A Caverna das Ninfas, as Portas do Sol e da Lua e o Thema Mundi: Exemplo Textual

Akçay, K.N., 2019, Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs in its Intellectual Context, 146-7.

The Sun’s and the Moon’s paths are essentially the same in the same direction: the Sun’s route is the ecliptic, as previously noted, while the Moon is inclined at approximately 5 degrees to the ecliptic. The Moon’s crossing of the ecliptic from South to North symbolises an ascent and its crossing of the ecliptic from North to South symbolises a descent. The Moon’s crossing points of the ecliptic, the ascending node (ὁ ἀναβιβάζων σύνδεσμος) and the descending node (ὁ καταβιβάζων σύνδεσμος), are also related to the lunar nodes depicted as the Mithraic torchbearers with raised and lowered torches in the tauroctony (De Antro 24.13-25.1). As Beck rightly observes, the Sun’s rays has a function of apogenetic power, and its characteristics such as superior, high/up, heat/fiery, male are compatible with the ascending path of the soul, whereas the Moon asthe nearest to the Earth is inferior, down/low, cold/eartly, female.

Porphyry’s primary concern about the association of the gates of the Sun and the Moon with the two celestial openings of Plato in Republic 10 is ethical, rather than suggesting simply an astrological interpretation. The ascending path towards the Sun can be compared to the escape of the liberated prisoner from the Platonic cave, representing a choice towards a philosophical life instead of slavery to the material world. The path through the Sun symbolises the bright side of the soul under the guidance of its rational part, as is the case with the diurnal houses of the seven planets; similarly, the path through the Moon can be considered to be a symbol of the dark side of the soul under the guidance of its irrational part, as is the case with the nocturnal houses of the seven planets. 

Akçay, K.N., 2019, Porphyry's On the Cave of the Nymphs in its Intellectual Context. Leiden/ Boston: Brill.

O Deus da Lua de Harã, as Observações Astronómicas Sumérias, Assírias e Babilónicas e a Génese da Astrologia Genetliacal: Exemplo Textual

Green, T. M., 1992, The City of the Moon God: Religious Traditions of Harran, 42-3.

  Although there are records of observation of the appearance and disappearance of the planet Venus as early as the seventeenth century B.C.E. (during the reign of Ammisaduqa at Babylon), prior to the eighth century B.C.E., the only clearly demonstrable scientific interest in charting the "wandering stars" is found focused on the moon and the sun; and, in fact, it was only beginning with the reign of Nabonassar (747 B.C.E.) that accurate records of eclipses were kept and that the reports of the court astronomers were regularly recorded. Certainly the importance of the moon in the interpretation of various celestial omina (including the meteorological) had developed quite early in Mesopotamia, but by the very nature of the lunar cycle, these forecasts could not be long-range.

  In any event, divination through celestial phenomena was just one aspect of prophecy; much more popular during the Babylonian and Assyrian periods were incubation and haruspicy. Even that royal champion of the Moon god, the sixth century B.C.E. Nabonidus, was commanded to restore the temple of the Moon god at Harran through a dream. Further support for this view is found in the seventh century B.C .E. copies of the collection of celestial omens known as the Enuma Anu Enlil, which is dated in its earliest form to around 1000 B.C .E., and probably contains even earlier material. Most of its contents may be considered to be descriptive rather than analytical; only one quarter of the omens may be regarded as ''astrological,'' i.e., specifically concerned with the stars and planets. Yet, within two hundred years of Nabonassar, a shift in interest may be observed, for a cuneiform tablet dated 523 B.C. E. indicates the ability to calculate the monthly ephemerides of the sun and moon, the conjunctions of the moon with the planets, and of the planets with each other, and eclipses.

  Despite these relatively rapid advances, however, Neugebauer has posited a date no earlier than the fifth century B.C. E. for theregularization of the solar-lunar intercalated calendar, which knowledge would be necessary for the development of a genethialogical astrology. It was Naburimanni, a "descendant of the priest of the Moon god," who early in that century devised the lunar computational tables, used to determine the true date of the full moon, by which at least lunar eclipses might be predicted. It has been suggested that the growing interest in the astral deities and astral prophecy in the Near East during this period was a direct consequence of the conquest of Mesopotamia by the Persians, whose own religion contained many astral elements. 

