Thnak you so much for the mention! Great to see you writing again. I think that with researching the history of astronomy or even understanding the nuances of timekeeping and celestial rhythms and mindful observation, many often overlook or dismiss the astrologers of the past because of their astrology, but of course the further back in time you go, the harder it is to untangle what we could call 'astronomy' and 'astrology'. Often one sees that the observers of old were very aware of the subtleties of the movements of heavenly bodies, and were very much into seeking patterns.
It’s true! We separate astronomy and astrology from one another—one a science, the other a pseudo-science—but that is a very modern distinction. For most of human history, they were two sides of the same coin, and if we ignore that, we ignore the important contribution that the pursuit of astrology has made to our lives today. For example, several important mathematical techniques were developed and refined in order to cast better horoscopes! It’s very much like the study of religion. Just as we can recognise a religion’s significance to our human story without making truth claims about that religion, we can and should appreciate how much of our modern life is the result of people pursuing ideas we don’t necessarily believe in.
Not only does the 30-year period map onto the experience of human life, it also happens to match an observed celestial phenomenon, namely the orbit of Saturn. So you can point to a light in the sky and say, ‘last time that planet was at that point . . .’ So much more concrete that a number of years that happens to be the square of the number of one person’s fingers . . .
That is the astrological concept of the Saturn Return. The idea that your life changes dramatically and not always pleasantly at around 29-30, and before your sixties, and if you live long enough you might get a third Saturn Return. It’s kind of an astrological take on the ‘quarter-life' crisis’ or the ‘midlife crisis’.
Thnak you so much for the mention! Great to see you writing again. I think that with researching the history of astronomy or even understanding the nuances of timekeeping and celestial rhythms and mindful observation, many often overlook or dismiss the astrologers of the past because of their astrology, but of course the further back in time you go, the harder it is to untangle what we could call 'astronomy' and 'astrology'. Often one sees that the observers of old were very aware of the subtleties of the movements of heavenly bodies, and were very much into seeking patterns.
It’s true! We separate astronomy and astrology from one another—one a science, the other a pseudo-science—but that is a very modern distinction. For most of human history, they were two sides of the same coin, and if we ignore that, we ignore the important contribution that the pursuit of astrology has made to our lives today. For example, several important mathematical techniques were developed and refined in order to cast better horoscopes! It’s very much like the study of religion. Just as we can recognise a religion’s significance to our human story without making truth claims about that religion, we can and should appreciate how much of our modern life is the result of people pursuing ideas we don’t necessarily believe in.
Not only does the 30-year period map onto the experience of human life, it also happens to match an observed celestial phenomenon, namely the orbit of Saturn. So you can point to a light in the sky and say, ‘last time that planet was at that point . . .’ So much more concrete that a number of years that happens to be the square of the number of one person’s fingers . . .
That is the astrological concept of the Saturn Return. The idea that your life changes dramatically and not always pleasantly at around 29-30, and before your sixties, and if you live long enough you might get a third Saturn Return. It’s kind of an astrological take on the ‘quarter-life' crisis’ or the ‘midlife crisis’.