Modern Astrology versus Traditional
The practice of astrology has changed in a major way compared to its ancient roots. The main reason for this was the discovery of planets beyond what was once visible to the naked eye. This has resulted in different forms of astrology that vary depending on different beliefs of how these planets fit into the system.
Welcome to Exploring Esoterica, the podcast where I break down different esoteric practices and shed light on the history and truth behind them. In this episode, we'll explore a few differences between traditional astrology and its modern version with these outer planets.
It's currently December as I record this. Personally, I'm ready for next year as this has been a quite difficult one for me. I've heard this to be the case for many people as well. It's like we're still trying to figure out how to live post pandemic of 2020, which was five years ago.
For those who know anything about annual profections, this is my 12th house profection year. This has been a major year for spiritual growth and hardships. I'm still healing from a sudden personal event that happened to me at the end of this past summer. It's a slow process that's definitely going to take me a while to overcome.
For those who don't know what an perfections are, it's an astrological technique developed during the Hellenistic era of Greece. If you look at your natal chart, every year, the next house in your chart becomes a focus for that year, which starts on your birthday. It's very similar to solar returns, but again, this is a traditional technique that I prefer to follow instead. And since next year, we'll focus on my first house or ascendant, I'm ready for this year to be over. But anyway, hopefully everyone is having a somewhat easier holiday season for me. It's been pretty peaceful and calming and has been a bit of a respite.
Now, in today's episode, this will probably be my last episode. When talking about the framework of astrology and the history of it in a major way. Any other content that make related to astrology can be treated as an addendum to the foundational episodes I've already made. I will only be talking about modern versus traditional astrology in terms of the outer planets, their discovery, and how the practice changed to accommodate these newer planets. Some people change the ancient framework entirely, others dismiss the new planets entirely, and the rest of us sit somewhere on that spectrum.
As usual with my longer episodes such as this one, I'll break this down into three parts. Part one, we'll continue the history of astrology from ancient times to the modern era. And part two, we'll explore the outer planet specifically and how the practice has changed because of that. And in part three, we'll discuss how this aligns with the religious and spiritual freedom in this modern era as opposed to the past, which was more rigid, strict, and less tolerant. So let's go ahead and jump into part one.
[02:43] Part 1: A Brief History
So let's start with a brief overview of the history of astrology that I covered in episode 14 titled Planets in Ancient Astrology. Much of astrology in the ancient era were societies creating their own meaning of the stars, planet, and cosmos in a way that aligned with their specific cultures and religions. You have the Babylonian cultures that saw the stars as omens of what to expect. We saw how the planets were significations of the gods in ancient Greece and Mesopotamia, and we saw the debate of monotheism and polytheism in the Hebrew culture.
By the time of the era of the Hellenistic Greece, we saw the different aspects of astrology become codified in a sense. Of course, every astrologer had their own flavor and preferences that they taught, very much like astrologers today who have slightly different interpretations of the planets on the zodiac. But for the most part, much of how astrology is practiced today stems from the development of the practice during the Hellenistic era. However, by the end of the Roman Empire, we see the persecution and suppression of astrology, especially when Christianity became the national religion.
[03:47] Middle Ages
Now as a Western Roman empire was falling apart, astrology was being preserved and studied in the Eastern Roman empire, also called the Byzantine Empire. This is where we see the rise of Islam, but also how astrology was being practiced there. Because Islam is a monotheistic religion, many of the Muslim astrologers of that era were struggling with the same theosophical concerns as the Christians in the Western Roman Empire and even the ancient Hebrew societies before. The debate mainly hinged on how astrology, which has polytheistic roots can fit into a monotheistic culture. There was careful considerations not to present the planets and stars or even the astrologers themselves as able to usurp the power of God, but instead explain how it aligns with the will and power of that monotheistic God.
It's very similar to the fate versus free will debate that we explored during the Hellenistic era, but this time in a religious sense. Again, this is a question that every practitioner will have to confront at some point, and this deeply philosophical question will always have a spectrum of answers. These answers range from no, the cosmos has no influence on humanity to, yes, we are totally at the mercy of the cosmos. Everyone will have an individual answer that aligns with their individual beliefs. Now I won't dive too deep into Islamic astrology, but I'll leave a link in the description as show notes if you want to learn more.
