Something was said at the beginning of the present chapter about the crucial role played by the stars in the dissemination of divine ‘energies’ through the universe, and in the related workings of cosmic sympathy and fate. This complex of beliefs - and, by extension, their religious dimension to be discussed here - was a characteristic product of the Hellenistic and Roman periods; for while such general notions as cosmic sympathy, fate, and even the influence of stars on human affairs can be traced in ancient Egypt and classical Greece, the fundamental presupposition of astrology - namely belief in a direct and calculable connection between planetary movements and human actions - first emerged in the aftermath of Alexander’s conquests, through a fusion of Greek with Egyptian and Babylonian ideas effected principally by the Stoics. The mechanistic character of this doctrine, with its vision of Man as the helpless victim of ineluctable forces, seems inimical to the religious spirit, at least in the individualistic sense in which the modern Western mind understands such things. By their very nature, astrological prognostications tended to induce gloom, or at least a sense of impotence; and there was often a temptation to dismiss the whole subject with a strong dose of Lucianic irony. Yet the astrologers saw themselves as men of religion, and clothed their teachings in the language of sacred cult. It is important to gain some understanding of the reasons for the wide appeal of astral religion in late antiquity.
There is a sense in which even the simple, untutored contemplation of the heavens can be a religious act.
Fowden, Garth, 1993 (1986), The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press
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