shallow interest in the esoteric side of astrology with a keen commercial sense and a crusading spirit. Under his aegis the Astrological Lodge of the astrological

Theosophical Society was founded, dedicated to a serious study of the matter. Leo’s brand of astrology

old-lady

and

had about it that whiff of well-meaningendemic to theosophy: reading a

anti- vivisection

'good book’ was a means of combatting malefic planetary influences;

and country walks were also high on the list of antidotes sound advice as it turns out country and seaside air being charged with bracing negative ions). And contributors to Leo’s magazine had the disconcerting habit of taking grandiose seaside

(scientifically

pseudonyms

:

for themselves

:

Sepharial, Charubel, Aphorel.

Leo and his associates stirred up interest. And by concenon the characterological aspects of astrology - at the expense of prophecy - attracted a number of people who were keen enough to see that what passed itself off as modern 'psychology’ was not only inadequate but leading nowhere. Societies were founded in France and in Germany; and little magazines of varying quality appeared, airing the innumerable differences of opinion on the innumerable unsettled astrological Still,

trating

questions.

Meanwhile, in the universities of Europe, orthodox scholars were laying out the presumed corpse with procrustean solicitude, and a quite fantastic concern for detail in view of the lack of mourners. Since, a priori, there

was nothing

to

be learned from astrology

itself

these multi-volume histories stand as landmarks to inutility. Their

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES

105

them safe from the public. Other scholars were already convinced both that astrology was superstition and that it was dead. And the one question that was worth asking was

scholarly nature kept

left

open

could

(as

men

by Cumont;

see p. 66) or not posed at all:

how

otherwise not dissimilar to ourselves have believed in

such nonsense for millennia ? Ironically,

the beneficiaries of this scholarship were the

themselves,

astrologers

who were

free

to

reject

new

the scholarly

opinions while making use of the scholarly facts and their possible application to astrological practice.

After the First particularly in

World War interest in astrology increased sharply, Germany. The weird atmosphere of inflation, mili-

and moral and psychological chaos seems to have invaded even the universities, and in this unsettled air it was possible tary defeat

Herr Doktor not only to become interested in to it without undue loss of prestige or position, a situation that prompted Jung to predict that the acceptance of astrology as a serious academic study was just around the for a fully qualified

astrology but to

own up

corner.

This was certainly premature (and possibly altogether mistaken).

The

new

was enough in had become fashionable among astrologers to call astrology a ‘science'. But despite attempts to up-date the medieval terminology and to incorporate the new planets into the astrological scheme, it was essentially the astrology that had come down from Ptolemy, and sceptics were not theosophical cast of most of the

itself to

taken

scare off the orthodox.

56

astrology

Meanwhile,

it

in.

Actually, practical astrology

is

something of a science, something

of an art; rather akin to practical medicine, but

and more

elusive; the

medicine chest

is

more complicated

untrustworthy, and for two

thousand years there have been no research workers, only genera] practitioners.

Only

in

Germany,

in the 1920s,

was this unsatisfactory state of up to. And many attempts

the astrological medicine chest faced

were made, some of them bizarre,

improvements. Multimost remarkable being the ‘Hamburg School' of Alfred Witte which postulated no less than eight planets beyond the orbit of Neptune. Precise ephemerides tudes of

new

to effect

theories proliferated, the

(astronomical tables listing the daily latitudes and longitudes of the C.F.A.

4*

HI

106

STORY AND TECHNIQUE

planets) were calculated for these hypothetical planets, dictions

No

made upon

and

pre-

these calculations, claiming impressive results.

canon was held sacred; everything was thrown open to question. The spate of erudite and highly technical astrological magazines reached amazing circulation single tenet in the astrological

and between rival schools and theorists, so bitter and acrimonious were the disputes, so intense the hostilities, so paranoiac the insistence upon protocol and precedence, that an outsider looking on might well have mistaken the ancient esoteric tradition for figures;

an incipient exact science.*

But

it

was

not.

Out

of considerable activity

energy, a few seeds were chief lesson learned

sown

was that

was worth, did not lend

and expenditure of

that today bear modest fruit.

traditional astrology, for

itself to

The

whatever

it

the quantitative methods of science

so easily. Aubrey’s old idea of 'a Supellex of true genitures’

was

a naive over-simplification.

Naturally, in

Germany

as elsewhere, a

phecy flourished alongside the more 'serious’ astrologers

made

popular interest in pro-

'serious’

astrology.

(Many

their livings out of this sort of thing as

had Kepler and others from antiquity - astrologers have to eat, too.) The frenetic political situation throughout the twenties ensured a constant market for mundane astrology, and there was a keen public interest in the horoscopes of the various

political

most of which were public knowledge. An astrologer, Frau Elsbeth Ebertin, had scored a bull’s eye on Hitler’s horoscope, though she had been given only his date of birth and not the precise minute. In her book of predictions for the year 1923 she had predicted that this was a man who would bring trouble to Bavaria (commonsense, perhaps, as much as astrology) but that any attempt he made to seize political power would end disastrously. This was the year of the famous putsch, which culminated with Hitler in jail. Frau Ebertin and other astrologers had leaders,

* \ some eminent scientists become almost paranoid about protocol, and are capable of sensing a deliberate slight in the failure to be invited to a conference their typical vanity is to attend more conferences than they can grasp the significance of Professor John Ziman, Public Knowledge, The Social Dimension of Science, p. 134. \ is it reallv true that a good or genuine scientist is, or should be, indifferent to matters of priority, caring only for the Advancement of Learning and nothing for who causes it to come about?' P. B. Medawar, The Art of the Soluble (Methuen), p. 126. .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

SL

E E

PING

AUTY

B E

A

WAKE S

107

generally stressed that Hitler’s horoscope boded no good, and so,

when

Hitler actually did

come

to

power, astrologers were persona

and several leading Nazis opposed astrology on ideological grounds. In the years immediately preceding the war the little erudite magazines vanished, and astrologers with any sense of

non

grata,

self-preservation said nothing in public about Hitler’s horoscope. It

was, however, only in

made

to

Germany

that concerted efforts were

put astrology on a respectable footing. In France, a few

on a statistical claiming impressive results, but finding almost no one willing to give them a hearing. In France, too, a number of unorthodox and brilliant psychologists began looking into astrology, not so much as a means of prediction, or even as a means of analysing character from the actual birth data, but as a tool for the description and individuals were attempting to justify astrology basis,

understanding of

human

nature far subtler and yet more compre-

hensive than the rigid and ultimately unsatisfactory attempts at ‘typology’

enough

current

among

psychologists,

which though

valid

as far as they went, invariably stopped short before they

what good is it to know Tennyson and the strong-man in the circus were mesomorphs? Or that Kafka and the shy grocer around the corner were both introverts? Psychologists such as Rene Allendy and Adolphe Ferriere saw, and saw rightly, that character approached through the symbolism of astrology suddenly acquired perspective. And on a still higher plane, a small number of French scholars (Schwaller de Lubicz, and Rene Guenon were among them) were setting out the inner meaning of the various esoteric traditions coherently, thoughtfully, unsensationally 57 making it possible to see - among many other things - astrology as an integrated part of divulged anything of value. For example, that both

,

a civilization.

In England, Alan Leo had died, and his thriving astrological lodge was taken over by the late Charles E. O. Carter, perhaps the best of astrology’s

modern general

practitioners.

Articulate, practical, and personally impressive, Carter

managed

put astrology into acceptable modern terminology, something few other contemporary astrologers had even come close to. Readto

ing Alan Leo and others of his era and persuasion, the unwary student might be led to believe that a combination of unfavourable aspects

would

wild beasts.

still

portend death in a public place, torn apart by

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

108

In Carter's manuals of instruction there are no exhortations to

and healthy

life,

talk of the ‘etheric bodies'

and

lead a clean

no Old Testament admonitions, no 'astral planes' so

dear to theosophists

but so annoying to those seeing the matter otherwise. to read Carter’s

It is possible

books without feeling that the headquarters of the

Inquisition are just around the corner, and that an unfavourable

motion over the position the moment of birth) would bring a visit -

transit (the passage of a planet in its actual

of another planet at

that

knock on the door may well be the man coming

for the telly,

or a writ to appear in court, but the charge will not be heresy

.

.

.

Carter was, however, sceptical, even distrustful, of the attempt to

make

astrology too scientific, and, after a few rather amateurish

sallies into statistics, settled for a traditional

approach. Carter relied

upon personal or collective intuition tested against experience as the best means for improving astrology, setting a stamp upon a school of British astrologers which, at its best, was characterized by and practicality at the expense of adventurousness. But with that knack the British have for being respectable to the point of comedy and at the same time flagrantly indiscreet - the

solidity

man

up the escalator London tube past advertisements that until recently a 42nd Street bookshop would have had to sell under the counter - it was in England that the current fad of newspaper astrology first began. In 1930, rather in the spirit of a joke, the Sunday Express printed an astrological article upon the horoscope of the newly-born Princess Margaret, which incited such an avalanche of mail that the astrologer responsible for the article, R. H. Naylor, was commissioned to write a series. The response was enormous, and quite unexpected; circulation soared, and so eager were rival papers to inform and enlighten their readers that, first in England, then in France, Germany and America columns of astrological predictions became a feature of the popular press. This early pop astrology was not the blanket-prediction sort prevalent today (in which all those born under Leo will suffer financial losses, while Scorpios will meet an attractive stranger), in the bowler hat carrying his umbrella rides

in the

but time-honoured and largely inaccurate

same that

Mundane

Astrology, the

Isaiah inveighed against.

Naylor, the first of the astrologers to make a splash, was also the most colourful, certainly the most courageous, and, in the end, perhaps less inaccurate than most. Unlike most of his colleagues, he

:

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES dared to

make

precise

and

verifiable predictions.

When

right,

109

none

crowed louder than Naylor; when wrong, none main‘Since 1919 I have consistently predicted that peace would be rationalized faster

tained between the great nations of the world.

researches

now

assurance; the

March

1936).

convince

shadow

me

of the

that

we no

My

astrological

longer have the same

war darkens the world'

(

Prediction

,

58

April 1936: Naylor predicted that Edward VIII would marry within three years, but that he would be idolized as no king had before.

(Interestingly enough, ,the

famous palmist, Cheiro,

pre-

dicted Edward's abdication.)

August 1936: Naylor predicted that Roosevelt would 'squeeze' in but that it was improbable he would finish his second term. In October 1938, however, he predicted a third term for Roosevelt.

TEN YEARS' PEACE WORLD TO DISARM !

;

More astound-

ing Prophecies' read the cover of Prediction for June 1939.

September 1944 The days of Franco are numbered.' On the other hand, Naylor, in 1944, disagreed with a US forecast based upon a statistical study, calling for a European war :

between 1966-70. Naylor instead saw the US during a state of internal chaos and at war in Asia. June 1951 Naylor predicted a Russia-China clash.

this period in

:

This fever of public interest accomplished very

little

for astrology

on any of its meaningful levels. But it provoked infuriated rebuttals from rationalists of all stripes, from the science-minded, and most interesting, from eminent scientists, none of whom can be said to have acquitted themselves with distinction (see p. 117 ff.).

The

astrologers

were unable

to reply to these rebuttals

without

brushwood is cleared aside the argument was simple the scientists demanded proof upon acceptable scientific terms that astrology was valid. The astrologers admitted that there was no such 'proof', but that this was not the fault of astrology - if the scientists wanted 'proof' let them put the matter to the test, which had never been done, and, until producing

a note of hysteria, but once the emotional :

disproof, reserve their opinions.

But nothing came out of all this controversy. By the 1930s, from view astrology was at least conceivable - relativity and the quantum theory having shattered the simplified a scientific point of

material universe of

Newton and

Laplace - but there were no

scientists willing to look into the possibility directly,

even though

110

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

by the

late

1930s there were also a

number

of scientifically attested

facts that began to look suspiciously astrological. Still, it was now impossible to pretend that astrology was dead.

And however much

the academic community may have ridiculed the

whole business, its resurgence could not be denied. At least as a psychological and sociological phenomenon it could not be ignored.

The Second World War put

temporary halt

was, but added to

activity,

such as

of Hitler

and his alleged

it

a

its

to

astrological

history the strange footnote

astrologers.

Since Hitler’s accession to power, astrologers had been looked

upon with

disfavour; nevertheless, in England, a

rumour had been

assiduously circulated by a refugee astrologer called Louis de

Wohl

and that he followed a not-implausible contention, since it was known their advice that a number of higher-ups in the Third Reich maintained an

that Hitler personally consulted astrologers

interest in the

more grotesque aspects

of

magic and the

‘occult’,

including giving credence to the cosmological scheme that held live

not on the surface of the earth but inside

towards

its

surface.

According

to de

Wohl,

it,

Hitler’s

we

and look out astrologer was

K. E. Krafft, an eccentric but in his own way quite brilliant man who, since the twenties, had been on a one-man campaign to put astrology on a sound statistical basis. 59 After the war it was pretty well established that Hitler had not had a private astrologer and that he never took astrological advice. Krafft, it appears, had toyed with Nazi ideas in the beginning, and had been given some subordinate and temporary position in Goebbels’ propaganda ministry. But when he learned to his surprise that the political leaders did not share his interest in pure astrology

The reward of foolish integrity was prison, on the way to Buchenwald in 1945. In England, however, de Wohl succeeded in convincing the

he refused

and he

to cooperate.

died, finally,

British High Command that Krafft was in the pay of the Nazis and was giving them astrological advice; and accordingly the British created a one-man counter-astrology agency, giving de Wohl the rank of captain, and he went through the war attempting to advise the high command on the moves Hitler would be making according to astrological interpretation.

Apart from

its

60

value as a historical curio, there

the Hitler astrology affair that

is

is

one aspect of

of genuine astrological interest. In

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES a review of Hitler's rise to power, his brilliant

coup

at

111

Munich

in

one 1938, his swift campaigns in Poland and Scandinavia, there is of glory that stands out above all others, one brief period

moment

during which he was unmistakable master; his blitzkrieg invasion of Holland and the Low Countries followed by his humiliation of the French.

moment may be this moment is

This

enough,

May 1940, and, oddly written into Hitler's stars so unmistak-

pinpointed to 10

ably that any astrologer might well conclude that Hitler was acting

upon the advice

of his

own

astrologers; or, learning that this

was

unlikely, use Hitler's campaign as a singularly impressive example of a

man

being compelled by his stars to

In this book

it is

act.

the principles and functions of astrology, the

evidence for and against

it,

that concerns us, rather than

nique; but since astrology as a (dubious)

means

role with which most people are familiar,

we

its

of prophecy

techis

the

shall use this oppor-

tunity to describe briefly the methods used by astrologers in

attempting to make their forecasts.

The

first,

Transits’.

simplest,

The

and almost

logical

method,

position of the planets at birth are

is

to look at the

known

as their

root or 'radix' positions. In the course of their revolutions about the

heavens the planets cross or otherwise form

'aspects’

with these

radix positions which are held to be sensitive points. Naturally, the

varying speeds of the planets in orbit mean that a predictable but infinitely varied

sequence of transits

is

forever in progress, and

from the various combinations the astrologer attempts

to

make

his

forecasts.

Looking at Hitler's horoscope, 10

we

can see that on the night of

May

1940 his transits could not have been better. As fig. 11 shows, Saturn was forming trines first

well-aspected moon, then to his radix Jupiter.

-

war - made

The

to Hitler’s

transiting

Mars

and a sextile to the radix Mercury. Jupiter - planet of success - was moving into a conjunction with the radix sun, traditionally the position, above planet of

a trine to the Ascendant,

all others, standing for success in undertakings. While the moon, which moves so swiftly that it runs through the gamut of aspects once a month, was in exact trine to Uranus - planet of revolution, surprise, 'blitz', of the unexpected - on the very hour the attack was launched.

Yet an astrologer advising Hitler would not have restricted

M.C.

u. Hitler’s horoscope with transits (see Fig. 1). Further salient and their interpretation: Saturn high in the sign of Leo, in the tenth house; traditionally the symbol of a man who climbs high, with burning ambition, but is in danger of losing his position. Saturn in double square to Venus and Mars danger will become reality. Mercury in opposition (i8o° distance) to Uranus: an indication of misguided (at times brilliant) ideas and violent hysteria. Saturn in a not very strong sextile (6o°) from Uranus gives a tendency to use these (disagreeable) traits profitably in furthering the ambition. Uranus less than 6° from the Ascendant, but in the twelfth house leads to violence. Neptune and Pluto are close to each other in Gemini in the eighth house; death and destruction caused knowingly, and possibly an indication of suicide. On the positive side: Sun in Taurus in trine (120°) to Moon and, less powerfully, to Jupiter, the latter two being in a benevolent conjunction. This is not only the ‘animal-lover’, but also lends the personality of a strong attraction and, with Sun in 7, a Figure

features

:

public appeal. This ceived

it

(Saturn),

man

‘married’ his public with high ideals, then de-

own

(unfavourable Mars and Venus also in

7) for his

and in the end was impotent and unable

to fruitfully

ambitions

consummate

this weird marriage. (It is interesting that many planets in the seventh house is a feature in the charts of many dictators, among them Mussolini

and Stalin.) The symbols drawn on the outside of the chart signify the positions of the planets as they actually were on 10 May 1940, 1.15 a.m. Greenwich Meridian Time. Broken lines mark the principal aspects.

3

SLEEPING BEAUTY AWAKES He would

himself to prophesy on the basis of transits.

what

into

are called 'secondary directions'. It

think Ezekiel

Of

the

many

bly none

referring to

is

dispense with

it,

some symbolic fashion what happens

in the

it

maintains that in

makes it happen in

life

will

on

on

it

Hitler's fifty-first

does

day

- within broad bounds - what

his fifty-first year.

These indications were

secondary directions with their

own

Astrologers tried to

wishful thinking that so

make themselves

own

interests. Yet,

without taking the astrologers or anyone

it

many

World War.

believe that the stars

not allow Hitler to act fatally against his his moves,

far less

was by incorporating the

it

astrologers kept predicting peace before the Second

consideration,

day will axis in a

possible to predict

favourable than the transits, and

made

a

its

the same 'influences' as

in a year, thus the position of the stars

of

proba-

is

few practising

heavens in

reflect itself in life in a year; just as the earth turns itself to

one day'.

no matter that they are

quite unable to justify the procedure. Briefly,

day, and thereby exposes

also look

canon, there

illogical than this, yet there are

who would

1

this that astrologers

talks of 'one year for

illogicalities in the astrological

more

astrologers

when he

is

1

would having

else into

does remain a fact that Hitler's one brightest

moment was easily detectable, astrologically, and coincided with his actual moment of triumph. But we do not propose to defend astrological predictions with any enthusiasm.

We

bring up Hitler and his stars partly as an

excuse to illustrate the rudiments of

commonly used

predictive

techniques, and partly to bring our extended look at the astrology of the past full circle to the present. If there is any history of the future, it will mark the Second World War as the turning point of civilization, and, depending upon the state of the new civilization, it may well mark the turn-

ing point for astrology. It

is

an astronomical

fact that,

due

to the precession of the

equinoxes, the sun will soon rise at the spring equinox in the sign

on what astrologers call ‘the Age of AquaNow astrologers have always held that this astronomical fact is of profound significance, and that the period of transition between one age and another is invariably one of chaos, conflict and indecision; old traditions crumble, new formulations are born; of Aquarius, bringing

rius'.

in

between

it

happening or

is

will

impossible to say with any certainty

happen.

what

is

114

HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE

That we stand there

is,

such a historical

at

naturally,

no need

with astrology. Perhaps,

moment

to believe that this

like the

is

Golden Section in nature,

the appearance and evolution of organic

life

on

and the astronomical

signs

may

among small,

be explained by 'coincidence’

whom

principles, to

is

-

the solution of

spiral

shape of

shift of zodiacal

that Sherlock all

like

earth, like the

harmonics of the periodic table of elements and the galaxies, the current chaos

a truism. But

has anything to do

Holmes

mysteries, big and

‘elementary’.

Still, it is

interesting,

that the same

impetus

war

to science,

have made astrology crediting.

it

and perhaps not altogether coincidental,

that polished off the past also provided the

whose

disclosures over the past fifteen years

possible to prepare a defence of just that despised

which an

earlier

science

had prided

itself

upon

dis-

Part

Two

Objections

The Queen of Humbug

By regarding astrology

terms of

in

‘level’,

and by taking the

accounts of legend and tradition with some seriousness, the history from the picture put together

of astrology looks rather different

by Victorian scholars and reproduced - with embellishments - by their followers.

We have stressed of astrology, but

up

the total absence of physical scientific disproof to

now have

only touched upon the objections

to astrology as they have been put forward. Clearly,

these are

if

irrefutable, actual physical disproof becomes superfluous. So let us

examine the objections, as they have been raised by eminent scholars and scientists, wherever possible allowing these authorities to

speak for themselves.

The Queen of Humbug, by Dr Harold Spencer Astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (1)

HM

Jones,

Astrology claims that the heavenly bodies - the sun, moon, planets and stars

- have an influence on human

position of these bodies at the

affairs. It is asserted

moment when

a person

is

that the dis-

born

is

a direct

influence on his personality, and that by studying their positions at

any time

after birth,

guidance for the future can be obtained.

These claims are sufficiently extensive and

startling.

But they do not

nearly exhaust what astrology can do. Diseases can be diagnosed.

Weather can be

course of world events can be foretold.

people even believe that seeds grow better

if

predicted.

The Some

planted according to the

state of the heavens.

Such claims are absolute rubbish. No astronomer could possibly say else. But they pander to the desires of many people to peer into

anything

the future.

our

They

foster the primitive instinct to cling to the belief that

lives are directed to

The

- for a fee, of course.

who

is

It is

an observer of the

the stars It is

some extent by supernatural

forces.

astrologer will cast a horoscope and will advise about the future

who

is

significant that stars,

nor do

I

I

do not

know

of

know of any any

astrologer

serious observer of

an astrologer.

the task of the astronomer to observe and to study the stars, and

by slow and patient observation

to learn

something about them.

On

the

.

OBJECTIONS

Il8

what he has

learnt, it is his duty to come into the open and to and unreservedly that astrology is rubbish, a mere collection of empirical rules that have come down through the dim mists

basis of

declare firmly

of the past

Any

.

.

amused if he were any book on astrology. I have never yet seen any argument put forward in support of it which had the slightest scientific foundation. I have never seen any statement which would bear the least scientific serious student of science could not help being

to read

investigation. I

have sought

activities.

I

books on astrology some justification for the

to find in

supposed all-pervading

effects of the

heavenly bodies on

human

have found general statements, such as that there

is

life

and

a coinci-

dence of earth events with those taking place elsewhere in the solar

system (the only exemplifications given for earth

is

influenced by sun spots) and that

all

this

men

is

that weather on

are subject to the laws

by which the earth is governed. I have found nothing more substantial. As an astronomer hesitate to say that

on which

to base

I

it

many

have had shoals of

the belief in

do not

such far-reaching assertions.

Unfortunately, there are astrology.

I

consider that altogether too slender a foundation

I

who

people

letters,

many

of

believe implicitly

them

tragic, telling

in

how

has ruined homes which until one of the partners took

it

up were happy

ones.

I

would say that whereas astronomy .* is the Queen of Humbug

is

the

Queen

1

of the Sciences, astrology

.

.

still has millions of followers, but is so far removed (2) Astrology from anything resembling science that it does not seem worthwhile to discuss it. The theory that sun spots cause depressions ... is the last respectable survival of the ancient view that human affairs are linked .

.

.

with astronomical phenomena. 2 (3)

The belief in astrology is excusable; it is an indolent man’s philoThe advantage of a belief in astrological absurdities is that one’s

sophy.

acts are predetermined

and

stars.

.

.

.

by the motions and

Obviously,

if

we can

responsible for our acts, our morality deteriorates,

worry. Astrology

is

timorous people and (4)

stars

*

Astrology

:

A

upon human

a

moon we are not and we cease to

'influences’ of the sun,

convince ourselves that

comforting philosophy, adapted to the needs of

idiots.

3

pseudoscience which deals with the influences of the affairs

and the

Dr Spencer

foretelling of the future events.

.

.

.

Jones was also well-known for his prophetic views on space asked by a journalist in 1957 what he thought of the possibility, Spencer Jones replied ‘Space travel is bunk.’ Two weeks later the first Sputnik was launched. travel.

When

:

THE QUEEN OF HUMBUG

of the seventeenth century (in Europe) the interest in

From the middle

this pseudoscience declined.

Africa and

is

means

a

the ignorant classes in (5)

One

am

flourishes,

It still

many

of livelihood to all

countries.

however, in Asia and

definition of superstition

many

is

who

charlatans

prey upon

4

Synthetic Superstitions and Bogus Science, by

disagree with

119

B. S.

J.

‘Other People’s Religion’.

Haldane 5

I

certainly

points in other people’s religious opinions, but

not going to attack them here. Religious doctrines, even

are untrue, are generally part of a system in

which some

I

when they

intelligent

and

thoroughly decent people believe. I

propose to discuss the synthetic superstitions which are being manu-

factured as ‘opium for the people’, particularly astrology. Large of

Sunday newspapers keep

a

tame

astrologer,

and

I

numbers

sometimes look at

their columns.

Now

I

don’t despise real astrology.

an attempt

began thousands of years ago

It

up happenings in the earth with those of the sky. It led to the keeping in Babylon, and other cities of what is now Iraq, of exact records of eclipses and other celestial events which have been of the greatest use to modern astronomers. in

And

to link

in the late middle ages, it developed into

rules. In order to cast a

horoscope you had to

an art with elaborate

know

the positions of

all

the planets at the time of a person’s birth. Indeed for accurate predictions the exact

hour

is

needed. Each planet was supposed to have a good,

bad or neutral influence.

And

the sky

was divided up into

human

‘houses’ concerned with various

your birth Saturn and Mars were in conjunction in the House of Death, you were likely to meet with an early and violent death. A given day was or was not lucky for a person whose birth-hour was known, according to very complicated

aspects of

life.

Thus,

if

at the time of

rules.

The

were supposed

rules

embody

to

the

wisdom

of the ancient

Chaldeans. Astrology had a great influence on the thought and language

Such common words as ‘consider’, ‘disaster’, ‘inand ‘conjunction’, all derive from astrological theory. Astrology received shattering blows when two large new planets, Uranus and Neptune, were discovered, not to mention one moderatesized one, Pluto, and about a thousand dwarf planets. The wise men of the East had never discovered them, and the attempt to fit them into a

of ordinary people. fluenza’,

horoscope

is

like putting a

motor car into

For astrology, like heraldry, has

though rather

futile

hobby.

If I

great tradition of the ‘science’,

Sunday newspaper

were I

its

a

a coat of arms. rules,

and

is

a quite

amusing,

genuine astrologer following the

should be even more angry with the

practitioners than with complete sceptics.

OBJECTIONS

120

These ladies and gentlemen predict your lucky days on the

month I

which you were born. was born when the sun was

Now, according But

in the constellation called the Scorpion.

to traditional astrology, this

the lucky planets,

if

basis of the

in

Venus and

fupiter,

alone doesn’t

were there

tell

too,

me much. I may

then

look forward to certain kinds of good luck. But,

if

astrology

true,

is

it is

as ridiculous to predict a person’s fortune

from the position of the sun alone as it would be to diagnose a disease by looking at a patient’s tongue without taking his temperature or pulse rate, or is

making any other examination. Another of

palmistry If

.

.

these bogus sciences

.

the astrologers and palmists

want

to

convince scientists of the truth

of their ‘sciences', they have an easy task.

No

doubt

(if

their claims are

must have discovered that millions of young men were going to die between 1914 and 1918. So they ought to be able to predict the dates of future wars. When they get a few dates right, I shall take them seriously. But I am not much impressed by a few lucky shots. However that may be, astrologers and palmists are very useful to the right) they

cause of capitalism. They help to persuade people that their destinies is true as long as enough enough people learn how the joint fate of us all can be altered, things will begin to happen which will mean the end of capitalism as well as of astrology and palmistry.

are outside their control. And, of course, this

people believe

From

it.

But

all this it

if

appears that the

critics are

uniformly ignorant

of the Pythagorean principles that provide astrology’s foundations.

To them, pop astrology is the only upon this assumption, the attacks fact,

and almost

astrology that exists. But even that are levelled are devoid of

as free of valid theoretical objections.

The Astronomer Royal

(1)

can find no statement that

the least scientific investigation’. That fic

investigation.

as ‘too slender a

Meanwhile, he

is,

there has been

‘will

no

bear

scienti-

jettisons the sunspot correlations

foundation upon which to base such far-reaching

conclusions’. Indeed

it is.

But

it is

a foundation

and surely worthy

of scientific investigation.

and were then, a number of astrologers who were also And from time to time the astrological journals publish letters from astronomers who admit to an interest in astrology but who elect to remain anonymous for fear of professional repercussions. Apart from this, unless he has studied the matter on his own an astronomer knows no more about astrology than a radio mechanic knows about music. To ask an astronomer There

are,

astronomers.

THE QUEEN OF HUMBUG on the subject

for his ‘expert' opinion

is

useless.

Yet

it is

121

curious

that in our considerable research we have never come across a statement by an astronomer to the effect that he had not studied

astrology and therefore did not know.

Our shy of

other critics are equally quick to

Astronomer Royal.

facts as the

condemn but

Mr

Gardner

as equally

(2) offers sun-

spots as the ‘last respectable survival of the ancient view that

human

affairs are linked

the ancients

with astronomical phenomena',

commonly were aware

as

though

of sunspot correlations (actually

by the time Gardner was writing had been made of these. no mention

the Chinese were). Moreover,

(1957) far

more impressive

firmly established. There

Alfred

Still (3)

people and

may

correlations than the sunspots

is

finds astrology a proper philosophy for ‘timorous

idiots',

making one wonder what Mr Still’s credentials him to put Plato, Plotinus and Kepler in this

be that permit

class.

Out

of all this verbiage,

only the geneticist,

it is

J.

B. S.

Haldane,

who, despite inaccuracies, presents some genuine objections. The discovery of the new planets was and is a problem, though by no means the ‘shattering blow’ Haldane suggests.

Haldane

Secondly,

stumbling block -

and if

astrology

is

whom

He

out

a

major

astrological

cites as

an example the millions

killed

should have death written into their stars

valid.

However, the objection

is

offered as though, over the course of

astrology’s millennial history,

of

picks

the relationship between individual destiny

large-scale events.

in a war, all of

rightly

no one before Haldane had thought

it.

In fact, Ptolemy devoted considerable time to just this problem.

He

contended - and modern astrologers would agree - that

the destiny of the individual

is

subsumed

in the greater destiny

of the state, nation, race, tribe, or geographical area (e.g. earth-

quake

victims). Accurately determining the ‘horoscope' of a race,

or state or geographical area,

is

another problem altogether. But

the difficulty or even impossibility of ever determining such a

horoscope does nothing to invalidate the astrological principle of terrestrial /celestial correlation. It is

means

that astrological prophecy

and no sensible astrologer would maintain otherwise. But Haldane’s objection to astrology on political grounds must

unreliable,

be regarded as something of

a scientific

masterstroke.

OBJECTIONS

122

Though

thousand years astrologers have been

for over four

working hand-in-glove with exploit the secret until

capitalist imperialists in a

working classes, the liaison has been unmasked by Professor Haldane.

scheme

to

skilfully kept

Subsequently, a right-wing plot has been successful in preventing

the masses from learning

and

altered,

of astrology,

However,

it

is

is still

with

a school of

will cease to

learn that

wage

their fate

easily

might be

us.

humanitarians,

on Haldane's psychological

Once people

how

for this reason that capitalism, to say nothing

it.

base their methods up-

hope to put a stop to war. them - it is argued - they

insight, soon

war

And

who

is

bad for

once war

is

done away with, there

will be

time to concentrate upon the abolition of capitalism and astrology.

Doubtless there will be individuals

A

insist that

theory does

page from Professor Haldane's

not so easily become practice, but a

own biography

who

should permanently silence such sceptics.

staunch Communist, Haldane tolerated the Stalin regime

throughout the long period of

atrocities

and purges

in the 1930s;

but learning that the Russians were championing the worthless genetical arguments of Lysenko,

Communists were not

that the

Haldane immediately intuited

interested in the truth for

sake,

and he withdrew his support.

The

material quoted so far comes from

writers

and may

criticism

But

it

own

and science

be regarded as a fair sampling of the level of

commonly

may

scientists

its

directed against astrology from this quarter.

be argued that despite the uncompromising tone of

the criticism, none of the critics

make any

particular claim to

have studied the subject. In our history

we mentioned

ancient astrology by a

number

the academic attention paid to

of scholars over the past century,

and touched peripherally upon the views of Franz Cumont and Otto Neugebauer and others. Following are some extensive excerpts from The Royal Art of Astrology by Robert Eisler, 6 a well-

known Babylonian

scholar. Since this

book

is

one of the very few

devoted wholly to the destruction of the astrological premise, the objections raised in

To

this

it

should be of particular interest.

day the devotees of astrology never

tire of

repeating the bitter

3

THE QUEEN complaint

Alfred

of

who wrote

John Pearce,

HUMBUG

OF*

2

Textbook of

his

in

1

men of Astrology (1911), the nineteenth and the present century have denied that there is any

‘Why

truth in astrology?

is it

The

that the great majority of learned

reply is: Because they had never investigated

being too prejudiced against

it,

it

do

to

so.'

This wanton accusation against modern scholarship cient proof of either an absolute lack of good faith or

in itself suffi-

is

an almost unbe-

work dedicated to the study of Frenchman Saumaise ( Salmasius 1648), the correspondent of Milton, to our own age which saw the deciphering, editing and translating of the most important Mesopotamian and Egyptian astrological texts, the publication in more than a

lievable ignorance of

all

the learned

astrology from the time of the great

,

dozen volumes of the Catalogue of Greek Astrological Manuscripts, under the direction of Franz Cumont and Wilhelm Kroll, the rediscovery and publication of the Sphaera Barbarica by Franz Boll (1904), of the astrological texts of Flermes Trismegistus by Wilhelm Gundel (1936) and the searching investigation of

such

men

as

all

the available material by

A. Bouche-Leclercq (1899), Carl von Bezold (1914), Reginald

Campbell Thompson (1900), Charles Virolleaud (1905 ff.), Aby Warbug a whole group of younger men inspired by their example. Not one

and

item of the

list

of their books given below,

ever quoted by any

is

one of the defenders of astrology. They will not acknowledge honestly the decisive fact

that their futile practices have been investi-

gated with the greatest care and impartiality by the foremost scholars of the leading

Western nations

not one has failed of

to

what was once attempt

sophical verse

.

.

for

now

condemn them

almost three centuries, and that

as the stale, superstitious residue

a great, pantheistic religion to

and

a glorious philo-

to

explain the uni-

understand and rationally

?

So great was the care and impartiality with which these scholars studied astrology that in the preface of his

work Bouche-Leclercq work with astrology

excuses himself from actually attempting to

and examine the

basis of its

symbolism with

:

'We do not waste

our time in studying upon what others have wasted attitude

commended warmly by

a lecture

8 .

Franz

with never having himself erected

impartially

way.’

Eisler

The

'We

Boll,

theirs.'

An

challenged at

a horoscope, replied

mad enough to waste our time in this and careful Franz Cumont has already been

are not yet

impartial

discussed.

As

far as

we know, without

a single exception,

no

critic of

astrology has ever attempted to put astrology seriously to the test

:

OBJECTIONS

124

own

would not by fond quickly ‘proves’ that music cannot produced parents, be by such an instrument - it would at least be a move worthy of scholars and scientists in search of ‘objective’ truth of his

experience, and though

-

be decisive either

fust as metals

it is

true that this

the tone-deaf child, given a violin

were associated with the planets by an undue generalunfounded

ization of the celestial origin of meteoric iron, an equally

generalization of the celestial origin of meteoric stones led to the belief that

all

precious stones had fallen from the sky, imagined to be a vault

of blue sapphire or lapis-lazuli studded with the

diamonds of the white,

the rubies of the red, the emeralds of the greenish stars, etc.

The connection between names

responsible for such is,

and

stars

their planets (the astro-botany

as ‘sun-flower’, 'helianthus*

’

and

‘flos

Jovis

of course, a development of a particular group of notes in the star-

calendar.

As

the peasant would note the star in the calendar signalling

the sprouting, blossoming and fruiting of corn, barley, vines, date-

palms, sesame,

etc.,

the gardener in charge of the medicinal herb garden

would do the same

under his

for the plants

care.

A

empirical correlation would be expanded in the usual

amount

slight

way by

of

the verbal

or other associations of ideas so dear and indispensable to the mystic

and magician believing in ciples of ‘universal

a cosmic

The ‘anthropomorphic’ sun and moon as to a

‘holist’ prin-

interpretation of the sky as a face, and of

and

‘the right’

‘left

eye’ in

it,

would necessarily lead

human head and one mouth - with the seven planets in the Hebrew Neo-Pythagorean treatise Sepher Yezirah

development correlating the seven sense organs in the

- two eyes, two as

system pervaded by the

‘

sympathy’ and sacra analogia ’.

we

find

it

ears,

two

nostrils

The equally

(‘Book of Creation’, literally ‘Formation’ or ‘Design’).

anthropomorphic idea of a sky-god or sky-goddesses arched above the earth, so familiar to Egyptian art, would suggest a coordination of the seven limbs of this divinity - one head, one trunk, one generative

organ, two arms,

Egyptian tombs

we

two

legs

- with the same seven

planets. In

see the thirtv-six decan-stars methodically distri-

buted over the body of the sky-goddess Nut. In the Pseudo-Hippocratean treatise

On

Heptades

sixth century

compared head,

to a

(Peri

B.C., Ionia,

hebdomadon), written by a physician in the

a

human body

map of

of the then

known

inhabited earth,

which the Peloponnesus

the Isthmus of Corinth

is

is

said to be the

the neck or spine, Ionia

the spleen

and Cimmerian Bosporus the feet, Egypt the belly, the Maiotis the bladder and the Black Sea the rectum. A division of the celestial body of the ‘Big Man’ or Makranthropos above us into twelve parts would result in an astrological (phrenes), the Hellespont the leg, the Thracian

THE QUEEN OF HUMBUG correlation of these with the twelve sections of the zodiac as

diagrammatically represented in

‘phlebotomic’

the

we

125 find

it

used by

figures

astrologer-surgeons and barbers for the purpose of determining the propitious times for such operations as blood-letting, cauterization, etc.