Green, T. M., 1992, The City of the Moon God: Religious Traditions of Harran. Leiden/ Nova Iorque/ Köln: E. J. Brill.

A Melothesia Babilónica: As Origens da Astrologia Médica

Geller, M. J., 2014, Melothesia in Babylonia: Medicine, Magic, and Astrology in the Ancient Near East, 79.

  Unlike in Greek, there is no single text devoted specifically to melothesia in cuneiform texts,3 although Reiner has discovered melothesia in an important source, in a Late Babylonian medical commentary from Nippur (Reiner 1993: 21f.). These medical commentaries are crucial for understanding contemporary scholarship of the Persian and Hellensitic periods in Babylonia, and their significance must not be underestimated. The entry which caught Reiner’s attention is a learned comment on the typical medical phrases, ‘If a man’s spleen hurts him’ and ‘if a man’s kidney hurts him’. What the commentary explains is that the spleen is equated with Jupiter, and the ‘the Kidney-star is Mars’ (Reiner 1995: 60, Civil 1974: 336: 7). Reiner correctly concludes that the intention of the commentary is that Jupiter governs the spleen and Mars governs the kidneys, which are clear examples of melothesia, as we know from Greek sources.

  In other words, the essential elements and ingredients were available within Babylonian astronomy to construct a theory of melothesia. For one thing, within standard astronomical texts such as Enūma Anu Enlil, diseases were often connected with celestial omens, and it was an easy step to take to associate diseases with zodiacal phenomena; this idea was previously discussed by Rochberg, in her edition of a Late Babylonian tablet of lunar eclipses within the zodiac (rather than the more traditional appearance of an eclipse on a certain day of the month). (...)

Geller, M. J., 2014, Melothesia in Babylonia: Medicine, Magic, and Astrology in the Ancient Near East. Boston/Berlim/Munique: Walter de Gruyter.

A Astrologia como Astronomia Cultural: Exemplo Textual

Campion, N., "Astrology as Cultural Astronomy" in Ruggles, C. L. N., 2015, Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, vol. 1, 104 (103-16).

Astrology, from the Greek, astro-logos, is the assumption that the stars and planets contain meaning and significance for terrestrial affairs. Logos is simply translated as “word”, so astrology is, then, the “word” of the stars: the stars “speak”. However, in the context of classical thought, we may also consider that the stars possess reason or a kind of logic that can provide important information. Until the seventeenth century, the word was frequently interchangeable with astronomy, the “regulation” or “law” of the stars. Most non-Western countries do not employ different words to distinguish traditional astronomy from astrology, except where the distinction has been imported from the modern West. In India, both are jyotish, the “science of light”; in Japan, they are onmyōdō, the “yin-yang way”; and in China, li fa (calendar systems) and tian wen (sky patterns) are suitable terms (Campion 2008, 2012a, p. 100). Astrology appears to be a universal feature of human culture and may be understood as a form of cultural astronomy; an important contribution to the understanding of astronomy’s cultural uses, applications, uses, and functions; and an indication of society’s attitudes to the stars.

Ruggles, C. L. N., 2015, Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, 3 vols. Nova Iorque: Springer.

Astrologia Helenística - Os Três Contributos Babilónicos ("Caldaicos"): Exemplo Textual

Rochberg, F., 2010, In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy, 143.

In the scientific literature of the Hellenistic period, references to “Chaldeans” in connection with astrology and astronomy are numerous. The implications of such references, for the history of astrology, however, depend on a closer assessment of the nature and extent of the Babylonian contribution to that branch of Hellenistic science, but an assessment based on cuneiform sources. Three elements which re demonstrably Babylonian in origin yet form basic and integral parts of Greek astrological doctrine provide the focus of discussion here. They are: l) planetary exaltations, 2) the micro-zodiac, and 3) trine aspect. The differences between the Babylonian and Greek use of these three elements are exemplary of the fact that despite the incorporation of Babylonian elements at the inception of Greek astrology, the overall character and rationale of Greek astrology remains entirely a Hellenistic Greek product.