But while astrology was being developed in the Islamic culture, Western Europe had entered the Middle Ages. Although society was fragmented at the time, Christianity was still the dominant religion, and any astrology practice had to satisfy the codes of that religion. Much of the population couldn't read yet, and the clergy still banned the practice due to theological reasons. But then the Black Death came, which lasted roughly between the years 1346 and 1353. This pandemic, also known as the Bubonic Plague decimated much of Europe, and this tragedy led to many using astrology in a medical sense.
Medical astrology had always been a branch of the astrology overall. And from what I understand, much of it was developed during ancient Greece and at least a Hellenistic era. But germ theory hadn't been developed yet. So society was trying to figure out answers to us in the modern ages may seem a bit weird, but turning to what I'd consider spiritual practices to find answers is on par whenever there is a major societal collapse, such as a natural disaster or pandemic. There are many apocalyptic messaging around the Black Death just as there were during the COVID Pandemic of 2020.
[06:15] Renaissance & Enlightenment Ages
But Europe was rebuilding itself, the West entered the Renaissance Age around the 15th century or 1400's. There was a time when society wanted to reconnect with the past and nature. Many ancient texts were being rediscovered, and there was a celebration of human life, which is understandable as Europe had just gone through a pandemic that left much of the population decimated.
Christianity was still the dominant religion, but the power of the church over society was starting to lose its grip. Anything considered pagan was still viewed through a Christian lens. But during this time, Copernicus had developed his heliocentric model of the universe. He was afraid to publish his discoveries at first due to the church, but the church urged him to present his theories to the public. This is because the sun was considered a metaphor for God as the Christian God was the real deal. This, of course, aligned with the church's power and control over the knowledge of the common folk.
However, Galileo hit the scene and said the opposite. While his discoveries corroborated this heliocentric model, which is basically the sun is the center of the universe, Galileo believed that God was a metaphor of the sun. In other words, the sun was a reality and the Christian God was just a deity in a religion. Of course, this made the church upset and he was therefore excommunicated.
At this time, the church was going through its own internal division, which resulted in the Reformation in the 16th century. This was a time when Protestant Christianity was on the rise and there was a split between them and Orthodox Christianity. The Protestant were more hard lined against non-Christian practices such as astrology, and by the Enlightenment period of the 17th century, we see astrology in anything considered pagan to be akin to devil worshiping and something dangerous and sinful. There's an increase in witch hunts and executions against non-Christians, and even those who were Christian, but had allegations placed against them for a multitude of reasons, mainly misogyny.
The Enlightenment period was also called the age of reason where rational thought were considered superior. And while this did lead to important scientific advancements, it also led to more prejudice and against anything esoteric like astrology. This is a sentiment that continues today.
[08:22] Industrial Age
Then we move on to the industrial age of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is the era where we see machinery takeover as well as goods and services become more commercialized. The byproduct of this is that spiritual philosophies and practices also became more commercialized. We see a continued explosion of different spiritual practices and esoteric organizations. This began for the most part in the Enlightenment period where you had a lot of groups form around the ancient philosophy of Hermeticism, for instance, which to my novice understanding is related to Neo Platonism. We'll get to all of that sometime in this podcast. But the main thing during this time is that we saw the division between high astrology and low astrology.
High astrology refers to the practice in terms of theosophical understanding and what was used in esoteric groups. There was a religious vibe to astrology and what that meant in terms of the human psyche, God, and what was considered the ultimate truth. Again, this is related to NeoPlatonism and the search for whatever was considered divine and absolute.
However, low astrology is what was used by the common folk. Think of the horoscopes you see online or in magazines and newspaper columns, which became popular in later centuries. Those aren't so philosophical, even religious focus. There's a lot more simplicity to that. We see a boom in almanacs being sold, which are just planetary alignments that are used to predict certain outcomes and situations that may occur. Almanacs being produced started right when the printing press took off in Europe. But again, the Enlightenment and Industrial periods is when we see them become more popular with the common masses.
