The Historical Roots of Astrology
At one point or another, most of us astrologically-inclined folk will wonder, “Where does it all come from…?”
The end-all be-all is that where astrology came from has no clear or final answer. It’s not so much like religion where there’s one clear originator or pioneer for the philosophy….
Let’s take ourselves back to like (brace yourself), 6000 BC. In those times, the human race was a bit more simplistic, and it’s thought that because of this they were more attuned to the frequency of the Universe around them. With less distractions and social constructs, they had a larger emphasis on relating to a deeper spiritual meaning and learning about the Universe…. The final result was a bunch of super spiritually tapped-in ancestors.
It began with using the planets/stars for basic predictions, giving advice, and analyzing dreams.
From 2000-500 BC trade routes were expanding and information was able to be shared more easily between the regions. The Eastern parts of the world were turning into melting pots of information and philosophy.
This is why there’s no clear answer. We know that India, Egypt, Greece, the Romans, and others had all established their own loose understanding of astrology, which then blended and evolved into what we call “Hellenistic Astrology” (ala the Hellenistic Era).
Therefore, Hellenistic astrology simply refers to the philosophical wisdom that the ancients had grasped from their relationship to and understanding of the cosmos (notice “the ancients” is just clumped all together?).
I think it’s mystical and fun not having so many answers. The ancients were also thought to keep their wisdom close to the chest. They’re not just handing out their divinations to any old peasant, yk?
A metaphysical melting pot begins to grow as we see humans endeavor into self-exploration, modern divination, and evolutionary advances.
By ~400 BC we see the earliest known birth charts from the Mesopotamia region. This was notable because they were now dividing the chart into houses calculated by the ascending degree (which we will touch on later). They used these charts for very basic predictions and readings.
From this point on, advances in philosophy, science, and spirituality continue adding context to the practice of astrology. Greek mythology and philosophers like Aristotle and Ptolemy were very prevalent in the evolution.
As mentioned, advances in philosophy, science, and spirituality were also majorly influential. Essentially from then until now, we’ve seen periods where spirituality and mystical ideas have gained popularity and run the show, only to be followed by periods of science and religion calling the shots. It’s been centuries of back-and-forth between scientific and spiritual revolutions.
Astrology evolved to meet our needs each time it was brought back into the forefront of people’s minds.
Because, finally, in the mid-1900s, we start to see the “self-help movement” trickling in… And we’re still currently in a period that emphasizes people learning about themselves, analyzing personalities, and coming to greater senses of peace. It is for this reason that with the last and current major waves of spiritualism, astrology has evolved to be less of a fatalistic cosmic practice, and more of the energetic psychology tool we witness it as today.
