Astrology and Christianity by Jacqueline HancockAnd God said: 'Let their be lights in the firmament to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. And let then be for lights in the firmament to give light upon the Earth." And it was so. And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule by day and the lesser light to rule by night; he made the stars also. Gen 1:14-16Most Christians would agree that horoscopes are not of God. (Surprisingly many claiming to be Christians read their 'stars'; some regularly!) Whilst horoscopes are not of God, the stars clearly are His. More interestingly they are also His instruments as signs for His people. We all would probably agree that stars are useful in navigation and for telling the seasons. After all have not sailors and travelers used them for centuries? What many of us probably wouldn't acknowledge however is the fact that stars (star constellations) are also signs that tell us the plans and purposes of God for this world.I have read two very interesting books that shed a great deal of light on this subject. One is by Johnathan Gray "Sting of the Scorpion; The Truth behind star signs” Swift Printing 1997). The other is by Patrick C. Heron "The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse". In both these books the real meaning behind the stars is uncovered.Johnathan Gray tells us in chapter 1 that "the zodiac enshrines the oldest pictures in the world, but .that horoscopes are relatively new. ...The original intent of the zodiac was infinitely more grand and masterly. It contained a powerful message, which for 4000 years was clearly understood. Then, about 300B.C.this noble and sacred science fell under the influence of Babylonian priests." This 'message' in the stars is not about what will happen to you tomorrow. No! Its purpose is far greater than that. Rather the message in the stars is all about God's plans and purposes for everyone in the world. Does the Bible back up this suggestion? You bet it does. Patrick Heron gives us some insight here.Heron tells us that the Hebrew word 'sign' in Genesis comes from the root word aveh, meaning 'to mark'. This tells us then that one of the functions of the stars is to "mark out or signify someone or something special to come. (page 49) In Psalm 147:4 we see that all the stars are named by God (Yahweh and in Psalm 19:1-6 we find that the stars pour forth speech, display knowledge and that their voice is heard throughout the whole world."A careful study of this passage shows that the stars in their courses do four things: they prophesy, they give knowledge, they illustrate the glory of Yahweh (Hebrew for God) and they show forth His purposes." (ibid 50)Both books mentioned go into much detail about the constellations, the history of their understanding and also how the real message was 'lost' or distorted and turned into the Zodiac of today. (Just like our enemy to wreck the message.)The outcome of all of their research has been to show us what the original understanding of the stars (constellations) would have been in Old Testament times. They go through each sign and tell us the name and meaning of the name of the stars in the Zodiac.
I VirgoThe Prophecy of the Promised seed 1. Coma: Woman and child. 2. Centaurus: The despised sin offering. 3. Bootes: The coming one with branch.II LibraThe Redeemed Atoning Work 1. Crux: The cross endured. 2. Lupus: The Victim slain. 3. Corona: The Crown bestowedIII ScorpioThe Redeemer's Conflict 1. Serpens: Assaulting the man's heel. 2. Ophiuchus: The man grasping the serpent. 3. Hercules: The mighty man victoriousIV SagittariusThe Redeemed Triumph 1. Lyra: Praise prepared for the conqueror 2. Ara: Fire prepared for his enemies 3. Draco: The dragon cast downV CapricornusThe result of the Redeemer's suffering. 1. Sagitta: The arrow of God sent forth 2. Aquila: The smitten One falling. 3. Delphinus: The dead One rising againVI AquariusThe Blessing assured 1. Picis Australis: The Blessing bestowed. 2. Pegasus: The Blessing quickly coming 3. Cygnus: The Blesser surely returning VII PiscesThe Blessing in abeyance 1. The Band: The great enemy 2. Andomeda: The redeemed in bondage. 3. Cepheus: The Deliver coming to loosenVIII AriesThe Blessing Consummated 1. Cassiopea: The captive delivered. 2. Cetus: The great enemy bound. 3. Cepheus: The Breaker deliveringIX TaurusMessiah Coming to Rule 1. Orion: The Redeemer breaking forth as Light. 2. Eridanus: Wrath breaking forth as a flood. 3. Auriga: Safety for His redeemed in the day of wrathX Gemini.Messiah as Prince of Princes 1. Lepus: The enemy trodden underfoot. 2. Canis Major: The coming glorious Prince 3. Canis Minor: The exalted RedeemerXI CancerThe Messiah's Redeemed Possessions
1. Ursa Minor: The lesser sheepfold 2. Ursa Major: The fold and the flock 3. Argo: The pilgrim's arrival homeXII LeoThe Prophecy of Triumph fulfilled
