Egyptian Astrology
There are good reasons why Ancient Egypt is considered to be one of the most important civilisations to have inhabited our planet – not only because of the surviving visible traces such as pyramids and temples, but also in respect of their spiritual knowledge in which the interpretation of celestial events played an important role. Astrology in Ancient Egypt was based on a different system to the one used in occidental cultures. For example, the signs of the zodiac did not form the basis of interpretation.
The Egyptian world view was based on cyclical thought. The inner and outer life were orientated towards ever-recurring periods. The most important of these was the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth. The Egyptian year was composed of 360 days which were divided into three seasons. New Year was celebrated on the day the Nile flooded its banks. According to the oldest calendar this was around 19th July. This occurred at the same time that Sirius - the brightest fixed star in the northern hemisphere - rose and so the Egyptians considered Sirius to be of special significance. That was the beginning of the first season, the Time Of Flood that lasted till 18th November. From then until 18th March followed the Time Of Vegetation to be followed by the Time Of Harvest which completed the Egyptian Year. In addition, the year was divided into 12 months of both 30 days and 36 decans with a further subdivision into 10 days. The 36 decans were ruled by 36 deities which were seen as the personifications of time and space. Egyptian astronomers were aware that the period of the Sun's apparent motion around the Earth was five days longer, and to compensate for this fact introduced five leap days which they named after the important deities Horus, Isis, Osiris, Nephthys and Neth. Based on their observations of Sirius they finally came to recognise that five days weren't quite enough. But this was of little practical consequence. They remained faithful to this system during antiquity.
The smallest cycle was the day, the rotation of the Earth around its own axis. The day was divided into an 'era' of the night and of the day each consisting of twelve hours which were – as in the case of the decans – attributed to various deities. Under Babylonian influence these became twelve 'Double-hours'.
The deities for the decans together with those for the periods of day and night were associated with particular forms of energy. This attribution formed an important element in divination. It was the basis for prognoses and the Oracle because it was the task of those acquainted with such knowledge to interpret these energies. They drew on their experience to make predictions about which times would be conducive to certain kinds of action or where difficulties might be expected. The periodic division also illustrates an individual element of astrology which was not always present in ancient cultures. With the hourly change of the 24 daily deities which are to a certain extent comparable to the Ascendant, together with the succession of decan-rulers every ten days which bear a certain relation to signs of the zodiac, numerous combinations were possible within a relatively short period of time.
However, the hierarchical nature of the society meant that astrological predictions were only applied to those in positions of political and religious authority. As both mediators of the Gods and the ultimate representatives of the state, they were the only ones allowed access to this knowledge. Most predictions and the Oracle were in any case concerned with societal events.
But the cycle and the quality of time were not the only things that influenced astrology in ancient Egypt. The sky was considered to be a reflection of the Earth. The Egyptians saw their deities in all astronomical events. Nut formed the firmament in which Re, the sun god, carved out his never-ending path. Shu (the god of space and the air), together with his twin-sister Tefnut (the goddess of moisture), bonded Heaven and Earth together which were then ruled over by Geb – who was the masculine pendant to Nut. Geb and Nut originated from the pairing of Shu and Tefnut.
The Egyptians made accurate observations of both the path of the Sun and those of the other planets across the heavens. And not only the traditional planets and those fixed Stars close to the path of the Sun were considered to be significant but, as has already been mentioned, other conspicuous fixed stars such as Sirius. Because all heavenly bodies were considered to be connected with the gods, the heavenly play was seen as an outward expression of godly theurgy. The path of heavenly bodies also illustrated a connection between cycles and the quality of time. The Egyptians believed that the gods distributed their energy along the eternal paths traced by the heavenly bodies which influenced all parts of the heavenly firmament. With time the Sun came to occupy a central role among all the heavenly bodies. It played a more dominant role in both Egyptian astrology as well as having a more central role in the Egyptian world view than in other cultures. The Pharaoh as the highest ruler was considered to be the direct descendant of the sun god. In addition, the Egyptian culture was probably the first one to use a giant Sun-Calendar.
Weblinks
- Wikipedia: Egyptian Astronomy
- The Egyptian Calendar and the Zodiac (Deborah Houlding 1996, 2003)
- The Role of Egypt in the Development of the Horoscope (Dorian Greenbaum/ Micah Ross, 2009; academia.edu, Google PDF)
Notes and References
- ↑ Wall painting, ca. 1360 BCE