When Campion surveys the Industrial age in his second book, we come across the terms modernity and modernism. Modernity just refers to the material science and mass industrialization that occurs in a given timeframe, which was very much part of the Industrial age. Modernism is the ideology that we can create a better future by rejecting modernity and finding liberation from it. There were many groups that were formed around the idea that we can reach some type of utopia or even nirvana by rejecting modernity. It sounds in line with ancient philosophies like neo Platonism and Gnosticism, both of which I plan on talking about at some point. But again, even with those philosophies, the idea was that the material world was somehow flawed and you needed to practice some type of religious and spiritual work so that you could escape from this drab existence of the physical world. I do have to iterate, however, that modernism wasn't just about leaving this world, but reconnecting with nature. So there was a Romantic vibe to it as this idea was very much part of the Renaissance era. Reconnecting with nature.
[10:59] Modern Era
By the 20th century, the idea of modernism was taken a bit further by the New Age Thought movement, which focused more on personal development instead of spiritual growth like the previous eras. By this time, the control that the church had over society diminished and there was a lot more spiritual and religious freedom that people could finally enjoy. Sun-sign horoscopes and publications became more mainstream, although they were already popular in the previous centuries due to the almanacs, but now we see them in mass market publications like magazines.
But while there were more religious, spiritual, and philosophical freedoms at this point, it wasn't without controversy and skepticism. In fact, as I was reading the last few chapters in Campion's book, I realized that human beings have always been like this. There was a group called the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal that was hell bent on trying to debunk what is still described as pseudoscience. This is a sentiment that is still around today, which I'll talk about in just a second. . But just like the witch hunts of the earlier eras, this committee was nothing more than a group of people trying to control the flow of public knowledge. This committee was so focused on power and control that they would tamper the evidence and results on their investigations just so the information would align with their own biases. Thankfully, when the scandal came to light, many people disregarded the group and it disbanded.
But many skeptics of this time and today still try and disprove non-rational practices such as astrology and witchcraft, with rational and quantifiable means. The two don't go together, and they don't necessarily have to. By the way, I rarely see this push for disproving non-rational practices when it comes to religions like Christianity. Trying to figure out if astrology is real is like asking if God exists. Everyone is going to have a different answer. This is because we're trying to quantify something that is theosophical, religious and spiritual. These are not the same as trying to prove gravity exists or a math equation. It's just people trying to prove that their perspective on life should be the correct one and everyone else's is wrong.
And that brings us to the 21st century, which I would call the Age of Information. Everyone has a personal computer and smartphone with information always on the edge of their fingertips. And yet people are still trying to control the flow of information. In the epilogue of his book, Campion described a situation where some colleagues were basically attacked for entertaining the thought of studying astrology and even adjacent subjects. Again, another hangover from the Enlightenment period, fundamentalist Christian attitudes and the witch hunts. And let's not forget the rise of Christian fascism that is rampant in our government as I record this. Not to end this section on a sour note, but again, humans and society seem to have always been this way, and history is just repeating itself in many ways, not just with this topic.
But again, this is just an overview of the history of astrology in the different eras from beginning of humanity until the present century. If you want more details, I highly recommend checking out my resources, specifically Campion's second volume on this topic. You can also find links to join my monthly newsletter and give a deeper insight of my journey through this esoteric topics. As well as donate to this podcast to support my work.
But with all that said, let's go on to part two and talk about modern versus traditional astrology and how that deals with the outer planets.
[14:18] Part 2: Outer Planets
When I speak about modern versus traditional astrology, there's a specific moment in history that signals that divide in my brain. During the Enlightenment period of the 17th century, there was a lot of scientific advancements taking place. Telescopes were becoming more powerful, and we were able to observe the universe in a way that our ancestors were not able to. Astrology was developed around what we could see with our eyes and not the use of powerful telescopes. During this time, Galileo had discovered moons around the planet, Jupiter, and while this was an important discovery, it didn't shift our understanding of the universe as much as when we discovered the first planet past the orbit of Saturn.