1. Hydra: The old serpent destroyed 2. Crater: The cup of wrath poured out 3. Corvus: The birds of prey devouring.
The Coming of Christianity http://www.astrology.com/comchr.html
Almost the first story we hear about the birth of Jesus is of the 'wise men from the east' who came to Herod to announce that they knew that the King of the Jews had been born because they had 'seen his star in the east'. Herod, having enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared sent them out to Bethlehem to seek for the child, 'and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.'
There has been much speculation about what 'the star' was: general opinion suggests it may have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, possibly with Uranus, which would have made for a very bright and apparently single 'star' moving quickly enough to fulfill the conditions of the story. But that is astronomical speculation. The significance of the story for us is that it shows how, right at the beginning of the accounts of Christ's life, astrology played a part.
It would have been remarkable had it been otherwise. To most thoughtful men of the time there would have been no question of a god being born without the fact being announced in the heavens, probably by some strange but obvious celestial phenomenon rather than by his having a remarkable personal horoscope. Apart from the truth or otherwise of the story, it was to say the least extremely helpful to those set on establishing the divinity of Christ to have his birth associated with a spectacular astrological event; no scientist of the time would have accepted the possibility of such a phenomenon unless astrological observation supported it. In fact, of course, the appearance of a single rogue star has no astrological significance, and had none at the time; but the problem of inventing a significant horoscope for a divinity by choosing a propitious moment for the birth boggles the astrological mind, and was certainly beyond the early Christians, if the idea indeed ever occurred to them. The next best thing was some kind of spectacular 'comet-like' event, which was what is said to have occurred.
The presence in St Matthew's Gospel of the 'three wise men', or kings, or Magi, or astrologers, was to be rather an embarrassment to some of the fathers of the Church; later generations were simply to deny that they were astrologers at all, although that was clearly what the author of the gospel intended. The earliest commentator to seize the nettle and attack the myth was St John Chrysostom (c 347-407), who made heavy weather of his criticism, not so much attacking the notion of astrology itself as berating the three astrologers for calling Jesus the King of the Jews when 'his kingdom was not of this world', and suggesting that they were unwise to the point of foolishness in coming to Bethlehem, stirring things up with the king, and instantly leaving. He also pointed out (quite rightly) that the appearance of a single star was not in accordance with astrological tradition, although he agreed that its appearance was a sign that God favored the wise men. Tacitly, he admitted that he not only believed in the appearance of the star, but that it was shown to the astrologers for a purpose, so demolishing his own argument.
Speculation about the wise men was to continue for centuries, with various embroideries. There were not always three, for instance; Chrysostom suggested that there may have been a dozen, and in the earliest Christian art other numbers are given. The Magi do not seem to have been promoted to royal status until as late as the 6th century, and the Venerable Bede, the English historian of the 7th century, seems to be the first man to give their names. Their original home was in Arabia, or Persia, or Chaldea, or India, according to which early authority one reads, and anyone interested in visiting their tomb should look in Cologne, for after their deaths the Empress Helena brought their bodies from India to Constantinople, whence they traveled to Milan and on to Germany.