A

knowledge of the zodiacal signs or decan-stars supposed to rule over afflict them with all the diseases to which the mortal flesh of the suffering human race is subject, would enable the limbs of man, and to

the ‘star-read' medical practitioner

who

called himself for this reason the

‘iatro-mathematician' to ‘calculate' and to compose for each patient the

proper phylactery guarding

when

the

name

him

‘influenza' or

against malevolent astral ‘influences'

‘flu'

- or curing the

-

‘star-struck' (astero-

by one of the maladies catalogued in these lists, as the ‘Hungarian physician' who gave Erasmus an ‘astrological' drinking mug shaped like a lion. Having taken his beverage from this vessel for some time, Erasmus felt better, but doubtful whether the improvements were due to its use or not. All these correlations - completely devoid of any empirical scientific foundation - are said to be derived from divine revelations vouchsafed by the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus to his son, the divine physician bletos) already affected

Asclepius *Lc

.

.

.

style

est

Vhomme mime' Madame

Blavatsky and John

Hazelrigg (see n. 56, p. 265) are models of precision and clarity compared with Eisler. And the reader, trampled underfoot by this

mob

of erudition,

But once that there ideas as

may

justly

this splenetic

very

is

how

to

little

wonder what

it is

that

is

cuneiform has been decoded, being

the planets

being it

said. Eisler offers as 'fact' his

came

to be

said.

develops

own

connected to metals,

precious stones and plants, and ultimately maintains that there is

no empiric evidence

to

enough. But equally there

back up these claims, which is

no empiric evidence that

is

true

refutes

them. Finally

any

will prevent

it

wall,

window pane

or even the thinnest sheet of cloth

[planetary ‘influence’] from reaching the

newborn body embryo enclosed in the maternal body, which any radiation of warmth or light reflected from

at all not to speak of the is

quite impervious to

the planets.

On

the contrary, the recently discovered, deeply penetrat-

ing cosmic rays which really reach us

all

the time from the depths of

space were and are never taken into account by the astrologer.

9 .

.

.

Should the astrologer, with our ancient authors, compare the planetary influence to ‘the attraction of straw by amber' - i.e. electricity - or to ‘the attraction of iron by the lodestone' - i.e. magnetism - the simple

:

OBJECTIONS

126

answer

to

such

pretence would be that the modern physicist

a silly

dis-

poses of the most delicate instruments for detecting and measuring

electro-magnetic disturbances in our atmosphere, and that such dis-

known

turbances are

which only their

to

come from the

specific radiation of

own.

Less lucky than the

but ten years It is

sun, but not from the planets,

and send out no

reflect the sunlight

now

to

make

man

it

took

his direct intellectual heir look as foolish.

well established that Jupiter certainly, and other planets

probably, emit radio waves,

and no one knows what

The

sound judgement of 1857,

of

tirade

to

all

the planets carry magnetic charges,

expect next.

above was directed principally against Ptolemy for

his attempt to account for the physics behind astrology's influ-

ence.

Amusingly enough,

then

Eisler

turns around

and uses

exactly the same explanation to account for the effects of the

moon upon

the mentally disturbed

Anyone who has had the misfortune to live in the neighbourhood knows how much noisier its inmates are on moonlit

of a mental hospital

and not dark nights, and

nights, simply because these nights are clear

therefore less conducive to deep and undisturbed sleep. But to

understand that

and witch-doctor 'loony' or ‘lunatic'

it is

as easy

simple fact must have led the primitive magician

this

to believe that neurotic or psychotic patients

were

10 .

.

.

Less easy to understand

is

why

this

simple fact never occurs to

the wardens of the mental hospitals,

who, instead of hiring additional help for the period of full moon, should just pull down the blinds; since, as Eisler contends, The thinnest sheet of cloth will prevent it from reaching’ the subject. By 1946, a variety of phenomena had been observed to show periodicity corresponding to the phases of the moon. This is all attributed blithely to the moonlight itself by Eisler, who forgets that in this case there should be no periodicity at all - the

phenomena being contingent upon 4

“Selenotropism"

of

certain

clear or

flowering

flowers toward the

moon

quite analagous

the heliotropism

to

in

cloudy weather. plants

turning

the night has been observed. of plants

their It is

turning toward

sunlight in daytime, and presumably to be explained by a similar

mechanism.' 11

But no one knows what the

‘similar

mechanism’

is,

or

why

THE QUEEN OF HUMBUG some plants turn

to the sun,

12J

while others turn to the moon, and

others do neither. .

.

.

Anyhow,

these perfectly natural

all

phenomena

are quite suffi-

by peasants and gardeners over the world concerning the advisability of planting seeds and

cient to explain the widespread beliefs held all

seedlings while the

The

moon waxes. 12

Madame

thesis of

Kolisko - set forth in her book on The

Moon

and Plant Growth published by the Anthroposophical Society - that according to laboratory experiments, all plant growth, without disis more rapid and generally satisfactory if sown or propagated two days before the full moon, the effect being reversed if the sowing or propagation is made two days before the new moon - with unexplained exceptions noticed around the Easter moon - has been tested by

tinction,

Messrs.

J.

Maby, bsc,arcs, fras and

T. Bedford Franklin, ma, frse, joint

authors of a remarkable book The Physics of the Divining Rod (1939), the ‘general conclusion’ at the end of the period from February to July

1938 ‘being that no sure distinction could be made between

and

full

moon

results of the given period’. This finding

significant since

it

new moon

is all

the

more

can clearly be seen from the context and from the

very open-minded and unprejudiced investigators’ announcement of the intention to repeat the

have

welcomed, a positive

eliminating certain conditions which might outcome that they expected and would have

test,

led to this negative

result.

13

Written possibly under the new moon, or perhaps while the author was shielded by a thin screen from the effects of the full, this its

passage

is

at first glance rather un-Eislerian, and, apart

from

tortured, tell-tale syntax, almost rational.

Two

scholars with

many

letters after their

names have put

to a

laboratory test the dubious contention of another scholar with no letters after

her name, concluding after several months of testing

that the latter’s results remain uncorroborated.

The

stated inten-

tion to repeat their test stands as proof of their objectivity.

But eight years had passed between the time of the stated intenand Eisler’s writing. Have these gentleman failed to repeat

tion

their test because of the outbreak of a test surely is

war? The intention

not tantamount to actually re-running

of poking about the library reveals another

it.

to re-run

And

a bit

minor scholarly over-

sight.

mention that Mme Kolisko’s ‘thesis’ is the result hundreds of supposedly rigidly controlled laboratory experi-

Eisler forgets to

of

OBJECTIONS

128

ments extending over a period of a dozen years, published in a illustrated with a prodigal number of photographs substan-

book

tiating the effects of the

moon upon plant growth.

There can be no mistake about

Either

this.

Mme

who

Kolisko

and the moon affects plant growth, or else she has fabricated hundreds of photographs and charts

right,

a spurious theory

Messrs

Maby and

14

It is

.

According

a fraud

to

back up

possible that the inconclusive results of

Bedford would be improved

promised but undelivered

is

is

if

subjected to that

re- trial.

the animistic, anthropomorphic cosmology of Empe-

to

- projecting our purely human or animal valuations into the universe and its remote silent depths - the world is ruled by Love and Strife. So the astrologer tries to discover curiously enough by means of geometry, the ‘sympathies' and ‘antipathies' pervading the sky and dividing the zodiacal belt into rival bands of allies and adversaries. ‘Utque sibi coelum, sic tellus dissidet ipsa' (‘As the sky's a house divided, so's the earth against itself’) says Manilius - the truth being that human docles

wage war against each other as the barbarian still do to this day which Firmicus Maternus transcribes ‘from the books of Abraham' ( !) supposed to have brought this sorry wisdom from Ur of the Chaldeans, can beat any other astrological dogma for sheer absurdity 15 folly believes the stars to

inhabitants of this planet

.

.

.

.

Odd

that Eisler cannot see in this ancient Pythagorean notion

and

of ‘love'

'strife'

its

modern counterparts

of attraction and

repulsion, positive and negative. Odd, too, that since his dismissal of the ‘warring’ stars, radio astronomy has brought us

news of Could the ancients have known of these? Probably not, but perhaps Velikovsky is right, and such events happened within the solar system within historical colliding (or ‘warring’) galaxies.

memory.

Why

not? There

is

in fact

no

‘proof’ that

such things

are impossible; nor even a theory to that effect.

In a sense, cution.

it is

unfair to call in Eisler as star witness for the prose-

The Royal Art

parody of

all

that

is

of Astrology

is

or has ever been

not scholarship, but a

wrong with

scholarship.

There is, in the end, something magnificent about it; for there no academic shortcoming or excess that Eisler does not carry its

extreme

trate a

:

it is

as

though Goya had been commissioned

is

to

to illus-

Complete Encyclopedia of Pedantry.

Swift and Voltaire, whatever the state of their private

lives,

5

THE QUEEN OF HUMBUG managed to bring the ideal of reason Eisler makes his no less ardent appeal

129

into their prose styles. But to reason over the course of

296 pages of perfectly sustained apoplexy. Yet, for all its length and relentless invective, The Royal Art of Astrology produces no

more hard evidence than the winded opponents. We have now quoted from

common

paragraphs of

fact-free

a

number

a hostility towards astrology

of sources

less long-

who

and a lack of

share in

ability to

produce hard evidence or even sound theoretical objections against

But there is beyond this a common communality of attitude obvious, yet

it.

understand

difficult to

grateful to Eisler

initially.

who, with

And

‘tone’ to their strictures, a difficult it

is

to pinpoint,

here that

and

we may

be

his great gift for excess, parodies the

matter into unmistakable focus.

He

'explains’ religious experience, the mystic’s 'vision’.

But some people are so

.‘fascinated’

apparently senseless pattern,

any length

of time into

normal attention is

started.

The

in the inkwell

from

reflected

subject

may

is

or, for

an inkwell or into a

‘dispersed' or

a

fall

at a

random, irregular

crystal sphere, that their

unloosened and a flow of day-dream

‘rapture’ is increased is

by looking

the matter of that, by staring for

if

the darkness of the black mirror

combined with a dazzling splendour, such as the light crystal or from a diamond. Indeed, the contemplating into

what

is

called a ‘trance', a ‘sober drunkenness' as

the ancient mystics described the state of the soul induced by the con-

templation of the splendid pattern of variously coloured glittering points of light

on the velvety black or deep blue of the heavenly sphere. 16

And

so at last the mystery is solved. Not understanding that Kingdom of Heaven was an optical illusion, Christ died upon the Cross. Too dull to advise their adherents to furnish themselves with crystal balls, Buddha, Lao Tse, Zoroaster, the Hindu rishis

the

and the

Sufis of Islam

preached a lifetime of concentration, con-

templation and relentless work in order to set will above the chaos of fleeting sense impressions

The deluded Zen Master

that

toils for

is

man’s ordinary condition.

years to subdue his personality

so that, in one magical instant, hand, brush,

and mountain fuse

and become one upon paper. All folly he need only stare down his own inkwell. Since history began sages have meditated, monks :

have prayed, dervishes have whirled; temples, cathedrals, mosques and pagodas have been erected; sacred art, music and poetry were developed, and C.F.A.

—

all

of this quite needlessly; all because our primi-

130

OBJECTIONS

and semi-conscious ancestors persisted in believing that between the lucid ecstasy of the saint and the reveries of the

tive

self-hypnotized scholar there existed a qualitative difference.

Thanks

to Eisler it

now becomes

he and his fellow scholars and

why

possible to understand

scientists feel as

they do about

astrology and, indeed, about almost everything that has

come

to

us from the past.

These men,

who have

never built a cathedral, danced a dervish

dance, or meditated for half an hour, deny the possibility of such a qualitative difference.

They

believe such activities to have been

own

merely the harbingers of their towards past art

is

disciplines.

Their attitude

therefore one of sentimentality and/or con-

descension while their attitude towards past science best)

As

avuncular contempt far as astrology

critics believe that

other

:

is

one of

(at

concerned, judged a priori a fallacy,

its

.

any objection

raised against

astrology can't work, therefore

it

it is

know

good

as

as

any

doesn't.

Nevertheless, there are objections that are valid are not. Astrologers

is

17

and those that

the difference, and the valid objections

are the subject of intense discussion. Because

extremely intricate and technical

we

many

of these are

will touch only

main elements. And though we have mentioned some

upon

their

of these in

the course of our history, for the sake of completeness let us

itemize

all

of the chief objections to astrology

between them.

and then distinguish

Queen’s Counsel

2

Copernican heliocentric theory exploded astrology, which

1.

was based upon

The

2.

a geocentric conception.

new planets cannot be incorporated into and entirely disrupts the ancient system

discovery of the astrology,

traditional

based upon the septenary of the ancient planets.

For astrology to work, there must be ‘action at a distance’

3.

and

this

4.

The

has been disproved by modern physics.

The sun

is

nothing but a mass of incandescent material.

planets are nothing but globes of

more or

less

solidified

mineral, metallic and gaseous matter, therefore they cannot fluence’ life 5.

on

Astrology

equinoxes,

‘in-

earth. fails

and

to

take into account the precession of the

therefore

bases

itself

upon

imaginary

an

zodiac. 6.

According

to genetic theory, all that

we

inherit

comes

to us

moment of conception, when sperm and ovum join. It is at moment that physical and, by and large, mental character-

at the this

are permanently fixed. If there

istics

at

all, it

which

may

were anything

should base horoscopes upon the

is

practically impossible

take place as

much

to

moment

to astrology

of conception,

determine since fertilization

as twenty-four hours after the actual

sexual act. 6a. Twins and time twins babies born the same minute in the same place according to astrological theory would be identical. 6b. Induced births if astrology is valid, it would have to con:

:

tend that induced births radically alter the subsequent character of the 7.

baby born.

How

can astrology account for mass tragedies? Did

all

the

Jews murdered by Hitler have death written into their stars? 8.

The zodiac

itself is

astrological principles

but an imaginary

circle,

and

all

other

such as houses, aspects and the meanings

attached to the planets are purely arbitrary and have no basis in empirical fact.

OBJECTIONS

132 1.

Copernican Theory The rediscovery of the heliocen tricity of .

was

the solar system destroyed medieval cosmology and

a

blow

to

the medieval age. But astrology studies the putative influences of the planets astrologers

they stand relative to

as

were

as

unhappy

earth

the

to learn that the

Presumably,

.

sun did not revolve

around the earth as were the scholastics, but their astrology was none the worse for it. As we have pointed out, Copernicus, Kepler

and even Newton never suggested that astrology was affected by the Copernican discovery. Moreover, it seems unarguable that the Egyptians and Pythagoreans knew the actual state of affairs, as did the Indians and Chinese, all of whom had astrology. 2. New Planets. Indubitably a problem and one that cannot be approached satisfactorily with astrology in its present state of disrepute. Large-scale research

what

the

new

would be necessary

planets ‘mean', and

how

to

determine

them

to incorporate

in the

canon. Traditionally, the law of seven, the

sacred as the

tenary of five

law of the octave, is held and matter and the convenient sepplanets, sun and moon made a splendid physical

sum

of spirit

‘proof' of the sacred

were regarded

when

nature of the law, particularly

they

which could

as serenely circling the central earth

then be excluded as outside the sacred seven.

The discovery

of the

new

planets does nothing to invalidate the

law of seven. Only that law does not manifest medieval astrologers thought it did. And lacking

itself

as

facilities

the for

organized research astrologers are quite unable to support with cold facts

any of the often

conflicting theories that have been put

forward to explain the astrological roles of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

In a general

way agreement

has been reached. Uranus

is

as to the nature of the

is

‘watery' and

a planet of the occult, of drugs, of

ticism, of subtle reaches of the

planets

the planet of revolution, violent

change, ‘democracy' and technology. Neptune

somewhat mysterious,

new

mind. Pluto

is

roman-

held to be a planet

responsible for the unleashing of subterranean powers, a planet of totalitarianism

and cataclysm -

as its

name

implies.

No

matter

that the name is supposedly made up to commemorate the astronomers Perceval Lowell and C. W. Tombaugh, astrologers are as loath to ascribe anything to coincidence as scientists are eager to ascribe everything to

it.

queen’s counsel How

did astrologers

collective

come

Hindu

By

to these tentative conclusions?

hunch; by analogy; by the

the symbolism of

133

‘feel’

new

of the

by

planets;

astrology which has always postulated

twelve planets with their twelve corresponding and increasingly spiritual functions to

would be

science

match the twelve

validity to such conclusions? to

adequate controlled

quandary. Generally, is

No

new

attendant

The

new

to incorporate the

planets into

astrologers find themselves in a confessed it

that the discovery of the

felt

is

not entirely a chance corollary of the

new

development, a widespread access to

the

by what in any

there be

one will know until they are put

rather that the rise of science represents a

which the

Can

tests.

Meanwhile, in attempting their interpretations,

planets

signs, in short

called ‘hypothesis formation’?

rise of science,

new

phase of

new but

human

intellectual faculties (of

industrial revolution constitutes the prime misuse), and

planets symbolize

these

new

opportunities and their

pitfalls.

astrological

argument

haps none the worse for that

is

unashamedly

analogical, but per-

18 .

Stars are born, they mature, they die. (Science puts inverted

commas around they

die.

organic

human

the terms.)

Human

Analogically, organic

life

ought

beings are born, they mature,

life

and the

to be subject to the

human

same

race within

process,

which

in

beings certainly (we cannot speak for the stars) proceeds

by abrupt, and discreet steps. When a child reaches puberty, ‘influences’ which but months before were undetectable manifest themselves in striking fashion.

may

be happening at the

And

moment on

it is

a

this sort of thing that

grand scale

to

humanity

in

general, say the astrologers.

Because the

new

planets

move

so slowly, the objection

may

be

between them last for several years, meaning that all children born during that time would share these aspects. Astrologers speculate that something of this sort may lie behind

raised that aspects

the so-called ‘generation gap’.

The usual

historical explanations

phenomena are in fact only descriptions after the fact, and would be interesting to see if astrologers could successfully predict the psychological differences that ought to exist between a generation born with, say, Neptune in Libra, and one born with Neptune in Scorpio. Along this speculative line, astrologers are also of the opinion

of such it

OBJECTIONS

134

that the

new

planets do not manifest themselves in the conscious-

ness of individuals in

humanity

at large, except in a

-

ingly gifted, or ‘developed’ individuals particularly

immune

new

In attempting to incorporate the

new

planets into the ancient

generally held that

it is

planets constitute the beginning of a

conserving the

thought

to

Law

concept being

to scientific investigation.

concept of the harmony of the spheres, the

this latter

few outstand-

new

‘octave’ (thus,

Neptune and Pluto more spiritual octave

of Seven). Uranus,

represent

‘higher’

a

or

are of

Mercury, Venus and Mars respectively. It

goes without saying that none of this can be called ‘science’;

pure speculation based upon astrological assumptions that are time-honoured but largely unproven and extremely difficult to

it is

prove. Nevertheless, as evidence of celestial/ terrestial correlations

accumulates, the hypothesis formations of the astrologers

may

prove to be as inspired as the hypothesis formations of the scientists.

And

meanwhile, the

new

planets present astrologers with a

grand and intriguing problem. 3. Action at a distance is impossible. This notion was commonly used to support the theory of a mechanical universe in which ‘empty space’ was supposed to prevail between the planets. The action at a distance argument was used by Eisler as late as

1946. But the well-known sunspot cycles and a host of other

phenomena remove 4. Solar

this objection (see Part Three).

and planetary influence

impossible

is

.

The sun

is

but a

mass of incandescent material, etc. This common objection is not an objection but a statement of negative faith. It asserts in effect that the universe

is

meaningless. But

demonstrate this than

And

if it is difficult

it is

to

to

it

is

no more

possible to

demonstrate the contrary.

imagine the sun and planets possessed of

as we do their chemical conwe may, as an analogy, take the case of a blood cell our own bodies. Possessed of consciousness of a sort, is the

consciousness and will,

knowing

stituents,

within blood

cell

capable of imagining that the reason for

accelerated velocity

lies in

Astrologers, whatever the disagreements

adhere to the ancient principle of

system

is

its

miraculous

our suddenly becoming angry?

‘as

among them may be, The solar

above, so below’.

believed to be an ‘organism’ and the planets are expres-

sions of the functions of this ‘organism’ just as the various organs

of the

human body

are expressions

and instruments of

its

func-

queen's counsel Of

tions.

135

course, demonstrating the functions of the planets

problem of another order. But meanwhile astrology

the objection

a

that

no more than rock

invalid because the planets are

is

is

and gas must be discarded; it is the same as maintaining that man no more than the sum total of his chemical constituents (a theory actually advanced by behavioural psychologists but op-

is

posed even by fellow scientists

who

for

some reason

find this

logical premise repellent).

Astrology

account the precession of the equinoxes. The so-called Tropical' zodiac, the one used by most 5.

astrologers,

is

fails

to take into

Each year begins

fixed.

to the precession of the

equinoxes (see

However, due on the actual day

at o° Aries. p.

ff.)

47

- the spring day that is divided equally between day and night - the sun no longer rises in o° Aries, but 0 has gradually precessed and at the moment rises in 7 Pisces. This means in practical astrological terms that a man born on 24 March

of the vernal equinox

is

bom

said to be

under Aries, but in

man

rising deep in Pisces. Is the raise

Critics

upon

its

status in astrological circles.

Schwaller de Lubicz all

its

sun of

this

time

is

objection without ever bothering to check

this

nized for centuries. Ptolemy

in

fact the

an Arian or a Piscean ?

is

The problem has been

may have known

right, the Egyptians

of

it.

recog-

And

if

were fully aware of

it

complexity, and their three calendars, operating con-

comitantly, are a reflection of this knowledge.

At

the

moment,

in

England and America, there

noisy contingent of astrologers zodiac Pisces

who

is

a small but

contend that the Sidereal

- the one that moves, which would have our Arian born in - is the only true one, and that, largely due to Ptolemy (in

whose day, the Tropical and

Sidereal zodiacs coincided) astrology

has been becoming progressively more wrong. The Siderealists

contend that only the moving, Sidereal zodiac is the true one, and they have tried to buttress their argument with elaborate statistical studies.

Their opponents (the majority of conventional astrologers)

contend that the

and

insist

statistics

that their

can be interpreted in a number of ways,

own

collective experience

testifies

to

the

validity of the standard Tropical zodiac.

But taking a cue from the Egyptians,

it

seems possible that

the two zodiacs are not inimical and mutually exclusive. Obviously, the laws governing

life

on earth have not moved in accord-

OBJECTIONS

136

ance with the Sidereal zodiac. The vernal equinox 22 March; and the is

anything

first

day of spring

to astrology,

is still

still

o° Aries.

occurs on

And

there

if

then the same laws should obtain to

man

as to organic life.

On

the other hand, the precession of the equinoxes cannot be

devoid of astrological significance either.

It is

the precession of the

equinoxes that brings about the Taurean Age, Arian Age, Piscean

Age, and the impending Aquarian Age.

An

analogy

may

help to clarify the problem. Imagine a

self-

contained village within an enormous empire. The village has

own

feasts, holidays, local saints

life.

To

the

casual

observer

its

and heroes, its own rhythm of appears autonomous and un-

it

changing. But actually this village

is

bound up

in the greater laws

governing the empire. From time to time messages and instructions arrive; minute but progressive changes are made in the rites and the regulations. To the villagers themselves it appears that nothing significant has changed, and it is only through a study of

monuments left by ancestors that the extent change becomes clear. The village, of course, corresponds records and

of the to the

day-to-day Tropical zodiac, favoured by most astrologers;

empire

to

the Sidereal zodiac

whose

leisurely imperatives

the are

almost indiscernible.

From

a

practicable point of view, then,

it

would seem

that

astrologers are (theoretically) largely justified in sticking to their

conventional Tropical zodiac.

Making conscious use

of the Sidereal

zodiac was a possibility for the Egyptians, perhaps, but not for us.

now be busy building appropriate structures consecrated to the Age of Aquarius, designed to attune men to their time. Instead we fly to the moon. 6. All that we inherit comes to us at the moment of conception. If it

If

were we should

there

is

anything

moment

to astrology at all ,

it

should base horoscopes

We

have already spoken of the bequeathed upon likelihood Trismegistus, all Books of Hermes in the scholars of Alexandria by Egypt. These fragmentary works

upon

the

of conception.

include detailed rules for determining astrologically the of conception. Recent research of a

moment

Czech psychologist, Eugen

Jonas, seems to bear out certain of the old theories (see pp. 174

But this does not answer the objection. the ancients were aware that the logically important

moment

It

ff.).

merely contends that

of conception

was

and that they dealt with the problem.

astro-

What

.

queen's counsel moment

137

which is decisive in determining the personality of the newly-born? Does this not run counter to everything discovered by modern genetics ? Not entirely. But the argument from genetics at least makes of the astrological notion that

it is

the

of birth

sense and deserves to be dealt with seriously.

we

Genetic theory contends that

According

of our genes.

gene

are ‘nothing but' the product

Penguin Dictionary of Science, a

to the

hypothetical unit, comprising part of a chromosome.

is ‘a

The gene

is

.

.

regarded as being a particular molecular configuration

of the nucleic acids ... at the particular point

chromosome.

.

.

.

See Genetic Code.’

And

on the length of

then, ‘Genetic Code.

a

The

code by which inherited characteristics are handed from genera-

The code

tion to generation.

figuration of the

expressed by the molecular con-

is

chromosomes of cells.'

Heredity then, according

to genetic theory,

depends upon the the chromo-

configuration of these hypothetical units within

But what determines the configuration? The

some.

answer

‘coincidence'.

is

But astrologers say

‘the stars'.

scientific

And though

they can as yet prove nothing, the theoretical possibility of tial

celes-

determination improves with time. The hypothetical gene has

never been observed, and level,

and

is

therefore

delicate nature. tivity

A

reactions

electro-magnetic conditions, terrestrial factors.

upon

a molecular

be open to influences of a most

to

wealth of evidence

chemical

of

exists, it exists

it

if

bound

to

which

the

now

testifies to

prevailing

in turn

the sensi-

magnetic and

depend upon extra-

Astrologers can defend, at least theoretically,

the possible validity of the moment-of-conception horoscope.

Still,

no way justifies the horoscope calculated from the moment of birth, which is the mainstay of genethliacal astrology. Can a child with his first breath of air acquire any properties he did not this in

have a moment before? It is

no argument

as far as the geneticist

is

concerned to mention

the millennial experience of countless astrologers; nor

is

there

any point in mentioning accounts of the descent of the soul into the body as it comes to us in the Egyptian and Tibetan Books of the Dead, and from other esoteric sources. The modern scientist 19 dismisses such works The argument against astrology from the standpoint of genetics .

is

only as good as genetics

of science, each C.F. A

.

— £*

new

itself.

And

in genetics, as in all

branches

discovery tends to open rather than enclose

:

OBJECTIONS

138

the vistas of knowledge. Excerpts from an account of a recent

experiment

may

serve to illustrate our point

Until a few years ago, the science of heredity - though an immensely

complex one - was

at least closely defined. It concerned genetics, the

study of the genes within the nucleus of the that genetic material

-

DNA

- can

instance in the sub-cellular particles

cells.

The

recent discovery

also exist outside the nucleus, for

known

as mitochondria, has stirred

up the pellucid waters of Mendelian genetics. Now these waters have been muddied even further: a paper just published suggests that genes

may not

be the only factors involved in inheritance.

Roger Williams, a biochemist from the University of Texas found that among rats which had been inbred for 101 generations so that .

.

.

their genes should be all but identical, large differences existed in the

chemical composition of their urine, even though

all

the experimental

were eating the same diet. Since then he has shown that ‘enormous’ variations - up to 6o-fold or more - can be found among inbred animals rats

in features such as the voluntary stuffs,

and the tendency

What

consumption of alcohol, choice of food-

to exercise.

two parameters which are determining an individual’s individuality - genetic complement and environment plus the interaction between the two - are identical? Williams has a theory about this. He has toyed with the idea that there exist unknown factors - aside from genes and environment - involved in the control of the intricate process of differentiation, in which a complex organism, containing hundreds of millions of cells of different types, develops from a causes

these variations,

normally reckoned

if

the

to be all that are involved in

single fertilized egg.

With

Eleanor Shorrs, Williams

now

reports

on the study of 16

of armadillo quadruplets (Proceedings of the National Sciences, vol. 60, p. 910).

They

sets

Academy

of

studied 20 parameters, including organ

weight and biochemical features, and confirmed that all varied widely within any given quadruple set - some parameters by as much as 140fold.

Williams’ hypothesis

The

is

apparently borne out.

implications of this experiment are profound.

summed up by

saying that genes aren’t necessarily

all

They can be important in

inheritance four italics] - a pretty revolutionary notion. Many of the most deep-seated and important characters of a race - form, intelligence, speed, fertility, strength and so on - vary too continuously among that race to be explainable in terms of single genes. Normally, in assuming that genes are the carriers of intelligence, geneticists assume that these sort of characters involve multiple genes.

But

there are factors outside of the genes and

if,

as

Williams postulates,

which can control the genes

queen’s counsel [our italics], factors present in different types of

on the sion,

fairly

random way

cell

that depend solely

that a cell's contents are distributed at divi-

then these continuously varying characters can be explained

more

And

easily.

biologists that

repressors -

there

139

is

much

plenty of evidence from the molecular

such cytoplasmic gene-controlling factors - inducers and

exist

20 .

.

.

So the responsibility has been shifted from the genes to the equally hypothetical inducers and repressors - preserving a decent materialist outlook. Williams’s experiment does not, of course,

prove the validity of any astrological premise whatever. But effectively destroy the objection to astrology

of genetics

the discoveries of

:

modern

it

does

from the point of view

genetics do not invalidate

the principles of astrology. Astrologers have long contended that inherited characteristics were determined

by the moment

of con-

ception (which, in theory, ought to be detectable in the horoscopes of the parents,

ever astrology could be sufficiently refined) while

if

the 'personality’

is

contingent upon the

moment

of birth.

But meanwhile, under the general heading of genetics, it is number of specific and interesting objections

possible to raise a

such as that of Twins.

The perennial question

much

Ten minutes’ one twin all

of identical twins interests astrologers as

as geneticists. In theory, in astrology,

is

difference in birth can

mean

every minute counts. that the ascendant of

placed in a different sign from the other, and with

the ‘houses’ change as well.

On

it

the other hand, the ten or even

twenty minutes’ difference in birth hour can make almost no discernible difference in the horoscope

if

the ascendant falls in the

middle of a sign (rotating once in twenty-four hours, the earth stays in a sign for

two hours). Yet

in practice,

on the

basis of the

horoscope alone, astrologers can rarely distinguish those twins

which

are virtually alike

to complicate the sion’ If

is

and those which are vastly

matter

still

different.

And

further, the question of ‘house divi-

entirely unsettled.

the problem admits of an answer,

interpretation of the

we have

seen,

quadruplicities,

meaning

the zodiac

is

it

must

lie

in a refined

of the individual degree areas.

divided into polarities,

and the dodecad, according

to

As

triplicities,

Pythagorean prin-

ciples.

Seen in terms of wave harmonics, this corresponds to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th,

and 12th harmonic. But

if

these harmonics have

any

OBJECTIONS

140

significance

must

multiples

their

also

mean something. And,

indeed, from ancient times astrologers have attempted to utilize a

number

of different divisions.

The 30 °

signs are divided in three

equal sections each yielding ‘decans’ (the 36th harmonic),

work with

astrologers

specific 3

0

Hindu

areas (the 120th harmonic) while

number of systems exist, both old and new, purporting to ascribe specific - but usually symbolic - significance to the individual a

is consonant with astrological theory. Twins born few minutes apart would indeed differ in the ranges of these higher harmonics. But attacking the problem practically is another matter, and the more practical-minded astrologers concentrate upon more immediate problems.

degrees. This just a

same minute in the same place no matter that they are from different mothers. In a disorganized way, considerable material has been collected, and the fact is that babies born at the same time often share features in common. With amazing frequency, time twins will have the same name, will marry wives or husbands with the same name, will work at similar occupations, succeed or fail in similar ways and die of the same or similar causes (see plates 10-13 for a few visual examples. And Appendix 2 for a sample - out of many - case histories). Can all this be ascribed to the great God, 6a.

Time

ought

to

twins: Babies born the

be identical,

Coincidence, as well ?

meanwhile admit that the cases they have collected are those that for one reason or another have been newsworthy enough to relate. Undoubtedly, there are Astrologers think

many But

time twins

as

is

it

who

unlikely, but

bear very

little

resemblance to each other.

always the case with astrology,

critics criticize

ignorance, while defenders are disorganized and can

concrete beyond a

but insufficient

number

to justify

out of

show nothing

of case histories, provocative enough,

any conclusion beyond that time twins

bear a psychological and physiological resemblance to each other too often to attribute

it

to coincidence.

whose character than had it

6b. Induced births: do astrologers maintain that a child

birth

is

induced will have a very different

been born normally? Difficult as

it

may

be to countenance, the

no choice but to maintain it. But like the question of twins, this one is so complex and so unpromising that most astrologers prefer to admit their incompetence in the matter and astrologer has

get

on with

their

work.

!

queen’s counsel Did

141

murdered by Hitler have common and valid objecHaldane and discussed brought by B. S. up tion to astrology was J. briefly, but it is an important point and worth repeating. Astrologers contend that the individual’s destiny is subsumed in the 7.

Mass

tragedies:

the Jews

all

death written into their horoscopes? This

greater laws governing his city, state, nation or race.

But astrolofrom the

gers are unable to distinguish satisfactorily the general particular,

insofar as

and perhaps were never able to - Egyptian astrology, we know, used personal astrology for medical purposes,

not for prophecy; and their prophetic astrology served the vast, general purposes of the state and the epoch, consecrating

cities,

vemples, whole territories to the set of cosmic principles (or astrological sign) ruling the particular city,

temple or territory.

we do

Egyptians arrived at their conclusions

we know how

How the

not know. Nor do

were -

successful or relevant these conclusions

except that the four thousand year span of Egyptian civilization

cannot be disregarded; for a civilization to

last

four millennia

something has to be right Astrologers persist in the practice of

mundane

astrology. Their

nor will

results are unlikely to impress the scientist or statistician,

their apparently arbitrary

methods convince the

problems they deal with ought gists,

and

What races,

but the

sceptics;

to interest psychologists, sociolo-

social scientists. is

it,

makes

actually, that

for the differences

between

between nations, between regions, even between neighbour-

ing villages ?

Anyone vaguely awake

to his

own

impressions

knows

that 'character’ changes from one region to another; that the

'atmosphere’ at one point on the river

is

altogether different from

another point two miles down; that one city seems indisputably

an hour away is benign. National and frowned upon by right-thinking rationalists, but they survive because something in them rings true, no matter that it is an extrapolation and exaggeration of only unpleasant

hostile while another half racial stereotypes are

traits.

There

is

no known way

to

measure

it,

yet the Germans are

predictably Germanic, and the French unalterably French.

Astrologers

know

that ‘genotype and environment’

explanations but descriptions

:

are not

labels applied to a mystery. Astro-

logers cast horoscopes foj the dates of important historical events,

the signing of crucial treaties and constitutions, dynasties of kings or of lines of successive leaders and ministers, and for the dates of

OBJECTIONS

142

important geological and climatic phenomena (earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues,

etc.)

looking for striking frequencies within the

and aspects of a planet or planets, which a particular city, nation, or race are not satisfactory, but some of the

signs, the recurrent positions

and

specific degree areas to

'sensitive’.

is

The

results

studies provide leads that

may

fairly be called tantalizing.

The zodiac is an imaginary circle, and the other principles of astrology - houses, aspects, etc - are equally arbitrary and correspond to no objective realities This is, of course, the master objec8.

.

.

But to put it forward simply because it sounds 'reasonable’ no demonstration of its validity. Evidence must be produced. Equally, evidence must be produced by the astrologers. Without evidence, there can be no scientific discussion. Meanwhile, there remains at least one good theoretical reason tion.

is

not to dismiss

it,

at least not until the evidence

is

produced. In

1954, the eminent mathematician and physicist, P. A.

M.

Dirac,

which modern physical theory is subjected in modern times, there is just one rock which weathers every storm, to which one can always hold fast - the

wrote ‘With

all

the violent changes to

assumption that the fundamental laws of nature correspond to a

means

beautiful mathematical theory. This

simple mathematical concepts that so that one has pleasure

From

it.

of astrology,

aesthetic sense as final arbiter or truth

For

it

might be

theory based on

21

working with

the point of view

a

together in an elegant way,

fit

is

this

appeal to man’s

particularly interesting.

said that, in the general absence of

hard evidence,

has been astrology’s profound aesthetic attraction that has for so many centuries ensured its survival (cf. Franz Cumont, p. 66). it

The

ancient Egyptians, according to Schwaller de Lubicz,

dis-

emanated only from the head; to get to the truth, they insisted that it was necessary to ‘think with the heart’. When Dirac says that 'the fundamental laws of nature must correspond to a beautiful mathematical theory’, he is in fact talking trusted thinking that

ancient Egyptian.

Nor

is

this appeal to aesthetics sentimental.

the most unregenerate materialism

is

Ultimately even

based upon value judgements,

upon unproven and unprovable assumptions - e.g., the assumption that life on earth is an accident, is no more logical and that

no

is,

less

metaphysical than the assumption that

basis, all

other factors being equal,

it

it is

not.

Upon

would seem more

this

‘logical’

QUEERS COUNSEL to believe in a

that

was

We We

have

143

theory that was aesthetically satisfying than in one

not.

now

dealt with all the principal objections to astrology.

find that there

is

nothing in modern science that invalidates

astrology from a theoretical point of view, and, as

we have

re-

no body of factual evidence disproving is now an accumulation of direct and indirect evidence substantiating the fundamental premise of celestial /terrestrial correlation, and there is some evidence

peatedly insisted, there it

empirically.

On

is

the contrary, there

that suggests that such astrological principles as aspects, houses

and the meanings assigned as arbitrary either.

to the planets

can no longer be regarded

Plate

i.

Aerial view of the

Temple

of Luxor, Egypt.

Plate

The

2.

Colossus

Rameses

II

of

super-

imposed upon the plan of the Temple.

Plate

3.

Newly-born baby superimposed

upon

the plan of the inner cov-

ered temple at Luxor.

Plate 4.*

Plan of the Temple of Luxor

with a standard anatomical eton superimposed

upon

skel-

it.

Plate

7.

The Pyramid and Mortuary Temple

of

Cheph-

ren.

Plate

6.

Astrological attribution of the parts of the hu-

man body

to the

was incorporated tical to that

dominion into the

of the signs of the zodiac

Temple

of Luxor,

and

portrayed in medieval drawings.

is

iden-

Plate

5.

Schema showing

principal (as-

trologically relevant) stages of

growth

of the

human

body, in

rapport with the dimensions of the Temple.

