Astrology and It’s Incorporation In Magic
The term Astrology is obtained from the Greek words, “Astra”, a star, and “Logos”. logic or reason. This literally means the theory and law as presented by the planets or stars. Truly, our universe is made of all sorts of astonishing energies. Astrology enables us to explain these energies. It is not a religion thus, we are not required to begin or stop believing in anything, and we do not have to believe in it so that it can work.
Astrology combines intuition and science, magic and mathematics, symbols and cycles. It concentrates on planets and their seasons, and planets are usually real. As a matter of fact, they are quite real that their moves are logic and recordable. Astrology enables us to draw similarities between the orbits of the celestial bodies and experiences here on earth. It enables us to surf the astronomical waves by looking at our own planetary ephemerides, or “tidal tables,” and by imagining how to acquire the excellent drive from the tide that is en route. It proves our ideas and confirms what we already understand. Astrology is a symbol set, a language, and a guide to knowing the life, world and the cosmos.
Astrology and Magic.
The Renaissance Europeans applied the word magic to mean a set of practices and beliefs that had been identified under the name from the 400s B.C. Hypotheses of magic tried to describe unusual physical events; the system of magic explored to manage such events. The Renaissance thinkers discovered the connection between magic and other systems like astrology, witchcraft and alchemy. Jewish customs also played a big role in the Renaissance perception of magic. Quite a number of scholars related the practice of magic to what is known as Kabbalah, which is a mystical religious system that included reading encoded information in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jewish intellectuals shared their understanding of Kabbalah with the Christian scholars. Due to this, Christian and Jewish theories of magic grew along the same lines at the time of the Renaissance.
The Magical practices.
As per the Renaissance belief, a specialist in the magical theory also called magus, could foretell the future, draw unearthly powers, drive away demons and summon angels. There was a definite relationship between astrology and magic, which rested on the concept that movements in the heavens could affect events on earth. The magicians (Renaissance magicians) assumed they could cause variations in the even just by arranging material objects like shape, color, taste and texture. They imagined that different features would draw or repel the same features in heavenly bodies, allowing them to draw the stars and planets into coveted positions.
However, heavenly bodies were more than simply material objects. Also, they were associated with the classical gods as well as other forms of pagan religions. For instance, the planet Mars carried the name of the Roman god of war. Additionally, the Christian theologians of the Renaissance viewed these classical gods as demons, and quite a number of them were discontented by magic as a satanic art. Due to this, students of magic dedicated a lot of effort to defining magic as a mode of natural science. The associated magic medicine usually depended on the unexplained characteristics of natural things like herbs. The medical systems of the day could not give a reason why these herbs influenced the body as they did, while their attributes were distinctly original and not demonic.
During their days, the philosopher Pico and Ficino came up with theories of natural magic meant to evade the demons that they were worried about. Pietro Pomponazzi contradicted and dealt with this issue by just evicting demons from his magic theory. He maintained that while the idea of demons had a purpose in theology, they did not live in the real world. He observed magic as a mode of natural science that examined the relationship between the earthly and heavenly spheres. He came up with a world system that is based on astrology, whereby the human world was a small universe or microcosm that reflected events in the greater cosmos or universe.
From these, it is quite clear that magic had a link with astrology from the ancient days. Whether or not there is an actual link between the two, the fact remains the concept of astrology is still incorporated in magic even in the current world.