Some Christian commentators invested them with various magical powers, perhaps to denigrate them, and thereby astrology in general; a 10th-century dramatist tells how they flew miraculously to Bethlehem after the birth, causing considerable surprise to the citizens of the cities over which they passed. But some sects seized on the story as proof of astrology as God's means of regulating affairs on earth. A heretical sect, the Priscillianists, did so, prompting a 10th-century writer to put forward all the traditional anti-astrological arguments, and to present the 'wise men' simply as the first Gentiles to seek Christ.
Christian opposition to astrology from earliest times to our own has been founded in temperament rather than theology. No considerable Christian scholar or theologian has argued that astrology is unthinkable, except when or if it claims to predict the future, and therefore contests the doctrine of free will. Many of the earliest authorities have astrological allusions. The Old Testament figure Enoch, for instance, claimed to be sixth in descent from Adam and Eve, has passages on the stars and herbs, gems and numbers, and claims that in the sixth heaven angels attend the phases of the Moon and the revolutions of stars and Sun, superintending the good or evil condition of the world. Enoch's notions of angels are somewhat eccentric (some of them have 'privy members like those of horses'), but it seems that two hundred of them so fancied earthly women that they came to live on earth, and betrayed to man various secrets, including the science of astrology, magic, witchcraft and divination, and the art of writing with ink and paper.
Philo Judaeus, who lived in Alexandria soon after the death of Christ, hotly denied that the planets absolutely ruled men's lives, attacking astrologers who claimed that the whole of life was subject to the movements of the heavens. He did, however, believe the stars to be beautiful divine beings, intelligent animals who, unlike man, were incapable of evil. He believed also, indeed 'knew', that it was possible to predict 'disturbances and commotions of the earth from the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and innumerable other events which have turned out most exactly true.'
A Syrian missionary called Bardesanes (154-222) has left in The Dialogue Concerning Fate a good account of what seems to be the most general early Christian attitude to astrology. It was evidently important to tackle the very strong public commitment to the subject, the result of centuries during which its truths had on the whole been accepted as self-evident. Bardesanes takes the pragmatic view: that it is obvious that there is some force from the planets, but this was given them by God and is therefore subject to His will, limited by Him through subjection to free will on the one hand and other natural forces on the other.
The Gnostics, an oriental religious movement which played a part in early Christianity, spawning many sects, believed (according to one text) that when Jesus ascended into heaven after the crucifixion, he changed the influences and even the movements of the planets (among other things making them turn to the right for six months of the year, whereas previously they had faced left), and determined how they shaped a new soul, controlled the process of conception and the formation of the embryo in the womb, and every event of life from cradle to tomb. (Incidentally, it is interesting that in the Arabic Gospel of the infancy, attributed to St James, Jesus is an astronomer, lecturing the priests in the temple on 'the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square and sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; their twenty-fourths and sixtieths of the twenty-fourths and other things which the reason of man had never discovered...')
Many Christian thinkers saw astrology as a demonstration of the universe devised by God. The Recognitions, an anthology of letters allegedly written to James, Jesus' brother, by Clement of Rome, a friend and confidant of St Peter, represents the planets and stars as fixed in heaven by God in order that 'they might be for an indication of things past, present and future', although only to be understood by the learned who had studied the subject in depth. Abraham was one of these; being an astrologer, he 'was able from the rational system of the stars to recognize the Creator, while all other men were in error, and understand that all things are regulated by his Providence.'
Clement charmingly called the twelve Apostles the Twelve Months of Christ, who himself was the Year of our Lord. The planets are admitted to have an evil as well as a good influence; 'possessing freedom of the will, we sometimes resist our desires and sometimes yield to them'. Arguments against astrology are restricted to resisting the idea that there is no Providence and that everything happens by chance and genesis, that 'whatever your genesis contains, that shall befall you'. It is unthinkable that God should make man sin through an evil disposition of the planets, and then punish him for it! It is also pointed out - and later astrologers have often repeated this, both as explanation and excuse - that the movements and inter-relationships of the planets are so complex, and understanding and interpreting them so difficult, that no astrologer is to be blamed for misreading them.