[15:06] Uranus
The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel. A few astronomers had noticed it before, including Galileo, but because the planets past Saturn are so slow moving, they all thought it was a star. But after carefully tracking, its moving through the years, and I'm sure using the notes of those previous astronomers, we concluded that, nope, this planetary body was in fact a planet. This caused a major shift in our understanding of the universe. From what we understood, there was only five visible planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. These are the planets that could be seen with the naked eye. But the more of the universe we were able to observe with the aid of technology like telescopes, the more our understanding grew, and this was the case for astrology.
Now how astrological meanings became associated with planets and stars and even asteroids is still a fuzzy subject. There is a close correlation to the names that astronomers give these objects, the mythology of the name, if it's associated with a deity such as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and the sign implications that astrology mostly agreed upon for that planet or asteroid or star.
But I've also found a correlation between when a planet is discovered and the shifts in society that is happening. According to astrology, Uranus is a planet of unconventional and eccentric behavior, sudden changes in unexpected events, and the tools that facilitate in rapid changes like technology and electricity. When Uranus conjoins with other planets, there's events and moments of rapid changes that happen along with the topics of those other planets.
This correlates to the rapid changes in technology and knowledge that was happening during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. There was a rapid change in ideology, but also scientific advancement. And when this planet was discovered, the Industrial Age was about to kick off and cause an even bigger disruption to how we viewed the world.
The practice and philosophy of astrology expanded in a big way and cause many philosophical questions at the time. The astrology developed during the Hellenistic era was almost a closed and packaged practice. We understood the mythology associated with each planet, the correlation between the planets and the zodiac, and how those can correspond to each person's natal chart, depending on what time and day they were born.
But this packaged system didn't account for extra planets in the sky. Astrologers had to figure out where this new planet could fit into the system. Of course, there were many debates and opinions, which is still the case of today. But for me, this marked a shift in how the planets were viewed in this practice.
One of the major issues that is still a concern in the practice today is a topic of essential dignities. This is the concept that the traditional planets each rule a sign of the zodiac. The sun and the moon rule one sign each while the other five planets rule two signs each. But with Uranus and other planets that I'll talk about in a second, there was a debate and still is, of whether any of the new planets rule certain signs. There was a symmetry that was thrown off in the pattern of the signs and the planets that ruled them. This rapid change is very much related to the significance of Uranus. Sudden change and disruptions to the systems and order that was previously established.
[18:12] Neptune
However, when we speed up to the 19th century, we have another planet that is discovered. Neptune was discovered in 1846 by three astronomers, that to this day are still debated among who deserves credit for this discovery. Those three astronomers was Johann Galle, Urbain Le Verrier, and John Couch Adams. Apologies for any mispronunciation as I don't speak French.
Not only was a 19th century a time of industrialization, it was also a time that continued the different esoteric movements in organizations that formed because of it. While the 18th century was about the rational thought and varying philosophical movements, think the Enlightenment period, the 19th century, the Industrial Age, took that step further into a more practical sense. Techniques like mesmerism and animal magnetism took off, which is better understood as a precursor to the hypnosis and what would lead to the development of psychology in the following century. Techniques such as this was a way to explore what we could not readily see. In other words, it was a way to discover how our minds work and what is considered abstract and extrasensory.
There were investigations and demonstration of those who claim to be clairvoyant, for example. All of this falls in line with the significations associated with the planet Neptune. Neptune is a planet of intuition, abstract thoughts, dreams, and imagination. It represents what feels nebulous and formless. It's notions like extra sensory perceptions, like intuition, that can feel like illusions and alternate realities.
The light side of Neptune can be intuition, creativity, spirituality, and being able to imagine different possibilities that may seem unreal and limitless. However, the shadow side can be illusions, untethered from reality, addictions, and escapism. So as we can see the interest in spiritualism, extra sensory perceptions and alternate reality shares a correlation with the discovery of this planet.
