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History of Astrology

From Babylonian omens to modern practice, including the scientific debate.

Course names, family names and outlines are shown in English. Lessons use English when a published translation is unavailable; the lesson shows a notice when this happens.

Levels 1–260 available lessons · Units: 12About 5.3 hours
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Level 1Units: 6

Level 1 · Unit 1

Mesopotamian beginnings

Sky omens, the Enūma Anu Enlil series, the birth of the zodiac and the first personal horoscopes.

  1. Reading the sky as omens
  2. Enūma Anu Enlil
  3. The birth of the zodiac
  4. The first personal horoscopes
  5. Checkpoint: Mesopotamian beginnings

Level 1 · Unit 2

Egypt, Greece and the Hellenistic synthesis

Egyptian decans, the birth of horoscopic astrology in Hellenistic Egypt, its key authors and core techniques.

  1. Egypt's decans
  2. Alexandria and the new astrology
  3. Dorotheus, Ptolemy and Valens
  4. Houses, lots and aspects
  5. Checkpoint: Egypt, Greece and the synthesis

Level 1 · Unit 3

India and China

The Yavanajātaka, Jyotish as a Vedāṅga and its classical texts, and China's calendrical astrology and BaZi.

  1. The Yavanajātaka
  2. Jyotish and the Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa
  3. Classical Jyotish
  4. China's calendrical astrology
  5. Checkpoint: India and China

Level 1 · Unit 4

Mesoamerican sky-counts

The 260-day count, the 365-day year and the 52-year Calendar Round, the Maya Long Count, the Dresden Codex Venus table and today's day-keepers.

  1. The 260-day count
  2. The year and the Calendar Round
  3. The Long Count
  4. Venus, books and day-keepers
  5. Checkpoint: Mesoamerican sky-counts

Level 1 · Unit 5

Astrology in the Roman world

Chaldeans in Rome, emperors and their astrologers, philosophers for and against, Manilius and Firmicus Maternus, and Augustine's Christian critique.

  1. Chaldeans come to Rome
  2. Emperors and astrologers
  3. Philosophers argue
  4. Latin handbooks and the Christian turn
  5. Checkpoint: Astrology in the Roman world

Level 1 · Unit 6

How historians know

An applied unit: primary sources and survival, dating horoscopes from planetary positions, legendary attributions, and how to judge borrowing versus independent invention.

  1. Sources and survival
  2. Dating a horoscope
  3. Names, legends and attributions
  4. Borrowed or invented?
  5. Checkpoint: How historians know
Level 2Units: 6

Level 2 · Unit 1

Renaissance to Enlightenment

Astrology at universities and courts, Kepler the critical astrologer, William Lilly's Christian Astrology, the loss of learned status and the popular almanac.

  1. Universities and courts
  2. Johannes Kepler
  3. William Lilly and Christian Astrology
  4. Decline and the almanac
  5. Checkpoint: Renaissance to Enlightenment

Level 2 · Unit 2

The modern revival

Theosophy and Alan Leo, Sun-sign columns, Rudhyar's humanistic astrology, the Hamburg school, psychological astrology, astrology in India today and astrology online.

  1. Theosophy and Alan Leo
  2. Sun signs and the Hamburg school
  3. Astrology and the psyche
  4. India today and astrology online
  5. Checkpoint: The modern revival

Level 2 · Unit 3

Astrology and science

How claims are tested, the Barnum effect, Gauquelin's Mars effect, the 1975 statement, Carlson's 1985 double-blind test, and where the debate stands.

  1. Testing a claim
  2. Gauquelin and the Mars effect
  3. The 1975 statement
  4. Carlson's test and where things stand
  5. Checkpoint: Astrology and science

Level 2 · Unit 4

The Islamic world and its neighbours

Baghdad's translation movement, star tables and astrolabes, observatories from Maragha to Istanbul, court astrologers, critics, and bridges to Byzantium and Hebrew.

  1. Baghdad and the translation movement
  2. Tables, instruments and skies
  3. Observatories and court astrologers
  4. Critics and bridges
  5. Checkpoint: The Islamic world and its neighbours

Level 2 · Unit 5

Astrology in medieval Latin Europe

Twelfth-century translators, astrology in universities and medicine, astrologers and critics at royal courts, and how Paris physicians explained the Black Death.

  1. The twelfth-century translators
  2. Universities and medicine
  3. Courts, kings and critics
  4. Explaining the Black Death
  5. Checkpoint: Astrology in medieval Latin Europe

Level 2 · Unit 6

Prophecy, power and panic

Case studies read with a historian's eye: the Letter of Toledo, the 1524 flood scare, Nostradamus and papal bulls, and astrology in 20th-century politics.

  1. The Letter of Toledo
  2. The flood of 1524
  3. Popes, prophets and printers
  4. The 20th-century spotlight
  5. Checkpoint: Prophecy, power and panic
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History of Astrology · Astrolysis