The argument between Origen, an orthodox Christian who lived between 185 and 253, and the philosopher Celsus, who in 176-80 produced The True Word, an anti-Christian tract, inevitably involved astrology. Celsus took the view that the main idiocy of many practiced by Christians was the denial of the power of the planets; Origen asserted that the whole idea of free will was demolished if one accepted that the stars were rational beings, and assigned by God to the nations on earth. He accepted that the planets' movements could foretell events, and was particularly attached to the idea of comets as omens, which had announced wars and natural disasters, but also the birth of Christ.
Tertullian, born in about 160, and an eloquent early writer about Christianity, argued that it was the fallen angels who had taught man astrology (and, incidentally, metallurgy and botany). These angels, who lived in the clouds conveniently near the stars, were inevitably excellent meteorologists. Nevertheless, Christians would do well to reject them and their notions, despite the fact that the Magi were astrologers. He obviously saw it as extremely worrying that 'astrology nowadays, for-sooth, treats of Christ; is the science of the stars of Christ, not of Saturn and Mars', and argues that since the coming of Christ the drawing up of horoscopes should be discontinued. He was especially pleased that at the time of writing astrologers were positively forbidden to enter Rome.
Many Christian apologists made it their business to read the published works of astrologers, in order to refute them; others took the short cut of simply reading anti-astrological works and repeating their arguments. Hippolytus, for instance, who lived in Italy and wrote in Greek (he was buried in Rome in 236) lifted his arguments straight from the writings of Sextus Empiricus.
The most prominent of all early antagonists of astrology, St Augustine, cannot entirely be freed from the accusation of taking a short cut, or at least not thinking the subject through thoroughly or originally. Augustine was born in 345 (he died in 430) in Numidia, of a devoutly Christian mother. A trained rhetorician, he was at first a Manichean, but was converted to Christianity by the sermons of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, where Augustine was teaching rhetoric. His early life, which included various sexual irregularities, is frankly described in his Confessions, and astrology is mentioned there too; but his main attack on it comes in the Christian Doctrine and The City of God.
His case against astrology is simple, unsubtle and mistaken: simply that it enslaves human will by claiming that the entire course of a life can be predicted from the stars. If predictions did come true, he said, it was through coincidence or demonic intervention. 'Those that hold', he writes in the fifth book of The City of God, that the stars do manage our action, our passions, good or ill, without God's appointment, are to be silenced and not to be heard, be they of the true religion or be they bond slaves to idolatry of what sort so ever; for what does this opinion do but flatly exclude all deity? ... and what part has God left him in thus disposing of human affairs, if they be swayed by a necessity from the stars, whereas He is Lord of stars and men.
He then produced the old argument that if astrology worked, twins should have precisely the same destiny. (If they did, incidentally, it was nothing to do with astrology, he said, but because their background, environment, upbringing was similar; if they did not, it was a proof that astrology did not work.) True, Nigidius had tried to explain the dissimilarity between the lives of twins by rapidly turning a pot on a potter's wheel and splashing ink upon it, showing how far apart the splashes landed, and adducing from this that on a swiftly turning earth the planets would be in different positions even for twins born with one holding the other's heel. St Augustine was unimpressed. If astrology was as complicated as that, how could an astrologer possibly claim to be able to make firm predictions? (He seems to have taken this, and several other arguments, more or less straight from Cicero's De divinatione.)
The trouble with Augustine's anti-astrological arguments is that they are founded (like those of so many other critics throughout history) on a misunderstanding of the nature of the astrological theory, even as it was practiced in his own time. Very few astrologers argued that the planets absolutely controlled every aspect of the life of man, much less that every living thing was under a similar governance. When he points out that astrology is ridiculous because a cow and a human baby born at the same instant do not have precisely the same life, he simply displays his own ignorance of what astrology claims, and his stronger arguments are proportionally weakened. His supposition that astrologers claim that the time and place of birth and nothing else control a man's destiny leads him to concentrate on that point to the exclusion of more eccentric claims which would have offered him a wider target. He seems to have read very little astrological literature (not, for instance, the Tetrabiblos, which might be thought required reading for anyone preparing an attack on astrology).