Plate

8.

Schist triad, Mycerinus, Hathor,

and the Goddess

nome.

of the jackel-

ROFLAS

Plate

9.

Grand Central Station, New York, is the first American installation of Astroflash, a computer programmed to deliver astrological horo-

The

cause of the crush in

scopes and forecasts.

Plate 10.

Jean Henderson and Joyce Ritter and their families.

Plate ii, a

and

b.

Albert Einstein (left) and

Otto Hahn, were both great physicists and both were born on March

Plate 13, a 20, 1890,

and

b.

14, 1879.

Born the same day, March

Beniamino Gigli

(left)

Melchior are renowned tenors.

and Lauritz

Part Three

The Evidence

.

The Evidence

The attempt disciplines,

to

and

put astrology into terms acceptable to

apply what

is

to

valuable in these disciplines to

astrology, has occupied the time of a

number

of astrologers since

The aims

the revival of interest at about the turn of the century.* of astrology in the light of science

summed up by John M. Addey,

and the modern world were

president of the Astrological

Association of Great Britain, in an address in 1959

Most

modern

of us think of the present century as having

:

marked the begin-

ning of a gradual rebirth or re-emergence of astrology. The position today

is

that

some useful advances have been made and that thanks to the work

of practical horoscopy

there

is

now

in various branches of

many

a widespread curiosity abroad in our science

astrologers

-

a kind of

latent interest, widely diffused but as yet unfocused.

what has been accomplished looks rather small when work waiting to be done. So far as the practical rules of concerned there are a host of uncertainties - the zodiac,

Nevertheless, set against the

horoscopy are

the houses, aspects solved

by

all

present intractable problems which can only be

work; the philosophical basis has yet

careful, persistent

to

be

adequately re-expressed in modern times; the metaphysical laws and principles of our subject are uncoordinated; our records are scattered

and contain many

errors; valuable traditional elements lie buried in the

writings of the past which need translating, and

home and abroad

are neglected for

want

of those

new developments at who can follow them

up and interpret them to us The chief obstacle [in acquiring more students] is the opposition of the scientific fraternity, and to silence or check their criticism would seem to be the first step in presenting our case to a wider public and so attracting more students .

.

Addey

.

.

.

goes on to successfully adumbrate astrology’s elusive

* But this number constitutes a deplorably small percentage of astrologers. Most remain dedicated GPs, content to use traditional methods and knowledge, no matter how faulty; while in other quarters a brand of misty metaphysics prevails, regarding astrology as sacrosanct and altogether untouchable by the tarbrush of reason and experiment.

THE EVIDENCE

148

requirements like

an

art;

no sooner does one call it a 'science' than it looks no sooner does one call it an art than it becomes :

apparent that a

scientific approach But having recognized the need

to astrology, a

number

of factors

is

what’s needed.

to

apply the

come

method

scientific

into play to complicate the

matter.

To begin

with, research into astrology, like every other form of

money and

research, requires

trained personnel, both of

which

are

conspicuously lacking. Then, astrological experiments are intrinsically unrepeatable. is

The

relationship of the planets to each other

in a state of perpetual change,

and

it is

therefore impossible to

completely any one factor or group of factors and study

isolate

them apart from the whole.

As an example, scientifically the

let

us suppose

meaning -

it is

any -

if

decided to try to determine

of

Mars

would

in Scorpio. It

be a simple matter to collect a test group of individuals born

during the time that Mars

transiting the sign of Scorpio. But

is

each of these individuals will have his Mars in different relationship to

all

the other planets, particularly the swiftly

moving ones

such as the moon, Mercury and Venus. Ascendants and Midheavens will be spread around the zodiac, and

made

to

narrow the

test

group

to, let

if

the attempt

is

us say, those with Mars in

Scorpio in conjunction with a Scorpio ascendant, then the test it would be extremely draw generalized conclusions from the results. Compromise is possible, but it requires recognition

group will be so narrow that

difficult to

of the fact

that astrology can never be reduced to quantitative rules. Quantiexist, certainly, and can be abstracted from the whole with some degree of statistical significance, but it is essential that the meaning of the whole is not forgotten in the process of

tative factors

studying the part.

Then, in attempting research into astrology

as

it

affects

human Time

beings, the principle of level cannot be overlooked either.

twins’

show

may

be born the same minute and at the same place and

striking similarities, but live out their lives

on

different

psychological levels, and even on different social levels (see Appen-

dix

2).

Conceivably, astrological factors might be isolated that in

certain cases

would connote

a susceptibility to a certain disease

but that, in other cases would work out in a detectable psychological pattern. In other words, research into astrology

would have

THE EVIDENCE out with a

to be carried

149

flexibility, a willingness to accept the

unexpected, an ability to apply unabashed intuition, and a grasp of the concept of the istic

whole that cannot be said

to

be a character-

of scientific research today.

But supposing these obstacles could to speculate as to

all

be overcome,

possible

it is

what might be expected to yield results. which accounts for astrology’s popucredulous and ill-repute among the educated, is

Astrological prophecy, larity

among

the

almost impossible to approach scientifically, since

it

impossible to define in acceptable and precise terms.

An

was the

early attempt

illustration

of

statistically

by the Renaissance

this

is

almost

amusing

refute astrology

to

scholar, Pico della Mirandola, ‘The

Scourge of Astrology’. Pico tested the weather predictions of the astrologers for astrologers

30 consecutive days and gleefully declared that the

1

were right only

But by modern

six times.

statistical

methods these figures constitute a remarkable example of negative significance. To know what weather to expect, one would merely have

to

the opposite of the astrologers’ predictions to

believe

achieve ninety-five per cent accuracy.

would seem

It

using a statistically unacceptable approach. it

would be very prophecies;

to

difficult to get a

tests

might

And

consensus

two

result in

that Pico

was

terminology apart,

among

astrologers as

astrologers achieving

accurate results consistently while ten others achieved such results

seldom, or never, or in spurts short, there

on

would be

little

when

the

mood was on them.

hope of putting

In

prophecy

astrological

a scientific basis.

Better results test astrology’s

associate

might be expected from experiments designed psychological validity.

qualitative

Though

from quantitative

to

impossible to dis-

factors,

tests

could cer-

tainly be organized to determine the influence of particular planets

upon

groups thought to have factors in if

and vice versa -

particular groups born at specified times;

common might

these factors could be determined astrologically.

this latter

method has already produced

be studied to see

As we

shall see,

interesting results.

But the aspect of astrology most accessible to scientific tests is which deals with celestial /terrestrial correlations in the phy-

that

world. Traditional astrology has always insisted that planets and herbs are ‘influenced’ by different and specific planetary con-

sical

figurations; moreover, that the organs of the diseases are ‘influenced’ or ‘dominated’

by

body and

specific

astrological factors as

150

THE EVIDENCE

well.

Such testing would require relatively little money or special and some of the evidence we shall be quoting suggests

training,

that these old attributions Finally, there

is

may

not be devoid of truth.

symbolic astrology, the astrology of meaning,

the spiritual astrology that held the attention of the great of history. This astrology testing,

is

but there can be

minds

not directly accessible to quantitative little

doubt that

if

by some miracle

research into astrology were begun and results began accumulating,

no matter what

researchers,

face

up

their original attitude,

to the fact that their results

would have

to

were achieved because the

components of the solar system had meaning, and they would be thrown up against symbolic astrology, willingly or not. As it stands, however, there have been almost no tests organized by astrologers with an understanding of the requirements of science. There have been a few tests organized by scientists with no understanding of astrology, whose aim was to demolish the astrological premise. Finally, there

run by

have been a number of but whose

scientists uninterested in astrology

research took

them into

fields

areas that directly or indirectly bore

the astrological premise, and

it is

from the

tests

latter sources that

of

upon

much

of our evidence has been drawn.

There

is

and a positive aspect to this situation. On because the evidence comes from sources indif-

a negative

the positive side,

ferent or hostile to astrology, there can be

no suspicion of the

experimenters’ organizing their experiments with a view to proving their astrological preconceptions.

On

the negative side,

ignoring the astrological connotations of their

own

by

work, each of

the experimenters operates in a vacuum. Their results do nothing to

implement each other, nor do they

scheme. The result

is

that

many

fit

into

any

larger conceptual

experiments carried out inde-

pendently simply prove the same point over and over but carry the matter

no

further. (In such cases

we mention only one

of the

representative experiments.)

Thus, the

-

scientific

evidence supporting astrology

is

-

ironically

largely the result of accident. Quite possibly, experiments de-

signed to test deliberately for astrological factors would yield more

and directly relevant data. As it stands, however, the reader must judge for himself whether or not sufficient evidence is now available to make astrology again a subject worthy of serious

striking

attention.

the Evidence

151

Statistical Evidence

early inquiries With the development of statistics, astrologers have attempted make use of this potentially useful weapon.

to

But until quite recently, those organizing the experiments had training in statistics, and

it is only from their mistakes begun to realize how difficult it is to apply statistics to astrology - largely due to the multiplicity of factors to be taken into account and to the difficulty of isolating those factors being tested. To give just one example of the sort of thing experimenters overlook initially due to the elliptical orbits of the planets and their varying velocities relative to the earth, they often appear to be stationary in any given sign, or may appear to move backward through a sign in a retrograde motion. This means that over limited periods of time each of the planets will spend varying amounts of time in each of the signs, all of which must be taken into account when making calculations for - let us say - the number of musicians born with Venus in the sign of Libra.

but

little

that today’s astrologers have

:

Of

these early experiments, perhaps the best

Carl Jung,

who

astrological

known

is

that of

understood something of the depth and richness of

symbolism

as

it

applied to psychology.

Jung made an interesting but elementary attempt astrological factors in the horoscopes of married couples.

to look for

He studied

mutual relationships of the Sun, Moon and Ascendant and initially was achieving impressively significant results, but as his experiment continued, and his test group grew, his results tailed off, though even so they remained statistically significant. But Jung seems to have lost interest in the experiment and pursued it no further. It seems odd that in running his test Jung should have failed to look for mutual relationships between Mars and Venus, traditionally the planets of male-female attraction. But in any case, in an inquiry of this sort, the difficulty is in defining what is meant by 'attraction’. Surely, it is safe to say some sort of relationship must exist - or must have existed - between married couples that does not exist between unattached men and women. But defining the the

precise nature of the attachment in astrological terms

matter altogether.

is

another

THE EVIDENCE

152

Other experimenters made similar mistakes. Before World War, an American professor, Farnsworth, out

the Second to disprove

astrology, collected the birth dates of seven thousand musicians.

Music

is

traditionally linked to

Venus, Venus

is

supposed

to ‘rule’

no more musicians were born under Libra than under any other sign and therefore considered that he had disproved astrology. This was premature. To effectively discredit the music/ Venus relationship, it would be the sign of Libra. But Farnsworth found that

Venus may play in the charts - and this Farnsworth failed to do. Again, the problem is knowing what to look for. It is true that musicians have their music in common, but music is a necessary to look into the other roles of musicians

-

aspects, houses, angles, etc.

broad subject. Astrologers would not expect the tympanist to have in common with the flautist, and factors linking flautists with each other and tympanists with each other - if they exist -

much

would be submerged be delighted

in the statistics. Admittedly, astrologers

if statistics

than under other signs, a

number

would

show more soldiers born under Aries and more musicians under Libra, but after did

of such statistical onslaughts

it

has become clear that the

universe demands a certain finesse before deigning to reveal

its

astrological secrets.

Two

other early statistical attempts are worth mentioning, prin-

cipally because

- though subsequently shown

to be

they have led to recent experiments in which, at

inadequate last,

genuine

results begin to appear.

K. E. Krafft, the Swiss

who was thought

to

have been Hitler's

private astrologer, spent years accumulating data of every imaginable sort in an attempt to put astrology

on a scientific basis as it and psychology. well-known French astrologer, devoted

related to heredity, physiology

And much

Paul Choisnard, a

time to the compilation of

logical factors at

work

statistics

claiming to prove astro-

in heredity, in the position of the ascendants

of 'superior' persons, and in the position of the planets in the

horoscopes of those

claimed that his

work

who had

statistics

suffered violent deaths. Choisnard

proved significant astrological factors at

Sun-Mars relationships in Mercury-Moon relationships in the Sun-Moon aspects in the charts of celebri-

in such astrological concepts as

the charts of early mortalities; charts of philosophers; ties

and aspects of Mars in the charts of soldiers.

Though

the academic establishment ignored the

work

of Krafft

THE EVIDENCE and Choisnard, astrologers for statistical

many

work was sound and

153

years firmly believed that this

that astrology

had been

vindi-

cated.

MICHEL GAUQUELIN In 1950, Michel Gauquelin, a graduate of the Sorbonne in statistics,

became interested

in the claims

out to investigate them -

or, to

put

it

made by astrologers, and set more accurately, to disprove

them.

Working with sophisticated modern methods, Gauquelin soon showed that both Choisnard’s and Krafft’s results were based on faulty methods or else upon insufficient test groups. By the time he had finished, Gauquelin was able to maintain that not one of the claims made by Choisnard or Krafft would stand up to scrutiny.

There remained only the work of a French astrologer, Leon Lasson,

who

in a small

book had presented

statistics correlating

the

positions of the planets in their houses as applied to various professions.

Lasson had found that with a frequency far beyond what

chance would allow, Mars was

to

be found aspecting the ascend-

ants and descendants in the horoscopes of 134 politicians; Venus, the ascendants of 190 artists, Mercury, the ascendants and descendants of 209 actors and writers.

Though

Lasson’s test groups were too small to stand unequivoc-

ally, his figures

were impressive. This aspect of astrology had not

yet been tested by Gauquelin, and accordingly he compiled an acceptable test group of 576 eminent professors of medicine. To Gauquelin’s surprise, he found Lasson’s thesis confirmed. Both

Mars and Saturn aspected the ascendants and descendants of these eminent professors significantly, indeed gigantically, beyond what chance would dictate.

No little dismayed, Gauquelin compiled a new group of 508 eminent doctors. Again, Mars and Saturn aspected the ascendants and descendants in striking numbers. Taking both groups together, the odds worked out to 10,000,000 1 against the results being the outcome of chance. Having set out to statistically disprove astrology once and for all, Gauquelin had uncovered at least one correlation between planets and profession that was inexplicable, by any means other :

than astrology. Incapable of letting the matter rest there, and

— 154

the evidence Mid-heaven

Rising

Setting

Mars

200

—

Rising

Figure

i

1 2.

Mars and

Jupiter in the charts of 3,142 military leaders.

Setting

:

THE EVIDENCE

1

55

happily unaware of the treatment in store for him at the hands of his professional colleagues,

Gauquelin

set

out to pursue his results

wherever they might lead. In Continental Europe, unlike Britain or America, the

moment

of birth has always been noted in birth registers, as well as the

Gauquelin collected data from

date. Laboriously.

making up

large groups of eminent

members

all

over France,

of other professions

soldiers, politicians, artists, musicians, writers,

sportsmen,

clerics.

In every case, with no exception, differing only in the extent of degree of significance, Gauquelin’s test groups categorically demonstrated that

between the choice of profession of eminent

the position of certain planets at the

not conception

!

)

moment

men and

of their birth (birth,

was an impressive and inexplicable

there

cor-

relation.

But curiously, Gauquelin’s ished. (Gauquelin accepts the logical history,

distaste for astrology was undimindreaming Chaldean theory of astro-

and every other variety of anthropological, archaeoand sociological myth, as long as it has the

logical, psychological

imprimatur of

'science’

upon

it).

Not only had

his statistics borne

out a major astrological premise, but they had borne

it

out in a

- though not wholly - consonant with traditional astrology. Mars and Saturn figured strongly in the charts of scientists and academicians, as any astrologer might have predicted: similarly, Mars and Jupiter showed strongly in the charts of sportsmen; while in the charts of artists and musicians, Mars and Saturn significantly fled from the rising and culminating

manner

that

degrees (see

was

fig.

in large part

13)

an unexpected but entirely orthodox discovery;

but Venus and Mercury did not show significantly in the charts of musicians

and painters, which astrologers would have

antici-

pated, given the other data.

Gauquelin published his

statistics in

1955 in L’Influence des Astres

(Denoel), repeatedly maintaining that his results did not validate

astrology at

all

but rather another, hitherto nameless

influence having nothing to do with astrology,

celestial

which was like contending that Shakespeare’s plays were not written by William Shakespeare, but by someone else, also named William Shakespeare, who happened to be living at the same time and in the same place. But no matter. By whatever name Gauquelin cared to call his

156

THE EVIDENCE

His book was received with unanimous and impassioned neglect. The French popular press was moved to extensive coverage;

rose, science smelled a rat.

des Astres

L’ Influence

astrological journals (a

Figure

13.

was discussed at length in the detested of modern astrologers have taken

number

Chart showing distribution of Saturn and Mars (combined) in

the charts of 2,048 musicians and painters as opposed to 3,305 scientists.

the trouble to equip themselves with a knowledge of statistical techniques) but from the bastions of orthodoxy Gauquelin en-

countered only silence. The experts could not be moved even to review the book,

much

less criticize it publicly.

M.

unwilling response was provoked from tor of the

National Institute of

Porte attacked Gauquelin’s cal niceties .

1

confined his

But

finally

an

Jean Porte, administra-

Statistics.

work on

a

number

of arcane statisti-

But his principal objection was that Gauquelin had inquiry to France. Gauquelin’s statistics had shown

an overall correlation between planets at the time of birth and

:

THE EVIDENCE choice of profession of eminent

men

1

57

of an order of a million to one

against chance. That this correlation occurred in the horoscopes of

Frenchmen has very

little

to

do with the matter. Porte con-

tended that, despite the near-irreproachability of his statistical technique,

Gauquelin had merely uncovered a national

fluke.

same methods applied to other countries would produce quite different and chance results, an approach that would have done credit to Alice in Wonderland or Alfred Porte maintained that the

Jarry.

In 1953, a Belgian committee of scientists had been set

up

for

the express purpose of studying serious inquiries and research into

any

field

considered 'paranormal’.

Astrologers had already clashed with this committee earlier

when

a French astrologer,

M.

Legrand, had taken up a challenge to

astrologers to prove their claims.

Legrand had replied

me the place, date and hour of birth of ten persons of forty or whose past history has been recorded. For each of them give me

Give over,

two or three approximate dates of decisive events in their lives; this is enable me to rectify the exact time of birth which is always given

to

approximately.

Of

these persons

I

am

to

know nothing

but the sex.

In the following eight to ten days, in your presence and in front of witnesses, at the

microphone of Radio Nationale

I

will give each of these

persons (without seeing them - they can be behind a screen or even on the telephone) an account of the most characteristic trait of their personality and the principal dates in their past, giving the precise character of the event concerned.

They can then confirm

or deny

what

Paul Coulderc, astrology’s staunch enemy, and a

I

say.

member

of the

Belgian committee, had publicly and gleefully declared that the

committee had been given no work

to do. Nevertheless, the

mittee took three weeks to reply to Legrand, and

it

com-

then maintained

would prove nothing. Correspondence dragged on for six months, and in the end the committee declined to take Legrand up on his proposal. 2 that such a test

Gauquelin, despite his violent anti-astrological

no more

of a hearing for his embarrassing statistics.

bias,

No

could get

one under-

took a detailed study of the figures, but Gauquelin recorded a

number et les

of unofficial reactions in his subsequent book, Les

Astres (Denoel, i960).

Hommes

158

THE EVIDENCE

Marcel

Boll, a

committee member, declared

Tour

:

conclusions

and the same inquiry in and Russia you would come out

are nothing but pulp-romances, the worst sort of proof, issue

without hope; for

is

if

you undertook

USA

Great Britain, Germany, the

the

with nothing but national idiosyncrasies / 3

And

Professor Dauvillier, Professor of Cosmic Physics at the

College de France, asserted correlation,

it

:

‘If

there

is

something resembling a

can be nothing but a fluctuation showing that the

group was insufficient/ Gauquelin another time, proposed that ‘those

also quotes Dauvillier

who

who,

at

are even the least advanced

in natural philosophy will understand

how

fortuitous the astro-

nomical and physical causes of our existence have been, and they will refuse to

human

race /

examine a link between the

solar

system and the

4

Gauquelin now had two choices. Either he could drop the matter and begin work anew on some less delicate subject, or he could accept the strictures of his peers, ridiculous though they may have been, and carry out the same experiment using data from other countries.

With admirable courage and

tenacity Gauquelin chose the latter

course, and, with his wife, began methodically travelling about

Germany,

Italy,

registers for his

Belgium and Holland collecting data from birth

new

test

groups.

The results, of course, were the same. The same planets showed up significantly in the charts of eminent men of the same professions, mitigated only by factors that could be called truly national. For example, Gauquelin found that Mars aspected the angles of Italian soldiers

with far greater frequency than

it

did in the charts

German soldiers 5 This may seem superficially at variance with what one might expect; but it is so only superficially. No one of

.

would dream

more warlike race would seem that the Germans do not need a

of proposing that the Italians are a

than the Germans.

It

powerful Mars in their horoscopes

to

make

soldiers

out of them;

while the Italians, in keeping with their image, require an overdose.

(A

joke

making the rounds not

so long ago included ‘The

War Heroes’ among the list of the world's And the New Scientist, reporting on the results of

Encyclopedia of Italian shortest books.

an experiment in thresholds of pain, claimed that in given circumstances of duress, Italian

complain, while Irish

and Jewish women were the first to bore up considerably longer, and the

women

THE EVIDENCE traditionally stiff-lipped

New

1

59

Englanders could not be made to

flinch.)

Gauquelin’s

test

group had

now grown

to over 25,000, including

from France. In the charts of 3,305 scientists, Mars was found on the angles 666 times. Chance predicted 565 the original 5,000

times.

The odds

against this are

1 :

500,000.

In the charts of 3,142 military leaders, 634 had angles, chance level

was 535. Odds against:

1

:

Mars on

stood on the angles 644 times, against a chance level of 525.

odds

:

1 :

times, as against 253 at it

The

50,000,000.

In the charts of 1,485 athletes so

the

1,000,000. Jupiter

went on; every one

chance

Mars showed on the angles 327 The odds: 1 500,000. And

level.

:

of Gauquelin’s groups repeated the lesson

implicit in the original study

from France.

These results were duly published in the second book, Les

Hommes et

which Gauquelin, with redoubled ferocity, was not evidence for astrology There is not one point of rapport, from a strictly scientific point of view, between the structure of the results obtained, and still less between the spirit with which my statistics are obtained and les

Astres, in

insisted that his evidence

astrology.’

:

6

In the pages of the lively astrological journal, Cahiers Astrologiques, a

running and heated battle had been going on ever since

the publication of the original data. In a nutshell, the astrologers heartily agreed that Gauquelin’s one-track quantitative spirit

was

utterly opposed to that of the astrologers; but they insisted that

Gauquelin’s data was in the main a vindication of traditional astrology, demonstrating apodictically the age-old allegation that

the position of the planets at the factor,

anyway

moment

of birth

was the

decisive

a decisive factor, in the subsequent personality of

the subject, and therefore with his chosen profession. Moreover,

had - with several and interesting exceptions - proved precisely the connections astrologers had always recognized - Mars /soldiers, ath-

the astrologers insisted that Gauquelin’s data significant

letes;

Saturn /scientists; Jupiter /actors,

clerics, etc.

But the official academic reaction to Gauquelin’s new book was no more exuberant than it had been towards the first. True, under the tutelage of Professor

Hans Bender,

of Freiburg

University, a well-known investigator of paranormal phenomena,

Gauquelin’s

first

book had been studied by

a

group including an

THE EVIDENCE

l6o

astronomer, a statistician and a psychologist. Unable to fault Tornier, specialist in

Professor E.

the mathematical

it,

theory of

probability at the University of Berlin, sent the book and their

on to colleagues at Harvard University - whence no furword was heard. But this had been about the only official

findings ther

ripple to date.

Three well-known f.

M.

statisticians

now

studied the second book:

Faverge, Professor of Statistics at the Sorbonne, E. Tornier,

mentioned above, and fean Porte, whose original strictures had forced Gauquelin into a European repeat of the original French experiment.

No

fault could be

found with the

statistics,

the methods em-

ployed in the gathering of the data, or in the calculations.

Counter-experiments were performed to double-check the find-

With no exceptions, control groups of horoscopes selected random yielded results according to the laws of chance. Even more impressive (and rather baffling), Gauquelin's test groups had been made up of the most eminent men in their respective

ings. at

professions;

when

control groups were formed of

men

in sub-

ordinate positions in the same professions, the results were also at the level of chance

At

now

7 .

this point, Jean Porte

be no doubt about

it

:

had the grace

to

admit that there could

the position of the stars at birth had a

upon the profession a man was later to follow. That influence upon nine distinct professions could be accepted as proved. Tornier, however, declared that it was the absurd expresdefinite influence

sion of an absurd experience; in other words, though proven,

it

was meaningless.

Even the famous committee for investigating paranormal phenomena now had to agree to study the data, though only after many letters from Gauquelin. Originally, Marcel Boll had written saying

:

‘What, do you expect everything

can take ten days

reminded them

off to

that,

to stop so that the experts

pluck your feathers?' Gauquelin politely

not so long ago, Couderc had been complain-

had nothing to do. And when, finally, the committee did get around to examining the data, they too were unable to fault it. However, they reserved their official opinion as ing that the committee

to the validity of the findings, so conscientiously that to date

have yet find fault

to divulge to the public the fact that

with Gauquelin’s

statistics.

they

they were unable to

THE EVIDENCE The following

shows those

table

l6l

Gauquelin found

results that

to be statistically significant.

Rising and

Significant

Average

Significantly low

setting of

frequency

frequency

frequency

MARS

Scientists

Politicians

Writers

Doctors

Actors

Painters

Athletes

Journalists

Musicians

Executives

|

U

P

IT

Team

E R

Solo athletes

Painters

athletes

(boxers, etc.) Soldiers

Musicians

Scientists

Politicians

Writers

Doctors

Actors Journalists

Playwrights

SATURN

Scientists

Politicians

Actors

Doctors

Soldiers

Painters Journalists

Writers

MOON

Politicians

Scientists

Athletes

Writers

Doctors

Soldiers

Painters

Musicians Journalists

Outside the interest shown by Bender’s Freiburg group, and the hostile capitulation of the Belgian committee, as far as

been able

to discover

we have

Gauquelin’s ten years of work were ignored.

For astrologers, however,

Gauquelin’s work, though

it

there

is

raises a

to

little

number

be learned from

of interesting ques-

which in turn could yield valuable new insights. Gratifying though Gauquelin’s results may be, few astrologers possess the tions,

necessary objectivity not to react to his persistent denigration of

both astrologers and astrology.

But Gauquelin’s work proves once and that there It

is

something

does not prove that astrologers C.F.A.

6

for

all,

and incontestably,

to astrology.

know what

they are doing.

the evidence

162

does not prove that an astrologer can

It

store for him.

But

doubt, that there

it is

What

is

more,

it

also proves that

are consonant with, or at traditional less

a client

what

is

between the position

a direct correlation

the planets at birth, and the profession a tises.

tell

in

does prove, beyond any possible shadow of

astrological

any

man

of

subsequently prac-

most of these correlations

rate not in disagreement with,

precepts (meaning that anyone slightly

blinded than Gauquelin by modern science would be hard at

work attempting

to

apply his results

to the tradition, to

winnow

out the great percentage of chaff, rather than go on insisting that

he has discovered a brand new

‘science' whose precepts had been by primitives back in the distant past). But perhaps the same tenacity that permits Gauquelin to press on with his arduous and thankless task also prevents him from admitting, or even from seeing, that he is proving astrology, plain old-fashioned astrology. Whatever the case, neglect has done nothing to deter him, and in the nine years that have elapsed since the

accidentally discovered

Hommes

publication of Les

et les

Astres Gauquelin has continued

his research.

Having proved the relationship between planets and profession it by any known scientific hypothesis, while an explanation in traditional symbolic terms was to him unthinkable. ‘We reject from the onset occult explanations, according to which the planet, at its rising, “casts a spell" more or less immaterial or symbolic upon the newly-born, a spell which will follow at his feet the duration of his life, and will decide his destiny. Such aphorisms are of no interest, for in science one canhe was quite unable to account for

not propose hypotheses except that they be firmly material, limited,

and precise / 9 fied

No

matter that modern science

by the nature

of ‘material' (which insists

is

thoroughly mysti-

upon vanishing

into

and anti-particles), man-imposed, and there-

a regress of hypothetical quarks, elusive bosons,

forgetting that ‘limits' are,

by

definition,

and therefore value-judgements, and therefore immaterial and metaphysical. Gauquelin will have his correlations ‘scientific' and not astrological.

fore

arbitrary,

Looking for a ‘material’ cause lin,

to

account for his figures, Gauque-

with his customary thoroughness, has studied the planetary

configurations governing heredity, believing that

if

planetary links

could be discovered between the horoscopes of parents and their children, the laws of genetics could be called upon,

and the spectre

*

#

THE EVIDENCE astrology

of

would

then

slink

behind

the

arras

163

muttering

anathemas, saving the day for science. Realizing that

the planets played a lawful part in heredity

if

laws would have

these

not merely for

to obtain for the

men who had

Gauquelin collected

a test

the planetary positions at

risen to

population at large, and

eminence in

their professions,

group of 15,000 couples and compared their birth with the positions of their

more than 300,000 planetary positions. living astrologer, Gauquelin found a astonishment of no To the children, in all taking in

statistically significant correlation

between the parental and

filial

with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the moon, but this time taking in Venus as well. The odds against Gauquelin’s findings being chance were 500,000:1. And as a countercharts, again operating

made up of the horoscopes of people whose birth had been induced, the correlation with the horoscopes 10 of the parents was at the chance level. From this, Gauquelin concludes that his statistics do nothing more miraculous than uncover a new aspect of ‘heredity’. And, having placed his data behind the aegis of this magical word, he imagines that he is contributing to science. In fact, his statistics indicate only that the modern concept of heredity is inadequate. check, in a control group

Supposedly,

we

are the fortuitous products of a conjunction of the

(hypothetical) genes. It

would now appear that the genes

are in

some way determined by the positions of the planets at the moment And, in turn, the moment of birth is in some way linked to the horoscopes of our parents - ad infinitum. of conception.

modern science has still much to teach us about the rapport man and the cosmos; let us continue along the new road opposed to astrology, upon which we have begun, but this time accompanied by qualified experts [savants chev rones ] 11 Gauquelin suggests. Helas The savants chevrones seem disinclined to keep him company along that psychologically perilous road. Mean‘For

between

!

while,

it

remains an established fact that heredity

is

at least in

part a function of the positions of the planets; equally

it is

established fact that the position of specific planets at birth related to the profession later pursued.

that

if

Thus

it

seems

and when the savants chevrones decide

an is

fair to predict

to

investigate

Gauquelin’s work, they will have to learn to practise not materialist

or

science but an astrology of

some

sort

-

called cosmo-biology,

astro-psychology or whatever. For in proving that specific

THE EVIDENCE

164

planets are related to specific professions with a high degree of

Gauquelin has given quantitative expression

statistical significance,

an ancient qualitative

to

belief:

that the planets, and the

i.e.

positions of the planets relative to each other, are meaningful.

study and interpretation of lin

seems destined

to

go

this

down

meaning

is

astrology;

The

and Gauque-

in the history books as L'Astrologue

M algre Lui. JOHN Of

M.

ADDEY

the various statistical inquiries into astrology, none carries

quite the dramatic weight of Gauquelin’s. But from an astrological

point of view, there are several which are more informative, and, in their

own way,

just as conclusive.

Recognizing the need for a

M. Addey (see p. 147) decided to investigate the charts of 970 nonagenarians, taken inscientific starting

clusively

point to astrology, John

from Who's

Addey

Who

.

checked for significant deviation in the sun signs.

first

Are they?

(Capricorns are reputedly long-lived. to the text-books, tend to

be short-lived.

Addey’s figures corroborated what

commonplace no detectable analysis.

:

is

Is

there

Pisceans, according

any truth

now becoming

in this?)

a statistical

the sun in the various signs seems to play almost role in

whatever

Addey found

as

that

it is

is

undergoing

many nonagenarian

statistical

Pisceans as Capri-

and so on around the zodiac, just as Gauquelin had found soldiers born under allegedly peace-loving Libra as he had under the ‘martial’ signs, Aries and Scorpio. 12 Nor could Addey find statistical evidence for any of the other corns,

as

many

And while one may and say that nonagenarians have nothing in common, really, except their longevity, it seemed to Addey that this alone was enough to merit a connection in some fashion. And it is at traditional astrological pointers of longevity.

rationalize

this point, incidentally, that

two equally

scientific

seeking to disprove statistical

it,

an important difference

And

factor.

arise in

avenues had been explored, while the astrologer, feeling

from experience that a correlation must ing.

may

The opponent of astrology, would have given up after the more obvious experiments.

ultimately

Addey

did

find

at

exist,

will keep look-

least

one significant

13

Astrologers have long recognized a qualitative difference be-

tween an aspect that

is

applying and one that

is

separating. For

THE* example,

if,

in a horoscope, the

slow-moving planet, ‘applying’; the

sun

is

is

sun

is

in io° Aries,

Aries, that aspect

closing in, as

Analogically, astrology

when when

action;

0

it

is

would compare the process

a

said to be

upon Saturn.

were,

165

and Saturn,

were reversed, then the aspect would be

positions

effect:

12

in

EVIDENCE

If

the

‘separating’.

to the

Doppler

‘applying’, the aspect breeds tension, excitement, ‘separating’, it signifies a release,

dilation, passivity.

Addey

an extension, a

discovered an impressively significant

preponderance of separating aspects in the charts of his 970 nonagenarians. And though no one had thought of it before, a pre-

ponderance of separating aspects makes astrological sense; nonagenarians might typically be expected to share an ability and

propensity to conserve energy, not to waste or play havoc with their physical resources, and so on, and this was the effect conferred by the separating aspect according to astrological tradition. So, looking for a correlation of one sort, Addey found another one altogether. But this, in turn, led to a still more interesting

(and ultimately important) experiment.

was

It

still

possible, despite the

high level of significance ob-

were a fluke, and he therefore determined a group of people from whom the opposite - a preponder-

tained, that his statistics to test

ance of ‘applying’ aspects - might be expected.

As

a teacher in a polio hospital,

of particular interest from

this

Addey had astrological

a built-in test

viewpoint.

group

It

is

a

medical fact that polio victims conform closely to a recognizable ‘type’

-

bright, nervous, active. Dull, plodding types rarely con-

tract polio.

Doctors characterize polio as a mild disease, except

when some unknown nervous

barrier,

normally

resisting,

is

not

functioning and the weakened brain allows the virus to invade.

To

the astrologer this connotes

Mars/Mercury (nervousness, some way related to Saturn

intellectual stimulation, excitement) in

(held to rule the brain,

Addey reasoned

that

cf. if

Gauquelin’s saturnian

scientists).

nonagenarians showed a preponderance

of separating aspects, then polio victims, characterologically op-

posed,

might be expected

to

show

a preponderance of applying

aspects.

A

This hypothesis was borne out with a high degree of significance. group was analysed and applying aspects were found to occur

significantly

more frequently than separating

contradistinction to the nonagenarians (see

aspects; in gratifying

fig. 14).

l66

THE EVIDENCE

In studying the wave forms of his charts, their recurrent nature. tible to

He

Addey was

struck by

were suscep‘wave analysis’, in which

realized that these forms

the statistical technique called

Figure 14 Applying aspects in the charts of polio victims. Note similarity .

of

wave forms from two

data are broken is

down

separate hospitals.

into their

component harmonics. This method

currently being exploited in studying natural cycles, ‘biological

clocks’, celestial

and a variety of other phenomena directly correlated

and planetary

cycles.

Through wave

analysis,

to

Addey

believed, the widely mistrusted traditional genethliacal astrology

could be brought into line and interpreted - at least in part - in a

manner modern

with the rigorous quantitative demands

consistent

ot

disciplines, yet without sacrificing or distorting astrology's

Pythagorean principles.

Though

‘the

music of the spheres' had been a part of astrological

many

language since Pythagoras himself, and

of

the greatest

astrologers devoted their time to attempts to correlate musical astrological theory, none,

up

to

had hit upon studying wave forms, and this, to our mind,

to the present,

astrological data in terms of

may prove ultimately

and

be of great importance.

Immediately, a number of otherwise baffling astrological prob-

lems become comprehensible. Addey's polio victims were clearly

- the statistics could not conceivably factors were common to no known astro-

linked by astrological factors all

be flukes. But these

logical tradition.

sign zodiac, or

was

rence that

No

interpretation in terms of the usual twleve-

any other sign-zodiac made

sense. It

was the

recur-

This recurrence created a wave form.

significant.

This wave form corresponded to a harmonic - in this case of a year,

which corresponded Re-interpreting

to the

fundamental.

the data in

terms of sun-signs,

Addey now

found that while the traditional divisions into Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc., yielded nothing, if one neglected these preconceived divisions

and watched

wave forms,

for

distinct patterns emerged.

Polio victims tended to be born according to the twelfth harmonic,

and, most strongly of

out of

statistical

all,

according to the

noth harmonic. Taken

language, Addey's chart indicates that a child

born every third degree (irrespective of the zodiacal division) thirty-seven per cent

more

liable to contract polio

is

than a child

born in the two intermediary degrees. The odds against Addey's chance are 1 1,000. And a control group of non-polio

figures being

:

children selected at

What do

random

Addey's

yielded chance results.

mean? No one

Does tell which child will contract polio and which will not? By no means. But it does mean that Addey has isolated at least two astrological factors - applying aspects, and the 120th harmonic - in the susceptibility to polio; and he has opened up a field of astrological research which if explored with any thoroughness could yield important results. He has also - in our opinion - solved the mystery presented by this

mean

statistics

as yet

is

sure.

that an astrologer, can, from birth data alone,

an impressive

statistical survey run in the US in the early 1950s by Donald O. Bradley, an astrologer who is also a statistician.

THE EVIDENCE

l68

Bradley assembled the birth data of 2,593 clergymen from Who's in America looking for astrological correlations, but

Who

,

with the idee

fixe of a twelve-sign division. In

such

a_

division,

if

more clergymen actually are born under Leo and less under Scorpio -than chance would anticipate, then peaks and troughs ought to fall in

the middle of the respective signs.

Working out

data, Brad-

found that peaks and troughs did indeed occur, meaning that statistically significant astrological factors of some sort were at work. But these peaks and troughs did not occur in the middle of ley

the signs where according to statistical theory they belonged. It was then pointed out to Bradley, however, that if he used the Sidereal, not the Tropical Zodiac, then the peaks and troughs would fall in their proper places, and this convinced Bradley, who has been a champion of the Sidereal Zodiac ever since. But to most astrologers this made little sense. It seemed that Bradley, and the siderealists were chucking the whole of astrological

make one

tradition just to

scheme.

