How Astrology Returned To Favor In The West

Click here to read the book excerpt on Fair Observer, where it was first published on May 6, 2023.

Unless one is really into astrology, what most people today understand as astrology is really just their sun sign placement according to tropical astrology. How did we get here, considering the extraordinary labour of the many, many stargazers and thinkers before us? It might have something to do with the disentanglement of astrology and astronomy post the Copernican revolution.

While astrology never completely dropped off from the face of earth, it was decidedly out of favour with both science and religion by the early eighteenth century in Europe. As we have noted before, Western society was undergoing two radical changes at this time. In addition to the shift of the model of the Universe from a geocentric one to a heliocentric one, the rise of Roman Catholic Church had a part to play as well. Astrology threatened the Vatican’s authority to shape public discourse on God and the cosmos and so, astrology came to be regarded as not only technically unsound but also immoral. It didn’t help that the astrologers of the time had begun to venture out of their remit and would make increasingly bold and politically dangerous predictions. All in all, irrespective of Brahe and Kepler’s explorations of astrology, most of intellectual and polite society decided that it had to go. So, astrologers went underground. That is, for a century or so. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, astrology began to see a momentous revival. The stage for this was set up by four astrologers in particular, whose work would go on to change the very face of astrology.

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