St Augustine is still often set up as the prime Christian opponent of astrology; and so he is. But that is not saying much. Even he admits that the Sun and planets have an effect on some material things such as the tides, and hence on some living things such as shellfish. It might be argued that he performed a considerable service to astrology by attacking its occult aspects, while not condemning out of hand the kind of scientific astrology that was to provide the more rewarding areas of experiment in the future.
The City of God is seen as the apogee of Christianity's attacks on astrology, and so in a sense it was. That it is an unintelligent, derivative and ineffectual attack is neither here nor there; happily, the Christian church's generally antagonistic view of science in general has in the long run been equally ineffectual. When Augustine argued that 'Christians have many better and more serious things to occupy their time than such subtle investigations concerning the relative magnitude of the stars and the intervals of space between them', he was setting the tone for the official Church attitude to science for many centuries. It has not, in the end, prevailed, even in schools.
The fact that some Christian astrologers were not deterred is illustrated by the work of Julius Firmicus Maternus, a contemporary who is likely to have read Augustine. His Matheseos of c 354 accepted the doctrine of free will, but found it odd that man should think the stars and planets mere decoration of the heavens.
Firmicus, whose mind seems to have been a great deal keener than Augustine's (if we are to judge from the organization of his book and the deployment of his arguments), produced one by one the chief anti-astrological arguments and demolished them with ease, demonstrating clearly that the critics had not for the most part bothered to understand the subject. He admits that some astrologers are rogues and others fools, he admits the difficulty of the subject - but claims that the human spirit is capable of coping with it, as it is capable of coping with the mapping of the heavens and the prediction of the planets' courses.
In a brilliantly presented and enormously complex argument, Firmicus in the second half of Matheseos scathingly demolishes superstition and its practitioners, the 'magicians' who 'stay in temples in an unkempt state and always walk abroad thus in order to frighten people. While he accepts that 'magic' is a powerful force, he is violently opposed to secrecy in regard to it, and demands that astrologers, rather than shrinking from public view as though ashamed, should place themselves under the protection of God, praying that He should grant them grace to attempt the explanation of the courses of the stars Matheseos was an important book, a major work that accurately and persuasively quoted earlier sources, and was itself to be quoted for centuries by Christian astrologers and theologians who wished to assuage the fears of laymen at times when the Church seemed to be condemning the practice.
Visions of the Virgin: Astrology and the Divine Feminine in Christianity
Date: 2004-05-24 By: Courtney Roberts
The Divine Feminine in Christianity is an inspiring and provocative theme, challenging the dominance of male deities within the contemporary Christian “pantheon.” The irony is that historically, Goddess worship has always been a big part of Christianity. The Church fathers didn’t like to call it that, but in the development of the cults of the Virgin Mary, Christians openly incorporated the rites and attributes of the great Goddesses of the ancient world. The Divine Feminine was too much a part of the religious lives of the people and couldn’t be ignored. The Christian church has been particularly adept in channeling the people’s instinctive devotion to a lunar mother goddess into the worship of the Virgin Mary. The love and loyalty she inspires are unparalleled worldwide. According to Marina Warner, “the moon has been the most constant attribute of female divinities in the western world, and was taken over by the Virgin Mary because of ancient beliefs about its function and role that Christianity inherited.” Many areas of the world had some traditional cult to a mother goddess that was readily assimilated into Marian Christianity, and even continues to this day in the form of unique local customs, devotions, or apparitions. Similarly, other female deities and spirits were often incorporated into the local saint cults. Recognizable attributes of the great goddesses of the pre-Christian world – such as Isis and the Magna Mater – were regularly cut-and-pasted onto the burgeoning image of the Christian Mother of God, drawing their followers and spiritual heirs into her train. After all, a rose, by any other name, still smells as sweet. Meanwhile, the stories of the Virgin Mary’s appearances to humble seers in remote places like Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje, continue