Rochberg, F., 2010, In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy. Leiden/Boston: Brill.

Biblioteca III: Duas Histórias da Astrologia Antiga

  Apresento aqui algumas sugestões para uma biblioteca astrológica. Contudo, como critério de coerência, não irei apresentar nenhum livro que não tenha lido. O objectivo é apresentar sobretudo títulos que permitam aprofundar os conhecimentos astrológicos e que, por norma, não sejam os mais comuns. Um dos piores erros em que pode cair um astrólogo é cingir-se ao superficial e cair no lugar-comum e na frase-feita. Deve-se portanto procurar como se nunca nada se encontrasse. Um livro lido deve assim servir de ponte para o seguinte.

Beck, Roger, A Brief History of Ancient Astrology.

Malden, Oxford & Carlton: Blackwell Publishing, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4051-1087-7

Páginas: 159

Preço: 32,16€ 

(Preço Amazon.es) 

Barton, Tamsyn, Ancient Astrology.

Londres: Routledge, 1994.

ISBN: 978-0415110297

Páginas: 245

Preço: 40,29€

(Preço Amazon.es) 

   Os dois títulos apresentados são, de facto, duas abordagens introdutórias ao estudo da Astrologia Antiga, todavia, os vectores de análise são totalmente distintos. O livro de Beck assenta numa abordagem temática, e não histórica, que é, por vezes, demasiado simplista. A constante depreciação da astrologia também não ajuda. Quando diz, por exemplo, "While I will of course respect the scientific distinction between astronomical fact and astrological fantasy, I will not be overly concerned with it." (16), está a recorrer a um mecanismo académico de defesa que, nossos dias, já se revela ultrapassado e, na verdade, pouco rigoroso.  O tom de paternalismo positivista relembra, para quem teve a oportunidade do ler, o texto de referência de Bouché-Leclercq de 1899, L'Astrologie Grecque, persistindo assim, a bem de uma pretensa superioridade académica, a necessidade de reduzir a astrologia a um lugar entre a superstição e a pseudociência. A visão de Beck torna-se, desta forma, limitada e demasiado centrada na distinção entre astronomia e astrologia. A sua notória preferência pelos textos ptolemaicos também não contribui para a divulgação da multiplicidade do pensamento astrológico antigo. No entanto, a forma como descreve a construção de um horóscopo ou tema natal é um dos aspectos positivos do livro e que faz merecer a sua leitura.

   Beck divide a sua obra em nove capítulos. Os dois primeiros abordam o lugar da astrologia na Grécia e Roma Antiga e no seu desenvolvimento a partir da Babilónia. Nestes capítulos, a visão de Beck, acima descrita, é bem evidente, todavia, no capítulo 3, inicia-se a parte fundamental do livro que assenta na compreensão do sentido por detrás da construção de um horóscopo, ou seja, como o mundo helenístico produziu um sistema que persistiu no tempo de forma quase inalterada. Do capítulo 3 ao capítulo 7, encontramos a génese conceptual da astrologia genetliacal e Beck, apesar dos preconceitos, criou uma boa síntese desta criação. O último capítulo, antes da conclusão, aborda o tema controverso dos métodos antigos para determinar a duração da vida. Mais um vez os preconceitos de Beck tornam-se evidentes, sobretudo ao não conseguir compreender o papel destes métodos, nem a profundidade dos sistema astrológicos praticados por Trasilo e Balbilo. Na conclusão, Beck tenta justificar o papel da astrologia antiga no século XXI, porém, como parte de premissas fundadas num juízo de valor prévio, as suas teses tornam-se necessariamente tendenciosas. No entanto, sem ter isso como finalidade, acaba por concluir que a base do sistema astrológico assenta no sentido, no processo de significação, próprio de uma representação da realidade e não de um método científico. Se tivermos uma consciência prévia da visão do autor, podemos, apesar de por vezes pensarmos que estamos a ler um livro do século XIX, encontrar o seu valor e dedicar-lhe um lugar numa biblioteca astrológica.