And

in

statistical

survey

fit

into a preconceived

the astrological journals a fruitless discussion

ensued, arguing the validity of more clergymen being born under Pisces according to the Sidereal

Zodiac or under Aries according to

the Tropical.

Addey’s insight into the harmonic nature of his - and Bradley’s

-

statistical

appears,

data avoids this problem of zodiacs. These data,

are outside

zodiacal sign. It (or,

is

the generalized scope of

meaning

it

of the

not that more polio victims are born in Leo,

using the Sidereal Zodiac, Cancer) but rather that children

to the 120th harmonic were more same token, clergymen, for whatever reason, susceptible. By the were more likely to be born on days corresponding to the 7 th harmonic (100:1 against chance). And, interestingly enough, a repeat of Bradley’s experiment undertaken by Addey, but using

born on days corresponding

birth

data of British clergymen,

results (see fig.

A

1

strongly confirmed Bradley’s

5).

further statistical study by

Addey

into the birth charts of

100 red-heads again proved that astrological factors played a significant role - not in that the position of the planets at birth caused red hair, but that red hair seems to be one element of a 'type’

which can

be isolated astrologically,

among many

even though at the

say exactly what that 'type’ is. This particular experiment, though most interesting from an

moment no one can

THE EVIDENCE astrological point of view, involves a fairly specialized

of astrology

and there

is

no point

In his survey of red-heads

169

knowledge

in illustrating our point further.

Addey

is

principally concerned with

from Who's Who. The top chart and shows the birth dates of British clergymen. The middle chart was compiled by Donald O. Bradley from the American Who's Who. Most interesting is that whatever the non-random factors operative may be, they obviously corroborate each other. The curves unmistakably follow a similar pattern. Figure

Birth dates of clergymen taken

15.

was compiled by the

British Astrological Association

developing and exploring the techniques for studying traditional concepts with modern methods

14 .

concerned with making astrology

forward will

Unlike Gauquelin, he

‘scientific’

but rather

is

is

not

looking

day when science in its own interest some extent astrological. Addey's work demon-

to the hypothetical

become

to

strates that almost all the principal factors of traditional astrology

- the

aspects,

the houses, the significance of degree areas, the

position of planets within the houses

and that these statistical C.F.A.

realities are,

approach 6*

15 .

-

are based

to a certain extent,

upon

realities,

amenable

to a

70

THE EVIDENCE

upon Living Organisms

Celestial Injluence

FRANK

A.

BROWN

Virtually every living organism lives according to

mined rhythms. For many

set,

years, the nature of the

responsible for the regulation has been disputed.

thought believed the organism responded

to

predeter-

mechanism

One

changes in

school of air ioniza-

Another school postulated an internal ‘biological clock’. But it was impossible to explain how or why air ionization should cause the apparently purposeful and intelligent - though unconscious - behaviour of the organisms under consideration, while it was equally impossible to locate any physical mechanism capable of serving as a ‘clock’ - yet every cell in the body was responsive to the rhythm; the elusive ‘clock’ was at once everywhere and tion.

nowhere. Ultimately, a truce was declared between the opposing factions.

was shown that

It

air ionization

mutually exclusive. The

difficulty,

and

biological clocks

were not

however, remained. Even

when

mutual support, the combined theories could not account for the phenomenon. Frank A. Brown, Professor of Biology at Northwestern University, disagreed with both prevailing hypotheses, and with a team offering

of workers, after ten years of experimentation, offered impressive

evidence supporting an alternative theory attributing the logical clock’ to celestial

‘bio-

rhythms, obviating the need for an internal

physical mechanism.

In a well-known article in Science (4 December 1959) Brown described these experiments.

Brown and his co-workers ran long series of tests on the nocmovements of beans (Bean Sleep Movement), on the amount of running performed by rats during the course of the day (Rat turnal

Running);* the variations in the colour of

Colour Change) and the sleep patterns of

Brown

fiddler crabs

flies

(Crab

(Fly Emergence).

all followed a definite, recognizable, and though the shape of the curve differed from one another. These tests were performed under strictly con-

discovered that

similar cycle, species to *

Not

to

be confused with the Rat Race, a sociological phenomenon and much longer, subtler astrological rhythms.

manifestation of

THE EVIDENCE and

trolled conditions,

it

was

clear that these

1J

rhythms must be

due, not to external climatic changes, but to influences of a pervasive and cosmic nature. factors involved

The

principal

and most obvious cosmic

were the sun and moon.

and fiddler crab showed 16 and monthly (lunar) periodicities These rhythms were characteristically most depressed at the new moon, and most active at the full moon; they were indifferent to temperature, and even to drugs. A rat, under control conditions, in a darkened cage, was tw ice as active when the moon was over Organisms

as dissimilar as the potato

unmistakable yearly

the horizon than

(solar)

when

.

was beneath

it

it;

thus bearing out the

insistent testimony of all those generations of old wives

and

gar-

deners.

But perhaps most impressive of

all

was Brown’s experiment with

oysters.

Oysters open and close their shells in a distinct rhythm, attuned to the tides.

And

it

has been supposed that the physical action of

the tides, not the effects of the moon, were responsible. Brown,

however, took oysters in light-proof containers from Connecticut to Evanston, prepared pans of

salt

Illinois,

New

Haven,

and placed them in specially

water in a darkroom.

Within two weeks the oysters had adjusted their opening and rhythms to the lunar phases of Evanston; that is, to what would have been the tidal rhythm in Evanston, had there been tides there, proving that it was the moon and not the actual action of the water which provoked the periodicity. closing

And

this discovery led to a

living organisms,

from algae

to vertebrate animals. It

massive study of a vast variety of

to flowering plants,

from invertebrate

was found that the metabolic rates of

all

were quite independent of the immediate external conditions. Tt has all

now become living things

quite clear that under such constant conditions

have continuously imposed upon them from the

environment metabolic rhythms of exactly the natural geophysical Brown wrote. An astrologer, however, would dispute

frequencies,’

would maintain simply that Brown’s natural geophysical frequencies were but instances of what Pythathe use of ‘imposed’, and

goras called the

As

Harmony of the Spheres. Brown naturally steers

a scientist,

clear of metaphysics. Yet,

in his attempt to explain the action of the solar

revealed

by

his experiments,

and lunar rhythms

he inadvertently draws close

to

an

1J1

THE EVIDENCE

explanation that verges on the symbolic. Having dispensed with the need for the hypothetical 'clock’.

manner

which minute

in

Brown had

to

account for the

differences in the energy level can bring

about such dramatic changes in the entire organism. a ‘trigger mechanism’,

upon the

whereby

(which

‘trigger’

is,

a

He

postulated

minute application of energy

incidentally, as physically hypothetical

as the ‘clock’) sets off a chain reaction

culminating in the relatively

amount of energy expended by the organism. As an analogy Brown cites a train schedule, in which the complex processes of the railway are set in motion by the schedule, which is its ‘trigger’. But this analogy is perhaps better than Brown intended. For a

vast

train schedule does not just ‘happen’; the actual physical schedule

(energy)

the manifestation of the decision to operate trains at

is

such and such a time. This decision

And

it is

been made. But, since

own

We

undemons trable. it

is

a

mental event.

It is invisible.

cannot prove that a decision has

has been made by men,

we know from

experience that a train schedule could not be

our

made without

this original idea, or decision.

Rats and potatoes operate on a schedule far subtler than our railways.

And we

schedules. But

it

have had no part in the organization of their quite unwarranted, and in fact unscientific

is

(because contrary to experience ) to imagine that our schedules require thought, but that Nature’s schedules just happen.

While

Professor

Brown

did not

analogy, they are implicit in

Brown

also learned that if

they maintained

their

it,

draw

these conclusions from his

legitimate,

and

difficult to avoid.

he kept various organisms in the dark,

normal night-day rhythms despite the

absence of light. However,

if

an unnatural rhythm of

artificial

night and day was imposed upon them, the organisms could be

They could be made to respond to a ‘day’ more than the usual twenty-four hours. But, interestingly enough, outside interference would be tolerated only up to a point. Beyond that point - about a thirty- or an eighteenhour day - the organism would stand for it no longer, and would

forced into obedience. that

was

less or

‘break away’, reverting to

its

system was imposed upon

it.

seem

to

imply that hope

fiddler crab.

with man?

And

if

is

rhythm no matter what Viewed theologically, this would natural

built into the very molecules of the

this is the case

why

should

it

be otherwise

THE EVIDENCE

LEONARD Dr Leonard

RAVITZ

J.

Ravitz of

J.

electrical potential

people,

173

Duke

University, plotting changes in

emitted by the body in normal and insane

found marked changes coinciding with the phases of the

moon, and with the seasons. The more disturbed the patients were, the more they were affected. On the basis of his findings, Ravitz was able to predict successfully the emotional states of his patients, and he ratified the ancient

was more unrest among the insane when the moon was full. (Though Eisler would doubtless conclude that the more disturbed patients were those standing closest to the window,

belief that there

hence the only ones Ravitz asserted

:

to

be affected by the moonlight.)

‘Whatever

we may be we are all electric may be mobilized by periodic

else

machines. Thus energy reserves

universal factors (such as the forces behind the to aggravate

moon) which tend

maladjustments and conflicts already present/ 17

Other Experiments Because there

is

no recognized organization working

to follow

the implications of experiments such as Brown's and Ravitz's, at the

moment

impossible to say in

what

precise

way

up

it is

these findings

will corroborate or contradict traditional astrological beliefs.

no deeper into astrology it seems worth describing briefly at least a few of the experiments that swell the file of quantitative evidence. It is also worth mentioning But even though

it

will take us

that in his latest book,

Gauquelin

lists as

V Astrologie

devant

la

Science, Michel

references in his bibliography forty-two scientific

papers and books which treat of celestial /terrestrial relationships.

Yamahaki studied the frequency of 33,000 and found a significant frequency occurring at the full and new moons; the least frequency occurred one or two days before In 1938, in Japan,

births

the

first

and

last quarter.

18

Meneker, an American gynaecologist,

confirmed this from a study of half a million births. 19

Gutman and Oswald, studying

10,000 cases of menstruation

over a period of fourteen years, found a definite full

and new moons. Arrhenius,

to a similar

maximum

earlier in the century,

at the

had come

conclusion from the study of over 11,000 cases. But

THE EVIDENCE

174

other researchers have not been able to isolate such a rhythm.

After reading of the experiments carried out by the Italian chemist, Giorgio Piccardi (see p. 182 of Psychiatric Research at

Canada, decided

to see if

ff.).

Dr Abram Hoffer,

Director

University Hospital, Saskatchewan,

mental patients under his care were

to the same external influences as were the chemical

subject

precipitates of Piccardi.

He found

that depressives reacted strongly, their worst periods

unmistakably in March. Neurotics, on the other hand,

falling

showed

periodicities,

but of another nature altogether, with peaks

and

of neurosis in January

showed

July, while schizophrenics

themselves remarkably insensitive to any form of outside influence.

Hoffer

made

the interesting observation that, since neurotics were

the most nearly normal,

and July

it

might be worth looking into January

as psychologically significant

among

the population at

large.

Dr Edson Andrews, an American

physician,

was

told

by

his

nurse that his patients were haemorrhaging significantly more frequently at certain times than at others. at the idea, but a

rough

test

seemed

to

Andrews

confirm

it.

at first scoffed

A more elaborate

and organized inquiry revealed that in 1,000 cases of

tonsillecto-

mies, eighty-two per cent of the bleeding crises occurred between the moon’s

and third quarters. The disproportion was even

first

greater than

appeared,

it

were admitted near the

Andrews

full

moon.

claimed, since fewer patients

A

re-check by another doctor

yielded similar results.

EUGEN JONAS The

striking role played

by the moon

in so

many

experiments

involving living organisms seems to be corroborated in a particularly dramatic

Dr Eugen tric

and directly

Jonas, a

Department

Czech

astrological fashion in the

of the State Clinic,

In dealing with female patients, Jonas noticed that

them manifested

work

of

and director of the PsychiaNagysurana. 20

psychiatrist,

many

of

and sexuality independently of their menstrual cycles and he began to look for an explanation. At the same time, he also became interested in deformed, defective and underdeveloped children, with whom his clinic often

had

cycles of unusual vitality

to deal.

His interests led him into the biological writings of the ancient

:

THE EVIDENCE

175

Egyptians, Greeks and Indians, and he noticed that some of the beliefs of these ancient writers

modern

were beginning

to

be borne out by

findings.

This, in turn, led

him on

to research,

from which he draws three

unusual conclusions 1.

That the

ability of a

mature

woman

to conceive tends to

occur

under exactly that phase of the moon (sun-moon relationship)

which prevailed when she was born. 2. That the sex of the child depends on whether,

moon

is

at this time, the

in a positive or negative field of the ecliptic (sign of the

zodiac). 3. That the viability of the embryo is influenced to a great extent by the positions of the celestial bodies at the time of conception. Jonas declared ‘At first I regarded these things as fantastic and I could not bring myself to believe in their truth. However, my observations and examinations, running into thousands of cases in the gynaecological clinic in Pozsony [Bratislava] showed me that the more obstetric cases I studied and the more exact the astronomical calculations I carried out, the more did the results show the existence of a hitherto unknown law of nature/ Jonas’s work has attracted considerable attention in his native Czechoslovakia, as well as in Germany and Austria. In the Englishspeaking world, as far as we know, it has been ignored except by astrologers - and it must be admitted that even astrologers find some of Jonas’s theories difficult to believe. It goes without saying, therefore, that the opposition from :

professionals has been in of information

makes

it

many

cases intense.

But our one source

appear that every time his ideas have been

subjected to examination they have been vindicated.

Testing his

own

theory of the determination of the sex of

off-

spring against a group of 250 birth charts, Jonas found himself

87 per cent correct. A Hungarian investigation, using Jonas’s method, arrived at a similar percentage, and separate investigations in Czechoslovakia - one of them an official, government-sponsored test

-

yielded 94 per cent and 83 per cent respectively. (Chance is 50 per cent.)

level in these tests

may be interesting as an astrono particular value. However, the Jonas claims of being able to warn women that conception

Predicting the sex of offspring logical parlour ability

game, but

it is

of

at certain astrologically-determined times bears the risk of produ-

THE EVIDENCE

176

cing a defective child would be very valuable indeed; as would be his ability to predict for

women

their fertile days, a process

which

Jonas claims works above, or alongside, the scientifically-accepted

Knaus-Ogino

cycle,

not invalidating the

latter,

but implementing

it.

We

have been

an American professor of psychology

told that

now

at Stanford University is

theories. It will be

engaged in studies to most interesting to find out, first,

again vindicated, and,

what the

if so,

test Jonas’s if

they are

reactions of the

Western

establishment will be.*

scientific

Experiments oj the Anthroposophists

-

Followers oj

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), philosopher and noted authority on Goethe, was leader of the

German

section of the

theosophist

movement. But having quarrelled with Annie Besant, Mme Blavatsky’s successor, Steiner broke away and established a school of his own, preaching ‘Anthroposophy’ or 'Wisdom of Humanity’, with headquarters in Switzerland.

The anthroposophical movement nizable features

common

incorporates a

to all traditions,

number

but with

its

of recog-

distinctly

Germanic cast, and following the lead of Steiner - with his own deep regard for Goethe - the movement has placed considerable emphasis upon modern science, and includes among

number * Since

of qualified scientists. this

was written,

at least

appeared in the Western press. 13

November

Many

its

members

a

years of organized, directed

one reference

to

Jonas's

Dr Miriam Moore-Robinson (New

work has Scientist,

1969) discusses the strong possibility of being able to determine

the sex of offspring within the next five years, and mentions Jonas’s claims,

but concludes rather disparagingly, ‘Such that

it

is

the inventiveness of inventors

upon Dr Jonas’s empiricism wind to beget a boy.’ And it is agree with the author on this point. The researchers men-

will probably not be necessary to rely

nor, to quote Pliny, await a cold northerly difficult

not to

by Dr Moore-Robinson are busy separating male from female sperm by means of sedimentation and centrifugation, passing a weak electric current through semen, and rendering the vaginal secretion acid or alkali; and the advantages of such enchanting methods over merely relying upon the moon will be self-evident to every scientific-minded reader. But what is perhaps most interesting about the article is the author’s willingness to tioned

cite Jonas’s

claims without a priori dismissing them.

THF EVIDENCE research have produced interesting results, in relevant to astrology. But this

work seems

many

1JJ

departments

rarely to find

its

way

into the popular press, to say nothing of the scientific journals. The scientific work of the anthroposophists seems to be carried

out under control conditions as strict as those prevailing elsewhere. Anthroposophical publications invite inspection by outsiders. And, while it is true that anthroposophical research is based upon the

assumption of a coherent and meaningful universe, this is in no way less scientific than orthodox research which is based upon an assumption of the contrary.

We have mentioned the long series of experiments carried out by Mme Kolisko, culminating in her book, The Moon and Plant Growth (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1938). Despite its airy dismissal by Eisler, based upon conclusions reached after a single experiment by Maby and Bedford, ‘joint authors of a remarkable book, The Physics of the Divining Rod’, the findings of Frank Brown and many others enhance the possibility that Mme Kolisko’s twelve years of research was no fluke, and that her data was

not cooked to

fit

into a preconceived plan.

In theory, of course, experiments such as these can - and ought to

- be performed by anyone interested in such phenomena. But

the experience of the anthroposophists indicates that in this case

Some

most interesting and ostensibly most convincing experiments seem to depend upon ‘theory' chooses to be uncooperative.

who may

performs them

!

This

is

no myth.

And

perhaps this idea

known

science has to

no

is

mind can influence

matter.

satisfactory theory to account for ‘mind’,

is let

it

sounds.

thousand years, and science

new

account for ‘matter’, so this

mystery than

it

probably

is

not as unscientific as

for at least three

for at least three weeks, 21 that

though

to say that, ‘unscientific'

appear, the gardener’s proverbial ‘green thumb’

Yogis have

none

of the

fact

is

Orthodox

and equally

more

far

of a

on. All esoteric traditions, however, insist that

both ‘mind’ and ‘matter’ are but manifestations of the same Higher

To

Consciousness.

over ‘matter’ a

is

this

way

of thinking,

the

power

of ‘mind’

but an expression of the natural hierarchy;

mystery certainly, but

in

no way

a philosophical

problem or

paradox. In any case,

Mme

Kolisko’s experiments appear

dramatic proof of the influence of the

moon

to

provide

over plant growth,

and, apart from the single brief and inconclusive experiment by

THE EVIDENCE

178

Messrs

Maby and

we know nothing

Bedford,

that contradicts her

work. Equally interesting results were obtained from another anthroposophical experiment described in Fyfe.

Moon and

Plant

by Agnes

22

Rudolf Steiner maintained that is was possible to prepare a remedy for cancer from mistletoe, but that the effectiveness of the remedy would depend upon the time the plant was picked. Accordingly, when a cancer research laboratory was set up in 1949, anthroposophists decided to test mistletoe to see

supposed variations in

on white mice was

its

if

these

properties could be measured. Its toxicity

tested regularly

and

its

PH- value (degree of

acidity) measured.

The sap

was also put through a process called which the sap is allowed to rise in a

of the mistletoe

capillary dynamolysis, in

piece of filter paper. This forms a pattern which,

can be photographed.

And

when

stained,

over the course of time the photographs

can be compared for changes in pattern. After 70,000 such experiments had been performed, definite,

complex harmonic wave-patterns were

established, both long-term

and short-term. The patterns were quite insensitive ate

weather conditions, but violently affected by

factors, eclipses in particular.

Without jumping

to

any conclusions

as to the effectiveness of mistletoe in cancer treatment, it

theless

reasonable

enough

formed by the mistletoe sap medicinal properties

Given these

to

results, the

is

never-

suppose that changing patterns

may

- whatever

immedi-

to the

extra-terrestrial

well represent a change in

these

may

its

be.

Egyptian insistence upon the time that

remedies are both prepared and administered appears quite reasonable, at least in theory.

23

Celestial Influence in the Phjsical

World

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA AFFECT RADIO DISTURBANCE IN THE ATMOSPHERE John H. Nelson, an electrical engineer, was hired by RCA

to look

into the possible connections between fluctuations in radio dis-

turbance and celestial phenomena. 24 Checking records in radio disturbance back in 1932, Nelson discovered that most magnetic

5

THE EVIDENCE

1

79

storms - which cause radio disturbance - occurred when two or 0 more planets were in conjunction, or in 180° or 90 aspect to the sun. On the basis of his original data, Nelson was able to predict 25 disturbance in the atmosphere with accuracy up to eighty per cent.

And

subsequent research has allowed Nelson

to refine his

methods,

and including Pluto. At present he is able to predict radio disturbance with up to ninety-three per cent accuracy, and is continuing work intended to refine his sysand to include

tem

still

all

the planets

up

to

further.

From an

view Nelson's discoveries are of

astrological point of

the utmost interest. For as long as there has been astrology, the

conjunction has been held to be ‘neutral' in effect will

depend upon other

factors,

insofar as

itself,

while the 90

0

aspect

-

its

the

square - and the 180° aspect - the opposition - have been held to be ‘disharmonious’ (or ‘maleficent’,

depending upon

‘evil’, ‘difficult’

the time, the function, and the emotional psychological predilections of astrologers).

Nelson’s research into the highly unemotional

field

of radio

disturbance unequivocally supports this old astrological theory

-

which, during the long dark age of Newtonian mechanics, was subjected to

more

ridicule than almost

any other

facet of astrol-

ogy-

Moreover, Nelson found that predictably good, disturbance-free fields

were formed when a number of planets lined up in 60

120° angles to the sun - the astrology,

‘sextile’

and

from time immemorial the

0

and

‘trine’ of traditional

‘good’,

‘benificent’,

and

‘harmonious’ aspects. Nelson also found that the more planets involved in the various aspects, the more pronounced the disturbance, or lack of

it.

And

still

further refinements indicated that

harmonics of the principal aspects could also be counted upon

make themselves

felt

-

tained that such tongue-twisting aspects as ‘sesquiquadrate’

- 150° and

Nelson found that

to

which mainthe ‘quincunx’ and

justifying Kepler’s theory, 0 1

35

— should be taken

into account.

harmonics of the square and opposition (the 0 ‘hard’ aspects) produced detectable effects the 45 aspect, a 22-5° all

:

0

0

and even a 7-5 aspect. 1 This both corroborates and amplifies the usual view of astrological aspects. It gives further credence to Addey’s theory that, through the study of wave harmonics, astrology can be improved

aspect, all multiples of

far

beyond

its

present state.

And

it

indicates that the

complex

180

THE EVIDENCE work currently undertaken by

astrological

on a valuable track and

'hard’ aspects

German

pays particular attention

this school

:

the

astro-

under the directorship of R. Ebertin,

logical institute in Aalen,

their harmonics.

is

to the

26

Though Nelson's

discoveries were widely reported in the popuand in scientific journals the obvious connection with astrology was either ignored or tactfully side-stepped "Evidence

lar press

:

and unexplained correlation between the positions of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in their orbits around the sun and the presence of violent electrical disturbances in the earth's upper of a strange

atmosphere

.

.

.

seems

to indicate [that]

the planets and the sun

share in a cosmic electrical-balance mechanism that extends a billion miles

balance

is

from the centre of the

solar system.

Such an

not accounted for in current astrophysical

reported the

New York

Times That .

this balance

electrical theories,'

was very much

accounted for in ancient astrological theory was doubtless considered

by the Times

Though Nelson

as

news

prefers

astrological questions, his

automatically

any

effect

reception

To

:

unfit to print.

not

to

embroil himself in directly

work poses one

direct question almost

do these celestially-correlated magnetic storms have

on earthly

life

beyond disturbing short-wave radio

?

the best of our knowledge,

no one has performed experiments

with the express purpose of testing given predicted magnetic storms against

life

rhythms, or medical data. But

that the earthquake studies of the late in

it

seems likely

Dr Rudolf Tomaschek

tie

with Nelson's findings.

Tomaschek, Society, a

who was chairman

of the International Geophysical

well-known physicist and an astrologer

(rarest of

com-

binations) carried out a statistical analysis of 134 major earth-

quakes.

He found

that the positions of the planets at the time and

place of these quakes

was non-random

degree. In particular,

in a statistically significant

Uranus, Pluto and Jupiter tended

to

be

moon apparently were commonly of the

involved in the configurations, while the sun and

played no part at

all.

0

These configurations

"hard' variety (90 and harmonics thereof); and the greater the magnitude of the event, the more likelihood there was that the planets would be configured in the "horoscope' of the earthquake. Though by no means conclusive, Tomaschek's data lends support to the collective hunches of modern astrologers who have

:

THE EVIDENCE

l8l

and ‘explosive’ characters to Uranus and Pluto, while the involvement of Jupiter may mean that the thunderbolts unleashed by this ordinarily benevolent god may not ‘revolutionary'

attributed

be entirely a figment of the Greek fancy

27 .

In attempting to account for the correlation between earthly

Tomaschek eschewed the naive physical hypotheses put forward by Gauquelin and other orthodox scientists whose work inadvertently relates to astrology. Tomaschek supported a symbolic view consonant with tradition, and because he and

celestial events,

was both

a physicist

and an astrologer his views

particularly interesting.

We

shall return

to

in this respect are

them

in our final

chapter.

work has been done successfully linking sunspot terrestrial phenomena. And the following

Considerable activity is

with a variety of

but one of

At

many

reports of the positive findings

a recent session of the

Communication

Popov Radio Engineering and

carried out over a

found a relation between road accidents and solar statistics

showed that the day

also

italics!

.

by

been obtained by workers in

human

flare

much

as

as four

times above the

than at other times.

Hamburg and Munich. He

response to stimulation

Interest in the relationship

amount

Their

Podshibyakin mentioned that similar findings had

that

many

has existed for

activity.

after the eruption of a solar flare, road

accidents increased, sometimes

average [our

Electrical

Dr A. K. Podshibyakin reported that research number of years at the Tomsk Medical College had

Society,

years.

is

between

When

of ultraviolet radiation

is

also claimed

generally slower during a solar

solar

and

phenomena

terrestrial

a solar flare occurs

an immense

produced. This increases the ionization

of the terrestrial atmosphere to such an extent that during that period

short-wave communication on earth solar flares

may

interesting idea

Indeed

it

disturbance

also

have some

is

effect

likely to be disrupted.

Whether

on the human metabolism

is

an

28 .

is.

may

Particularly since Nelson has

shown

that radio

be predicted with ninety-three per cent accuracy

from the positions of the planets. Reflecting for a moment upon the extreme delicacy and the minute scale of the body’s actions and

would seem almost more reasonable to put the matter it would be surprising if these world-wide magnetic and electrical phenomena did not affect human metabol-

reactions

the other

ism.

it

way round

:

the evidence

182

EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INFLUENCES INORGANIC CHEMISTRY Of

all

the fields of science, none appears so devoid of mystery as

that of inorganic chemistry

X

IN

where - we are taught

-

in school

will always combine with Y at a given rate in a given ratio form XY. But in fact the matter is not quite so simple. There are skeletons

to

in the inorganic chemist's closet. Colloids ticular refuse to

water, the

conform

commonest number

exhibiting any

known

to

and precipitates in par-

chemical standards of behaviour, and

of liquids,

is

also

the most mysterious,

of embarrassing aberrations.

to chemists, this

wayward behaviour has

Though long

generally been

overlooked, ascribed to faulty equipment or laboratory mistakes, or frankly put

down

However, an

to ‘freaks of nature’

Italian

chemist,

and ignored.

Professor

Giorgio

Piccardi

of

Florence University, became interested in these matters in the

1930s and after long and persistent experimentation has that

these

chemical

shown

anomalies are caused by extra-terrestrial

factors.

Most impressive in 1951

of Piccardi’s experiments was one beginning and extending through 1958, performed as a contribution

to the International

Using

Geophysical Year.

specified, pre-arranged

methods, following a pre-arranged

plan, Piccardi and other scientists in laboratories around the world

prepared a precipitate of bismuth oxychloride in water, under strictly controlled laboratory conditions.

was discovered that the rate of precipitation varied from day The possibility of quirks in equipment had been eliminated, as had the possibility of carelessness in organizing the experiments. When a copper sheet was placed over the experimental vessels, the precipitate formed at a constant rate meaning that copper voided 29 the effects of whatever it was that caused the fluctuations. Over the course of seven years, more than 200,000 separate experiments It

to day.

were performed. Piccardi found that the rates of precipitation followed a definite

and predictable cyclical pattern throughout the year, with a miniin March. He also found variations according to latitude interesting in view of cycles research which indicates that biological, ecological and even economic cycles follow similar patterns;

mum

.

THE EVIDENCE

183

corresponding not only to latitude but to the earth’s magnetic

The

field as well.

cyclical pattern

was shattered violently when-

ever there were sharp magnetic disturbances in the atmosphere.

And

the yearly cycle

was ‘enveloped’

in the familiar

1 1

sunspot cycle. All of this corroborated cyclical data from a of fields,

•

1

year

number

with the exception of the sharp yearly fluctuation in

March. This fluctuation could not be accounted for in terms of earthly phenomena, nor even in terms of

known phenomena within

and Piccardi boldly hypothesized that the March fluctuations were due to factors that are galactic the confines of the solar system,

in origin.

The earth

which in turn races towards the constellation of Hercules, meaning that the earth describes in space not a flat orbit, but a complex spiral, whose action in March is

revolves about the sun,

unique.

The in

its

and While denying

old idea of ‘empty space’ has of course been discarded,

now

place science

talks of ‘fields of force’.

astrology Piccardi theorizes that the singular displacement of the earth within the galactic field of force during the

month

of

March

results in the curious fluctuation in the speed of chemical reactions

during that month. chemical experiments have for

Piccardi’s

many years been He has shown

accompanied by research into the anomalies of water. that water

is

particularly sensitive to outside influences 0

between

0

temperatures of 30 and 40 C and that colloids, subsequently, share in this strange sensitivity. ‘There is no need to underline the

importance of

this fact,’ Piccardi asserts;

takes place in an aqueous

‘Water

is

and

‘it is

well

known

colloidal system’ (p.

1

that

life

5).

and is capable most varying circumstances to a degree

sensitive to extremely delicate influence

of adapting itself to the

by no other liquid. It may be that it is this infinity of makes the existence of life possible’ (p. 33). ‘. electro-magnetic fields of low frequency and therefore of very little energy [our italics] are capable of acting upon water’ attained

possibilities that .

33 )Piccardi has

(P-

found that results were most striking in the VLF (Very Low Frequency) wavelengths. Experimenters in other fields have also found that VLF waves caused marked biological changes. ‘Electromagnetic radiations and field variations entire

.

.

.

strike the

mass of a body, and thus of an organism, and provoke the

.

THE EVIDENCE

184

oscillations, excitation or, at

any

rate, the resonance, so to speak,

of all the structural elements capable of responding to their stimu-

wherever they are found. Their action

lus

is ...

tot aV (our italics;

P- 135)* *. these elements which, depending on their geometric form and their internal energetic relationships are able to respond to .

radiations of approximate frequencies, are the structural elements .

.

there can be

.

no resonance without

structure’ (p. 125).

This latter would ring familiar in the ears of the medieval astrologer;

and in those of the architects

of the cathedrals

and of

the temples of Egypt, as well. For the structures they built were

designed consciously to provoke just that desired resonance within the hearts and heads of beholders. So

among

all

it is

strange that Piccardi,

these experimenters, should publicly decry traditional

astrology.

CYCLES AND SUNSPOTS The connection between was The

first

the sunspot cycle and earthly

prices of

wheat seemed inexplicably

cycle of sunspot frequency.

And

tury intermittent efforts were

them -

phenomena

noticed in 1801 by Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus.

made

and utilize was not until

to isolate cycles

principally as they related to business. But

it

was begun.

the 1920s that systematic research

At Harvard,

year

to follow the 11-1

throughout the nineteenth cen-

a team of workers under Professor Ellsworth Hunt-

everywhere

ington

discovered

inexplicable

looked.

A

of books ensued that provoked considerable

number

scientific head-scratching,

an

irate disclaimer

‘All this

may

.

.

whoops

data

of delight

from

they

astrologers,

and

from Huntington himself.

suggest astrology.

astrology, however, .

cyclical

is

like that of

The relation of modern chemistry

.

.

.

this

to

book

to

alchemy.

Nevertheless, the cold fact as to millions of births leaves no

doubt that on the average people born in February or March

differ

decidedly from those born in June and July/ 30

And

was that nothing known to orthodox any of the other cyclical phenomena that Huntington and his team were uncovering. After the

still

colder fact

science could explain this discrepancy, or

decades of work, however, Huntington, without actually mention-

THE EVIDENCE much

ing the forbidden word, as

evidence

sufficient

is

to

as left the door

open

185

The

:

warrant the working hypothesis that

atmospheric electricity, due presumably to the sun, but perhaps also to the

whole

solar system,

a cyclic factor closely associated

is

with psychological rhythms/ 31 Cycles had been found operating in biological, economic, meteorological, geophysical,

human, animal, and

virtually every other

sphere.

They could be shown to be highly un-random. Certain definite showed up time and again, while others never occurred

periodicities at all.

For example, a 9*6 year cycle manifests

phenomena from the

size of

io-6 year cycle.

random and due

when

That the distribution was nonthan chance was demonstrated

to factors other

cycles turned

And,

up again on schedule. 32

as a further demonstration, the cycles invariably manifested

themselves harmonically, that

but never in

fives or sevens.

is,

and

in double

Thus

treble progressions,

there are three distinct 15 year

cycles enveloped in a greater cycle of 45 years, etc. Cycles were a fact. They could be accounted for earth.

to tree ring

USA, but nothing has been found

widths, and cotton prices in the that follows a

variety of

itself in a

salmon catches in Canada

The

was And, meanwhile, the

logical place to look

researchers declined to do.

pleased with the

new

by nothing on

the heavens but this cyclesastrologers,

cycles data, could not account for

it

though

in terms

of traditional astrology.

Huntington’s cycles

- 41 months, 9 6

fell

into astrologically

years, 11 2 years,

awkward - none

18 years

time-slots

of

which

coincided with the speeds of the planets in orbit seen geocentrically.

Astrologers would have liked to see neat 12 year cycles corresponding to Jupiter; 28 year cycles corresponding to Saturn, and so on.

In 1950, in America, the Foundation of the Study of Cycles was

inaugurated, in affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh.

This foundation, which has scribing

now grown

to ten

thousand sub-

members, though observing due caution in openly

sing astrology, has never been inimical to

it.

Indeed,

discus-

among

the

Lieutenant-Commander David Williams, a well-known astrologer and author of numerous articles for astrological magazines, who evidently makes no effort to conceal Board of Directors

his

is

astrological interests.

stantial

And

in recent years,

evidence for astrology piles up,

as

the circum-

the Foundation leans

l86

THE EVIDENCE

further and further towards an open interest in

Edward

Dewey, President

R.

the subject

of the Foundation, declared in

1967:

The

really important aspect of the comparative cycle study is the

possibility that italics]

terrestrial

tunately, thing.

will lead to the discovery of hitherto

it

environmental forces that

phenomena.

we do

...

If

.

.

.

What

affect life,

could these external forces be? Unfor-

not yet know, but

such forces are

unknown [our many other

weather and

seems clear that they are some-

it

real, as

we

said in the beginning,

it is

a

matter of utmost significance to mankind. The proof of the existence of such forces will push back the frontiers of knowledge as single discovery

I

can think

of.

much

as

any

33

In September 1968, in Cycles, Professor

Dewey

published an

Dewey many cycles-researchers had felt that the planets some way bound up with sunspots, and therefore with the ‘A Key

article entitled

to Sunspot-Planetary Relationship’.

wrote that while

were in whole complex of cyclical phenomena, no one had been able to discover what this relationship was. But it had been remarked that, though sunspot frequency followed the familiar 111 year cycle, this was not a true cycle. Sunspots are magnetized and normally occur in pairs. In one 1 1 1 1 year cycle north spots lead and south spots follow, and in the next cycle south spots lead and north spots follow. Therefore, Dewey reasoned, a true cycle would be 22-22 years.

The 22-22 year cycle was then removed from the The data remaining were then subjected

spot data.

harmonic

analysis,

and the most important

figures

original sunto a

form of

were

isolated.

In other words, only the data that were not directly correlated to the 22-22 year cycle remained.

And

these figures were then com-

pared to the average times of the conjunctions between the outer planets.

The

results are

Dewey’s next step

shown on

will be to

five

the table, p. 187.

examine the relationships between

sunspot harmonics and the conjunctions of the inner planets. But it

would now appear

as

confirmed that the conjunctions of the

planets (with the strange exception of Neptune) coincide with

sunspot activity. Since

it

has been established that sunspot activity coincides

phenomena, it seems logical to conclude some way connected with the conthe planets and we are again in the realm of astrology.

with a host of that these

terrestrial

phenomena

junctions of

are in

-

THE EVIDENCE Planetary

Average

Period of Sun-

Conjunction

Synodic Period

spot

Saturn + Uranus Jupiter

-

1

Percentage

Harmonic

Difference

yrs

45-47 yrs

0-2

13-81 yrs

13-78 yrs

0-2

4436

Uranus

Jupiter -I- Saturn

19-86 yrs

19-78 yrs

0-4

Jupi ter -1- Pluto

12-46 yrs

12-40

0-5

126-95 yrs

123-72 yrs

2-6

Saturn + Pluto

33 42 yrs

32 05 yrs

4-3

Saturn + Neptune

35-85 yrs

37-73 yrs

5-2

+ Neptune

12-78 yrs

None None None

Uranus -{-Pluto

Jupiter

Uranus -I- Neptune

171-40 yrs

Pluto + Neptune

49200

It all

should

now

yrs

be apparent that, though

it is

we have described into common the denominator

of the experiments

package, influence

all

have in

upon

187

impossible to

of extra-terrestrial

And, while it would be unfair call their work ‘astrology', it

terrestrial affairs.

the scientists responsible

to

fit

a neat conceptual

equally unfair of the scientists to imagine that astrology

to is

only

is

concerned with predicting whether or not tomorrow will be a favourable day for buying poodles. Still, if

the evidence does not

fit

together neatly,

it

does, as

com-

many of which touch upon various traditional astrological precepts. Gauquelin's work is direct corroboration of the influence of the planets upon personality; Nelson's work bears out the validity of the theory of aspects; cycles study seem to imply that on a huge scale human and animal psychology is affected by cyclical factors which in turn depend upon the solar system, and so on. In presenting the evidence, however, we have nowhere given

pensation, cover a wide field of interests, directly

an inkling as is

to

how

celestial influence operates. In a sense this

not essential. Scientists and engineers were making use of

tricity for a

think

it

many

areas

century before they understood

safe at is

this point

a fact.

to

assert

how

it

worked.

elec-

We

that celestial influence in

it is far more satisfying if a reasonphenomenon can be supplied, and we

But

able explanation of the

think that this can be done, not by direct evidence,

it

is

true,

but by what in our opinion seems to be a singularly powerful analogy.

l88

THE EVIDENCE Wave Forms

Cymatics: The Study oj

Cymatics study of matter

name given by its founder, Hans Jenny, to the wave forms and the way in which wave forms influence is

the

34 .