Back to the discovery. The search of the planet started because the orbit of Uranus seemed to be off as if another object was pulling on it. Galileo had actually discovered it before, but much like Uranus, he thought it was a star. Each of the three astronomers I mentioned earlier investigated this phenomenon for answers, and figured some planetary body was involved. Le Verrier predicted its position and urged Galle to do further calculations. Adams did his own independent calculations for the planet as well. Eventually, all three discovered the planet and its orbit, but this sparked international debates between who deserved credit, as Le Verrier is French, Adams was British, and Galle was German.
Eventually, an international consensus decided that Le Verrier and Adams deserved credit. I dunno what happened Galle, he wasn't mentioned. But this is still contested to this day, particularly with Adam's claim. I personally think that all three deserve created, but that's what happened. This sense of confusion and trying to discern boundaries and the facts is part of the symbolism of Neptune, and it's something I find fascinating with comparing world events with the discovery of the planet.
[21:13] Pluto
The last outer planet I want to discuss, that's still a big part of astrology today, is Pluto. This planet was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh. Sorry for a mispronunciation. It was actually observed years earlier by a team of astronomers led by Percival Lowell, but the images were faint and not recognized for what they were. The Lowell Observatory is the same one that Tombaugh worked when he found the planet, but this was decades after Lowell had passed away.
Now, by this time, there had been plenty of asteroids discovered, including the minor planet Ceres, but Pluto was the first one that was considered an actual planet by this time. I know it's been downgraded to a minor planet now, we'll get to that controversy in just a second. As with Uranus and Neptune astrologers had to figure out how this new planet would fit into the framework of astrology and whether we should keep the same framework as traditional astrology or change it altogether. I'll get to that major change that is still contested today in among practitioners in a minute. So put a pen in that as well.
But let's think about the timing of Pluto's discovery. This was in 1930, which was right between the two World Wars. In astrology, Pluto was the planet of intensity and transformation on a deep level. This can lead to societal revolutions, both for good and evil. There's a transformation of societal systems from the inside out. It is shocking yet illuminating. Destructive and deconstructive.
In the 1930s, fascism was on the rise. Remember, World War II started in 1939, roughly. Psychology was being developed and expanded. Carl Jung was developing his type of astrology that would be used in typology systems such as the MBTI or Myers-Briggs System that breaks down personalities into 16 types. The Great Depression has started in 1929, causing a major shift in economy. So there was a major transformations going on in the world at this time, which again is indicative of the significations of Pluto in astrology. Pluto in Greek mythology is the god of the underworld, and psychology involves digging deep into a person's mind and behavior. Hence why psychology and Carl Jung are associated when talking about this planet in the practice of astrology.
Now, as I said earlier, Pluto was considered a planet, but the more objects that we found in the asteroid belt that were in fact bigger than Pluto, the more its designation was debated. And in 2006, the final decision came when Pluto was reclassified as a minor planet, much like Ceres. This caused quite the ruckus and caused scientists to redefine the term planet. Once again, what was established had to be transformed, deconstructed, and redefined. In fact, Pluto's designation as a planet in astrology didn't change. It's still interpreted with the same considerations as Uranus and Neptune.
That is, it's not part of the five classical and visible planets, but it's also not the same as asteroids and minor planets as Chiron, Ceres, Vesta and Juno. And this brings me to my final point in this portion.
[24:11] The System
In the traditional system of astrology, there is something called the essential dignities. In past episodes, I've called this the rulership scheme, which hints at the underlying concept of the essential dignities. Basically, the significances of the traditional planets and luminaries are altered when in certain signs. For instance, the sun is exalted in Aries and in fall and Libra. If you want to know more about this, listen to Episode 15: The 12 Signs of the Zodiac, whereas discussed the full breakdown of the essential dignities. Again, the rulership scheme, as I called it.
This concept only involves the visible planetary bodies and doesn't account for any future planets. You can probably see where I'm going with this. Once the outer planets were discovered, some astrologers tried to compensate for these changes and incorporate the outer planets into this scheme. Therefore, according to modern interpretations, Pluto rules Scorpio, Neptune rules Pisces, and Uranus rules Aquarius. This breaks up the symmetry that was part of the traditional system and makes the signs and planets correspond to each other based on affinities. In other words, what signs are most similar to certain planets.
