Discover the Art of Ancient Civilizations

Medieval Astrology

Astrology is said to be a symbolic language or an art form or some sort of divination. Some may even view astrology as a group of teachings, beliefs and traditions which focuses on the relative positions of celestial bodies and other related details for the provision of information about terrestrial affairs, humanistic matters and the general personality of people. Astrologers are people who believe and actively study the positions and movements of celestial bodies like the stars which they claim to have influence on people’s life on earth or directly communicate and respond to specific events that are experienced by human beings. There are several other definitions concerning astrology, but most will agree that the central meaning of astrology refers to celestial positioning which can help in the understanding and interpretation of both past and present happenings in an individual’s life, as well as predicting the future.

Medieval astrology and the ideas surrounding it is rooted in ancient Europe as opposed to the modern beliefs in today’s star sign horoscopes, which are usually found in the western hemisphere. As far back as possible in ancient Europe, medieval astrologers were highly respected and seen as magicians and scholars, who focused their attention on the movements and positioning of the stars which they claimed influenced several things on earth such as, the weather conditions, personalities of adults and new born babies, harvest or drought conditions and even the internal functioning of the organs within the human body.

In ancient medieval astrology, doctors relied on special calendars or almanacs which contained numerous star charts, which assisted them in their medical practice and sometimes determined what diagnosis they should make or what treatment they should administer to their patients. It was often spoken that these special calendars contained helpful pictures that would explain and describe any complications within the human body. These almanacs originated as far back as 1133 and were widely used by medieval astrologers and doctors to understand formations or star signs that had control over each part of the human body.

The ancient studies of medieval astrology reveals that it was translated from Arabic to Latin in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, but it actually played a significant role in the everyday practice of medicine in Europe, mainly because the doctors combined the study of the stars with Galenic medicine, which was created by Galen a Greek physiologist. Astrology was so prevalent by the end of the 1500s that physicians in Europe who were about to perform complicated medical surgeries and procedures were required by law to first compute and calculate the positioning and movements of the stars and the moon. This was because, they believed that a misunderstanding of the movements or positioning of the stars and the moon could result in a medical procedure going wrong and causing the death of the patient. Not only did medieval astrology contribute to the medical practice, but many of the astrologers in Europe practiced chiromancy or palmistry to predict someone’s future and they also relied heavily on the drawings of the horoscope to assist them with predicting the future as well.