   O livro de Barton é radicalmente diferente. Neste livro, podemos encontrar uma verdadeira história, embora sintética, da astrologia antiga. Barton inicia a sua introdução ao que dizer que a "Astrology is a remarkably resilient discipline" (1), o que, na verdade, é uma das suas virtudes. De seguida, faz - e bem - a distinção entre o cliente antigo e o actual, ou seja, afirma que na Antiguidade procuravam-se previsões e não aconselhamento. No entanto, convém referir-se que, por exemplo, Trasilo e Balbilo fizeram mais do que previsões para os imperadores que serviram, pois foram, de facto, influentes conselheiros. Porém, o esforço de Barton pretende mostrar que a astrologia descrita no seu livro não é aquela que surge em jornais e revistas, mas sim uma forma "séria", como ele própria define, e que pode estar hoje presente em meios académicos, como qualquer outra disciplina intelectual. Esta premissa inicial é completamente diferente da de Beck, todavia Barton não deixa de referir que "The image of astrology today discourages scholarly investigation. Academics, if they do find themselves in the field, tend to concentrate on safer areas, such as the history of mathematics and astronomy revealed in astrological texts, or confine themselves to the manuscript tradition, so that they are not at risk of being perceived as moving outside the borders of acceptable scholarship" (4). No entanto, sem este caminho inicial não se poderá chegar a lado nenhum.

   Barton divide o livro em sete capítulos com várias subdivisões ao longo das cerca de trezentas páginas. No primeiro capítulo, são abordados os antecedentes históricos da Astrologia Antiga, ou seja, os contributos babilónicos, egípcios e gregos. Os exemplos textuais apresentados por Barton permitem ao leitor compreender a evolução de um modelo proto-astrológico, essencialmente mântico, para um sistema astrológico profundamente conceptual. O segundo capítulo trata da astrologia na Grécia e em Roma. Barton demonstra que a cultura astrológica foi transmitida essencialmente em grego, o que comprova que a astrologia era um saber intelectual, tal como qualquer outro saber ensinado em língua grega, e completamente inserido no seio de todas as formas de conhecimento da época. Neste capítulo, podemos também perceber como a astrologia se relacionou com o poder, em particular com o poder imperial, e como teve com a lei romana uma relação complexa e hostil, que contraria o exemplo da sua prática, em especial, na corte. No terceiro capítulo, encontramos a forma como a astrologia conviveu com a génese e triunfo do cristianismo. O quarto capítulo, um pouco à semelhança de Beck, explora os princípios da astrologia, ou seja, a sua matriz teórica. No quinto capítulo, Barton apresenta a prática astrológica antiga e a forma como se constrói um horóscopo ou tema natal, sobretudo a partir do exemplo do tema natal do Príncipe Carlos. Este capítulo é extremamente completo, tanto pela erudição dos textos apresentados como pela rigor da análise astrológica. No sexto capítulo, é introduzido o universo social em que se insere o astrólogo antigo, bem como a variedade das suas mundividências, que são transferidas naturalmente para os seus tratados. Este capítulo retrata alguns aspectos que nem sempre são abordados noutros livros como, por exemplo, o tratamento das orientações e práticas sexuais e as mortes violentas. Por fim, o sétimo capítulo apresenta algumas das ramificações da Astrologia Antiga, como a medicina e a magia, e algumas reflexões nomeadamente acerca da astrologia mundana e da relação com o culto de Mitra.  

   A leitura dos dois livros poderá iniciar o leitor no estudo da Astrologia Antiga e os contributos de Beck e de Barton mostrar-se-ão como complementares. A leitura das bibliografias de ambos os livros abrirá também os horizontes para novas leituras, pois esse é o valor inestimável de um livro.       

