Edgar Cayce and Persian astrology - Part 2

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EDGAR CAYCE AND PERSIAN ASTROLOGY

 

----------PART 2----------

 

THE SECOND PERSIAN PERIOD

This is a period for which we have historical and astrological records, the

time which included the Persian dynasty's hold over the Babylonian Empire:

539-331 BC. Here the research of modern scholars agrees with Cayce.

 

For the relationship of astrology applied to the individual and the role of

Zoroastrianism, please see FROM THE OMENS OF BABYLON by Michael Baigent,

pp. 174-175 (Arkana 1994)

 

A very good introduction to the history of horoscopic astrology, including

the Persian influence, is given by Robert hand in the Introduction to THE

ASTROLOGICAL RECORD OF THE EARLY SAGES IN GREEK (The Golden Hind Press, 1995)

 

A shorter summary is given in James H. Holden's A HISTORY OF HOROSCOPIC

ASTROLOGY (AFA, 1996).

 

Here are three of the academic references to this time period:

 

(1) MESOPOTAMIAN ASTROLOGY by Ulla Koch-Westenholz (Denmark: Museum

Tusculanum Press, 1995)

 

A quote from this book: (Chapter 8, The Persian and Seleucid Periods) " The

most significant innovation was perhaps the zodiac, the division of the

ecliptic into twelve equal parts or signs. It replaced the earlier series

of 17 constellations on the " Path of the Moon. The zodiac was first used in

Babylonian astronomy in the fifth century BC... " (p. 163)

 

Another quote (p. 132) relating to an earlier time period: " The zodiac was

not yet invented in the Neo-Assyrian period. The positions of planets and

the moon were primarily referred to in relation to 17 constellations, not

all in the ecliptic, described as " Gods standing in the path of the moon... "

 

This little book of 200 pages doesn't come cheap. My receipt (still in the

book) says $76.34.

 

(2) Another book on the specific sidereal nature of the early zodiac is

EARLY ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY by C.P.S. Menon (London: George Allen and

Unwin Ltd, 1932)

 

" Besides the Four Guardians of Heaven, the Persians had the Twelve Akhtars,

or zodiacal constellations...They had further the 28 Lunar Mansions...In

the Bundahis [Zoroastrian scripture], we have a direct proof of the fact

that these sub-divisions were obtained by immediate division of the 12

signs: " First he produced the celestial sphere, and the zodiacal

constellations are assigned to it by him, especially those twelve

(named)...which from their original creation were divided into the 28

sub-divisions of the astronomers, of which the names are... "

 

Note: Lunar mansions were always sidereal since they were a record of the

Moon's movement through observed asterisms. These divisions had to have a

fiducial point, but where?

 

(3) A third academic book has a price tag of over $100: ASTRAL SCIENCES IN

MESOPOTAMIA by Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (Brill 1999) Lots of

mathematical detail in this book, not recommended for the faint of heart.

The authors go into some detail regarding the changeover in Mesopotamia

from observing planets near stars in visible constellations to 12 equal

signs measured along the ecliptic. These signs were not based on the

equinoxes. There are discussions in this book related to scholarly debates

on the equinox topic.

 

(to be continued)

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