This is completely different way of doing essential dignities and redefines the practice of astrology. It's worth saying that many of the astrologers I've studied while doing research into this topic reject this idea and continue to practice what was established during the Hellenistic era. The essential dignities only include the sun, moon, and five visible planets while the outer planets and asteroids are just additional influences in a astrological chart. In other words, Jupiter rules Pisces, Mars rules Scorpio, and Saturn rules Aquarius. While the outer planets do not rule any of the signs and are not part of the essential dignities or rulership scheme. These are still important planets in a chart though.
And this brings me to my last point. When we look at the outer planets in relation to the traditional planets in astrology, we can see a demarcation. Saturn is a planet that separates the visible world with the alternate reality. Even Jupiter, the planet of expansion and growth is still within the confines established by Saturn. All of the traditional planets correspond to our current reality and the way society is now. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto correspond to possibilities and disruptions beyond those confines. Yes, the disruptions can feel shocking and even dangerous, but they can also reveal possibilities to better systems we live in and bring further harmony in a radical way.
Let me explain this ideology further in part three.
[26:43] Part 3: Spiritual Freedom
We're living in an age where we have much more freedom to not only learn other spiritual practices, but also redefine what they mean to us individually. Now, of course, there are certain practices that are closed in order to protect the culture they're part of. But most ancient and esoteric beliefs and practices are being modified to fit the modern society. Astrology is one of those practices.
Ever since the discovery of Uranus in the 18th century, astrology has been redefined and refined to accommodate the continued discovery of bodies in the cosmos. I haven't talked about asteroids because that deserves its own separate episode. But asteroids and the outer planets have been given special considerations since they're not part of the traditional framework of astrology. In fact, in one of my books, the authors outright ignored those planets and asteroids simply because ancient civilizations didn't account for them. It makes sense. It's hard to account for what you cannot observe or even know exists.
As part of my research, I read the book Astrology and The Authentic Self by Demetra George. In one of the chapters, she talks about all the asteroids that can be taken into account when reading a person's chart. And we're not talking about the main ones you've probably heard of like Chiron, Vesta, Juno, and Ceres. No, no, we're talking about more than 10,000 asteroids that can be considered. If you thought astrology was a vast practice, the asteroid expand this even further.
And this is my personal opinion. At some point, a practitioner has to know where that endpoint is for them. Demetra doesn't consider all of the asteroids, just ones that seem relevant and important in an individual's chart. I tend to ignore asteroids altogether at this point. If I make an episode about the asteroids, I'll definitely only be talking about the four ones I just mentioned. Because for me, any more than that simply becomes too much.
However, this goes back to that spiritual freedom I mentioned. Astrology is not a close practice and can be combined with other spiritual practices and religion. We've seen how monotheistic religions, such as Islam, Judaism, and Christianity modify the practice in a way that fit with their beliefs. We're seeing the acceptance and popularity of astrology and even witchcraft despite the ridicule from academia and fear-mongering from mostly Orthodox and fundamentalist religious circles. Maybe one day these groups won't have such a strong political hold on society and culture.
But that wraps up my foundational episodes on the practice and history of astrology. This was by far the episode that took the most research, but it was fun nonetheless. I practiced the modern version of astrology before I finally did research, and discovered the history and techniques that I developed over the years. And now I've changed my practice to align more with traditional methods. I truly believe understanding the history of a practice and the society it developed is crucial for understanding why certain techniques are practiced and the philosophy behind it. I will admit it's hard to find factual and even academic sources that take on an objective approach instead of passing mythology, legend, and opinions as fact. But I'm glad more resources are being developed and so that it makes it easier to learn.
But I hope you enjoyed this episode. Feel free to check out my other episodes on this topic if you would like to learn more. If you would like to support me directly, you can go to my website to buy my books or make a donation. You can also find transcripts of this episode. You can also join my monthly newsletter so that you can stay updated on what's going on in my life and my content. For those of you watching on YouTube, be sure to subscribe and leave me a comment. And with all of that said, thank you so much for listening. And I'll see you in the next one.