to fascinate both believers and doubters alike. But this is hardly a modern phenomenon, or even especially uncommon. These visions were already prevalent at the very dawn of the Christian era. Although Marian Christianity has traditionally claimed them all for its own – packaging the particulars in the language and symbolism of the institutional church – there is something much older and infinite going on here. Where the Virgin appears, she exposes the cracks; the juxtapositions and the continuities between the imposed and imported Christianity and the underlying ancestral beliefs of Christendom. These visions are an open window into our shrouded past and our spiritual heritage. There, the great goddesses of the ancient world beckon to us, only partially concealed within the Virgin’s image. Closer examination of modern apparition sites often reveals a long history of similar appearances. These sites may also have unique local practices that incorporate popular pre-Christian elements such as holy hills, healing springs, and sacred trees, with a mother goddess who just won’t go away. Her worship doesn’t just endure, it thrives. In the parishes, in the prayer life of the church, and in the hearts of the common people, she commands a passionate love and devotion that the masculine concept of God simply doesn’t inspire. The worship of the mother goddess is alive and well in any parish on the planet. The culture and creed may have changed dramatically, but the emotions and archetypes remain the same. The earliest and one of the most influential apparitions of Mary occurred while she was still alive, at least according to legend. She appeared in 40A.D. in Saragossa, a town in the north east of what is now Spain, to St. James the Greater. This was James, the son of Zebedee from the gospels, the brother of John, and the disciple of Christ. Now what was a fisherman from Galilee doing so far from home? Legend says he was evangelizing among the unbelievers, when he beheld a vision of the virgin poised atop a pagan standing stone, or pillar. She requested that a church be built on the site, as she so often does in these encounters. This was the reputed origin of the great Catedral de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, or, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Standing Stone, the patroness of all Spain. The Virgin of the Pillar was a huge success, fast becoming the most popular shrine in the region, where the Queen of Heaven herself was said to continue to appear regularly during services to those who had an eye to see. In this masterstroke of religious syncretism, co-opting and re-consecrating a site already sacred in the public mind, and enshrining a venerable local goddess within the novelty of the new Christian context, the church at Saragossa thrived by striking a balance between old and new, past and future, inspiring a powerful cult of popular devotion among both Christians and pagans alike. Many cures, miracles, and mysterious visions were attributed to the Lady’s continued presence and intercession. In keeping with long-established, pre-Christian traditions, tokens of gratitude and other healing mementos were hung about the shrine. Cunningly crafted legs, arms, hearts, or other body parts, whether in wax or precious metals, were left as silent testimony to prayers answered; symbols of faith sustained, and offered, just as they had been for countless generations at the holy wells, sacred trees, and healing springs of these same people.That good, old-fashioned, Bible-thumping, protestant fundamentalism we so take for granted today is a very recent innovation in the development of Christianity. For a solid 1500 years before the protestant Reformation, (and then some) the European Christianity of our forefathers was – by virtue of its existence among Europeans – so thoroughly saturated with the pre-Christian practices of those societies that it is really hard to draw the line between what it Christian and what precedes it. And I’m not sure that we should. No religion occurs in a vacuum. Contemporary Christianity is equally accommodating of, and a natural outgrowth from, the post-modern, consumer society in which it is practiced.Another famous early apparition occurred in France at Le Puy (about 325 miles south of Paris) on the site of Mount Anis, a volcanic peak on the Velay plain. Mount Anis had long been a site of pre-Christian worship, and was the home of the Pierre des Fievres, or Fever Rock, a huge, prehistoric standing stone. Legend says that soon after the arrival of Christianity in the area, in the year 46 or 47 A.D., a devout Christian widow named Villa was suffering with fever when the Virgin appeared to her. Villa was instructed to ascend Mount Anis and lie upon the Fever Rock. When she did, and fell asleep, and awoke in perfect health. The Virgin requested that a chapel be built on the site, and so the local bishop, St. George