Essentially, Jenny’s

menon examined by Ernst Chladni,

who

work

discovered that

a plate attached to a violin, violin, the

but a vast refinement of a pheno-

is

German physicist, when sand was scattered over

the eighteenth-century

sand arranged

itself

and

different notes played

on the

into a variety of beautiful patterns,

which changed according to the note that was played. In science these figures are well-known as ‘Chladni figures’. But Chladni’s methods permitted few refinements, materials were limited, and the frequencies difficult to control or to alter in the course of the experiment. But the form was in some way a function of the frequency of vibration; this was clear enough. Jenny decided to investigate this phenomenon, and accordingly invented equipment which would allow him to subject a wide range of materials to a wide range of frequencies, all under a flexible control system. Sands, powders and liquids were spread on metal plates, or otherwise vibrated at different sound frequencies, producing a spectacular array of forms and patterns 35 and one series of

experiments perhaps merits particular attention from our

point of view.

Among to

Jenny’s inventions

is

the horoscope’, a device designed

convert the vibrations of the

human

When

voice,

and of sound in

was spoken into, photosound were obtained, and it was found, for

general, into visual terms.

graphs of the shape of example, that the spoken

this

letter ‘O’

produced

a perfectly spherical

photograph.

Of

all

the ancient and primitive beliefs, few have been more

by modern critics than the notion that words and names were imbued with magical or other properties - beyond universally ridiculed

the arbitrary act of inventing a

word or name

to stand for a thing

or person. In ancient Egypt precautions were taken to prevent the extinction of the eighth or Name-soul. ... In the pyramid texts

God

called

that of a

Khern,

human

i.e.

Word:

being.

the

Word

The Creation

we

find

mentioned

having a personality

of the

a

like

World was due

to

.

THE EVIDENCE the interpretation in

words by Thoth of the will of the deity

189 .

.

.

Children are often similarly anxious to conceal their names; and just as children always demand what the name of a thing is (never if it has a

name) and regard the name all have names

the stars

.

In some

we know

as a valuable acquisition, so

ways the twentieth century

suffers

more grievously than any

previous age from the ravages of such verbal superstitions

The

that

.

.

.

.

persistence of the primitive linguistic outlook not only through-

out the whole religious world, but in the work of the profoundest thinkers,

is

indeed one of the most curious features of modern thought

36 .

The rational mind is immune to such nonsense; and the rationaknows that had - say - Vladimir Nabokov elected to name his famous nymphet Hepzibah it would have made no difference. list

Yet Jenny’s photograph of the vowel 'O’ stands there, per-

manently thumbing

its

nose at reason. For unless Ogden and

Richards are prepared to dispense with

all art, literature,

poetry,

music and architecture, as the purely 'emotive’ residues of primitive superstition, it

would appear

many

others, the Egyptians

by its which

are afterwards interpreted

structure,

ever these

that in this instance, as in so

were dealing in

realities.

Art

affects

us

by the sensory vibrations which it sets up, and by our aesthetic faculties - what-

may be.

Jenny’s tonoscope

designed so that sound vibrations act upon

is

whose action can be photographed. 'O’ not only 'O 37 By merely pronouncing the material can be made to conform to what might be

inert material

sounds

like ‘O’, it looks like

vowel, inert called the

Law

of O.

‘It

may

voice have specific effects

’.

be said that the sounds of the

on various materials

human

in various media,

producing what might be called corresponding vocal figures .’ 38

The Egyptians and

primitives look ever less superstitious and primi-

science has already admitted that

tive

:

the

growth of

plants;

it is

sound waves can influence

but a short and logical step

to the ad-

mission that the repetition of sacred formulas and chants (sound

waves) can objectively cure diseases.

If

music can

affect plants,

why should viruses and bacteria be immune?

We

have already discussed the Law of Three, the Law of Re-

lationship for

- symbolic traditionally of ‘Spirit’ - which insists that to happen in the universe three forces, not two, are

anything

necessary, but that this third force is

is

ineffable. Jenny’s

essentially the study of this elusive third force

which

Cymatics so stead-

:

THE EVIDENCE

190

fastly remains

immune

our reason

to

it is

:

the ‘idea’ between the

sculptor and the block of wood; the ‘desire’ that mediates between

man and woman; to

Holy Ghost of the Christian Trinity. work lies in the ability of cymatics

the

The importance

of Jenny’s

expose this third force, to allow scientists to study

But

tions quantitatively.

it

must be

mean

that the third force has been explained;

ever

:

in this case

ing

agency of

power

it is

is

but

without

it

it is

as mysterious as

‘vibration’,

this

Professor

like

the manifestation of a conscious decision;

neither matter nor energy,

guistically, yet

manifesta-

applied to matter through the mediat-

is

‘vibration’;

Brown’s train schedule,

its

stressed that this does not

it

refuses to be pinned

down

lin-

Jenny would have no patterns, Professor

Brown no train schedule. To repeat: form is impossible without frequency, and frequency is inexplicable. Can this fact be behind the meaning of ‘In the beginning was the Word’? Is this what the Egyptians meant when they credited Thoth with creation for his interpretation in It

words of the divine

seems

will

?

work opens an important approach astrology - and the physical aspect of

to us that Jenny’s

to the physical aspect of

is of course the only aspect to which the scientific method can be applied. Cymatics makes it clear that the ancient concept of the Harmony of the Spheres must be taken literally. The medieval analogy of resonance, long discarded as impossible in a Newtonian mechanical universe in which planets whirled about in empty

astrology

space,

The

now returns solar

the planets

as

system

demonstrable

is

move slowly

hundred thousand years invisible,

to

fact.

a coherent, vibrating whole. in orbit. But, to a being as a second, the solar

but audible, (providing such

To our

who

senses

considered a

system would be

a being’s senses

were attuned

magnetic and electro-magnetic and not merely atmospheric

dis-

turbances). Like every other vibrating system, the solar system

is

bound to produce a multitude of interacting harmonics, the effects of which constitute the research we have been describing. Jenny’s experiments show that form depends not only upon the frequency of vibration, but also upon the nature of the material being vibrated. Different materials vibrated at the same speed produced different patterns. This qualitative difference.

And

is

to attempt

a

visual demonstration of

to explain it

away

in terms

:

of the atomic structure of the materials

THE EVIDENCE

191

simply to beg the

issue;

is

the apparently simple arithmetical addition of electrons also results in qualitative differences between the basic elements. And in music

same note played on a violin and on an oboe affects us difis no good maintaining that there is no ‘real’ difference the notes beyond the sum total of the respective harmonics the

the

ferently. It in

:

difference in effect

is

as ‘real’ as the calculations.

The situation in the solar system is analogous to an orchestra. The planets (instruments) are composed of widely diverse mass and density, they orbit and these speeds are ceaselessly each other, and also in the distances and

hugely

materials, they differ

as to

(vibrate) at a variety of speeds,

changing in relation

to

angles at which they interact. are

now

accepted that the planets

magnetically and electrically charged; Jupiter and the

all

earth, at least, are

we

It is

known

to

emit radio waves, and

it is

obvious that

are only beginning to learn the true physical natures of the

planets.

But

it

should also be incontestable that the ‘influences’ of

it is no mistake that Saturn, not Venus, up in charts of scientists in Gauquelin’s statistics, etc. And the work of Nelson, Piccardi, Dewey, Jonas and the others makes it equally incontestable that every atom of every molecule of the 39 earth has no choice but to respond to this cosmic tune Sperm unites with ovum; the so-called ‘genetic code’ determines out of the infinity of possibilities what the foetus shall inherit from its parents. But what is the genetic code? What is the precise nature of the ‘message’ which the messenger RNA carries to

the planets vary widely;

turns

.

the

DNA before

selves, is

the latter can operate? It

but their arrangement

the result of an act,

which

is

in other words, it

in itself

is

of united

Is it

is

is

prevailing at that

,

it

contingent upon

not possible that the genetic code

sperm and ovum

not a thing

neither matter, nor energy.

In Jenny’s experiments, arrangement (form)

frequency.

not the genes them-

is

the response

complex of cosmic frequencies

to the

moment?

Though couched

terminology,

different

in

been contending that

this

was the

of course they

have further contended

concerned, the

moment

ing factor. That this

is fact,

fact in physical terms is

not supposition,

statistical

And

that, as far as character is

of birth, not of conception,

Gauquelin’s and Addey’s

have

astrologers

case since history began.

is

is

the determin-

amply proved by

work. But to account for this

probably impossible, and this book

is

not

THE EVIDENCE

192

the place for a dissertation on the nature of the ‘soul\ or even

resume of traditional teachings on the subject. (See the bibliography for further reading on this esoteric aspect of astrology.)

for a

We

shall restrict ourselves to the observation that the

sum

of

rhythms and harmonies of a piece of music does not constitute the meaning of the music, nor can this meaning be derived from such a quantitative assessment. In a similar fashion, we may measure all the alpha and other rhythms of the frequencies, tonalities,

man

brain of the

calculating a train schedule; but this

nothing of the meaning of his

The harmony

of the spheres,

speech, but reality. Yet clusion that

we

then,

we must guard

are ‘influenced’

is,

us

is

no fanciful figure

of

against the too-facile con-

by the music

in a subtle but ineluctable fashion,

logy

tells

efforts.

we

of the spheres; for,

are that music.

cated to the interpretation of

its

astro-

meaning.

Proof of the Pudding: Astrologers Stand Up In presenting our evidence

we have

state of present-day astrology,

logers

And

or should be, the discipline, half art, half science, dedi-

who

practise

sources, all of

it,

whom

avoided discussing the actual

and the qualifications of the

beyond quoting

freely

to the Test

a

number

astro-

of astrological

admit that matters are unsatisfactory,

and drastically in need of revision. But despite these strictures, it remains a fact that an astrologer who gives up astrology in disgust or despair is a rarity. Is there then enough validity even in present-day astrology to justify the time spent on it by apparently otherwise sane men? Or are they deluding themselves? Is it possible, as Gauquelin contends, that cosmic influence is an incontestable fact, but that the whole of the astrological edifice

is

superstition,

and

astrologers, even serious

astrologers, are charlatans or fools?

Gauquelin, champion of fact and figure, supports his contention

with no

facts

- only vague

allusions to challenges issued to

and never taken up. As we have seen, other opponents of astrology, from Voltaire and Swift down to Haldane, Eisler, Couderc and Patrick Moore, have issued condemnations with conastrologers

viction but an equal absence of fact or figure. logers

- until very recently

a despised

Meanwhile,

astro-

and uninfluential minority

THE EVIDENCE

- with no

- have

issued bitter rejoinders in their unread journals

facts to

support their case but at least with justice on their

view of the lack of evidence, obligation

hedge

to

critics

would seem

to

193

side.

In

have a moral

their criticism until appropriate

testimony

can be brought to bear.

The truth

is

that

it is

exceedingly difficult to devise methods of

putting astrology, and astrologers in particular, to tests that satisfy

requirements without forcing astrologers to distort their

scientific

methods in order

However,

to

comply with the

test.

two concerted efforts have overcome these difficulties. One by Professor Hans

in recent years, at least

been made to

Bender, the actual results of which, unfortunately, unsuccessful in obtaining, and can report only

we have been

what has come

that the astrologers in general scored high

us second-hand:

character analysis, but poorly on predictions,

which comes

as

to

on no

surprise.

But the

results of the second test are available in detail.

This elaborate series of experiments was devised by the late

Vernon it

American psychologist who became

Clark, an

in astrology

seemed

to

-

initially

interested

because for a supposedly extinct superstition

be showing remarkable

vitality.

And, without having

contact with astrologers themselves, he noticed in the early 1950s

number of the purely scientific upon the astrological premise.

a

which seemed

results

to bear

His interest piqued, Clark then took the rare step of actually studying the subject for himself. That thirty years minutely

astrology, all of

whom

is,

instead of spending

examining the works of are convinced a priori of

'authorities' its fallacy,

on

Clark

began casting horoscopes. Soon convinced that somewhere, some-

how, there was something test in the

attempt

put on an acceptable Clark

first

40

moment

of birth, future talents

and

capabili-

could be predicted.

He in

scientific basis, or at least a statistical one.

decided to test the astrologers' claim that, from the

data provided for the ties

he decided to devise a newly acquired conviction could be

to the business,

to see if his

contacted a

number

of the

England and America, of

twenty-three agreed to co-

though one dropped out en route, and

operate,

determined to take as

twenty

most highly regarded astrologers

whom

to reply.

C.F.A.

7

test results

in the

end

it

only the answers of the

was first

:

194

THE EVIDENCE

Clark then selected the horoscopes of ten people on the basis of

some well-defined profession, five male, five feThe group included a herpetologist, musician, bookkeeper,

participation in

male.

veterinarian, art teacher, art critic, puppeteer, librarian, prostitute

and pediatrician. These horoscopes were chosen on a first-come, first-served basis. No attempt was made to select ‘casebook’ horoscopes - which cooperatively obey all the rules - or ‘problem’ horoscopes - which obey none of the rules. But the following stipulations were made 1. The Native* must have followed his or her profession for a considerable length of time - people who had switched jobs often were ruled out. Professions

2.

made

to

had

to

be distinctly defined, though no attempt was

prevent overlapping functions, as with the veterinarian

and herpetologist, or with the art critic and the prostitute. 3. Natives had to be between forty-five and sixty-five years of age. This ruled out implicit hints, e.g. had a senator been included in the selection and had several of the horoscopes pertained to Natives in their twenties, this would obviously have made matters easier. Birth in the

4.

USA

was made

bility of geographical hints

:

a condition to eliminate the possi-

a chef

who

satisfied all

other condi-

was eliminated because he had been born in France. The hour of birth was ascertained as precisely as was possible.

tions 5.

Finding Natives

who

Clark found, rather

less

complied with

all

these requirements was,

easy than he had thought. But with the

task accomplished, the horoscopes

were erected and sent

off to

the participating astrologers.

The

were told only the nature of the professions. match up the professions with the horoscopes, according to their order of likelihood, i.e. the astrologer was to select the horoscope most likely to be that of the art-critic, next most likely, and so on, down to the fifth most likely. As a counter-experiment, Clark gave exactly the same test to a control group of non-astrologers - professional psychologists and social workers - who were to make blind selections. This group

Their

astrologers

test

was

to

yielded a chance return. *

The term

‘Native’ for the subject of the horoscope has a quaint

medieval flavour, but its

to

it

dates only

from

1508. Astrologers retain

it

and

despite

unscientific connotations, perhaps because no better word springs easily mind. Horoscopee obviously won’t do, and astrologee is even worse.

THE EVIDENCE

195

astrologers did considerably better, returning answers at

The

a -oi level of significance above chance.

100 to

That

is:

the odds were

against the astrologers’ answers being attributable to

1

chance.

And

going further into the data (since

statistics are

open

to

a number of refinements and subtleties) it was discovered that the results would have been even better had the newest and most advanced statistical methods been employed. But these remained

not because of the astrologers, but because orthodox

unofficial,

statisticians

tended to distrust these methods.

Clark found that using his original scoring technique, sixteen out of the twenty astrologers scored above the chance

level.

But

using a bull’s-eye-only technique of scoring, seventeen out of the

And by

twenty were above chance. astrologers

who had

been

been omitted from the

last to

test

- the

adding the scores of the two

answer - and

who

therefore

had

results also would have been im-

proved.

From

was

this test, then, it

possible to conclude tentatively that

men’s characters are influenced by or determined by the position of the planets at birth,

and

that, using birth data alone, astrologers

could distinguish and delineate character. Still

And

was tentative. 100 to 1 shots do come in. was criticized on a number of minor among them that possibly the astrologers had

the conclusion

Clark’s experiment

counts,

chief

achieved their results through ESP.

Both of these difficult test

was

distinguish. Test

The had an

had to be tested. And an even more 1 showed only that astrologers could 1 was set up to see if they could also predict. were given ten pairs of horoscopes. Each pair

possibilities

devised. Test 1

astrologers

attested history attached,

with dates of important events

in the life (honours bestowed, crucial journeys, deaths, etc.).

astrologers

were

told that

one of the pair belonged

The

to the history

while the other belonged to someone of about the same age and sex,

born in the same vicinity, but whose history was

(Actually, the false horoscope

dom

for a time

course did not Since

it

was

and place near the true chart

know

different.

a spurious one, ‘cooked’ at ran:

the astrologers of

this.)

was impossible

for Clark to

have any information on the

(hypothetical) people corresponding to the cooked charts, the possibility of

ESP was minimized, though not obviated

(it is

almost

THE EVIDENCE

196

impossible to exclude the possibility altogether) the ability to predict, at least in retrospect

-

if

:

and

it

would

test

an astrologer could

on the basis of birth data alone that an accident or a marriage or award belonged to horoscope A rather than horoscope B, it meant that in theory at least the astrologer could have predicted an event of this nature before the fact. tell

In this

the astrologers again scored above the -oi level of

test,

significance.

The returns

of all twenty-three co-operating astro-

were utilized this time. Three had matched up all ten horoscopes with the histories, eighteen scored above chance, two scored

logers

chance.

Two

long shots in a row

is a rarity. But Clark decided to had been demonstrated that astrologers, on the birth data alone, could distinguish and predict. It was now

100 to

1

test still further. It

basis of

decided to see

ESP

On

if

remained

still

this

new

they could categorize.

the possibility of

Clark did only the organizing. The task of

test,

selecting the Natives

was performed by

a board of physicians

psychologists, and the charts were erected

who was

And

a factor.

by an outside

not told what the charts were supposed to divulge,

tively ruling out the possibility of

and

astrologer effec-

ESP between Clark and the

participating astrologers.

Again the test was set up in pairs. This time, one of each pair was a victim of cerebral palsy, while the other was someone with a quite similar chart who was above average in intelligence and in some way or other exceptionally gifted. The astrologers had no case histories to go on, no dates of important events, no personal information to go on whatsoever beyond that one chart of each pair belonged to a victim of cerebral palsy. Their task was to determine which. Again the astrologers scored above the -oi level of significance. As every horse player knows, three 100 to 1 shots in a row make a good day at the races. And while Clark's astrologers were not returning scores of the order of Gauquelin's million to one it must be remembered that the astrologers were being on the totality of their knowledge, and in a manner far more demanding that what would ordinarily arise in a professional

category, tested

capacity

41 .

Clark, however,

trained

to

science,

and attempting

to

win

approval for astrology, bent over backwards to minimize the

THE EVIDENCE He

significance of his tests. tests did

1

97

pointed out meticulously that his

not ‘prove’ astrology, but that they

‘failed to

disprove

it'.

‘With years of experience behind them in working with this hypothesis, they [the astrologers] are hardly in need of proof that 42 But mankind is indeed reactive to his planetary environment .

our

scientific friends

must

still,

for a while, be treated

ceremony due to parlour guests; we must be them in their own language, and which we know ahead of time will be to address

suggested

with the

careful, as hosts, to offer

entertainment

their liking,' Clark

43 .

Clark's experiment

was subjected

to scrutiny

by

statisticians

and could not be faulted. Throughout the course of the experiment, unusual precautions had been taken to ensure proctoring by nonastrologers to forestall accusations of fraud.

‘Never again,' Clark insisted, ‘will

be possible to dismiss the

it

and mystical business - or as merely the

astrological technique as a vague, spooky,

- or

as the plaything of undisciplined psychics

profitable device of judice,

wish

to

unscrupulous quacks. Those who, out of pre-

do so will have

to

remain

silent, or repeat these

experiments for himself .' 44

But none of Clark's

scientific friends was entertained. Cernone repeated the experiment. As far as we know, Clark’s results, like Gauquelin's,* were reported in none of the scientific journals. Only Cosmopolitan a magazine with a limited scientific following, saw fit to give Clark's work a public airing. And small wonder. Did Clark seriously imagine that by assiduous

tainly

,

verbal sugar-coating his pill could be

strangely ingenuous coming from a

made

man

palatable?

It

seems

trained as a psychol-

ogist.

For though

less ‘hard’

than the experiments of Nelson, Piccardi

more human variables and therefore subject to more mysterious, more capricious laws), Clark's experiments were designed to test the astrologers on their own ground, and or Gauquelin (involving

the astrologers passed these tests.

Adding

this to the total of the

evidence accruing,

it

becomes

* Gauquelin, cherishing the notion that he and other savants chevrones

were on the eve of inventing

a

new

Clark’s

work

in

any

of his

own

no relationship whatever convenient not to mention

science bearing

to ancient or present-day astrology, also

books.

found

it

198

THE EVIDENCE

increasingly difficult to avoid the impression (and pointless at this stage of the

on the subject St

game

to

employ more

politic phraseology) that,

of astrology, Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, Ptolemy,

Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus and Johann Kepler were

right

-

at least in principle

- and

all

of

modern

science wrong.

Part Four

The Future and Significance of

Astrology

The Future and

Significance

of Astrology

is bound up with the complex of attitudes moment, a situation unique in astrological On the one hand there is the resurgence of pop lowest level, on the other, the discoveries of

The future

of astrology

towards

and, at the

it,

history prevails.

astrology on

its

physical science have vindicated the basic premise of astrology

which, nevertheless,

among

the very scientists responsible for the

discoveries, retains the stigma of superstition that has attached to it

for centuries.

Though opposed,

two prevailing

these

attitudes are

by no means

mutually exclusive.

The mass

interest in astrological

prophecy

may

be regarded in

straightforward historical terms as the inevitable corollary of a society in the last throes of decline

surprise

and degeneration. The only

that three centuries of materialism, rationalism, and

is

technology should prove so unconvincing and emotionally unsatisfactory,

men

and turn store.

that it is

moon

who

switch off the set

sit

enthralled watching

when

newspaper horoscope

to their daily

Actually, this

men

may

be a hopeful sign.

are less superstitious than they

And

the

show is over what is in that it means

to see

Not

in

have ever been, but that

more difficult than is believed to impose one form upon them to the exclusion of all others.

far

stition

fact

and that the same people

land on the

interesting, too,

from the

of super-

historical point of view,

is

the

that the passion for prophecy has seduced astrology's op-

ponents as well, though in this

camp

it is

not called 'prophecy'

but ‘Future Research', 1

and elaborate scientific, economic and psychological excuses are put forward to justify the activity. Nobody studies the stars. Rather, ‘think tanks' are set up, university

money is used if possible, and the variables are fed into a computer making such inquiries respectable. But the motivations behind ‘future research' and pop astrology are the same, despite the dissimilarity of the jargon employed.

Both betray an incapacity

to live in the present,

and both proceed

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

202

upon the assumption that by forecasting the future it can be acted upon with miraculous wisdom despite the chaos and blundering so evidently prevailing at the time the actual forecast

both 'future research’ and pop astrology

theless,

made. Never-

is

fulfil

an obvious

emotional need, and, concentrating upon the latter manifestation of decadence, let us review the various guises

what is being sold. Newspaper astrology

pop astrology

takes, to

see

tends to

tell all

of course, the

is,

Geminis,

all

Cancers,

month holds in store for them. By this time it should be evident of a horoscope

is

a

complex and

most familiar of

all Leos, etc.,

what

what can

(it’s

Most people know

is

mul-

delicate business involving a

—

your RISING-Sign?

rule your Luck, Love

&

Happiness)

Aries BIRTH-Sign in the Zodiac whatever it is. But very few indeed know their RisiNG-Sign, the Sign in the ascendant on their Birth-Date. This is the secret part of a Horoscope the secret their

Capricorn, Cancer, Leo

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

for a

which

must be researched individually

man

or

.

.

woman. And

.

.

.

.

.

.

personally

usually a costly business for but not now Once

it’s

astrologers charge a highish fee.

am

.

.

.

part that

!

new and unique astrological advance for the ordinary man or woman who can’t spend high fees on Horoscopes. I can not only tell you YOUR Rising Sign, but tf.ll YOU WHAT IT HAS MEANT IN YOUR LIFE IN THE PAST ... AND WHAT IT CAN MEAN IN THE FUTURE

again

I

first

with a

vital,

!

new

free

You can

learn

over

fust send 8d in stamps to cover postage,

18.

all

about

this great

service

you are

if

and

tell

me

your full name, full address and full Birth-Date (without FULL Birth-Date I cannot help you) and I will send you a new gay, gorgeous astrological Reading, Star-Linked to

your

Luck,

Love and Happiness.

First

&

Best

pre-

week or

to the reader that interpretation

You know your BIRTH-Sign But what

all. It

the

.

MADAME

.

.

Always!

X

OXFORD STREET OBSERVATORY, LONDON,

W.l.

:

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY titude of variables

much

to

and

that, at its best,

be desired. Newspaper astrology

can be said in titillate. Polls

its

favour

is

indicate that

modern astrology

is

203 leaves

devoid of value. All that

that is does not aspire to do more than few among the multitude of readers take

the prophecies very deeply to heart;

it

unlikely that

is

much

damage is done. Were a ban placed on newspaper astrology, the empty columns would only be filled with still more murder and cataclysm, and seen this way it might even be possible to count it a minor blessing. More interesting from our point of view are the services offered by the fairly large community of hard-sell professional astrologers (see facsimile advertisement on p. 202). One may legitimately wonder what Imhotep, Chief of the Observers, would have found worth observing at this London Observatory.

On

the other end of the spectrum, an

American

astrologer,

George Cardinal Legros, counsels Be in harmony with events.

up

your

in

life

.

.

.

Know what

know what

a great difference in

your

important events are shaping

action to take and

when

affairs ... all the difference

aimlessly and profitlessly and

...

it

can make

between drifting

moving toward contentment and abund-

ance.

Be in harmony with yourself.

you

.

.

.

tials. It

and

Know

master your hidden talents and

the physical and psychological traits,

can make a difference to your personal

your undiscovered potenlife

... in your business

social progress.

But light

first

of all

your path

know your

to a fuller

one who has mastered not only the skilled

The Science

astrologer.

and happier

life

ONLY

of Astrology can

if its

practitioner

is

one who has accuracy of long experience, but the talent and it

both as a Science and an Art

sensitivity to perceive the subtleties

scope unique and different from

all

.

.

.

and nuances that make your horo-

others.

Birth Horoscope Analysis $250. Forecast for one year $300. Horary Chart $25. Consultation or private lesson (one hour) $25. Correction of birth time $5o. 2

Unfortunately, neither our curiosity nor our research fund was strong enough to put his imaginative fee

Mr

he

Legros’s competence to the test. But for

more comprehensive service than The latter, researching out the seconds' worth of calculation. The result

offers a

the Oxford Street Observatory. secret rising sign (sixty is

then looked up in the printed ephemeris) promises only a gay

FUTURE and significance of astrology

204

gorgeous horoscope, but

Mr

knowledge, self-knowledge, tion of hidden potential,

Legros promises in one stroke fore-

social success,

and that

even these great boons fade

contentment, the realiza-

summum bonum

before

which

profit. In short, for

to insignificance :

mere $250 Mr Legros extends the the American Dream.

a

It

astrological

open sesame into

scarcely matters that astrology cannot deliver such goods.

Nothing

else

can

either.

As

countries such as

Sweden and the

United States indicate, profit and contentment are not necessary corollaries. 'More'

whole

and

‘better’

are not

of technological civilization

is

that they are. Professional astrologers

long

if

synonyms - though

the

based upon the assumption

would not be

in business for

the truth began creeping into their advertisements. Their

clients are interested in other things. to an English astrologer, P. I. H. Naylor, the two quesmost commonly asked are ‘When am I going to get some more money?’ and ‘When is my husband /wife going to die?’ And while it is possible that such queries would arouse the wrath

According

tions she

is

:

of St Augustine, closer analysis reveals that

Mrs Naylor’s

clients

are interested in obtaining for themselves a higher standard of

and a greater degree of personal freedom; precisely the aims championed by science and every mass-circulation newspaper and magazine. At its worst, then, this level of astrology is no worse than the society that creates a demand for it; and at its best it may serve a minimal purpose: not all clients are interested only in money or the demise of their wives or husbands. Some come with legitimate questions. Some have a more or less accurate picture of themselves and their capabilities. Good astrologers are, by their nature, good psychologists - otherwise the interpretation of a horoscope would be an impossibility - and it is possible that these 3 clients can get something for their money beyond titillation. That astrology of this sort provides an easy living for fakes and char4 latans cannot be blamed upon Pythagoras. Its appeal is permanent, but varies in intensity according to the state of any given civilization. Beyond this there remains one new wrinkle that the sooththe comsayers of Rome and Babylon might well have envied living

:

puterized horoscope.

The computer has been

now

enlisted into astrological service. It

is

possible to feed birth data into the computer and in a trice

out pops a shiny character analysis with predictions for the year to

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

205

untouched by human hands. Given the unsatisfactory state of astrology, and the extreme delicacy of approach analysis of the horoscope requires, at first glance this morganatic marriage come,

all

of astrology to the

machine accomplishes nothing.

Yet the computer has interesting astrological potentialities despite its

unavoidable drawbacks (the computer cannot break the

when insight or intuition demand that rules be broken; it cannot make value judgements; its value judgements are programmed into it from the start, and, given limited and inflexible rules

premises, its

own

it is

logic

-

an electronic A.

like

down

J.

Ayer - doomed

to internally consistent

to follow

but often manifestly

The machine has no finesse). But it has its gigantic memory. The information packed into it is as good, but no better, than the information possessed by the programmer. If the programmer happens to be an experienced and

ludicrous conclusions.

knowledgeable astrologer, the machine

may

dispense better astro-

logy than what might be obtained from a personal session with a charlatan or a neophyte.

programmer

bias of the

And

while the computer will mirror the

(just as the

IQ Test and other

‘objective’

psychological tests mirror the bias of psychologists) at least that

be dependable and will not change from day to day,

bias will

permitting reliable comparative analyses.

works

But since the average astrological his or her future,

it is

are important, not so

astrology

ment

Above

the computer

all,

at prodigious speed.

is

client

interested only in

is

the astrologer’s insight and intuition that

much

his speed,

no improvement.

Its

value

in astrological research, in

and in

this sense

lies in its

which

computer

potential employ-

specific test

groups are

investigated in the search for specific astrological factors: there

is,

Scorpio.

say, in late 1978, a conjunction of

A

test

group of children born under

might be prepared, in an

Mars

in Scorpio

effort to find

means when

in

this configuration

out what,

in conjunction

e.g.

Mars and Uranus if

anything,

with Uranus.

In view of the intense interest in computerized astrology (see it would have pleased us had we been able to provide an adequately researched critique of it in operation. Unfortunately, lack of funds forbade our running a test group through the com-

plate 9)

puter.

As

a token gesture, however,

we

sent to

Time

Pattern

Research, Inc. of Rockaway, Long Island, the birth data of Adolf

Eichmann under

a

pseudonym.

And

with dispatch received for our

:

:

future and significance of astrology

206

$20 a handsomely produced eighteen-page

Time

Pattern Report'

euphemism for ‘Horoscope Analysis'). Without pretending that our report was better than most, worse than most, or par for the course, we can summarize it as follows.

(which

Two ment

is

of course a sleek

pages devoted to an admirably concise, no-nonsense state-

and the fact that No gay gorgeous horoscopes here; nor any Chamber of Commerce theosophy promising both profit and the Kingdom of Heaven. The only two sour notes: a white lie to the effect that astrology is at the moment of astrology’s antiquity,

evidence

is

basic premise,

its

accumulating in favour of astrology.

being re-examined by scientists; and the declaration that

‘a

know-

ledge of your time pattern will be of inestimable value because

it

you to exercise your free will to its full dimensions', both of which are largely wishful thinking. The character analysis contains many of the double entendres and contradictions that opponents would leap upon as mutually enables

exclusive

much of a pioneer and a power drive are sometimes exercised in an objective detached manner and expressed in originality and very progressive ideas and aims. There is something galvanic about you, but something diffuse and indeterminate, too. .

.

.

you are an

idealist

and an

individualist,

reformer. Independence and a strong

Is

such a thing possible? Actually,

of the report

is

at liberty to select

ized traits those

which

flatter his

it is,

but clearly the subject

from the range of his computervanity while discarding the rest

as mistakes.

You poetry,

are very artistic, and also very sentimental.

and any other

art

may

form

Your

taste in music,

will reflect the latter quality. ...

At first

you have a refined, urbane yet detached personality. On getting to know you better they will recognize that it can also be very conservative, taciturn and unyielding. acquaintance people

An

get the idea that

anyone can arrive would be impossible to argue the point. On four occasions, however, the computer made statements that are singularly relevant to Eichmann's case, at

opponent might

scoff that

whatever interpretation

on

this basis

suits his fancy.

And

it

and quite unequivocal. In the page devoted to

Tour

Character - Flaws' there

is

a

paragraph that reads

The

quality that most needs to be kept under control

is

a streak of

:

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY ruthlessness it

may

which occasionally shows

itself in

your

be well camouflaged at times, nonetheless

critical junctures. It

does so in a rather curious

for failing the people to

Though

it

is

attitude.

it

way -

207

Though

reveals itself at

in

your weakness

whom you owe most.

not generally known,

it

a fact that before

is

Eichmann’s Nazi career he was intrigued, indeed, almost infatu-

with the Jews, their culture, and everything pertaining to Judaism. His friends were Jewish; his artistic tastes were shaped by

ated,

Jewish acquaintances, and at times Eichmann seemed almost proud to consider himself a sort of Jew-by-association.

Further on, the report declares There

is

asset to

a detached, objective element in

you

if

and when you decide

ship or group activity, as the

it

your make-up which will be an

to enter into

any working partner-

suggests that your feelings will not gain

upper hand in dealing with the people concerned. You will

who has a magnetic perand possibly something of an exhibitionist but who has a creative spark and can be relied upon to be loyal. Partnerships should be arranged on terms which permit them to be reviewed

probably find yourself linked with someone sonality

who

is

after not longer

self-confident

than a ten-year interval, as they might deteriorate after

that period. If

your occupation necessitates your working under the authority of

your make-up should enable you to adjust to your superiors, particularly if, as seems likely, they are somewhat exacting individuals.

others, the detached, objective element in

Perhaps somewhat yourself fortunate in

less to

the

mark is

:

money matters

"...

on the whole consider you are, as it were,

Indeed,

providentially protected, not only against material catastrophe,

but from any cataclysmic misfortune/

But the report concludes pattern

is

its

character analysis with

:

Tour

an especially unfavourable one for any form of

time

litigation

any time that necessitate legal intervention, always endeavour to have the matter settled oht of court’; upon which further comment is superfluous. This is, of course, but one instance, and one opinion is as good as another on the interpretation. An organized test on the computer would be an amusing project, but to the best of our knowledge no such test has been attempted. The closest approximation was a gimmick dreamed up by Gauquelin, who sent the birth data of nine notorious criminals to the computer set up by his long-time in the courts. If circumstances arise at

208

future and significance of astrology

enemy, the

astrologer,

Andre

Barbault. Needless to say, the com-

puter which, by necessity, must generalize, and which most

would never be programmed

certainly

to tell

anyone that he or

she was an actual or potential murderer, failed to divulge this

At which

information.

point Gauquelin burst gleefully into print,

maintaining that he had demonstrated the worthlessness not only

had Gauquelin been interested in truly testing out the machine, and not merely in showing up Barbault, he might have done better to select from one of his own test groups a dozen athletes with Mars directly on the ascendant, or a dozen scientists with Saturn there, and feed them into the computer to see what - if anything of computer astrology but of astrology in general. Yet

emerged.

would

It

a less silly

one

still

be a parlour game, but at least

it

would be

5 .

The Potential oj Astrology If

our attempt to depict astrology as a multi-level discipline has

been at

all successful, it

should

now

be clear that the astrology of

gay, gorgeous horoscopes and of profit-propelled illumination was

not the astrology that intrigued Plotinus or Kepler. Meanwhile, the scientific evidence

we have

collected

shows that despite the

fatuity of popular astrology, celestial/ terrestrial correlations indu-

bitably exist. Tradition insists that at one time astrology

high science

and that success

it

was put

we cannot

to

many

was

a

not modern, sense of that word)

(in the traditional,

purely practical uses, with what

judge. But again, our evidence suggests that an

unprejudiced re-examination of what

is left

of the ancient discipline

might well yield useful knowledge, while wide-scale research into the fields opened up by Gauquelin, Addey, Nelson, Piccardi, Jonas, etc.,

could easily yield information of incalculable practical value.

Since

we

live in

an age in which the educated public tends to

think in practical terms,

it

may

potentialities of astrology,

if

for

what modern

science

is

be in order to examine these no other reason than just to see

missing out on.

ASTROLOGY AND MEDICINE Twenty-five hundred years ago, Hippocrates declared that a doctor

who was

not also an astrologer was not worth his

salt. It

now

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY seems possible that Hippocrates

knew

astrology of a

20g

more advanced

order than scholars have been willing to countenance, and that the

medical /astrological knowledge at his disposal was to some extent valid.

The

electrical

potential of the

And

phases of the moon.

most of

patients varies this fact to

all.

human body

varies

with the

the electrical potential of disturbed

Surely

the hypothesis that

it is

but a small, logical step from

many

other factors apart from

electrical potential alter with the phases of the

moon; and with

the planets as well; seeing that positions of planets affect magnetic

storms in the atmosphere. Scientists are already

studying the relationships between the

body’s electricity and susceptibility to disease. Meanwhile,

been demonstrated that chemical reactions are affected by

has

it

celestial

conditions, as are the properties of plants.

There are astrological linkages here that could be explored with great profit. Possible susceptibilities to certain diseases could be

determined on

the

basis

of birth

data

measures taken from the onset. Equally,

alone, it

and preventive

might be possible

to

determine which remedies were effective for which individuals or types of individual on an astrological basis, while the efficaciousness of remedies under specific celestial conditions

would

also

require study.

