Astrology is one of those topics that most people think they know about, but they really don’t. I say this without malice as someone who’s studied astrology for over a decade and took a course on the foundations of Medieval Islamicate astrology where I saw first-hand that there is so much to this practice that most of us, at least in the West, don’t know. And the main purpose of this blog, which God-willing will grow to include video content, live streams and more, is to share my journey learning and practicing Medieval Islamicate astrology, its history, about its most influential practitioners, how these techniques work and how these traditional methods are different from the modern astrology that dominates the U.S. & Europe.
Starting with what astrology is and why should we believe in it? Most people, myself included before I took the foundations course, don’t know much beyond astrology is examining how the planets influence events here on earth. And while that’s not entirely wrong, it doesn’t encapsulate the full essence of what astrology is, how it works and why anyone should believe in it.
According to Abu Ma’shar Jafar ibn Muhammad al Balkhi’s Great Introduction to Astrology, astrology is the study of “the knowledge of the nature of every planet, every sphere, and the property of their indications, and what arises and happens as a result of… their different movements… and their natural imprint on this world, which is under the sphere of the Moon, in respect to the difference… of the ‘natures’—i.e. fire, air, water and earth—and (their imprint) on the individual animals, plants and minerals…”[1]
Abu Ma’shar lived mostly in present-day Baghdad during the 9th century and is the most cited and influential astrologer in the world.
During his time, Astrology was referred to as the Science of the Judgment of the Stars. That’s right, astrology was considered a science which one had to study and practice to master. On a side note, you had to be a mathematician as well to calculate the positions of the planets. Luckily, today we have computer technology that does it for us. To study astrology in Abu Ma’shar’s time was to take on a rigorous study of complicated techniques which in turn provide granular details about how a person’s life will unfold from birth until death. Many astrologers today, and in the 9th century surmised how certain planetary alignments might turn out for a person. But practicing traditional astrology means using a detailed framework developed over millennia to make precise predictions rather than guessing. To be an astrologer is to be an eternal student, to constantly be in pursuit of knowledge, which is a duty also charged to faithful practitioners of Islam in the Qu’ran.[2] You don’t have to be Muslim to practice Medieval Islamicate astrology, in fact many influential astrologers of this time were Jewish or Christian. But Islamic thought permeates the principles that underpin the cultural values that astrology of this era is based on.
Today as in the 9th century, astrologers aren’t the only profession that studies the stars. Both astronomers and astrologers use the same knowledge in their work but while astronomers merely observe the stars, astrologers make judgments about what planetary movements mean for conditions in the terrestrial world. Both astronomers and astrologers track planets’ movements throughout the heavens, but astronomers stop at observation.[3]
Traditional astrologers solely use the seven ‘wandering stars’[4] that is, the planets that can be seen with the naked eye: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Knowledge of the planets predates Abu Ma’shar’s life, and he combines Aristotelian cosmology and Islamic belief to explain how astrology works. Aristotle and other ancient philosophers argued four natures exist in the terrestrial sublunar world: heat, coldness, wetness and dryness. They mix and mingle with each other to produce the compound elements we know as fire, air, water and earth. When the planets move through the twelve zodiac signs, they cause change in the four elements, which we experience thanks to the five senses [hearing, sight, smell, taste & touch].[5] These changes produce events ranging from the seasonal changes every three months to worldwide pandemics [i.e. COVID-19], the rise & fall of empires [decline of the United States as the global hegemon], and everything in between.
The movement of the planets produces heat which makes the earth vulnerable to these elemental changes, “and there happens… change in these bodies from one into another, and coming to be and passing away occur in them, by the permission of God, the exalted.” [6] Thus the planets act as a distant medium creating a natural effect like a magnet naturally attracts metals. The planets naturally change conditions on earth, which like metals is susceptible to them. [7] Thus, movements of the planets directly cause changes in the four elements that change conditions on earth. Both Aristotle and Abu Ma’shar believed the heavens and terrestrial worlds are bound together by force, and the movements of the ‘wandering stars’ and the conditions that result from them come from God.[8]
But while celestial bodies act upon the elements, they’re not of the same quality as the elements. If they were, the planets would go through an entire life cycle, as the elements do.[9] Instead, Abu Ma’shar writes the planets are “spherical, luminous bodies, moving with a natural motion…” [10] that “does not have a beginning or end.” [11] Furthermore, Aristotle posits the planets exist in the celestial world in a fifth element—known as athir. Central Asian astrologer & astronomer Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni who lived roughly a century after Abu Ma’shar reasoned that athir is the divine body of the heavens. While the terrestrial world is susceptible to creation and destruction, [12] the heavens is perfect and indestructible. Thus “superior to the elements of the sublunary world.” [13]
Humans, plants and animals alike survive on earth because of the balance of the four elements. And since the four elements exist in all living things, we are vulnerable to changes in them.[14] The diversity of species of plants and animals, and in humans is a result of how the four elements mix. Just like we all carry a unique mix of genes from our mother and father, each of us has unique composition of the four elements. Which is why changes in the four elements caused by planetary movements, affects different people differently. Jupiter moving through Leo will have a different effect on me than on my spouse, family, and friends.[15]
Whether one believes or not, astrology happens. The Sun is currently in Virgo, and for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we’re approaching the end of summer and the beginning of fall, bringing a decrease in heat. But for someone in Johannesburg, South Africa, they’re approaching the end of winter and an increase in heat. The difference in weather, just like how the sun rises at a different time for me on the west coast of the United States versus someone in New York, is because of astrology. Sailors or those who spend extended time on the ocean use the moon’s gravitational pull to determine if there’s low or high tide to avoid running aground. Farmers and those in agriculture use the sun to determine when they should plant and harvest, and which plants or fruits they should grow.
Astrology has been around for millennia and will continue, God-willing. The fact that I’m refencing astrologers who lived over 1,000 years ago speaks to its endurance. Astrology is useful to anyone from any walk of life: farmers, scientists, artists, writers and leaders. From the teenager trying to find their place to the aging ruler facing their mortality. We make predictions everyday about everything from economics and politics to sports and health. The desire to know what’s coming and how to prepare is as potent now as it was in Abu Ma’shar’s time—perhaps because it was never really about the stars at all, but about us.
Sources Cited
[1] Abū Maʿšar. The Great Introduction to Astrology. Vol. 1. Edited and translated by Keiji Yamamoto and Charles Burnett. p. 55
[2] Sunan Ibn Majah, no. 224. sunnah.com/ibnmajah:224
[3] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 pp. 53, 55
[4] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 443
[5] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 81
[6] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 83
[7] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 85
[8] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 81
[9] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 81
[10] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 81
[11] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 83
[12] Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Revised Edition. p. 132
[13] Nasr, Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, p. 237
[14] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 pp. 93, 95
[15] Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction, Vol. 1 p. 99