of Velay, came out to investigate on July 11. As he neared the rock, he was surprised to see that the ground had been miraculously covered with snow. A stag sprang out of the thicket, and circled the rock, tracing with its footprints in the snow the floor plan of the future shrine. More visions and healings were reported over the years and the shrine became such a popular pilgrimage destination that a hospice had to be built as well. Charlemagne was said to have visited Le Puy twice. Another glorious vision is reported by Lucius Apuleius in his 2nd Century A.D. novel, The Golden Ass. He tries to describes her divine appearance, rising from the sea:… if the poverty of my human speech will allow me, or her divine power give me eloquence to do so. First she had a great abundance of hair, dispersed and scattered about her neck, on the crown of her head she wore many garlands interlaced with flowers, just above her brow was a disk in the form of a mirror, or resembling the light of the Moon, in one of her hands she bore serpents, in the other, blades of corn, her robe was of fine silk shimmering in divers colors, sometime yellow, sometime rose, sometime flamy, … whereas here and there the stars peaked out, and in the middle of them was placed the Moon, which shone like a flame of fire, round about the robe was a coronet or garland made with flowers and fruits.Of course, Lucius was no Christian, but a devotee of the goddess Isis! It is this Egyptian goddess, from whom the Christian Virgin borrowed so much of her imagery, that Lucius is describing here. While there is plenty of excellent material available on the subject of modern Marian apparitions, to my knowledge, no one has ever undertaken a serious astrological analysis. These compelling stories, and their intriguing characters, surely beg the astrological question. What do the underlying planetary alignments reveal about these events, and just what sort of people are these visionaries? These kinds of questions inspired me to write Visions of The Virgin Mary: An Astrological Analysis of Divine Intercession. In pursuing the answers, I’ve come to believe that astrology provides some distinct advantages when examining the complex and confusing subject of mystical experiences. Astrology lifts us above cultural and religious boundaries, elevating the mind to contemplate human behavior within a more cosmic framework. Astrology alone charts those fundamental forces within our being that have animated human consciousness from the beginning, revealing the dominant themes – both natural and supernatural – in any given moment. Consequently, the charts for the visions and visionaries not only reveal recurring planetary patterns, but the archetypal imagery associated with the astrological components, like the Moon, Venus, and the sign Virgo, neatly correspond with the mythological dramas playing out in the details of the apparition stories. At a time when we are so tragically divided by the clash of religions and cultures, perhaps some common ground can be gained in the patient study of the cosmos, and in the recognition of our own timeless and universal archetypes in action -– a very catholic goal, indeed.Ironically, the very word “catholic,” which means universal, broad, and all-inclusive, originated as an astrological term. According to Franz Cumont, it was introduced to distinguish between local, tribal gods, and celestial, planetary gods. A catholic planetary deity was not limited in influence to any particular place or people, but ruled over activities or experiences that affected the entire earth and the whole human race. Used in that sense, the introduction of this term represented a philosophical step forward from the pettiness of warring tribal gods to a more all-encompassing concept of divinity and order. Even more ironic is the realization that this term, “catholic,” has through the ages – in the pursuit of orthodoxy and the persecution of heresy – come to signify its own opposite. I would like to use this potent word, but in that older, expanded sense. In examining the astrological forces underlying these Marian apparitions, we encounter truly catholic influences – not limited by place or local beliefs, but reflecting a larger, universal order which links us all together in time within the vast beauty of the cosmos. I know astrology can get very complicated very quickly, but I’ve tried to write about it in a way that any reader can easily understand. Even if you know absolutely nothing about astrology, by the time you finish this book, you will have learned quite a bit. It’s all done in context, within riveting stories that demand to be told – introducing visionary characters you will never forget, and under the guidance of a tender mother goddess. She is a most persistent manifestation of the Divine Feminine in Christianity, who won’t go away, but keeps showing up, reaching out to anyone who has an eye to see, or an ear to hear.