Episode I:  Hellenistic Astrology
Episode II: Chinese Astrology
Episode III:  Early Modern Astrology

Introduction

The theory of astronomy has been around since man first laid eyes on the sky.  Primitive men were able to look toward the sky for amusement, but they were never really able decipher or understand what they were looking at.  Today, I still find myself looking up in amazement during the nights sky and wonder…What am I really looking at?  The stars, planets, constellations, and everything else that has to do with the night sky has always been something that catches my attention.  I’m glad to have now gotten the chance to spend a semester research the field of astronomy/astrology through three different time periods.

The past 4-5 weeks of HSCI 3013 has opened my eyes to the realm of astronomy, the study of the stars.  I find it very interesting how Mesopotamian astronomers formed strong guilds or secret societies that tracked the motion of the stars through the sky for over 500 years.  I was amazed at how creative the Mesopotamian thinkers were to determine why the earth was round and a way to model retrograde motion.  The earlier astronomers were at the pinnacle of their research during the time of Enuma Enu Enlil.  From what they had at hand, they were able to know everything about the sky.  The observations were so precise they were even able to predict lunar eclipses.  However, the early astronomers were also wrong about a few things.  They believe the Earth was the center of a sphere, which rotated around them creating the observable motion of the stars through the sky.  I would like to know when theories like these began to be challenged and how creative and innovative thinking continued through the middle ages to further shape the study of astronomy through present time.

The three episodes found in the web project are from the ancient, medieval, and early modern time periods.  For the Ancient time period I’ll elaborate on early Hellenistic astronomy and astrology.  I've also mentioned a little about the influence of Babylonian astronomy on the Hellenistic period.  The medieval time period will concentrate on Asian astrology/astronomy.  This is where I'll compare and contrast Babylonian and Asian astrology.  The third episode will concentrate on astrology in the early modern era.  More specifically on this era I've include excerpts from Johaness Keplers treatise, On the More Certain Fundamentals of Astrology.  

Please feel free to browse through my website if you want to find out how lucky you are according to Western or Asian astrology. 

I would like to start my conclusion off by mentioning the differences in what my above introduction claims were and what was really produced when the web project was completed.  My main goal of the entire project was to study the History of Astronomy.  Shortly after I started my research, I realized I would need to narrow my topic down, a lot!  I decided to concentrate more on the History of Astrology, but when you think about it what is history of astrology to us was the most advanced Study of Astronomy in ancient times.   Today  when people think of astrology they think of  some crazy lady sitting inside a  gypsy  tent trying to make a buck.  I wanted to show everyone that astrology is more  than just mumbo jumbo and that it had a real  significance in peoples lives and culture.  This idea can be easily acceptable for people to comprehend when the normal person thinks about ancient times, but this applies up through the early modern era and in some aspects even today!  I deviated from what I expected to write about in my third episode based on this very ideal.  At the beginning of my web project I intended my early modern episode to be concentrated on Renaissance Astronomy with an emphasis on the physical motion of the stars and orbital mechanics.  I chose to not write about this topic for two reasons.  The first, is that the topic did not tie into my overall theme very well and the second is that we cover the Copernican system in our class readings.  I instead wanted to show everyone that astrology was practiced in depth up threw early modern times.  I also was able to find a concrete primary source, On the More Certain Fundamentals of  Astrology, Johannes Kepler. 

The most exciting thing I discovered in my research of Astrology is the fact that it has been practiced all over the world in some form or another.  Every civilization has held a strange connection to the heavens above.  Always wanting to know more.  Always wanting to understand exactly what the heavens were there for?  Who placed them there?  Man constantly was trying to figure out the unattainable code of what the heavens are trying to tell us or if their trying to tell us anything.  The Babylonians, Chinese, and people from the Ancient West(Aztecs and Mayans) all held astronomy/astrology as a cornerstone for their belief systems.   I would have loved to do an episode over Mayan astrology except I could not fit it into another time frame (ancient, medieval, or early modern) and it would of been very hard to find a primary source on the subject. 

Although all civilizations studied astronomy they are all very different in their approach to the study of the heavens.  In episode II, Chinese Astrology, I mentioned how a westerner would not recognize a Chinese star chart.  Although it is the same sky, this should be expected.  Peoples located in different longitudes would see a different orientation of the sky.  People also perceive things differently.  How much different do you think a Mayan star chart would have been?  What types of constellations and system of determining their calendar to you think they practiced?  Some people even say that the Mayans were the most advanced calendar builders and astronomers of all time.  They have even used the astrological practices to predict to end of the world to be in December of the Year 2012!  site

Overall, I hope my web project will inspire people to be interested in the astrology of all cultures and continue to search for the truth that lies within the mysterious code of the heavens. 

Home Page
Projects Page


Created by: Brian Lewis
Brian.G.Lewis-1@ou.edu

Orion image, The Legend of Orion, www.ufrsd.net/staffwww/ stefanl/myths/orion.jpg