Ibn Ezra, o Livro do Mundo e a Grande Conjunção: Exemplo Textual

Ibn Ezra, Abraão, Livro do Mundo: Primeira Versão (Sefer ha-'Olam), ed. S. Sela, 20-21:

20 (1) In a great conjunction, then, observe the sign of the ascendant at the moment of the luminaries’ conjunction or opposition, whichever of them occurs last before the Sun enters Aries. (2) Also observe the sign of the ascendant at the moment of the luminaries’ conjunction or opposition before the Sun enters the quadrant where the great conjunction will occur. (3) Also observe the sign of the ascendant at the moment of the luminaries’ conjunction or opposition, whichever takes place <last> before the great conjunction, during the month when the conjunction takes place. (4) Now, if the conjunction takes place in Aries, there is no need to observe another sign of the ascendant; only one <is necessary>. (5) But if <it takes place> in any of the other quadrants, sometimes it is necessary to observe another sign <of the ascendant> together with the first and sometimes it is necessary to observe two <more>. (6)This happens when the conjunction does not take place in the first sign of the quadrant.

21 (1) At the time of the conjunction observe the characteristics of Saturn and Jupiter. (2) Find out which of them is closer to apogee or perigee on their great circle, whose center is different from the center of the Earth. (3) Also observe which of them is closer to apogee on its epicycle, whether both are direct in their motion or retrograde, whether their latitude is southern or northern and how many <degrees> is its latitude, and observe which of them has lordship in its place. (4) So if you find that Saturn is closer to apogee than Jupiter, or that its latitude is northern whereas Jupiter’s is southern, or that it is on the ecliptic, or that Saturn’s northern latitude is greater than Jupiter’s northern latitude, or that Saturn is on the ecliptic whereas Jupiter’s latitude is southern, or that both are southern but Saturn’s latitude is less than Jupiter’s, or that Saturn is in a place where it has lordship, then it [Saturn] portends that an ancient nation, regardless of where it resides, will not be defeated and will not go into exile. (5) Due to Saturn’s nature, hate, jealousy, enmity, contention, hunger, and various illnesses will increase in the world. (6) But if Jupiter has all the power we have allotted to Saturn, it portends that a new people will overcome the ancient people and that royal authority will pass from one nation to another.

Fonte:

Sela, S., 2010, Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Book of World - A Parallel Hebrew-English Critical Edition of the Two Versions of the Text, 64-67.

Leiden/ Boston: Abraham Ibn Ezra’s AstrologicalWritings, Vol. 2, Brill.

Jung e a Astrologia: Exemplos Textuais

Carl Gustav Jung, CW 15, “Richard Wilhelm: In Memoriam” (1930), par. 81:

[81] Its value is obvious enough to the psychologist, since astrology represents the sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity.

Carl Gust Jung, Letters I, “To L. Oswald, 8 December 1928”:

You are quite right in supposing that I reckon astrology among those movements which, like theosophy, etc., seek to assuage an irrational thirst for knowledge but actually lead it into a sidetrack. Astrology is knocking at the gates of our universities: a Tübingen professor has switched over to astrology and a course on astrology was given at Cardiff University last year. Astrology is not mere superstition but contains some psychological facts (like theosophy) which are of considerable importance. Astrology has actually nothing to do with the stars but is the 5000-year-old psychology of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Unfortunately I cannot explain or prove this to you in a letter.

Carl Gustav Jung, Letters I, “To Sigmund Freud, 12 June 1911”:

My evenings are taken up very largely with astrology. I make horoscopic calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth. Some remarkable things have turned up which will certainly appear incredible to you. In the case of one lady, the calculation of the positions of the stars at her nativity produced a quite definite character picture, with several biographical details which did not belong to her but to her mother – and the characteristics fi tted the mother to a T. The lady suffers from an extraordinary mother complex. I dare say that we shall one day discover in astrology a good deal of knowledge that has been intuitively projected into the heavens. For instance, it appears that the signs of the zodiac are character pictures, in other words libido symbols which depict the typical qualities of the libido at a given moment.

Fonte:

Jung, C. G., 2018, Jung on Astrology,
Selected and Introduced by S. Rossi and K. Le Grice, 23-25.
Londres/ Nova Iorque: Routledge.