The

ever-intriguing possibility of favourable days for the con-

ception of children remains open, and equally the possibility for the favourable

must be

hour

for their birth,

trustworthy in this respect. fated days, or hours, cate. is

even

said that astrology has a long

Another

determining

if

induced; though

to

go before

it

fertility

made

it

will be

the avoidance of particularly

ill-

not too far-fetched, as Jonas’s studies indi-

possibility, again a logical extension of Jonas’s

that birth control

Blavatsky

is

Still,

way

might

just be feasible

if

work,

astrological factors

could be isolated and sufficiently refined

(Mme

this suggestion).

Medical astrology

is

of particular

interest

at

the

moment.

Because

its

possible

that research into medical astrology could begin even

potential benefits are obvious, almost tangible,

it is

today, given a minimal surge of interest.

ASTROLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGY If

current research into genetic causes of criminal behaviour

is

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

210

established,

it

may

then be possible to establish sound astrological

connections as well. Astrologers might well be able to determine criminal propensities from their horoscopes alone. Further, astro-

might be able to distinguish between habitual criminals and criminals whose unsocial acts were triggered by rare planetary configurations, and who could be counted upon to behave normlogers

ally

be

during the interim periods. Conceivably, the law

made

itself

could

account in the

to take astrological considerations into

process of passing sentences.

Research would be cheaply and easily organized for ideal test groups.

And

react to the phases of the

prisoners

make

:

already proven that the insane

if it is

moon,

it

would seem only

extend research to criminal types and

their

test

logical to

moods, their

adrenalin flows, metabolism rates and other factors against lunar

and planetary events.

ASTROLOGY AND ECONOMICS It is

a fairly widely

known

fact that

many

individual businessmen

consult astrologers today in pursuit of personal advantage, as do

any number of

politicians.

A source we

trust

but are not

at liberty

MPs who

regularly

to disclose assures us that there are at least ten

consult astrologers, and the same source informs us that insurance

companies use astrology

to

determine insurance risks - a shrewd

but singularly repellent practice. Edward R. Dewey, President of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles, has also complained that cycles-study has been forced to concentrate far too heavily

upon

economic factors principally because these studies were financed

by large business firms interested in stealing the march upon competitors, and quite uninterested in the scientific importance of the revealed cycles.

But whatever the motives,

cycles-studies

phenomena affect every manner recent work seems on the verge

of

life

on

show

earth.

that periodic

And

the most

of discovering the relationships

between cycles and the celestial rhythms - relationships which astrologers have always believed to exist. Should today's pathological consumer society ever give way to one in which humanity took what earth and gave direct

it

back

its

it

legitimately required from the

due, then astrologers might be able to

an economy that would make rightful provisions for the

seven lean years and the seven fat years; astrology might be able to

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY when to plant, what hoard and when to spend. advise

ASTROLOGY

and where

to plant,

when

to

EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY

IN

Modern education

to plant

211

committed

is

to instilling in the

and values of materialism, to prepare

them

young

the facts

for unedifying vocations

by materialism and necessary for its survival. And though a growing (but still small) minority of students realize they are being hoodwinked, and react against The System’ there is no way created

out of the vicious

Teachers are capable of teaching only

circle.

what they know, and all they know is materialism. Even rebels have to eat, and only the lucky and imaginative few can find gratifying professions or trades.

Meanwhile, gress.

6

sociologists

occasionally deplore, but

mass occupational boredom

accept,

And

behavioural psychologists, dedicated to the gloriously

Swiftian quest to quantify personality

while B

is

more even-tempered than

how

themselves not with

how

(A

C by

is

-56 kinder than B,

a factor of -32), concern

individuals are to escape mechanization

knock the rough edges off the individuals, the reign of uniform ignominy that such psychologists

but rather with facilitating

more often

as a necessary price for pro-

to

regard as an ideal.*

Astrology, on

but

all

its

lowest level, stresses the differences

between individuals, and the object of good horoscope analysis

is

some understanding of the factors that make him different from and not similar to everybody else. 7 Since both these aims are quite inimical to present day educational and psychoto give the individual

logical

practice,

welcomed into

it

is

highly unlikely that astrologers will be

either of these fields in

astrological experience

may

any number. And

a recent

be taken as typical of the reigning

attitude.

In Scotland

by *

a period of

it was found that groups of children, separated only some months in age, achieved significantly disparate

‘As individual nations become ever

web

of civilization, the social maverick

more

closely

becomes

less

bound together by the and less tolerable. The

author foresees that the techniques of experimental psychology will be increasingly used in the future to “save these brands from the fire”, and eventually to inculcate the whole of society with a suitable responsible

Headline to an article, ‘The Technology of Consent’, by Eysenck, Professor of Psychology, Maudsley Hospital, London. In

attitude.’

Scientist, 26

June 1969.

Hans

New

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

212

on IQ

scores

both striking

Since the groups were large and the deviations

tests.

and

scientifically inexplicable,

England determined

logical Association of

see

members to

of the Astro-

study the results to

the differences could be attributed to astrological factors.

if

John Davy, former science editor of the Observer - one of the rare journalists who understands something of astrology and is therefore not inimical to

it

- was

interested in the project,

and the

Observer agreed to provide modest funds to finance the survey.

The

well-known psychologist, Professor John was that of the University of Edin-

sceptical support of a

was

Beloff,

also obtained as

burgh. Yet despite the respectability of the sponsors, Scottish Board of Education learned that their data

when was

the

to

be

scanned for possible astrological factors they refused to allow access to

it.

The irony

is

that

precisely in the fields of education and

it is

psychology that present astrological knowledge

make immediate

Mundane

astrology

anything about

is

good enough

to

beneficial results a possibility.

in

it

speculative at best, and no one can do

is

any

case.

Few

astrologers

confidence in medical astrology in

its

would express much

present state, nor would

on the statistical accuracy of their But the one strong point of modern astrology, the one aspect of it upon which astrologers are consistently willing to astrologers like to take bets predictions.

stake their reputations in public, ter

upon the basis

We

is

their ability to analyse charac-

of the horoscope.

have discussed Clark’s

results,

and have

cited the French

astrologer, Legrand’s, challenge to the hostile Belgian

allegedly formed

to

Committee

study paranormal phenomena. In England

1968) the English astrologer, Ingrid Lind, appeared on

(April

television analysing ‘blind’

persons

number

unknown

to her.

the characters and histories of four

So accurate were her readings that a

of journalists reviewing

the

programme paid her the

supreme compliment of doubting the honesty of the experiment. Given a chance, good astrologers can analyse character and provide vocational and psychological guidance with impressive assurance. But the prevailing attitude remains that of the Scottish

Board of Education. Nevertheless, promising cracks are beginning to appear in the facades.

At

a conference held in

London (September 1969)

to discuss the

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY Patrick Harding,

future of astrology,

213

Jungian psychologist,

a

work with delinquent and disturbed children. By studying their horoscopes Harding claimed that he was able to predict the periods during which his charges would be particularly liable to be troublesome. From the charts he was also able to described his clinical

and thus to would otherwise be wasted in destruction and meaningless rebellion. Asked how many of his professional colleagues knew and approved of his astrological work, Harding replied about half a dozen. Hardly a psychological locate strengths

and

talents within their personalities,

divert energy into constructive channels that

revolution, but better

than none.

And

results

if

are achieved

through astrology that cannot be achieved through orthodox methods, eventually astrology must win out

:

the parents of

dis-

turbed children are less interested in professional orthodoxy than in seeing their children well

Nor

are

Dr Harding and

and happy. his half

dozen interested colleagues the

only psychologists currently looking into astrology. In America, according to

Mrs

Julienne Sturm, president of the newly-formed

International Scientific Astrological Research Association, at a recent psychological conference an entire panel

reading astrological papers.

At

Stanford, as

was dedicated

we mentioned

with university support, a Harvard-trained psychologist ing

Dr

Jonas's

work and repeating

his experiments to see

to

earlier,

is

study-

if

similar

Kosmos, the journal published by Mrs Sturm's organization, has been infiltrated by interested students into at results are achieved.

least five university libraries,

and actual courses

in astrology are

being given in a handful of accredited American and Canadian universities.

Dr Baldur

Ebertin, of the Kosmobiologische Institut of Aalen,

reported that interest in the institute

Germany, and that

of

its

was growing

one hundred members

steadily in

at least ten

were

professional academics.

And groups

in all countries astrologers are being asked if

- by student

not by the faculty - to lecture at universities.

it must be re-instituted in the universiwhich can provide funds and facilities for research. The instances we have cited numerically amount to very little, but it must be remembered that while universities are pathetically open to any new idea as long as it is quantitative (the rash of wholly

For astrology to develop

ties

imaginary social

‘sciences'

erupting everywhere) for astrology to

:

FUTURE and significance of astrology

214

make

inroads at all, the demand must be high, the evidence impresand the savants chevrones insecure in their own right. This combination prevails at the moment and there is every reason to believe that each element within it will intensify and augment in the years to come. And if a few psychologists and educators make

sive,

use of astrology in their professions and can air their results publicly and in professional journals, the atmosphere, at least in those areas immediately affected,

may

ease considerably.

ASTROLOGY AND SCIENCE The

late

Dr Rudolf Tomaschek

listed the four theories currently

being advanced to explain the established correlations between earthly and terrestrial events

1.

That the

celestial bodies actually operate

2.

That the

celestial bodies precipitate

upon

terrestrial events.

events which are ripe for mani-

festation.

That the celestial bodies synchronize with terrestrial events. That the celestial bodies symbolize organic cosmic forces which are qualitative functions of time and space. 8 3.

4.

Theories

1

and

2 are those

commonly advanced by

materialists

(Gauquelin's 'heredity' and Brown's ‘trigger') but these Tomaschek dismisses as inadequate to account for the qualitative nature of It is Saturn not just any planet, aspecting midheavens of Gauquelin's scientists; Mars, the ascendants and

the proven correlations.

,

not just any planet, on the ascendants and midheavens of athletes

and

soldiers.

Radio disturbance

is

pronounced when planets

in the traditional disharmonious aspects, but

when they

the traditional harmonious aspects radio reception

is

line

line

up

up in

particularly

static-free.

Nothing material can account

for these facts.

To

call it ‘heredity’

or to propose that Saturn ‘triggers' a bent for science simply replaces one mystery with another.

Theories 3 and 4 must be brought in. Saturn symbolizes those cosmic functions which, under the proper circumstances, work out in the twentieth century in the ability scientist.

When

a child

is

and

desire to

become

a

born with Saturn on one of the angles,

might be unfancifully maintained that at that moment the whole of the solar system is striking a ‘scientific' note. Scientists

it

:

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

2

1

5

deplore the search for spiritual significance behind physical facts.*

Nevertheless, the physical facts supporting astrology continue to

accumulate and

it

materialistic terms.

is

impossible to account for these facts in

And

since these facts are not isolated, since

they do not comprise a miraculous new spiritual science of their own, but relate to all the recognized orthodox branches of science, it becomes increasingly and embarrassingly clear that these disciplines

cannot be explained in materialistic terms

Science pushes ahead and the universe reveals

either. itself in

realms of

same time, increasing coherence. some function, that does not perform some task. Only science becomes increasingly chaotic. Having ordained the supremacy of quantity, it can do nothing but increasing complexity, but, at the

Nothing

*

exists that does

not

fulfil

Commenting on D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form, Medawar remarks: 'He [Thompson] stopped short of supposing that act of integration would eventually irrupt upon matters of the spirit

P. B.

the

"Of

how

nothing

.

it is .

.

me how goodness shines in one man’s face, And Medawar continues ‘But D’Arcy

that the soul informs the body, physical science teaches

nor do

I

ask of physics

and evil betrays itself in another”.’ makes no other mention of these matters, and nor shall we.’ P. B. Medawar, The Art of the Soluble, Methuen, 1967, p. 29. The attitude is understandable enough to the eunuch, the sultan's passions are incomprehensible. But when, with a smirk, he exalts his own infirmity into a virtue and is hailed for it, the realm cannot long endure. The questions Thompson just refrained from asking, and which Medawar derides, are of course those the Egyptians asked, and apparently, answered :

:

successfully.

In science, answers are given to those questions that are correctly asked. Because the sages of Egypt asked their questions they built temples for four thousand years; because our modern sages ask their questions we have nerve gas.

The Golden Section determines the relationship between the notes of the musical scale. The rate of growth of the human body and the proportions between its members may be expressed in terms of the Golden Section. The Golden Section applies to the distances between the planets and to their speeds in orbit.

The Fibonacci Numbers which

serve to describe the form paradigm of the Golden Section. The relationships between the perfect geometrical solids are multiples and fractions of the Golden Section. ‘Curiously, this series [Fibonacci numbers] is the expansion of the Golden Section. This sort of coincidence has tempted the anticipator of Nature. Perhaps he is led to think, there are similar harmonies to be discovered in every department of nature.’ Rom Harre, The Anticipation of Nature, Hutchinson, 1965, p. 80. But most curious of all, perhaps, is of living organisms are a

Professor Harre’s a priori ascription of

all this to

‘coincidence’.

future and significance of astrology

216

new disciplines in the attempt to catch up with and new discoveries, and this prodigious and mounting

proliferate

digest all the

disorder

No

is

regarded as a sign of success.*

at what time or how the symbolism of was developed. But that it is a coherent and self-sufficient whole of marvellous ingenuity and complexity is undeniable. And we believe that the evidence available today makes it possible to assert in broad and general terms that the soundness of this symbolism has been proven. Meanwhile, it is clear to astrologers and to those few scientists capable of thinking in other than material-

one knows where or

astrology

istic

terms that the vast corpus of scientific fact can be

comprehensible by relating

it

to

made

system which recognizes

this

functions as manifestations of principles which in turn are manifestations of intelligence. Or, to

put

bluntly:

it

if

the universe

showing

itself ordered, coherent, purposeful and intelliand science persists in showing itself disordered, incoherent, aimless, and mindless, it must be science that is on the wrong track,

persists in

gent,

not the universe.

But the task of relating science to astrology is a vast one calling for long, careful study by legions of researchers. Lacking such a task force, interested individuals can only theorize, and these theoretical systematizations are bound to be more or less incomplete and open to criticism. Nevertheless, there are at least two such attempts which seem to us steps in the right direction. In The Nature of Substance Rudolf Hauschka, a chemist and anthroposophist, examines the chemical elements and the formation of inorganic and organic compounds and relates their functions in earthly processes to the fixed cross of Fire, Earth, Air,

Water;

to the planets,

and

to the signs of the zodiac .

In The Theory of Celestial Influence

Ouspensky, follows the

number

‘as

Rodney

,

9

Collin, a pupil of

down

above, so below’ analogy

a

of avenues, maintaining that such disparate systems as the

table of elements, the functions of the

human body and

ture of the solar system are intimately related

10 .

the struc-

In attempting to

update the ancient theory that assigns the various parts and organs of the

human body

to the

* According to Sir Peter prise

human

be said

dominion of the planets, Collin postu-

Medawar, science

is

beings have ever engaged upon'.

that ‘Leukaemia

is

‘the

By

most successful

the same token

it

enter-

might

the most successful enterprise white blood

corpuscles have ever engaged upon.’

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY model of the

solar

of considerable astrological interest because

it is,

lates that the

endocrine system in particular

system. This

is

ought

or

the adrenal glands. If this

adrenal flows in subjects

and

is

a

to be, susceptible to physical corroboration.

Collin maintains that the planet

tial',

2\J

to ascertain

is

true,

who

Mars corresponds it

ought

to

For example,

in function to

be possible to measure

are thought to be particularly 'mar-

whether aspects and configurations of Mars

actually do influence the activity of this gland.

Both these books have their shortcomings. Hauschka elegantly relates the planets to the metals

and metal

salts

and

their respective

functions. But finding that the 'new' planets do not

scheme, he dismisses them as hors de combat in a

fit

in with his

line.

This won't

meaning for the processes of the earth, the ‘new' planets cannot be assumed meaningless simply because they happen not to fit. Possibly the ‘new’ planets are, as some astrologers contend, actually new, and signify the beginning of a new planetary octave. But one way or another they must be accounted for. And Collin, in his somewhat medieval enthusiasm to find connections between all things, tends to stretch analogy beyond the limits of credibility. The theory may be sound enough; if the universe is One, then everything must be, in one way or another, connected. It may be permissible to begin upon the basis of known facts and build to speculative conclusions, but these conclusions should not be offered as foregone - which Collin For

do.

if

the ‘old' planets are fraught with

tends to do.

Whatever that drives

must

exist.

errors of detail

them But it

and until the

is

all

sound

Hauschka and Collin make, the motive these correlations and relationships

:

must remain

scientific

a matter of speculation unless

atmosphere

alters

dramatically so that

research into these matters becomes a principle concern of science as a

body, instead of the independent efforts of a handful of heretics.

Astrology and

Many

serious

the Press

and dedicated astrologers believe that the charlatans

and pop astrologers are in large measure responsible for the perpetuation of astrology’s bad name. In our opinion, however, this

is

of less importance than several other linked, contributing factors, of

which the most by the press.

tion

salient

is

the continued deliberate misrepresenta-

:

218

future and significance of astrology

Until recently, astrology was mentioned but rarely by the press,

and never by the

At

‘serious’ press.

the year’s end,

some paper or

another could be counted upon to take a consensus of astrological predictions for the

some

bit of

coming

year,

and there the matter ended, unless

charlatanism or credulity turned up that was in some

way

sensational or sordid enough to make it newsworthy. But mention was never made of the astrologers who, rightly or wrongly,

dedicated themselves to a serious study of the matter, nor was

any extensive coverage given to the astrological and quasiwas accumulating. At best the subject was treated with avuncular joviality; at (the more common) worst, there

astrological evidence that

with unconcealed derision. In the past two years, however, astrology per se has become the subject of full length

feature

articles

in

a

number

of

mass-

and magazines, among them the New York Times the London Observer, Time, New York, and Life. The very nature of journalism ensures the inadequacy of such articles. Short of commissioning a literate astrologer to do the job, or at least of finding a journalist to some degree informed on the subject, the article is bound to be written by a staff reporter who circulation papers ,

has been given a fortnight or a apparently, efforts are qualify Editor,

them

made

month to

to ‘research’ it out;

assign writers

whose

interests

for the job. Time, for instance, selected Associate

Douglas Auchincloss, ‘Interested in the occult ever since a

family maid told his fortune from tea leaves

when he was

boy’. Moreover, in pursuit of the assignment, not only did closs

though,

have a pair of horoscopes

cast,

young

but he also consulted a palm-

reader and interviewed a clairvoyant. So

which the

a

Auchin-

much

for the doctrine to

minds throughout the ages have devoted lifetimes. Though a priori inadequate, these articles need not be the best

deliberate perversions of the truth that appear in the

‘information’; the Is

New

there anything at

York Times

all to

reporter,

Tom

the claims of astrology?

name

of

Buckley, writes

As

recently as a

and unanimous ‘no’. The few experiments and statistical analyses that had been performed, the best known by Carl Jung, who became interested in the archetypal symbols of astrology, had proved negative or at best inconclusive. Astrologers lack the objectivity or the academic training to do decade ago the verdict would probably have been a

flat

acceptable research. Science has more pressing tasks. ‘Life is short

and there

is

a lot to

do/ said Professor Gibson Reaves of

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY the

Department

who

fornia, 'I

of

Astronomy and

of the University of Southern Cali-

has studied astrology because of

can either work on something that

astrology.

Some people say they

219

I

don’t see

its

with astronomy.

roots

know will be useful or on how astrology could work/

he went on, ‘but nobody has ever proved finally that it doesn’t. The only really useful question is whether or not it does work, and I see very little

evidence that

dees. It’s the social scientists,

it

missing a bet by not looking into

While no

its

I

think,

who

are

influences.’

serious scientist appears to regard the casting of horoscopes

and predictions of the future as more than arcane flapdoodle, there are at least a couple

who

think that the electro-magnetic

moon and the planets closest many still unrecognized ways.

to the earth

may

fields of

influence

life

the sun,

here in

Dr Frank A. Brown, Jr, Morrison ProNorthwestern University, have led him to believe be exquisitely sensitive receivers of even the weakest

Experiments carried out by fessor of Biology at

that organisms

may

of these impulses, although their specific effects

have only just begun

to

be investigated. 11

This single column

is

the only one, out of twenty, devoted to the

and experimental side of astrology. And while no one would expect a journalist to be aware of Sch waller de Lubicz or to

serious

have read Plotinus or Plato, the

ability to get facts straight should

in theory be his forte.

Up

to 1950, statistical inquiries

clusive,

had proved negative or incon-

but since 1950 they have proved positive and very conmention the work of Gauquelin,

clusive indeed. Buckley does not

Addey, Vernon Clark or Bradley. Was he unaware of them? If so then he cannot be charged with deliberate misrepresentation but merely with incompetence. An interview with any knowledgeable astrologer

would have been enough

to apprise

him

of the existence

of these unassailable statistical inquiries.

The common

journalistic

gambit in an astrological

article is to

interview an astronomer and present the result as 'expert opinion’ as

Buckley has done with Professor Reaves -

who

eschews the

frivolous delights of astrology for the 'useful’ study of astronomy.

We

have discussed astrology’s potential in

cine, the law, education, etc.

According

to a

fields

New

such as medi-

Scientist article,

the majority of astronomers do not interest themselves in the solar system, or in

that impression

problems relating

may

to space travel

- much

as

be given. Rather, they are engaged upon the

study of our and other galaxies. Perhaps Professor Reaves

is

:

220

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

engaged upon is

trying to

matters? Or possibly he by the astronomy review,

‘useful’ research into these

win the £50 prize

The Observatory

offered

(6 April 1953) for the best essay devoted to the

age of the universe ?

Having

finally succeeded in

sowing the land with

in developing a breed of woolless sheep,

it

chaff,

and

would appear that

Lagado has turned his talents to astronomy. Buckley briefly mentions Brown’s experiments, but to do so while failing to mention the volume of corroborative evidence Swift’s great savant of

constitutes a travesty of journalism,

and such

travesties are the

when

journalists attempt to deal with astrology. But no single no matter how determined, can hope to match the institutionalized performance of Time magazine - which deserves examination in some detail

rule

reporter,

Language Inaudible

to

Man:

It is

in the interpretation of a given

chart that determines whether an astrologer or bad.

And

it is

is

adjudged good, mediocre

here that astrology’s scientific pretensions are tested,

and fail. If astrology works in any way other than intuition on one side and faith plus hope on the other, the key question for modern man is 'how?' The how of things seldom bothered the Babylonians, for whom a mountain might fly through the air or the sun stand still. Later it was assumed that some kind of emanations issued from heavenly bodies to affect the characters and destinies of men. When scientists found no emanations powerful enough, sophisticated astrologers abandoned causality altogether and eagerly embraced Jung’s theory of 'synchronicity’ - that everything in the universe at any given moment participates through that moment with everything else that shares the same unit of time.

These days, though, the emanations

may

be staging a comeback.

Some

astrology apologists point to the fact that experimental oysters trans-

ported from Long Island Sound to Evanston,

111 and shielded from light and temperature change, gradually altered their rhythm of opening and closing from the tidal cycle of Long Island to what it would have been in Evanston - if Evanston had a tide. Apparently, the moon was communicating with the oysters in some language as yet inaudible to man. Japanese Dr Maki Takata found that the composition of human blood changes in relation to the eleven-year sunspot cycle, to solar flares and sunrise and during eclipses. French science writer, Michel Gauguelin, foresees a new science of astrobiology, which could vindicate the in-

tuited conclusion

human tion

.,

of the scientists that extraterrestrial

forces effect

same time explode the anachronistic conglomeraof myth and magic cluttering up modern astrology. life,

and

at the

.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

221

to

uphold

the fancy that particular planets influence particular facets of

human

Lucky Break. In the meantime, astrologers must continue personality or specific events

The statement are tested

and

'it is

fail’ is

.

.

here that astrology’s scientific pretensions

an outright

lie.

The only

and Bender’s and both appear

Clark’s

tests

can back up their ‘pretensions’ well above chance It

curious

is

Why

‘apologists’. it

does not. If

that

it

who

those

that

then there

affects oysters

level.

12

Brown’s experiments are

‘apologists’? Either the

could affect other forms of

it

cite

run have been

prove that astrologers

to

moon

is

affects oysters or

every reason to believe

including our own.

life,

Sophisticated astrologers never abandoned causality theories for

synchronicity.

Jung’s

Sophisticated

astrologers

the

attributed

operation of astrology to ‘synchronicity’ long before Jung applied

name

that particular logers

who

to

attempted

Having paid

to

it.

was only the unsophisticated

It

lip service to

Brown and Takata, Time might

berate misrepresentation allusion to

lines

contained in the

is

brief,

back-handed

Gauquelin who, in one deft verbal manoeuvre, not only

name

has his

well

on all the others to whom But perhaps the most flagrant example of deli-

have squandered a few more ‘apologists’ refer.

astro-

account for astrology in causal terms.

mis-spelled but

according to Time, he

is

not

is

innuendoed into insignificance:

‘statistician,

Michel Gauquelin’ (who

actually carries out research) but merely ‘science writer, Michel

Gauguelin’.

Gauquelin

Poor

!

All his

anti-astrology

invective

gone for

Having spent ten years compiling his massive group of 25,000 people; having demonstrated beyond possible doubt that

naught

!

particular planets do influence particular facets of

off

by Time’s resident mystics,

That the journalists responsible evidence

person-

labours go unremarked, and his demonstrated premise

ality, his

sloughed

human

is

self-evident.

for the article are

Time could

is

as ‘a fancy’.

aware of the

scarcely refer to Gauquelin

without knowing the results of his work. Moreover, we know from personal contacts that Time interviewed Mrs Sturm of ISAR at length

twice,

and the secretary of the English Astrological

Association once, and ultimately declined to use any of the infor-

mation furnished by them because they were ‘serious’. Yet a fair presentation of the scope of the evidence available

would demand

little

in the

way

of space; there

would

still

be ample

222

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

room

to deride

pop astrology.

And

this little space

devoted to the

bulk of actual evidence would certainly suggest

to millions of

was

worthy of serious consideration. Clearly, Time, Life, the New York Times, the London Observer, New York, and the other magazines have no intention of creating readers that astrology

at least

this impression.

To understand

may

the reasons for this,

we

shall

have

to

make what

appear to be a digression into contemporary philosophy, but

which

will shortly lead us back into astrology,

aspects of

it

and into those

that intrigued the great philosophers of the past.

Materialism:

Or, The

Battle Against Ignorance

and

Superstition In a talk broadcast on the BBC, Dr Henry Miller, a psychologist and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, gave his views on the ethical problems raised by organ transplants.

My that

approach

is,

to

To me the

my

to this

problem

is

based on a philosophical viewpoint

mind, none the worse for being currently unfashionable.

history of

man

is

the history of his increasing understanding

and control of the physical world, and of an unremitting struggle to maintain supremacy over his biological competitors. With this has come a decline in the influence of religious and other superstitions, and an increasing conviction that attempts to improve the here and now should take precedence over the search for consolation in a hypothetical hereafter.

The

present unpopularity of such an orientation

very success of the

scientific

is

due in part

mastery of our environment.

the fearful to maintain that the gains

we owe

It is

to the

easy for

to the scientific revolution

and are outweighed by the perils inherent in the failure of political competence to keep abreast of scientific achievement. For the present, our ability to understand and manipulate the physical world has clearly outrun our capacity to devise an appropriate social framework for the effective application of new knowledge and new skills. But the honest materialist must admit that the difficulties of the politician and the triumphs of the scientist reflect the relative intractabilities are insubstantial,

of their materials rather than the respective skill of the operators. In

my own

we need look no further than the conquest of which has already relieved more human suffering than has been caused by all the wars of the present century. The fact is field of

medicine

bacterial infection,

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY that, despite its actual

and hypothetical dangers

to

223

mankind, the advance

had already improved the quality of life for millions of the world's inhabitants. Although scientific materialism is an unfashionable philosophy, and an optimistic materialism is even more out of tune

of science

with the cultivated pessimism so popular today, this is in fact the on which most of us organize our lives, whatever

philosophical basis

we

creed

profess.

The reader may reasonably scientific attitude

reply

the

is

simple.

first

precludes

The reason

object that the moral neutralism of the

its

My

relevance to the subject in hand.

for a

moral code

is

pragmatic, and arises in

instance from our need to live together without killing one

more advanced stage of sophistication from our need from making life too uncomfortable for one another. The scientist's approach to morals is utilitarian and even Benthamite. The fact that it quite often happens to coincide with the attitudes of Christianity indicates that even the most improbable of religions has to keep its feet on the ground if it is to remain relevant. The utilitarian opposes slaughtering people because he’s concerned that others should have no excuse for slaughtering him. This is the basis of law which is the essence of human civilization. And although the condition of the world today furnishes many arguments for pessimism in the short term, it's worth remembering that some kind of law now obtains over a wider area of the earth’s surface than at any time in history 13 another, and at a desist

to

.

Though

expressed with admirable conviction, this exemplary

materialist text

By see

is

marred by several debatable points.

carefully ignoring

it

logical competitors',

count

all

the facts of history

in terms of the struggle to 'maintain

it

is

possible to

supremacy over

bio-

but once the actual facts are taken into

this bio-Marxist

view becomes

difficult to defend.

ac-

Man’s

re-

corded history shows his struggle to have been almost entirely be-

tween human, not literature

of

biological, competitors.

anthropology makes

it

Meanwhile, the vast

quite clear

that so-called

primitive tribes do not regard the necessary hardships imposed

by

nature as 'competition’ to be mastered, but rather as a pantheon of forces to

whose rhythms man must harmonize

While Dr Miller may regard

his life

14 .

religion as superstition, the fact

that the Bible (and all other sacred texts in their

own

is

words)

admonishes man to seek the Kingdom within, not 'hereThat this utterly unmistakable injunction should be subsequently misinterpreted by savants chcvrones is hardly the fault

clearly after’.

of religion.

FUTURE and significance of astrology

224

Dr

Miller then lashes out at cowards

who

see scientific gains as

insubstantial. Yet these days the scientific journals are consistently filled

with reports of symposiums held by cowardly

scientists

on

such imaginary problems as nuclear, chemical and bacteriological warfare, world-wide soil depletion, pollution, pesticides, and so on.

Dr

These, no doubt, are the gains to which

The

upon which Dr Miller measures

scale

ing prevented by medicine against

must stand

Miller refers; the

mastery of our environment’.

'success of the scientific

human

that

human

suffering caused

as a twentieth-century miracle of metrication.

story quoted

by

Sir

William

Dr

illustrate the pertinence of

was controlled

suffer-

by war

And

a

kbe, and others, will help

Slater,

Miller’s contention. 'Before malaria

in one area of Africa only

two children out of ten

survived to one year. After a campaign to stamp out the disease the

number called

of survivors

on the chief

had

risen to eight.

to receive his

The doctor

thanks and praise. Could he, the

doctor asked, do anything else for the chief? "Yes,

would you ’

dren?’’

Dr

15

tell

This story

is

me who

is

The

going to feed

man

old all

said,

these chil-

not apocryphal, apparently.

then contends

Miller

responsible

that

scientific

materialism

is

un-

would be difficult to defend. Scientific materialism is certainly what prevails among scientists, and as 16 the aims, attitudes and methods Jacques Barzun ably illustrates fashionable. But this view

,

of science

have

infiltrated every other scholarly discipline includ-

ing history, art criticism, and even the

arts,

such

as

they

are.

Then, neither optimism nor pessimism can be called philosophies; rather they are attitudes, emotional stances taken towards

theoretically neutral data.

And

finally,

should find

it

on

this

same point, we wonder

why Dr

Miller

necessary to call attention twice to the putative un-

As an honest materialist he can only does popularity make? It is curious that

popularity of his philosophy. be right;

what

difference

purveyors of superstition such as Buddha and Christ never

need

felt

the

to apologize for lack of public support, the latter, indeed,

not

even upon the Cross.

On

the same level of

argument

is

the assertion that the scien-

and even Benthamite’. Dr Miller does not seem to have read The Double Helix by James Watson, a scientist whose approach to morals and everything else is tist’s

approach

to

moral

is

‘utilitarian

hardly utilitarian and by no means Benthamite.

Dr Watson

!

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY wanted the Nobel

Prize.

225

Interestingly enough, with very few

exceptions, reviewers in scientific journals found this candour re-

freshing and the morality far from reprehensible, indeed, typical.

And

equally indefensible

He

moral code.

is

Dr

view of the origin of a

Miller’s

seems to believe that in Christianity the supersti-

and the morality was only tacked on as an afterthought. The most superficial reading of the Gospels, the Old Testament, or any other religious text is sufficient to show that tion

came

this is

first

not the case.

And

Dr

last,

Miller’s interpretation of the genesis

ence of law seems particularly open to question. that endures

is

never utilitarian, as

Dr

The

and prevallaw

basis of

Miller contends. Rather,

invariably and inextricably entwined with a moral code

is

usually with a religion

and

origins

in

its

-

that

law

we

is

enforceable only

declaration that ‘some kind of law

area of the earth’s surface than at

now

any time

by tyranny.

obtains over a wider

in history’

is

are able to judge, in

What Dr history.

perhaps

all

and anthropology we can think of no single instance of that lived without law. tains over a

its

Dr Miller’s assertions. For as far as what we have read of history, archaeology

most meaningless of

the

held to be supra-human in

right to compel obedience without external coer-

cion. Historically, utilitarian

The

is

it

- and

Miller perhaps

means

is

a society

that law enforcement

now

ob-

wider area of the earth’s surface than at any time in

And

if

this is his

meaning, then

it is

impossible to

dis-

and Benthamite countries such as Red China and Russia such law seems particularly to obtain, and one wonagree. In utilitarian

why

ders

criterion

ungrateful intellectuals persistently try to it

for there

flee.

By

this

seems rather a pity that Nazi Germany succumbed:

was an area

of the earth’s surface over

which the law

really obtained If

the impending physical

scientific

dooms due to ‘the very success of the mastery of our environment’ were not enough to inspire

the blackest pessimism, the prevalence of

Dr

Miller’s

brand of

philosophizing would be. For, were this curious tapestry of credulity

and hubris in any way extraordinary,

pathetic. But, alas,

it is

it

might be dismissed

a quite typical declaration of unfaith,

thousand examples, no better no worse,

may

and

as a

be culled at will from

materialist literature.

Thus, in the name of C.F.A.

—

8

logic,

Bertrand Russell, doyen of material-

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

226

champion of such utilitarian Lyndon Johnson in absentia for

ism, founder of symbolic logic, and

and Benthamite causes war crimes, demolishes

as trying

religion; declaring that since all religions

one can be true

therefore, logically, only

disagree,

17 ;

which

is

exactly equivalent to saying, 'six chefs give different recipes for

apple pie, therefore logically, only one can be apple pie/ In the preface to the book in

which

wisdom

this

Edwards, Professor of Philosophy

New

at

is

disseminated, Paul

York University,

des-

cribed Russell as 'the world’s greatest living philosopher’.

Haldane, with characteristic bluntness,

B. S.

J.

premises upon which his materialism 1.

2.

is

founded

lists

the two

:

That there was material before there was mind. That there were events before there were any minds

to per-

ceive those events.

That these

beliefs

are metaphysical

and undemons trable has it did Haldane. That in

bothered Haldane’s admirers no more than fact

such

beliefs

run precisely contrary

schedules must be thought

to

human

experience (train

of, before they can exist) makes such

statements the height of un-reason. The book in which they appear is

Science and Life: Essays of a Rationalist.

called

:

Now,

in

or for

such an atmosphere there can be no room for astrology,

any doctrine that

so

much

as hints at the existence of a

coherent, meaningful universe in which

man

has been created ex-

pressly to fulfil a purpose.

As we have stressed, astrology on its higher levels is an essential and honoured component of most genuine religions or traditions. These religions or traditions are to the

initially created to instruct

nature of their cosmic purpose

theological terminology, let us call

it

(to

men

as

avoid emotionally-loaded

the attainment of a higher

form of consciousness) and to provide the practical framework within which men may work towards the attainment of that aim. But perhaps necessarily subject to the same inexorable laws of birth,

growth, maturity, senescence and death that apply

the

cell,

human body and

to the

the stars, even the greatest traditions

degenerate.

week the Nixon family worshipped there again, with David They heard a typical Peale sermon called ‘Never Doubt God Is on Your Side’, which reflected the indomitable optimism of his book The Power of Positive Thinking. ‘That God loves you is the greatest truth ever enunciated,’ said Peale. ‘God doesn’t want anyone to be .

.

.

Last

as their guest.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY hungry and oppressed. He just puts 18 hugs them up against himself

his big

227

arms around everybody and

.

Only

a very determined

man

could confuse religion on this level

with that motivating the Cathedral of Chartres or the Upanishads Tao Te Ching. But such determination is common among

or the

And from

materialists.

the outside

it

would appear that

all

the

great religions have degenerated to a stage not significantly elevated

above that represented by

Dr

Peale.

Thus, by recognizing the

exist-

ence of only this level of religion, the materialist can put forward a case against

Religion

is

it

that has a superficial validity.

typically held to be be a combination of psychosis,

sentimentality, wilful ignorance, and, above

all,

cowardice; while

the materialist in turn sees himself as tough-minded, rational,

utili-

and Benthamite, willing to face up to the facts in a brutal and mindless universe; he is a John Wayne of philosophy sitting tall in the saddle of truth; impartial, just, stern, an intellectual tarian

Lone Ranger pitting philosophy against the eternal forces of

‘ignor-

ance and superstition’.

But in

fact materialism

is

not a philosophy at

all.

Based upon indefensible premises, and physically undemonstrable, it is a to

what

bogus religion which, by applying the name of reason

mere negative belief, secures for itself the who have never dared push their emoexperiences beyond a first bleak brush with adolescent is

in actuality

allegiance of timid souls tional

nihilism

The

19 .

self-styled

straight-shooter

is

an emotional greenhorn,

thrown ignominiously before he has even managed to get a foot and dejected, he limps back to the ranch where he unites with others whose experiences have been similar. There is safety in numbers. At a certain point it is unanimously in the stirrups. Bruised

agreed that horseback riding

is

impossible, and that

maintained otherwise are ignorant and superstitious.

all

who have

If it is

pointed

out to them that right out there on the range, in front of their very noses,

men

are horseback riding, the honest materialist turns his

back, and looking through his fine telescope in the other direction declares that

he

sees none.

But

in

any

case,

impossible, since everyone back at the ranch are savants chcvroncs

- agree that

By simply denying

horseback riding

- and

all,

by

is

this time,

it is so.

that the infinite harmonies and the prodi-

gious subtleties and wealth of form displayed by the sensible world

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

228

are manifestations of Higher Consciousness, or

the materialist feels safe. criptive

words

to

code’), as

any consciousness,

he can dream up new

as

apply to inexplicable phenomena (‘natural pressure’,

‘selection

tion’,

As long

‘mutation’,

survival

value’,

des-

selec-

‘genetic

long as he can convince himself that these descriptions

are explanations, he can attribute

The arch-enemy

them

of materialism

is,

to ‘coincidence’.

of course, religion,

and

it is

true that religion cannot be put on to a satisfactory empirical basis.

But

its

hand-maiden, astrology, can be - at

To acknowledge

terrestrial events is to

tem.

Once

it is

least to a certain extent.

the proven correlations between celestial and

acknowledge the coherence of the

solar sys-

demonstrated that particular planets do influence

particular facets of personality

it

becomes almost impossible

to

deny the objective existence of meaning and value. And once this acknowledgement is made, unless it too can be called ‘coincidence’, the materialist position becomes untenable. But if science is supposed to be the search for ‘objective truth’, what is it that accounts for the unwillingness to abandon an untenable position? To provide a satisfactory answer we must distinguish between the attitudes of religion and credulity. The religious man, the mystic, knows; his knowledge is a matter of hard work and personal experience, and this knowledge is inviolable - its degree of inviolability depending upon the mystic’s own stage of development; on his own ability to distinguish between what he knows and what he merely believes. The credulous man only believes - whether in materialism, communism, fascism, socialism, democracy or any other spurious and surrogate doctrine (instantly detectable by the assumption, either overt or tacit, that man can modify society without first modifying himself).

The mystic does not understood.

care personally

He may, from

if

he

is

appreciated or mis-

the depth and richness of his

experience, try to convey to others

its

his teaching, the popularity or unpopularity of his philosophy

him

a

own

value, but the reception of is

to

matter of indifference.*

* Since

madmen

are also

- Freud

commonly immune

to the opinions of outsiders,

example - often equate mysticism with madness. But those of us who are neither quite mad nor yet mystics must use our judgement to decide whether some qualitative distinction ought not to be made between [elalladin Rumi, St John of the Cross, the authors of the

materialists

for

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

229

To the credulous man, on the other hand, public opinion is of supreme importance. Because his beliefs are rooted in nothing that is his own, his only criterion for evaluating them is the reception accorded them by outsiders.*

Seen in these terms the hostility towards unorthodoxy - be

it by - becomes less paradoxical. The furore inevitably aroused by every new ESP experiment; the witch-hunt spearheaded by left-wing, liberal-minded astronomer, Harlow Shapley, to suppress Velikovsky’s work and to impugn his scholarly standing; the 'common front of silence' erected by Egyptologists to shield them from Schwaller de Lubicz's massively docu-

science or bogus religion

mented but revolutionary interpretation of ancient Egypt; all become comprehensible to the bemused or baffled outsider once the issue

is

For,

seen in proper perspective. the

in

all-important

no true individuality or requires for

its

of the world.

spiritual

He

materialist does not 'exist'.

is

'soul',

the

and

its

of

the word,

of his credulities.

same order

The it is

as the is

the

has

counterfeit, his self-image,

materialist cannot afford to be is

wrong. For back

tantamount

to death.

quite obvious that the astrology that occupied

the attention of the great minds throughout history

distinction

He

survival the esteem of colleagues and the approval

at the Bar-all-opposition ranch, discredit

So though

sense

sum

pop astrology

never made.

in today’s

And though

was not

of the

women’s magazines,

this

Brown’s, Piccardi's and

other experiments obviously relate to and apparently corrobor-

some

ate

of the basic precepts of ancient astrology, this almost in-

escapable conclusion

is

as a priori impossible,

dismissed

by the experimenters themselves

and astrology retains

its

stigma.

Rig Vedas, the painters of Sumei paintings, the composer of the

Quartet and the

certified

A

Minor

insane with their incoherent and above

all

incommunicative productions. * This

subtle

universality,

is

quite admirable.

but peculiarly abject form of slavery, by virtue of

its

commonly not recognized as slavery, but as something True happiness is never attained by acquisition of a better

television set, or a faster outboard motorboat. It is most certainly attained by climbing up the ladder of our complex organization to positions of attainment and respect' (our italics), Vannevar Bush, Science Is Not Enough, Morrow, 1969, p. 139. *.

.

.

is

it

really true that a

good or genuine

indifferent to matters of priority Soluble,

Methuen,

p. 126.

...

?’

P.

B.

scientist

is,

or should be,

Medawar, The Art of the

:

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

230

It is

much

not so

that materialists do not

want

to face the con-

sequences of the astrological evidence available, but that they cannot; they are not free to do

Free Will or

When,

No

free will.

Free Will?: The Eternal Question

at a social gathering, the subject of astrology arises,

revealed that one

compounded hostility

and

an astrologer, there

is

However,

Is

there

The question

is

relationship to

no free

mean

that

we

in,

are pre-

will ?

as old as astrology. ‘level’,

it is

evidence has been sketched

does this

:

and

a predictable reaction

the hostility stops short of a total

listen, after the

the question invariably arises

determined ?

if

is

and equally intense male

of intense distaff curiosity disdain.

unwillingness to

its

They have no

so.

time,

(And

it is

and

this question

and Pythagorean principles under-

lying astrology that engaged the minds of the ancient philosophers. Astrology’s practical applications in medicine, education,

the law,

etc.,

important though they

may have

ceivably become, were of less interest to these

been, or could con-

men

than the

spiri-

and philosophical implications of astrology. This preoccupaby no means as selfish and impractical as it may appear. If men know why and how they come to be on earth, they stand at

tual

tion

is

least

a

chance of living amicably upon

enough, there

is

nothing so

utilitarian,

astrology - and,

the study and practice of philosophy and science - at

Most

astrologers

vehemence that

it.

Ultimately, oddly

nothing so Benthamite,

as

of course, of religion, art,

this level.)

- but not

all

- would

assert

with some

free will exists, despite their persistent efforts to

use astrology as a means of prophecy.

This

An

is

not quite the contradiction in terms that

old astrological

not compel.’ There

saw maintains is,

:

capable of acting against their

own

The

first is

To what extent

inclinations,

examples taken from astrological literature will lem.

appears to be.

however, considerable scope for discussion

over the degrees of inclination and compulsion.

men

it

‘The stars incline but they do

if

at all?

are

Two

illustrate the prob-

quoted from Madeleine Montalban, the

astrolo-

ger responsible for the monthly astrological column in Prediction

magazine

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY of the best astrologer in the world

The advice not abide by

is

of

no

231

you do

avail if

it.

A woman

once consulted

problems, but just wanted to

me about herself. She had no particular know what main dangers lay in her map.

I found Jupiter badly affected by planets, place and house and I warned her never to go to law or to ride horses. (Jupiter rules both of

these things.)

‘Oh, but

love horses and

I

I

must

ride

!'

she exclaimed.

‘My

would

life

be empty without horses.’ I

repeated

by

lulled

my

warning. For a year she took

my

advice - and then,

a false sense of security because nothing happened, she

went

an accident with a motor cyclist and both she and the motor cyclist were badly injured. The result was a court case which ended with her having to pay the damages. She then consulted me as to how to get out of it There was nothing

The horse

riding.

bolted, involved her in

!

The warning had been given in time, the so-called ‘hammer blow’ was written in her map. She would have avoided it by accepting

I

could do.

the original advice given, but had preferred not to do so.

She had freedom of will; the horse had not. Yet she had been warned Astrologers continually come up against these problems. We can only !

advise.

We

cannot alter the course

when

things have happened

20 .

The second story concerns the astrologer, Alan Leo, who once warned a client that financial troubles were imminent. To avert the danger, the

man

Three weeks

Could

transferred

later his wife

this

man have

all

his belongings into his wife’s

name.

ran off with the chauffeur. avoided his financial ruin?

Was

Miss

to keep off horses and away from lawsuits? Most modern philosophers as well as most astrologers would agree with Miss Montalban that they were. In Sartre’s opinion, for example, a waiter is a waiter because at some time he has made the conscious and free decision to become a waiter, and this concept is shared by most existentialists. The linguistic philosopher, Anthony Flew, cites as an example of free will in action a couple who decide to marry, there being no external compulsion forcing them to do so - and this example would meet with little opposition from Flew’s particular philoso-

Montalban’s client free

phical school. It

ence

does not seem to matter that testifies to

common and

universal experi-

the extreme untenability of these philosophically-

determined positions. Does Sartre suppose that the waiter in question could have been a prize fighter? Or a philosopher? Or a

.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

232

A

neuro-surgeon?

multiplicity of demonstrable genetic and en-

vironmental factors cuts the waiter’s choice perhaps some equivalent

which

to

tellectual capacity, as well as his

down

waiting and

to

and inthem constrain

his psychological bent

aims -

or lack of

him.

Flew staves off the obvious objection to his example, contending even if behavioural psychologists should prove that the

that

couple, due to their emotional involvement, could not have refrained from marrying,

word

according to

still,

common

usage of the

couple, acting without external compulsion, were

‘free’, this

acting ‘freely’, and therefore free will exists.

Yet one need only take the illustrate its

weakness - the

logical opposite of the

classical case of

example

unrequited love.

Is

to

the

forlorn lover ‘free’ to stop caring for his uncooperative beloved?

There

is

no external

force compelling

him

to suffer. Surely, if ‘free

will’ is as readily available as the logician contends, the

lover need merely avail himself of

The Time magazine The good

feature

unhappy

it.

on astrology concludes

astrologer senses the

mood

of his client, perceives his prob-

most positive way of fitting them into the context of his horoscope. Then he looks ahead, shaping his predictions so that they amount to constructive counsel. The client might have been better advised to consult a psychiatrist, marriage counsellor, physician, lawyer

and

lems,

finds the

or employment agency- But there are

many

troubled people

to accept personal responsibility for their lives, insisting that

force

is

in control

.

who

.

Yet in the same issue of Time an article describing an Egypt flare-up contends ‘These warnings served chiefly

Israeli/

,

to illus-

:

trate the fact that violence

Time have

it

refuse

some outer

both ways?

If

momentum of its own violence has a momentum of

has a

.’ .

.

its

Can own,

then the acceptance or non-acceptance of personal responsibility irrelevant.

And

succeeded in accepting personal responsibility for his so,

is

has the author of the astrology feature himself

perhaps he would do well

to stop

own

life? If

wasting his time denigrating

astrology and instead walk over the water to the Middle East to teach

them the

secret.

For

it is

obvious that

personal responsibility for their

momentum of its own. BBC 21 Dr

have a

:

‘The ways

to

if all

violence

men would

accept

would no longer

Stephen Rose, a biologist, dechange men’s minds permanently are two and

In a talk over the clared

lives,

:

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

233

by the use of rational argument, and by changing the The two great triumphs of humanity are man’s capacity for rational thought and discussion, and his capacity to modify society.’ In all of history we can think of no single instance of a man’s mind (to say nothing of men’s minds) being permanently changed only two

:

structure of society.

through rational discussion; nor does Dr Rose’s faith in free will seem justifiable. Never in history has the volume and intensity of rational discussion been greater than at the present

moment. Yet

never before has triumphant mankind been faced simultaneously

CBW,

with the Bomb,

wide pollution and

momentum

violence that has a

moment

overpopulation, imminent famine, world-

modify

its

and of man’s shameful incapacity

to

society.

Does

we

of

stands as apodictic proof of

futility of rational discussion,

strife and that own. Indeed, the present man’s helplessness, of the

ubiquitous racial

soil depletion,

this

mean, then, that there

exist in a fantastically

is

no

Do

free will after all?

complex, but pre-determined web of

cause-and-effect? This view has

supporters as well, no less em-

its

phatic than their opponents. Philip Barford, an astrologer, declares If as astrologers

we

cosmic harmony, then regard as evidence.

and manifesting ness can ascend.

accept the overall implications of any doctrine of

we have

The

solar

ideal relationships

At any

cosmic mechanism

is

we

admit the implication of what

also to

system

by which conscious-

a functional whole, regulated

is

on every plane

to

single instant in the life of this system, the

manifesting a

pattern of structural relations

and absolutely determined by the

imparted

to it

at the instant of its ideal conception. Astrologers often like to

com-

entirely

initial 'spin'

promise by stating that astrology simply indicates the prevailing fluences and opportunities within

which we have freedom

between possible alternatives. This

is

basic astrological principle. will

is

a

moment

ally, it is

Any

in-

to choose

absolutely inconsistent with the

choice

made

in the conviction of free

expressing a pre determined cosmic pattern. Pragmatic-

impossible to believe in free will and remain an astrologer.

myth. Our only freedom is the seems unpalatthe notion of cosmic harmony, and with it,

Logically, the doctrine of free will

is

a

intellectual recognition of necessity. If this conclusion

one can always reject any attempt to predict future events or

able,

But

it is

not that

Mr

Barford's conclusion

that, despite his pontifical tone, C.F.A.

— 8*

to read character is

on the map

unpalatable;

22 .

it is

he stands self-condemned. In the

:

FUTURE and significance of astrology

234

very paragraph denying us free will opportunities to use

it

:

first,

we

we

two

are already given

are told that our only freedom

is

which is already and then we are given the alternative of rejecting the notion of cosmic harmony, which is also free will. the intellectual recognition of pre-determination,

free will;

Barford’s conclusion

would have part to

based upon a bizarre cosmology that

is

'consciousness’ bring the solar system into being, im-

it its 'spin’

and then vanish, presumably

To be

equally cheerless systems.

consistent,

if

to create other

the solar system

is

held to be a manifestation of consciousness, then consciousness

with

its

concomitant free will would seem bound

of the system

itself.

Clearly,

in rejecting Barford’s

we

to

be an attribute

are at liberty to use our free will

Newtonian notion

of Divine Mechanics.

Equally restrained are the views of the well-known geneticist, C. D. Darlington In genetics

all

behaviour

is

gentically determined, but

it

is

also

environmentally determined ... the division of determination into two systems, genotype (the genetic make-up of the individual) and the

environment, entails as a corollary the successive interaction of those

two systems and the introduction of one into the other. It is this interaction which gives us the illusion of free will ... a choice seems so to us because in every fresh contingency

and environment

new

reaction of genotype

deities,

Genotype and En-

it is

a

23 .

Here, those two famous woodland

vironment, impart that

initial 'spin’.

Darlington presumes that

both these 'systems’, though dynamic, are closed. To save beating about the philosophical bush,

to

destroy this contention

it

is

enough to cite the recent experiments proving that, as the yogis have always maintained, man can gain control over even his involuntary functions. This means that environment can be altered through the exercise of will. Environment is not a closed system.

The future

is

therefore unpredictable, not because of

plexity, but because of

its

very nature.

And

free will is

its

not an

comillu-

sion.

On

the other hand, as

triumph’ which

is,

we have pointed Dr Rose,

according to

out, humanity’s ‘great

the capacity to modify

reduced to absurdity by every daily newspaper. would appear that we have free will and that we do not have it, a situation summed up pithily by Schopenhauer, who declared, ‘Man has free will, but not the will to use it.’ Since this is a parasociety, is It

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY dox, the contemporary philosopher will dismiss to the

unrequited lover

makes perfect

it

it

235

as nonsense,

but

sense.

FREE WILL - VIEWED PHILOSOPHICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY The paradox

only apparent, and vanishes once the unnatural

is

strictures of logic are dispensed with.

no,

triad of relationship.

alternative dyad, yes-or-

problem must be approached through the

inapplicable; the

is

The

And

Professor Darlington, in maintaining the

absence of free will, unwittingly supplies the key to

According

to

him, the illusion of free will

action of genotype and environment. But

if

is

free will

‘interaction'

is

not.

Yet what

is

this ‘interaction’? Certainly it is

environment.

is it

not material, a thing.

It is

upon something. Yet

ing

out

it

‘illusion',

not genotype.

Nor

is it

Nor

energy, act-

how

would have any meaning.

the mysterious ‘Third Force' that

is

an

is

unsusceptible to measurement, with-

neither genotype nor environment

it

‘Interaction’

existence.

cannot be dismissed, for no matter

how

impalpable, no matter

its

caused by the inter-

is

a necessary

party to every event upon every level of the universe. In

Hans

Jenny's experiments will was represented by ‘frequency’; between lover

and beloved

wood

of

it

is

it is ‘desire’;

‘inspiration’; it

Trinity fundamental to

between the sculptor and the block is the Holy Ghost in the Divine

all traditions.

Will, or the Third Force, manifests itself in values, which are registered

by the emotions but undetectable by the by the logician and utilitarian.

senses,

and

therefore dismissed

Nevertheless, the universe presents itself to the utilitarian just as

it

does to the rest of us as a hierarchy of values

If a utilitarian trips

hurl

against the wall. But

it

though

.

over a footstool he may, in a if

he

trips

fit

of pique,

over his young daughter,

he will almost certainly respond differmomentarily that Darwin decreed evolution free

just as piqued,

ently; forgetting

from principles of higher and lower.

And

while

it is

possible to

maintain that the utilitarian refrains from slaughtering his daughter because he does not want to give her any excuse for slaughtering

him

(cf.

Dr Henry

Miller, op.

cit.,

sible that the utilitarian exegesis of

p.

222

ff.) it is

equally pos-

morality leaves something to

be desired.

Our

lives are

organized upon scales of value, and

we cannot

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

236

escape from that fact.

The

The

utilitarian values utility.

logician

extols logic because the exercise of this useful but prosaic faculty affords

may

him

the keenest pleasure he

argue that

is

capable of experiencing. Both

values, including their

all

‘merely emotive', but this

under no obligation,

is itself

own,

are subjective,

and we are

a value judgement,

logical or otherwise, to accept

or even to

it;

waste our time worrying over such logical distinctions. For values are

by

then logic

definition non-sense,

is

by

if

definition

worth-less.

Meanwhile, who

is

provided by the emotions

to say that data

are less trustworthy than data provided

by the senses? True,

it is

impossible to prove emotional data. But the instruments used to

prove the data of the senses are no more than extensions of the senses themselves,

and so are tautologies

:

the senses simply cor-

roborate themselves. Scientists then assume that this data corres-

ponds

and these assumptions are buttressed by often based upon hypotheses having no

to the real world,

mathematics that

is

observable relationship to If this is

possible to say

it is

music than the

a clear conscience that

at all

-

that

Beatles, that Chartres

London Hilton, that

Bach is

we know -

in-

if,

objectively better

is

objectively better archi-

was objectively a on an objectively higher of consciousness than a cabbage, which in turn lives at a higher of consciousness than a stone. These conclusions, based upon

tecture than the better

level

with

we know anything

deed,

level

‘reality'.

the case, with ‘knowledge’ derived from the senses, then

man

than Hitler and that

man

St Francis

lives

common

emotional experience, can be said to be quite as objective

in their

own way

as the ‘hard’ experience of the senses,

turns out to be not so ‘hard’ after

Our emotions

tell

us that levels exist.

And

traditions teach

all

that man’s special purpose in the cosmic hierarchy

from the there

is

level at

which he

is

born

to

man must

possibility

and the necessity

Obviously,

if

it

to ascend level.

But

this process.

An

recognize that levels exist and that the

the process

is

exist to

go from one level

to another.

must be

willed.

say honestly,

all else

not automatic, then

we must have free will. As a matter of practical experience, we can being equal, that we are ‘free’ to go and buy

For

is

another and higher

nothing automatic or fortuitous about

individual

which

all.

it

to be willed

a

newspaper

now

or

wait and buy one ten minutes from now. But as matter of equally

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY indubitable experience, the bigot

and Negro

is

not

month and come

can

out railing against religion

of rational discussion; the unrequited lover

with bonds more secure than a galley keep his temper; the lazy

do morning exercises; and, a

man as

finds a

Time

recognize the Jew

‘free’ to

as his equals; the materialist

237

live in

Chartres for a

and singing the praises chained to his misery

is

slave’s; the

hot-head cannot

hundred good reasons not

to

so rightly observes, violence has

momentum of its own. There

we

no answer

is

not?’ Rather,

to the

we may

question ‘Do

we have

do

free will or

say that as long as our emotions are not

we have it. But no sooner do our emotions become inwe lose it. And since, as a matter of common experi-

involved,

volved than

ence, our emotions are involved in all but the

we have no

thoughts and actions, in effect position is

Men

trail.

chains,

trivial of

free will.

Our

our

actual

by every smell - what bloodhound on a particularly frag-

that of dogs in a park, distracted

is

called ‘strong will’

rant

most

and

is

simply a

are not born free.

die in chains unless

We

are born in chains, live in

we wake up

to the situation

and

attempt to extricate ourselves.* Yet, that

it

cated

if

the free will question

is

so readily approachable,

everywhere misunderstood?

is

men

How

why is

it

can supposedly edu-

maintain that by means of rational discussion men’s

minds can be altered and society modified ? Perhaps because feel

this illusion is flattering,

educated and magnanimous, and, above

because all,

it

makes one it is com-

because

forting. For the actual emotional recognition of one’s true lack of free will

is

a sobering, even devastating experience. (Philosophical

determinists

may

verbally deny free will, but in their private lives

they behave just as does everyone else -as though they possessed

it.)

LITERATURE AND FREE WILL For confirmation of this

we may

turn profitably to the example fur-

nished by literature, where, without undue oversimplification, * This

is

it

not to be taken as vindication of behavioural psychology, which

maintains that

human

behaviour

is,

and can

be,

nothing but the learned

response of an organism to a stimulus; unalterable except through an external agency, such as the therapist.

Behavioural psychology ‘works'.

Its

observations are sound as far as

they go; but they concern only will-less men. Studies of the reactions of yogis and Zen masters would swiftly contradict the theories of this particularly misleading school of thought.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

238

might be Beckett’s

- from Oedipus

said that every dramatic situation

plays and Kafka’s novels -

dicament regarding free

is

to

an illustration of man’s preexcept accord-

will; of his inability to act

ing to pattern in circumstances that require the inner freedom to act otherwise.

The

oppressive and compelling power that dramatic literature

exercises over us If

we

good evidence of the measure of

is

actually had free will at our beck and call

the trials and tribulations of tragic heroes

have any

literary discrimination at

all,

‘happy end’, by ‘romances’ which in will to heroes

we

silly.

its

truthfulness.

we

But

are repelled

effect attribute

should find

as

it is, if

we

by the cheap

unlimited free

and heroines who have earned none; and we accept

as ‘real’ the plight of the protagonist ensnared in his

own

per-

sonality and unable to avert his destiny, or even to alter his re-

action towards his destiny.

And yet the possibility is there, no matter how remote. Though we may know from the onset that Lear will die, that the three sisters will

never get to Moscow, that K. will be forever denied

entrance into the castle, were the possibility absent there would be no tension; and our belief in the situation would be suspended.

Tension

But

is

if

created

literature provides

lack of free will, principle of

tempting

by the pull

it

generally

of opposing possibilities.

an accurate picture of man’s fails to

Dramatic heroes expend

‘level’.

cerned with

own

their emotions at-

all

brought about by

to alter external situations usually

flaws in their

characters. Secular literature

w ill-less

effective

give as good an account of the

men, whose tragedy

is

is

invariably con-

that they are incapable

of seeing themselves as they are. If Othello could see himself as

something of an

ass,

there

would be no tragedy

24 .

Sacred literature, on the other hand, invariably concerns man’s struggles to acquire a measure of free will. Since this struggle, the

only true drama, takes place within a man, and there are few

any external manifestations

of

it,

sacred literature

allegorical or symbolic terms. (Christ’s

ness,

The Bhagavad

Gita,

is

if

couched in

Temptation in the Wilder-

The Conference of the Birds.) Without and importance of ‘level’, sacred and incomprehensible.

a recognition of the existence

literature seems

both dull

FREE WILL AND LEVEL Men

pay homage

to the principle of level in

innumerable ways.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY One

of the

most

common and most

obvious

is

239

in our recognition of

excellence and of degrees of excellence.

We

would not say there was a difference of ‘lever between one stone and another, or between one cabbage and another, or even between one dog and another. But who would say that the work of the skilled butcher takes place on the same ‘level’ as that of the skilled brain surgeon? Or that Escofher’s achievement was of the same order as Leonardo’s? The potentiality to exist at different levels seems to be an exclusively human trait, shared by nothing else in

nature as far as

we can gather.

‘level’ between butcher and brain surgeon cannot be called a ‘consciousness’ of level - the brain surgeon does

Yet the distinction in

not choose to become a brain surgeon instead of a butcher, or vice versa.

Both merely follow

their natural inclinations, largely

but per-

haps not wholly determined by their genotype and environment.

From the point

of

view of ‘consciousness of the recognition of their both are on the same level. Seen esoteric-

effective lack of free will, ally,

to

both are

slaves. Indeed, seen this

way,

an understanding of the problem and

the free will that price’) is

But

if

on a

is

is

a butcher

who has come

taking steps to acquire

his birthright (that scriptural ‘pearl of great

far higher level

than the brain surgeon.

genotype and environment largely account for the uncon-

minor and submore important conscious awareness of level. an insight into the matter, and another does not;

scious difference in ‘level’, they appear to play but sidiary roles in the far

One man and

gets

has very little to do with a man’s talent, or even with his intelligence, but rather with impalpables such as ‘taste’ and ‘sensitivity’, qualities that cut across all known genetic and this insight

class barriers.

Of course, those who maintain that there is no ‘real’ difference between Bach and the Beatles will dismiss all this as a pseudoproblem, but there are others who will consider that differences are both real and important. We believe that an understanding of the problem can come only through an acceptance of time

as multi-

dimensional.

TIME AND LEVEL Talk of time as the ‘Fourth Dimension’ has become a commonplace since the development of the Theory of Relativity. Time, regarded as the fourth dimension - added to the customary dimen-

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

240

Width and Height -

employed by mathematicians and physicists in their calculations, but usually with the proviso that this fourth dimension is not to be regarded in any sense as ‘real’, but rather, like the square root of minus one, as an sions of Length,

imaginary aid whose existence tions.

is

facilitates the solution of calcula-

Mathematicians point out that equations can be

up

set

requiring dozens or hundreds of similar ‘dimensions' for their solution.

But these assurances do not solve the problem of time. There nothing in our experience that corresponds sions.

But we most certainly seem

not a ‘dimension', then what

Modern philosophy

is

is little

to

to experience time.

And

flow.

But

who

flow,

a

an

is

this

illusion,

if it is

it?

A.

help.

Ayer, for example,

J.

misses peremptorily the notion of multi-dimensional time ‘flow' of time

is

dozens of dimen-

Ayer contends. Time does not

autruchine argument

unconvincing.

is

dis-

25

The

.

we we

flow,

If it is

what is it we flow towards? And from whence? Against framework of what? Set in motion by what accident? How did

that accident evolve? sion shared

If

by one and

the flow of time all.

What

is

an

illusion, it is

an

illu-

survival value has this illusion?

(For in a materialist universe nothing can survive unless

it

pos-

sesses survival value.)

There are some eminent physicists (Louis de Broglie, Henry Margenau and Herbert Dingle among them) who seem not to have read Professor Ayer, and

who

are willing to take multiple dimensions

of time seriously since there are certain purely physical problems

that require not only regarding time as a

but the addition of a Chief

among

fifth

and probably

these problems

is

‘real'

a sixth

fourth dimension,

dimension as well.

that of potential energy.

No

cause-and-effect explanation seems able to account for the exist-

ence of potential energy - cause-and-effect being a function of the

dimension of time.

same

difficulty

is

And from

phenomena as which the future seems both to exist and

presented by such well-attested

pre-cognitive dreams, in to

a psychological point of view, the

be susceptible to change.

The problem

of free will

is

misunderstood largely because

unflattering and uncomfortable to face

seems

to

it.

it is

But the problem of time

be misunderstood largely because the

human

intellect,

un-

it;

and

are accustomed to applying our unaided intellects to

any

aided

by emotional understanding,

since

we

is

not equipped

to grasp

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

241

and every problem, understanding eludes us. So-called ‘primitive' peoples seem to have less trouble with time than we do. The Australian aborigines talk of the illusory time in which they live and die as incorporated

subject to flux

much

that

And

and flow.

this

is

un-

corresponds

dimension, the dimension of eternity, appears to be

to the fifth

very

Dream Time’, Dream Time, which

within the ‘Great

a living reality to these people; yet so astute a scholar as

admit that when by himself

seemed

St

Augustine was forced

to

him that he understood time, but as soon as he was asked about he no longer understood it. J. G. Bennett has coined the ex-

it,

to

it

tremely useful phrase ‘Eternity-blind’ to describe our normal condition.

We

not attempt

shall

to deal at all

pects of the dimensions of time

and

level

logical

is

sound,

we may

and non-technical

26 .

But

with the mathematical if

be able to approach

side

as-

our analysis of free will it

from a psycho-

which, though sketchy,

may

prove

useful.

Free will

is

bility exists.

phenomena

a reality. Levels are realities.

But what

is

This means that possi-

possibility? In time, as

we know

it,

all

are subject to cause-and-effect. If this ceaseless flow

were the whole story, then genotype would interact with environ-

would be no more than the name which of the manifold alternatives was pre-determined to work its way out in any given situation. But as we have seen, ‘mind’ influences ‘matter’ and this can be proven. Possibility exists. But what is a possibility if it stands outside the laws of cause-and-effect? And where is possibility if it lies

ment

we

and

to infinity,

possibility

applied to our ignorance of

outside the flow of time?

The problem

is

complicated in that our experience of time, to say

nothing of eternity, is

the past? and

is

is

incomplete.

The

bright child asks,

told not to ask silly questions.

or mathematician cannot answer unless time as a

Where

But the physicist fourth dimension

is ‘real’.

Our

senses perceive the world as in a state of perpetual becom-

ing, miraculously creating itself

out of the void of the future, and

streaming behind us into the equal void of the past. Yet believe that this

is

actually the case.

either the future or the past

present

In

is

all

On

we cannot

the other hand, crediting

with a reality equal

to that of the

almost as difficult to believe.

probability,

much

of the difficulty stems from language

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

242

which has been constructed

account for the illusion of past and

to

future that the senses provide us with, and which in turn makes it

impossible for us to think of time in other terms

not cerebrate without language. Yet

if

-

we employ an

we

since

can-

analogy, and

imagine time as an endless movie film in which the present

is

a

single illuminated frame, then the ‘reality’ of that length of film

already

shown

both are as

The

film

is

is

a whole,

beginning or end, see

the past, that

which

is

it is

a totality.

would

it

still

but one frame at a time

Even

due

an

‘event’.

if it

were

endless,

we can cor-

we did not perceive the we would perceive it as a if

This would be a glimpse of eternity -

what drowning men and others near

to be

without

which

to the projector

film in terms of ‘flow’ but all at once,

which seems

come is the future, and any given moment.

be a totality, a whole. That

is

responds to our sensory apparatus. But

‘point’ in time, as

to

the frame illuminated at

‘real’ as

the point

of death experience.

But nothing

is

possible in a finished film; its possibilities have

been exhausted in

its

creation.

The system

is

closed. Cause-and-

effect prevail.

So

when we apply our analogy to life as it is lived in time, we care. Our lives are films in the making, as it were. The

must take system

is

not yet closed, at least not in theory.*

Let us suppose that our butcher and brain surgeon are timetwins, born within minutes of each other,

and both bestowed with

blazing tempers by a Sun-square-Uranus aspect from a Fire to a

Water sign. Like most hot-tempered

men

the brain surgeon sees himself as

a paragon of reason, righteously indignant at the foibles

of the world.

He

believes

he has

free will;

he has a

and

follies

‘social con-

and he attributes the world’s reluctance to modify itself to conform to his model of it as proof of the world’s unreasonable-

science’,

ness, justifying his indignation.

The butcher, on

the other hand, though perhaps

of the world’s foibles

the fact that

and

follies,

by perpetually

has

no

less

aware

somehow become aware

of

losing his temper he not only fails to

modify the world but becomes personally ever more deeply ensnared and enslaved by * If

this

analogy

is

it.

valid,

Recognizing his actual position in it

opens interesting

ethical,

re-

philosophical,

psychological and astrological questions into the nature and effects of in-

duced

births.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY gard to free will, he attempts to acquire

make use

ent course; and

own

The butcher begins to would otherwise end

of his possibilities. Situations that

with perfect predictability in a tantrum

his

it.

243

little

by

little

now

begin to take a

differ-

the butcher actually begins to modify

the lives of those within his sphere, and, in his

life,

own

small way, society.

Our

hypothetical butcher

he

is

which he was born; he

that to

operating upon a higher ‘lever than has, at least in those

moments when

capable of exercising his hard-won free will, transcended the

is

laws of cause and effect proper to nature, and subject to time; he has, as

he a

were, a toehold on eternity.

it

And

in those

moments when

capable of exercising a measure of free will, he will experience

is

heightened consciousness commensurate to his

turn will assure

him

that eternity

is

level,

which

in

not merely a woolly meta-

physical term signifying nothing, but a reality; indeed, as far as

he

concerned, the reality.

is

TIME AND DESTINY But

this does

mean that the butcher can suddenly become a any more than the poppy seed can become an oak

not

brain surgeon, tree.

The question

of ‘destiny’

- another favourite among

astrologers

and among dramatists - seems almost independent of the question of free will.

The seventeenth-century French

Villefranche wrote

:

men

by Providence

are enchained

communal

of the is

by

‘the birthdates

in

realization of destiny, in such a

birth destined, for example, to die

fail to

so /

It

by

way

that he

who

assassination does not

who must be unhappily woman who shall see to it that

is

27

interesting

examples. John astrologers

some

Morin de

encounter his assassin, and that he

married will invariably seek out the it is

astrologer

and the events in the lives of view of a necessary concourse

F.

to

test

Kennedy,

such a statement against concrete for instance,

was warned by

a

dozen

and clairvoyants of the dangers of assassination, and by

of the precise danger period.

But

it is

clear that, even

had he

been impressed by the sincerity and number of these predictions,

was such that he could not have heeded them, while was such that he would not even take the customary precautions. As for unhappily married couples, they seem common enough, and the reader is at large to choose a selection

his position

his personality

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

244

from his or her own experience and

to test

them against de

Ville-

franche’s eloquent but forbidding pronouncement.

But what of those

What as

who have

of the yogi, the saint

bound

Taking

spent a lifetime acquiring free will?

and the Zen master? Are these men

to their destinies as the

appear that these

more. Yet

it

is

ordinary enslaved free citizen?

examples - Christ, Buddha, Socrates,

historical

men

sometimes hard to avoid concluding

some and ignominious

as the deaths of these

chosen deliberately, perhaps as ultimate liberation

We

from the

knows whether

-

cross of the flesh,

men on

men

may

it

Even

that, grue-

were, they were

tests of the state of their

and the

do not pretend to know. Moreover,

the motives of

etc.

are just as subject to the laws of fate.

coils of time.

it is

impossible to judge

And no

a higher level than one’s self.

one

or not the details of these stories are factual history

or symbolism or both.

Perhaps

it

can be said that destiny

is

the boundaries of the laws of fate, the

measure of

free will

free to

is

but the

'written’

important manner in which one meets one’s destiny

man who

move, while the

is

all-

Within

not.

has achieved a

rest of us are totally

helpless.

And

if

the objection

young men

killed in

is

raised

What

:

of children

who

wars before they have even had time

about free will and the lack of

it?

we

die,

and

to think

confess ignorance. But

if

forced to choose between beliefs that correspond to nothing within

our personal experience,

we would

tend to take the word of those

responsible for cathedrals above that of those responsible for the

H-bomb and

the electric toothbrush, and

normal

a cosmic sense inaccessible to our

we would hazard

that in

level of consciousness, in

the dimensions of eternity, innocence goes uncondemned, while

ignorance does not - in ance,

is

from

a

the only sin, and

Hindu philosophy, it is

avidya, wilful ignor-

interesting that the

word

'sin’

derives

word meaning To miss the mark’.

TIME, REINCARNATION,

RECURRENCE

A survey carried out in America revealed that seventy-five per cent of the professional astrologers replying to the questionnaire be-

-

mind unlikely to attract Vernon we would imagine that a similar Germany would produce a somewhat lower

lieved in reincarnation

a cast of

Clark’s 'scientific friends’, though

survey in England or percentage.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY According

to

Ouspensky,

it is

largely the difficulty

245

men have

in

grasping the concept of multiple dimensions of time that has led to

the belief in reincarnation (the endless cycle of rebirths of

oriental religions)

and

to the idea of the ‘hereafter' of Christianity.

Both of these are mistaken attempts to grapple with eternity in the cause-and-effect language of time; an almost unavoidable trap, since the language of time

is

the only language

we can

speak, or

can ever speak, while eternity must be glimpsed with faculties that are but latent in ordinary

we

men.

and brain surgeon, the butcher, in Ouspensky’s theory, does not, after death, by virtue of his proper efforts to subjugate his personality and acquire free will, thereby become reincarnated as a brain surgeon. Nor does the brain surgeon by virtue of his wilful ignorance get his due by reappearIf

revert to our hypothetical butcher

ing in a future

life as

a butcher. Rather, the butcher lives his life

perpetually in eternity, or over-and-over in time,

moving up the

path (Jacob's ladder?) to that state called variously ‘liberation’ or ‘salvation’

insofar as

Our he

-

so,

Augustine’s assertion that

man

has free

will,

only

he chooses or refuses salvation.

illumined butcher reaches a state at which, freed from time,

lives in eternity,

time and his

life

while the unregenerate brain surgeon

lives in

exists in perpetuity in eternity at the literally in-

human

level he has chosen; eternally losing his temper whose minds refuse to be changed by rational discussion.

at those

LEVEL UNDECTABLE BY ASTROLOGY Though

and time has been any astrology that is to aim higher than predicting future financial windfalls and the probable demise of spouses must take such matters seriously. long, this digression into free will, level

a necessity. For

Astrology studies the meaning of the cosmic moment, as

it is

revealed in the conjunctions and configurations of the planets

against the symbolical background of the zodiac. In this, astrology

an inquiry into the Third Force of the Triad. Just as the sound frequencies applied by Hans Jenny represented the w ill of the experimenter, so the magnetic and electro-magnetic frequencies produced by the planets represent the w ill of the solar system. is

The horoscope

is

a

map

of potentiality. Both birth

tion charts represent a cosmic

moment

and concep-

existing in eternity

every level with multitudes of possibilities at each of these

upon levels.

246

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

Though stowed

astrologers customarily talk as

though the

stars be-

upon the individual, it would perhaps be more accurate and more fruitful if the same data were regarded in terms of what the stars demanded from the individual. this or that personality

But from the birth chart alone, the astrologer cannot 4

level of the individual.

He

can, with

some

tell

the

finesse, distinguish the

future butcher from the future ladies’ hairdresser. But he cannot, with anything near the same accuracy, distinguish the butcher from the brain surgeon. The astrologer cannot tell from birth data alone which of the possibilities open to the individual are being utilized, or at

To put

it

what

level.*

another way, the astrologer can

of the seed, but

he cannot

tell if

tell

the general nature

the seed has fallen on fertile or

stony ground, or by the wayside.

Nor can he

tell

if

in

the

dimension of eternity the seed has already taken root. This rules.

is

not a shortcoming of astrology, but

Were

it

otherwise,

it

would be

is

written into

its

a violation of all that tradi-

from birth data was in truth an illusion, or, still worse, that it was contingent and distributed preferentially, making a permanent mockery of Divine Justice - a notion difficult enough to countenance these days, and then only through tion holds sacred. If ‘level’ could be determined

alone,

would mean

it

either that free will

the constant awareness that the state of society fault of

The

man

is

entirely the

himself.

inability of astrology to distinguish ‘level’

may

be called

* Earlier we mentioned the sixth dimension, postulated by certain mathematicians and physicists as a necessity. This dimension is, according to Ouspensky, that one in which all possibilities are realized. Just as it is possible to approach the dimension of eternity by asking where the past has gone, so it is possible to approach the sixth dimension by asking what has happened to all the unused possibilities. If possibilities are ‘real’, they cannot exist in a state of perpetual becoming any more than can the

physical world interpreted by our senses. In the sixth dimensional consciousness of the universe, then, blind track

we happen

all

other possible worlds are just as

to be following

through time, and

to

‘real'

as the

which we give

the name, ‘reality’.

In the light of this mind-cracking concept, the African bushman’s account

by more than primitive poetry. The Bushman maintains that ‘we are being dreamed by a dream’; a concept echoed by the eminent physicist, Sir Arthur Eddington, who observed that modern physics made the universe appear far more like a gigantic thought than a gigantic of creation seems inspired

machine.

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY but there are

literally ‘providential'

recognize

it

as such,

many

astrologers

who do

247 not

and by the application of insight by hindby

sight attempt to account for historically significant characters ferreting out

and

isolating every

manner

of arcane astrological

nicety. Still it cannot be done. Given Goethe's horoscope, the astrologer would predict an intelligent and imaginative man with a propensity for an impressive number of love affairs, but he would miss that one quality that makes Goethe worth studying today - genius. Similarly, from Hitler's horoscope, no astrologer would have predicted the apotheosis of mediocrity that Hitler was ultimately to

represent.

In actual practice, however, the potential Goethes can be

dis-

tinguished from the potential Hitlers at a fairly early age; and,

and utilizing astrology on even could conceivably be fostered and psy-

in a society capable of developing its

practical levels, talents

choses warded off or diverted.

But

is sound, modern man's illusory conception and time makes it largely impossible for him acknowledge the potential validity of astrology despite the

if

our argument

of free will, ‘level'

even to

accumulating evidence. The chances of actually developing astrology up to

its

potential are therefore remote

hypothetical future; and

with the

gift of

Nevertheless,

we do not

and pushed into a

pretend to have been endowed

prophecy. it

seems

fitting to close a

book on astrology with

a glimpse into the future. So, taking a multiplicity of psychological, political, social,

as

we

economic and aesthetic factors into account

are able, bearing in

mind what

astrological climate proper to death of

new

as well

tradition teaches us as to the

an old age and the birth of

and applying to this what seems to us to be the faculty of commonsense, we would expect the future to depend upon the a

age,

following contingencies.

What The

Next?

revival of astrology will

genuine

civilization; that

of the word;

which

is

is

rule

depend upon the re-establishment of

to say,

by the

an aristocracy in the true sense

best.

(Who

is

‘best'?

‘He

who

is

furthest along the road towards acquiring free will,' might be one

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

248

definition. It

mine who

is

noX very

is 'best’

much more

in this sense than

difficult in practice to deterit is

to

determine

who

is

the

best cook or tennis player.)

To

and apply astrology, there must be a legitimate hierarchy, at whose pinnacle there are men capable of understanding both the cosmic symbolism of astrology and the mundane needs of the society in which that astrology is to be used. These men must be in a position to direct the organized research of legions of individuals whose values approximate to those of their superiors: that is, their aim must be something less contemptible than ‘positions of attainment and respect'. There are no spiritual Nobel prizes. For such a civilization to arise, two requirements must be met. First, the mass of men must become thoroughly disillusioned not only with materialism as such, but with materialism’s thick-witted janizaries, reform and revolution. Second, an individual or a number of individuals must appear wielding the inner authority that compels men to freely pay allegiance to a doctrine that requires them to accept personal responsibility for their acts and for their thoughts, and even for resuscitate

their emotions. In other words, Buddha-like or Christ-like indivi-

duals.

condition sounds implausible,

If this latter

in former times,

The

we can only

as spiritually

say that

bankrupt

as the

- though

present arise

under conditions

and

to a

less physically doom-laden - such leaders did certain extent stemmed the descent into barbarism.

possibility should not be ruled out.

But less so.

if

messiah-predicting

Men

are

men, values

or government that

man’s need

is

risky, the future of materialism is

is

and any system of thought ‘level’ and bound to produce mass dis-

are eternal,

not based upon a recognition of

to transcend himself is

content.

The

universality of

mounting

and insanity rates, boredom with the mindless toil engendered by technology, the sodivorce, suicide

the universal dissatisfaction and

and equally mindless

leisure

called ‘sexual revolution’ sex,

but

is

simply the easy

meaninglessness of modern

(which has almost nothing

way

to

do with

out of the all-engulfing apathy and

life),

the undirected but intense quality

of student revolts all over the world, all testify to the total failure

Even such formerly trusty palliatives otism and ‘education’ have lost their savour. of materialism.

as war, patri-

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

24Q

Meanwhile, despite the long-range optimism of thinkers such as Norman Vincent Peale and Dr Henry Miller, it is clear that more and more people are hungry and getting hungrier, no matter that God has given them a great big bear-hug, and science wishes them well.

With

the talk about pollution, pollution continues; the

all

‘mastery of the environment’, which

is just rape, proceeds apace, nature of materialist values and the worst outrages - given the

are irreversible

Should It is

it

be

and unstoppable. In human terms, rape

less so in

extension of

And

itself.

remain open

revival

a crime.

therefore inconceivable that the twentieth century should

no more than a grotesque us that only two broad possibithe holocaust unredeemed by a

be followed by a twenty-first that

lities

is

cosmic terms?

:

and restating

barism; or

we

it

seems

mankind

to

faces

is

of tradition resulting in unmitigated bar-

face the

same holocaust but guided through it by founding a civilization upon the ruins.

spiritual leaders capable of

Meanwhile, the actual physical nature of the holocaust remains conjecture. Perhaps

it

will not be the

Bomb, or the Bug, or

a

new

Black Death, but the lesser evils of conventional warfare, total

moral collapse and widespread

Whatever the it.

case,

civil disorders .

28

self-indulgence to dwell for long

it is

We can do nothing about

it.

All

we can do

is

upon

recognize our

own

position. It is clear

enough that matters must get much worse before they

can get any better. there

is

And

it is

equally clear that for the vast majority

no hope. Perched before

what they read

their television sets, believing

in their newspapers, they are

swept along with the

current. But as the pace quickens, and the situation grows sillier

and more

sinister, it

realize that

does seem likely that a growing minority will

not far downstream the sharks await them, and that

mankind’s proper activity

may

struggle upstream to the source.

is

upon the proven correlations phenomena - and materialism’s total inability to account for these phenomena - as at least one opportunity to repudiate materialism and all it stands for. Having repudiated materialism, it then becomes less difficult to face up to This minority

between earthly and

well seize

celestial

the spiritual implications behind these physical correlations and relationships,

which

problems of free

in turn

will, ‘level’

may

lead to an insight into the crucial and time. At this point, if not swim-

ming against the current then

at least faced in the right direction,

250

FUTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASTROLOGY

these individuals will, according to their abilities facilitate the study,

and

a generally re-awakened interest in traditional values

The more evidence is

that

is

and teachings.

accumulated, the more attention that

paid to astrology, and the more serious students

greater will be

inclinations,

spread and re-acceptance of astrology, as part of

the discomfiture of materialism,

it

attracts, the

the closer

its

necessary demise and the less hopelessly distant the prospect of a

new and genuine

civilization in

which men

realize that they

were

not created to be cerebrating apes.

Should such a civilization

arise there can be little doubt that a and refined astrology would play an invaluable role within it; on a purely ‘utilitarian and Benthamite' level in medicine, law, economics, education and psychology, and on a more rarified and symbolic level in religion, science, art and philosophy. Properly regarded, these are the pillars of wisdom which treat respectively of man’s soul, body, emotions and intellect as they relate to the earth, and to the hierarchy of the heavens; and in a civilization in which religion, science, art and philosophy were not the mutually exclusive charades they are today, it might well be astrology that served as link or mediator between them, at once a scientific art and a sacred philosophy; a legitimate eavesdropper

resuscitated

into the conversations of the gods.

:

Appendix

i

The Quarrel of the Egyptologists In 1949, the appearance of R. A. Sch waller de Lubicz’s

first

book,

Le Temple dans I’Homme, caused something of an uproar within the highly specialized circles of Egyptology.

Though ordinarily such a scholarly dispute would never way before the public, this proved to be an exception. Over the

years, while at

the evidence for his

new

tradition, de Lubicz

work

at

find

its

Luxor and Karnak collecting

‘symbolist’ interpretation of the Egyptian

and his team had had the opportunity

to

exhibit their evidence and explain their approach first-hand to visitors at the site.

Among critic.

these

was Andre Rousseaux, an eminent French

literary

Rousseaux had become a staunch advocate of the symbolist

interpretation and had been following the scholarly dispute closely.

new

Finally, enraged at the treatment the

man were

doctrine and

its

spokes-

being accorded at the hands of the Egyptological estab-

lishment, he put his view of the matter before the non-specialist public of the literary magazine, Le

As

a philosopher

and

orientalist,

M ercure de France (July

1951).

de Lubicz himself had no means

of access into the specialized journals of Egyptology, but for a

number

of

years

the

symbolist

case

had been professionally

advanced for him by Alexandre Varille, a fully qualified archaeologist

and Egyptologist, who,

many others at the site, had the new interpretation - but

like so

become convinced of the validity of who, unlike the others, had in effect to throw over his career in order to espouse them openly. So, concentrating upon the running battle between Varille and the orthodox camp, Rousseaux briefly explained the symbolist approach and its potential importance to the future of Western thought, and then, supporting his claims with extracts from numerous letters and documents, maintained that 1.

Though

Varille adhered rigorously to every scholastic con-

vention in presenting the evidence for the symbolist case; though the evidence he presented

was

in fact unassailable;

he was never-

252

APPENDIX

1

by orthodox Egyptologists

theless dismissed

as a ‘fantasist'. Ulti-

mately, the justification for the dismissal was that

all

other ortho-

dox Egyptologists agreed that he was a fantasist, therefore he had to be one - an argument used by similar scientific minds centuries earlier to 2.

condemn

Galileo.

Varille insisted that de Lubicz and the symbolists

had un-

covered evidence that proved Egyptology as currently practised to It was not that the Egyptologists were wrong, but that they were merely scratching the

be in need of total revision. specifically

surface.

Texts which appeared

when

deciphered according to

common

practice

and inconsistent - and were therefore ascribed

illogical

and inconsistency of the authors of the texts suddenly, when interpreted symbolically, made a perfect sense within a consistent world view that had obvious links to Hindu, Christian, and other traditions. to the alleged illogicality

Briefly, Varille

maintained that Egyptian texts could not be

and examined from the point of view of modern scholarship; rather, they had to be interpreted and understood in the spirit in which they were intended. It was merely deciphered

literally

necessary to ‘think Egyptian’. This, said the experts,

was absurd,

since the texts as they

were

currently deciphered by experts, did not disclose any such need for interpretation. 3.

Finally Rousseaux claimed that the archaeological journals

consistently refused to publish Varille’s dissertations

which were

submitted according to standard procedure, and Varille was then accused by his opponents of failing to produce ‘evidence’ to support his case.

Rousseaux then

cited certain specific criticisms levelled at

the

and supplied Varille’s answers - which to an outsider and non-specialist seemed convincing. And Rousseaux concluded ‘symbolists’

by suggesting

that, in

view of

its

potential importance to Egypto-

logical study, a confrontation be arranged

which experts

tecture, hieroglyphics, art, etc.

hand, and This logists,

if

possible discredit

article

M.

on the

site at

Luxor, at

- archi- meet, review the evidence first

in the various fields of Egyptological study

drew furious

it.

rebuttals

from two eminent Egypto-

Etienne Drioton, General Director of the French Service

:

AP of Egyptian Antiquities (and the target of

PENDIX

much

1

253

of Rousseaux’

and M. Jean Sainte-Fare Garnot, Director of Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. Principally, both scholars insisted that there was no real quarrel

criticism),

(Rousseaux’ article had been entitled La Querelle des Egyptologues) since all recognized Egyptologists agreed that Varille

And

Drioton remarked approvingly on ‘the

was wrong.

common

front of

by Egyptologists to withstand the symbolist attack, upon unanimity of opinion as ‘evidence’ of the un-

silence’ erected

again calling

soundness of the opposition’s argument.

Drioton then raised a number of to Varille’s earlier article,

specific Egyptological objections

and concluded by turning down Rous-

seaux’ invitation to meet on the site at Luxor, claiming that

Egyptologists had too

many

important things to attend to before

wasting their time travelling to Egypt

to discredit a

handful of

However, he suggested that if the symbolists cared to present their case, they were welcome to come either to Istanbul or Amsterdam, scenes of forthcoming archaeological conventions, at which they were welcome to submit papers. Varille was then given space - denied him in the scholarly journals - to answer the orthodox objections point by point. And

cranks.

he turned down the counter-invitation to come to Istanbul Amsterdam, apparently feeling that neither the Dutch Egyptian ruins nor the Turkish Egyptian ruins were proper settings for the on-the-site confrontation the symbolists were attempting to finally

or

arrange.

Unfortunately, by the time this second article appeared in print, Varille ists

had

As

had been

killed in

an automobile accident, and the symbol-

lost their chief official

far as

we know, no

spokesman.

further attention was paid to de Lubicz’s

ideas until his massive three-volume

Temple de

VHomme

appeared

1958 (almost the entirety of the edition of Le Temple dans VHomme having been destroyed by an earthquake).

in

Again, Andre Rousseaux brought the matter to the attention of the public, this time in the literary and philosophical quarterly Les Cahiers du

Sud (No.

358), again

summarizing the symbolist -

interpretation but this time providing the following description of particular interest to our subject of astrology

Egyptian monuments, when

they were the living emanation of

Pharaohic humanity, manifest a complete play of correspondences with

appendix

254

1

the rhythms of nature and especially with the sovereign and ordained rhythm written into the movement of the heavenly bodies. Thus, the :

first it

thing there

is

in its entirety,

by vague rigorous

to

is

be said about an Egyptian temple, in order to grasp

that

allusions, but

harmony with

Among

it is

a

monument

by precise links

to

to the

image of heaven

:

not

astronomical periods, and in

astral revolutions.

the contributors to this article

was Arpag Mekhitarian,

Secretary of the Fonda tion Egyptologique Reine Elisabeth (Brussels),

the one orthodox Egyptologist willing to violate the

‘common

may

be fairly

front of silence', and as such Mekhitarian’s opinion

regarded as carrying particular weight.

.

.

.

each of us [orthodox Egyptologists], within the

little

sphere of his

must have the courage to verify the elements with which he is most familiar; he must check, on the site if necessary, the assertions made by M. de Lubicz, and he must call unself consciously for help from colleagues and technicians able to throw light upon domains which formerly have been closed to him; above all, he must not reject a priori as inconceivable that which exceeds his understanding. ... the symbolism of M. Schwaller de Lubicz ... is not a simple personal and fantastic interpretation of facts, but conclusions drawn from precise and objective evidence which up to now has escaped the acumen of Egyptologists. speciality,

This seems clear enough. But following the publication of Le

Temple de

VHomme no

Egyptologists have either openly espoused

the symbolist view, or (apparently) heeded M. Mekhitarian’s advice. Meanwhile, the death of Schwaller de Lubicz, of his wife, and of Clement Robichon (archaeologist and architect who, along with Varille, had academic status) has precluded further concentrated

work on the

site.

Research

Lubicz’s step-daughter, and

Outwardly

it

is

by

carried a

on by Mile Lucie Lamy, de

few scattered

would appear that

‘the

individuals.

common

has been effective, and that, shielded behind

it,

front of silence’

orthodox Egypt-

ologists feel free to cite the blinkered constructs of

Wheeler, Bor-

and continue research into that nevernever Egypt of primitive materialists who produced all those chardt, et

al.

as ‘authorities’

masterpieces without ever conceiving a clear idea of the

But there

is

afterlife.

one indication that the labours of the symbolists have

not gone entirely unremarked or unheeded. France at any

rate,

without so

much

as

And

this is that, in

mentioning de Lubicz or

.

:

:

:

.

APPENDIX acknowledging a debt as hard-line

to the symbolist point of view,

1

255

masquerading

orthodoxy, symbolist-tainted notions are beginning to

creep into Egyptological journals and books - where they are

by Mile Lamy, and matched up against those relevant passages of Schwaller de Lubicz’s work which have been their collected

conscious or unconscious inspiration.

Though often technical and involved, and, taken out of context, somewhat difficult to understand, it is nevertheless clear that working from the orthodox point of view passages such as the following

would be impossible (we cite but two of the fifteen such ‘borrowby Mile Lamy which in turn were selected from

ings' furnished us

a

much

larger collection)

Here again,

well-known Egyptian conception, that composed of four couples of divinities representing the diverse forms chaos assumes upon taking consciousness and beginning to differentiate, from which emerges the Sun Creator, in the form of an infant emerging from the lotus .

.

.

this concerns a

of the Hermopolitan ogdoad,

1

.

That Egyptian myths represent the conscious genesis of the myths deliberately and in full knowledge

universe, and that the

depict the descent of unity into multiplicity are central points to

the symbolist interpretation of Egypt, and quite foreign to the

orthodox conception which would regard fabricated

De

it

all

as fairy stories

by dreamers on watchtowers.

Lubicz writes

In admitting a source-cause of the universe, this

unique

.

Creation accomplishes

One and Two; and created Universe

Unity

We is

is

of necessity

.

creates

may

.

therefore entirely through the

numbers

.

.

by ‘regarding

call this

indivisible,

itself

duality will be the fundamental characteristic of the

itself

.

.

unity God, or unpolarized energy insofar as unity

and God Creator, or polarized energy insofar as unity

is

conscious of itself. The universe is thereby nothing but consciousness and presents in

all

appearances nothing but an evolution of consciousness, from

its

its

origins to its end, religion

‘initiatic’

mingling

which is

to

is

the return to

teach

the

2 .

Another Egyptologist declares

way

its

origin.

The

that leads to

goal of every this ultimate

APPENDIX

256

Throughout there It

is

this

1

long examination

reason and systemization in

seems

to

me

all

I

have

tried to

emphasize that

Egyptian decoration.

increasingly apparent that, for the Egyptians,

the

all

elements of a design have a value and an implied meaning. Naturally,

we must guard

against over-subtilization, of putting into our interpre-

more ingenuity than the

tations

originators had in mind. But their

desire to give to a design a significance

possible

so often apparent that

is

it

and

seems

as great to

me

an

cfficacity as

was

necessary to look into

the minutest details in order to arrive at an understanding of their intentions

3 .

This is, of course, precisely the point that was emphasized over and over by de Lubicz, Varille and the symbolists, and as often and as hotly denied by orthodox Egyptologists. It is therefore of particular interest that

M.

Lacau, author of the above paragraph,

was among the most vehement of all the enemies of the symbolist interpretation when it was first put forward twenty years earlier. Our other examples are equally and as obviously derived from a knowledge of the symbolist interpretation. But what is interesting is

not that de Lubicz’s ideas are being pillaged without his being

acknowledged

as the source

but that these ideas are being infiltrated

into official journals in apparent good faith, as orthodoxy.

From here

it

Lubicz’s work. tance,

will be

most intriguing

Under no

to follow the future of

de

illusion himself as to its potential impor-

he was, of course, concerned not with revamping Egypto-

logy as such, nor with refurbishing the 'image’ of the vanished builders of the temples and pyramids, but rather with providing

the key to a tremendous, coherent and valid doctrine, the study of which might permit at least those engaged upon it to free themselves from the sterility, stupidity and fallaciousness of the materialism that is today making our planet uninhabitable. 'Egyptology can be a profession for excavators and despoilers of tombs, or it may become a most marvellous source of knowledge for a

world

to come,’ de

Lubicz declared.

and - we depend upon the courage of the young 4 are compelled to add upon their becoming aware that such an Egyptology is in fact possible, which under present conditions ’

‘It

will

would seem

.

to require at least as

much

.

.

luck as courage.

9

Appendix

2

Time Twins twin’ was Samuel Hemming who was born same time on the same day as George III of England (4 June

The most famous Time at the

1738).

Hemming and George

looked very similar and their lives ran

III

Hemming set up on the day George succeeded to the throne. Both were married on 8 September 1761, both begot the same number of children of the same sex, both became ill and had accidents at the same time, and both died on 29 January 1820 of in close parallel,

though on

their respective levels.

his ironmonger’s business

similar causes.

The life of the profligate George IV was also mirrored in the life of commoner Time twin’, born within the same hour. This man, though he became a lowly chimneysweep, was - on his own level and within his own circle - equally renowned for gambling, philandering and spending, and both were addicted to racing. The a

prince raced thoroughbreds and the sweep raced donkeys.

On

the

day the prince was kicked by a horse, his Twin’ was kicked by a donkey, and both were incapacitated for the same amount of time.

When Two

the prince

unrelated

a hospital in

went bankrupt,

so did the sweep.

women, both named Edna, met

Hackensack,

New

Jersey.

for the first time in

Both had been born on the

same day, and were now in the hospital for their first confinements. Their babies were born within an hour of each other, and both had been named Patricia Edna in advance. Both women were married to men named Harold, who had both been born on the same day. Both men were in the same business, owned the same make, model, and colour automobile. Both couples had been married on the same day. Both women had the same number of brothers and sisters and practised the same religion. Both families had a mongrel named Spot.

A man

named

C.F.A.

—

Patrick

O’Connor was

arrested

and detained

in

an

APPENDIX

258

2

army guard room, charged with

desertion. It took four

days before the authorities discovered that although

and

a half

this Patrick

O’Connor was born on the same day, had the same National Insurance Number, the same dental fillings and the same operational scar that served to identify the wanted man, he was not in fact that man - who was, of course, also named Patrick O’Connor. After Rudolph Valentino’s death, movie-makers began a search for

men who

looked enough like him to take his place. They found and one of the three was an Italian, Giordano Venturini, born in the same region, on the same day as Valentino. three,

In

New

pened

to

Negrelli,

York, a furniture manufacturer called Richardson hap-

meet a man who looked exactly like him. This man, named had been born in Italy, on Richardson’s birthday. Four

was run over by a car, and died two days later. In a different part of town, Negrelli had been run over by a car, and though this had been two weeks earlier, both Negrelli and Richardson died on the same day of injuries years after the chance meeting Richardson

incurred.

Plates

11

and

12

speak for

themselves.

Hahn and

Einstein,

both born 14 March 1879, were both great physicists. James Stephens and James Joyce, both born at 6 a.m. in Dublin, 2 Feb-

an astrologer, the Capricorn ascendant is particuobvious), were both renowned for their almost obsessive

ruary 1882 larly

(to

regard for language.

Beniamino Gigli and Lauritz Melchior

(plate 13),

both great tenors,

were born 20 March 1890. Both were members of the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York. Joyce Ritter and Jean Henderson (plate 10) came to live next to

each other in White Plains, this

New

selves

six.

From

girls

them-

York, at the age of

time on not only teachers but the parents of the

had trouble distinguishing between them. Both had been

born in the same nursing

home within

five

minutes of each other.

Not only were they remarkably alike physically, but they shared the same likes and dislikes. Both came from families of five children. Both had fathers

who

held similar jobs at the same airport.

APPENDIX

2

259

King Umberto I of Italy was introduced to a restaurant proprietor and remarked upon the similarity of their appearance. Upon inquiring it was learned that the king and the restaurateur had been born on the same day, at the same time, had married wives with the same name, and both had a son called Vittorio. The restaurateur had gone into business on the day the king ascended the throne.

was to take part in which he was delegated to present and the king expressed the wish to meet his double

The king then learned that match the next day

a shooting

the prizes;

the restaurateur

in

again.

But when the time came the king learned that his time twin had been killed accidentally while cleaning his gun.

And

before he

could be taken to the scene of the accident, the king himself was shot and killed by an anarchist assassin.

would probably be possible to document several hundred such cases from existing records. But to continue listing them would be tiresome, nor would it prove anything from a scientific standpoint. It

Astrologers, however, insist that the documentation

is

now

suffi-

ciently strong to provoke the interest of the scientifically-minded.

Astrologers are confident that large-scale research would prove

beyond a doubt that cases of ‘time twins' are not ascribable to and psychological similarities could be expected to recur. This would be particularly interesting for coincidence, and that physical

those intrigued

by the question

of

‘level'.

,

Notes 1. 2.

Introduction Paul Ghalioungui, Magic and Medical Science Hodder and Stoughton, 1963, p. 36. Paul Couderc, ‘L'Astrologie’,

Que

in

Ancient Egypt

Sais-je?, 1952.

Part One: History and Technique Chamber's Encyclopaedia, 1966. Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers, Hutchinson, 1968, pp. 19-20. 3. At different times, and in different places, the zodiac has been divided in other ways sometimes 8, 16, or 20 sectors. The 12 sign division has long prevailed in the West, but this does not necessarily mean that other means of division are wrong, or that all are wrong. Rather, it depends upon the meanings assigned to the divisions. 4. We are indebted to J. G. Bennett for this illustration. See The Dramatic Universe, Hodder and Stoughton, 1956 (especially Vols. I and II), for a discussion of the meanings of systems, and the relationships between them. 5. Rudolf Hauschka, The Nature of Substance, Stuart and Watkins, 1.

2.

:

1966. Eisler, The Royal Art of Astrology, Herbert Joseph, 1946. Quoted by Paul Ghalioungui, op. cit., p. 47. 8. I. E. S. Edwards, The Pyramids of Egypt, Penguin Books, p. 52. 9. Le Temple dans VHomme, Le Caire, Cairo, 1948. This edition, meant to be preliminary to a larger work, was destroyed almost in its entirety in an earthquake. Le Temple de VHomme, Caracteres, Paris, 1958, 3 Vols. This is the masterwork in which de Lubicz elaborately sets out the mathematical, artistic, architectural, astronomical and coterie knowledge of ancient Egypt. The social and philosophical implications of this knowledge were 6.

Robert

7.

discussed in: Le Roi de la Theocratie Pharaonique. Flammarion, 1961;

and in Le Miracle Egyptien, Flammarion, 1963 (published posthumously) Schwaller de Lubicz presented a condensed more-or-less unspecialized

resume of the Egyptian

None

tradition.

of the above have been translated into English.

The

three-

,

volume Temple de VHomme, key

to the rest,

is,

due

NOTES

261

to its size

and

restricted market, priced hopelessly out of the reach of the average

reader, nor

is it

to be

found in any but the largest of public

libraries.

however, two books by the late Mme Ischa Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-bak - Chick Pea Hodder and Stoughton, 1953, and Her-bak

There

are,

,

Hodder and Stoughton, 1961, in which the attempt is made to Egypt's wisdom down within the unfolding of a novel. But these

Disciple, set

books can only be considered partial successes; the Egyptian teaching they embody

lives,

who

but the actual Egyptians

are supposed to serve

framework for the story do not. Perhaps it is impossible to get close enough to the ancient Egyptians to portray them as three-dimensional living characters; but meanwhile Mme de Lubicz is laudably successful in making extraordinarily difficult and abstruse ideas accessible, even as

exhilarating. 10.

to

Certain physicists,

e.g.

Eddington, Schroedinger, de Broglie, seem

be inclining towards a view of this sort;

the neurologist,

it is

implicit in the

work

of

C. Eccles, etc.

Gothic cathedrals and the temples of the East are constructed

11.

upon

J.

similar principles, but

it

would seem under conditions that did not

permit them to emulate the Egyptians. The Egyptians did not build to

produce ‘monuments'. Their architecture was the performance of perpetual sacrament; a conscious and deliberately assumed

upon the understanding spirit as the

was

it

also been told that sacred

to astrological principles to

we have been unable to find anything specific on 12. The Golden Section, usually written , is

O =

found

and

6103398

to

determine the

has

long

the

minds

to de Lubicz,



165

112,

134,

Plant Growth, The, 127,

177-8 Moore, Patrick, 15, 192 Moore-Robinson, Miriam, 176 Muller, Johann, 82 Museion, the, 67, 77

Narratio Prima, 84 Nature of Substance, 216 Naylor, P. I., 204

Naylor, R. H., 108-9 Nelson, John H., 178-80, 181, 187, 191, 197, 208 Neo-Platonists, 76-7, 81

Neo-Pythagoreanism, 60, 124 Neptune, 24-5, 82, 99, 103, 105, 112, 119, 132-3, 134, 186-7; see

new

planets

Neugebauer, Otto,

new

Mercier, Charles A., 104 Mercure de France, 251 81,

bols of, 48, 56

Moon and

also

Melancthon, 82 Mendelssohn, Kurt, 45 Meneker, 173

Mercury, 24-5, 54-6,

213;

162-3,

214-16, 222-9, 2 4 °>

211,

209-10,

175, 219; and plant growth, 126-7, 170-71, 177-8, 209; sym-

Manilius, 70, 128

Margenau, Henry, 240 Mars: positions of, 15,

126,

58, 68, 72,

148,

152-3,

47, 51, 53,

64

planets: aspects of, 133; dis-

covery of, 82, 99, 119; and earthquakes, 180; problems of, 25-6, 105, 121, 132, 134, 217; and Velikovsky, 57

New 219

Scientist,

13,

158,

176, 211,

INDEX

284

Newton, 82-3,

109,

95, 97,

132;

theory, 90, 190

New

York Times,

Pliny, 176

Plotinus, 16, 76, 121, 198, 219 Pluto, 24, 25, 99, 112, 119, 132,

180, 217

Nineveh, 54, 60, 63, 67 Nova, see planets

134,

179,

180;

see

new

also

planets

Podshibyakin, A. K., 181 polarity, see laws

Observatory, 220 Observer, The, 42, 212, 217 Oedipus, 61, 238

Porte, Jean, 156, 160

Posidonius, 69 Prediction, 73, 109, 230 Principia athematica, 95 Proceedings of the National Aca-

Ogden, 189

M

Olcott, 102

On Growth and Form, On Heptades, 124

215

organisms, living, 170-72 Origin of Species, The, 35; see also evolution, theory of

Oswald, 173 Ouspensky, P. D., 244, 2460

Ptolemy, Claudius, 68, 71-7 86, 91, 93,

105,

121, 126,

,

80,

135,

198

The Social Dimension of Science, 42, io6n

Public Knowledge:

parapsychology, 101

pyramidologists, 43, 45, 47 Pythagorean number theory, 41,

Partridge, 96, 97 Peale, 225-6,

demy of Sciences, 138 Procelus, 76

249

Pearce, Alfred

123 J., Penguin Dictionary of Science, 137 Philolaus, 77 Physics of the Divining Rod, The,

43, 45, 60, 64-5, 73, 90-91, 120. 132, 139, 167, 230; see also

Copernicus; Egypt Pythagoras, 16, 59, 61, 66, 68, 72, 76, 83-4, 128, 171, 197

127, 177 Piccardi, G., 14,

182-4, 191,

174,

197, 208, 229 Pisces,

22,

25,

168; age

Queen

of

Querelles 72,

135,

94,

des

The, 117 Egyptologues, Les,

165,

253

136

of, 47,

Humbug,

planets,

15, 51, 77, 81, 99, 111, 117, 126, 131, 134-5, 142, i5i>

and horoscopes, 23, 209; and magnetic storms, 191;

28,

179,

180, 181, 214; nature of, 25, 65, 68,

1

24-5

;

observation

and organs of body,

21, 30, 49;

51-2, 81,

125,

personalities

149,

of,

221, 228, 246;

71,

and

175,

62,

83,

87,

108,

186; see also Mars,

new

216;

187, 195, professions,

152-70; relationships 55,

of, early,

of, 25, 41,

148,

169,

Venus

etc.;

planets

Plato, 16, 35, 51, 60, 61, 64, 66, 69, 76, 121, 181, 187, 198,

219

Ram, sign

of, see

Ravitz, Leonard

Aries

173 Reaves, Gibson, 218-19 J.,

Regiomontanus, 82-3, 93 reincarnation, 244 relativity, theory of,

239

Rheticus, Joachim, 84 Righter, Caroll, 24

Robichon, C., 40, 254 Rohan, Duke of, 97 Rose, Stephen, 282, 284 Rousseaux, Andre, 251-4 Royal Art of Astrology, The, 1223,

128

Russell, Bertrand, 225

N D EX Alfred, 118, 121

Sagittarius, 25

Still,

Salmasius, 123

Stoicism, 70

Sarapanitum, 54

Sturm, Julienne, 213, 221 Sufis, the, 78

Sartre, Jean P., 231

24-8, 68, 71-4, 80-81, 111-12, 119, 153, 155-6, 159,

Saturn,

161, 163, 165, 180, 185, 187, 214 Schaeffer,

Claude

P.,

Schmidt, W., 35; see also evolution, theory of Schwaller, see de Lubicz Science, 170

is

77,

81,

112,

117,

132,

23,47,72, 118, 126, 185; periodicity of, 171, 174, 185; signs of

horoscope, 25, 164; symbols, 56,

58

and

Life,

Essays

of

a

Rationalist, 226

Science

73,

151-2, 165, 219; composition of, 131, 134; Kepler, 91; and living

organisms, 171; and magnetic storms, 179-80; motions of, 20-

57

Schleider, 100

Science

sun,

285

not Enough, 299

sunspots, 118, 121, 134, 183; and

Science Journal, 45 Science of Prediction, The, 14 scientific point of view, 64, 79, 99, 109, 117-22, 150, 164, 177, 197,

214-17, 222-9, 236; and Gauquelin, 156-62, 169; see also

Sunday Express, 108 Sunday Times, 14 cycles, 184-7,

Swedenborg,

210 220 >

92, 100

Swift, Jonathan, 96-7, 128, 192 Synthetic Superstitions and Bogus Sciences, 119-20

maTakata, Maki, 220

terialism

Scorpio, 25, 65, 84, 108, 120, 133, 148, 164, 168, 205

secondary directions, 113

Taurus, 23-4, 25, 27-8, 30, 32, 49, 112, 167; age of, 48, 136 Temple de VHomme, Le, 253-4

Secret Doctrine, The, 102

Tetrabiblion, 77

selenotropism, 126

Tetrabiblos, The, 68, 72,

Severus, Septimus, 67

76-7 Textbook of Astrology, The, 123 Theophilus, Bishop, 67 Theophrastus, 61-2 Theory of Celestial Influence, The, 216

Shapley, Harlow, 229 Shorrs, Eleanor, 138

Theosophical Society, 102-3, 104, 176

Seleucis,

70

Sepher Yezirah, 124 Serapeion, the, 67 seven, law of, 81, 132

Sibley, E., siderealists,

100 135-6, 168

Sirius, 47,

65 William, 223 Smith papyrus, 50 Socrates, 62 Sphaera Barberica, 123 Sphinx, at Thebes, 38, 48, 55 Spiller, Philip, 102 spiritism, 101-2 Slater, Sir

stars, fixed,

85-6

Steiner, Rudolf. 176, 178

Thompson,

D'Arcy Wentworth,

215

Thompson, R. C., 123 Thoth, see Mercury time,

dimensions

of,

240-5; see

also destiny, level, reincarnation

Time, 218, 220-22, 232, 237

Tomaschek, Rudolf, 180-81, 214 Tombaugh, C. W., 132 tonoscope, 188-9 Tornier, transits,

E.,

160

111—13; scc a ^ s0 aspects

286

INDEX

problems 257-9 Uranus, 24-5, 82, twins,

of,

131-9,

140,

148,

99, 103, 111-12,

119, 132, 134, 180-81, 184, 187,

205, 242; see also

new

planets

Valens, Vettius, 74 Varille, A., 40, 251-3, 256; see also de Lubicz

Velikovsky, Immanuel, 57-9, 128, 229; theories of disaster, 57-9

Venus:

effects of, 71-4, 120, 152;

interpretation

of,

24-5,

27-8,

54. 57, 81, 134, 148, 151-3, 155,

163; symbols, 56-8 Virgo, 25, 28, 32, 72, 97 Virolleaud, Charles, 123 Voltaire, 97, 128, 192 Vulpius, Christine, 100

Warburg, Aby, 123 Watson, James, 224 wave-forms, 88-91 wave harmonics, 139, 179; see also

Addey, John M.

Wheeler, N. F., 43-5, 254 Whitehead, A. N., 36

Who's Who, 164, 169 Who’s Who in America, 168-9 Williams, David, 185 Williams, Roger, 138-9 witches, 13, 95 Witte, Alfred, 105 Wohl, Louis de, 110

words, properties

of,

188

Yamahiaki, 173 ziggurats, the, 56

Ziman, John,

42,

io6n

zodiac, 47-8, 147-8; characteristics of,

22,

68,

72,

245; and con-

sciousness, 103; divisions of, 23,

28-34, 56. 82-3, 139, 159, 216;

and organs of the body, 51, 80; and reality, 131, 142; signs of, 25, 62, 65; and sex, 175; sidereal, 135-6, 168; tropical, 135-6, 168;

and wave-forms, 167; Scorpio, Gemini etc. Zoroaster, 59, 129

see also

caseforastrologyOOwest caseforastrologyOOwest

THE CASE FOR ASTROLOGY History and Technique: The Birth of Astrology— The Principles of the Zodiac

—The Types of Astrology— Astrology in the Ancient World— Medieval Astrology— Astrology in Modern Times

The Objections to Astrology The Evidence: Gauquelin— CelesInfluence on Living Organisms— Celestial Influ-

Statistical— The Experiments of tial

ence in the Physical World — Extra-Terrestrial Influences— Cycles and Sunspots— Cymatics, The Study of

Wave Forms

The Future and

Significance of Astrology:

Astrology and Medicine — Astrology and Criminology-Astrology and Economics— Astrology and Science

The Question of Free Will: Time and Destiny— Time, Reincarnation and Recurrence-Time Twins