Astrology in the early Islamicate World

now that we've started exploring the occult sciences more broadly and been given a general overview of the occult sciences in the islamic world in particular we can start to dive deeper into these particular subjects we've already talked about talismans and magical objects and today we're going to be talking about one of the most popular fields within occult sciences in all of history the science of the heavenly bodies their behaviors effects and uses that is otherwise known as astrology [Music] [Applause] [Music] now this is a very special collaboration with my friend dr angela puka and her channel angela symposium she will be making a video on astrology in 20th century western esotericism which fits very well with this video that i'm doing here today so after you watch this video you should definitely go check out hers as well as subscribe to her channel dr puka is a phd and university lecturer who focuses on all things occult esoteric things like shamanism and astrology for example so she's really an expert on all these topics and i highly recommend her channel i'll leave a link to that video and to her channel in the description and in a pinned comment in the early 14th century the famous hanbali theologian and jurist ibn taymiyah condemned the practice of astrology as impermissible for muslims and as a dangerous pseudoscience many other figures such as the historian ibn khaldoon followed a similar line of arguments indeed astrology was always one of the most controversial of occult sciences in the islamic world while scholarly opinions on these sciences varied and were quite complex from a general perspective it was always a controversial matter to some and astrology was one of the most widely condemned its critics argue that by giving powers over our lives to the heavenly bodies we are divesting power from god thus making it akin to polytheism regardless of this controversy astrology was truly widespread in the islamic world it was very popular among a wide spectrum of people from the lower classes to the kings and sultans and scholars as a way of predicting events or in various magical practices and some of the most significant islamic philosophers who dealt with astrology would have a major impact on the later development of occult sciences in europe and western esotericism as well astrology is a broad field with a long history and we should of course be careful to distinguish it from astronomy usually astronomy is simply the study of the heavenly bodies in a more general sense determining their movements and behavior etc and this was quite useful in an islamic environment in order to figure out things like prayer times or the start and end of the month of fasting astrology on the other hand is the science that posits that the heavenly bodies and their movements have direct effects on things on earth and for human beings if you're born when jupiter and saturn are in a certain position that means this and that for your life and that kind of thing according to abu mahad it is quote the knowledge of the nature of every planet and sphere and the specifics of their significations and what is born and what occurs from the power of their diverse motions and their effects on this sub-learner world such as the difference of the seasons the transformation of the natures that are fire air water and earth and the things that result from these natures such as the genera of animals plants and minerals and from this first kind of science of these stars astronomy that is a universal science the second kind is inferred that is the science of the judgments of the stars while the line between these two categories was pretty unclear and fuzzy in ancient times and medieval times of course more so than they are today at least the islamic thinkers do seem to have made a pretty clear distinction indeed there are very significant islamic astronomers like ibn haitham and al-farabi and even ibn cena that don't seem to have been great fans of astrology as such so it is a complicated affair but again astrology was widespread and very popular to many it was completely compatible with islam as a religion in arabic the term for astrology used was literally the science of the judgments of the stars but it of course existed since long before the emergence of islam we know that some of the most ancient civilizations like the babylonians and egyptians did significant astronomical and astrological speculations many of the greek and hellenic philosophers such as the late platonist were also hugely interested in this art in the very heartland of islam in arabia astrology was widespread in the pre-islamic period it served as a significant technique of divination and might have been an important aspect of religious practices here and the arabs not only took these practices with them as they expanded across the middle east but also came into direct contact with other flourishing astrological traditions also very significant to this story is the mysterious community in haran in modern turkey these haranians seem to have been very heavily into astronomy and astrology as they are referred to as star worshipers by muslim chroniclers as well as being strongly influenced by hermeticism perhaps as a result of this latter point and the common islamic idea that identifies hermes with the prophet idris the haranians were often identified with the sabians of the quran and thus seen as among the so-called people of the book or the kitab the traditions of the haranians as well as the other cultures and traditions of the wider middle eastern region influenced the early muslim community and the philosophers and helped to establish astrology and astronomy as important sciences astrology was seen as an important science to the abbasid calebs for example as being very helpful in predicting the outcomes of battles or for military strategy and due to this wide acceptance of astrology in the early period many works were imported and translated from places like india persia and the regions that have already been mentioned so how does astrology work according to these scholars we will begin by exploring the theories of some of the earliest and most important astrological figures in the islamic world such as al kindy and all the way to the very famous pikatrix but to do so we also need to have some background information about their general cosmological worldview the essential cosmology of this period was based on an earlier greek model the geocentric model of the universe as developed by ptolemy was accepted as an established truth with the earth or material world at the center of the universe and then a group of concentric spheres extending outwards each sphere being associated with a particular planet and its movement and made out of a kind of non-material ethereal substance these planets were from the closest to the earth to the farthest the moon mercury venus the sun mars jupiter and saturn beyond this is the sphere of the zodiac of the many stars in the sky as we know them aristotle seen as the prime philosopher to the islamic thinkers was also a very important figure in this regard for most of the middle ages aristotle's natural philosophy topped off with a little neoplatonism was the basis for all of these activities this included the theory that the world was essentially made up of the four elements water air fire and earth as well as the corresponding opposing characteristics that are affected by them such as hot versus cold wet versus dry much of these systems of astrology are dependent on this world view the ptolemaic geocentric cosmology with a neoplatonism influenced aristotelian natural philosophy two of the earliest and most significant figures in the development of astrology in the islamic world are the polymath al-khindi and the astrologer abu mashad these two although differing on a number of points would lay the groundwork for most of the later tradition as well as astrology in europe these philosophers were devoted muslims and kindy spent much of his writings arguing for the compatibility of islam and these sciences arguing that they are not only compatible but mutually beneficial and this included astrology in the quran it states that quote in the creation of the heavens and the earth in the rotation of night and day are sure signs for those people possessed of minds to al-kindi and his peers this was an indication that astrology or astronomy was a legitimate science even encouraged by god in the quran the heavenly bodies contained signs of god's work science that could be interpreted and understood by those able those possessed of minds and that is what is at the essence of astrology to these scholars the heavenly bodies determine things here on earth they can be used to foretell future events they can affect our bodies our moods and even change physical things we can see this clearly in later magical grimoires like the hakim known in the west as the pikatrix and in magical practice in general how the planets and heavenly alignments become central parts of magical practices what is so significant about thinkers like al-kindi and abu masad is that they actually theorized about the ways that these correspondences worked it was clear to them that the heavenly bodies had an effect on things here on earth but how did this actually work this is where al kindy is one of the most significant figures in history he's sometimes known as the first arabic philosopher which is kind of a weird title but from a perspective of the islamic period he is definitely early he hailed from the arabic kinder tribe as his name suggests and spent much of his life at the house of wisdom in baghdad at the height of the abbasid caliphate al-kindi was a true genius and a polymath who was not only central in the translation movement but mastered a whole ocean of subjects himself on which he wrote massive amounts of works he is important for his contributions to astrology as this episode suggests but also in terms of theology optics medicine mathematics and even music theory all of which are often strongly connected to each other of course but in his astrological slash astronomical writings he's perhaps most remembered for his introduction of the theory of stellar rays developed in a treatise that has become known simply as on the stellar rays alcandi presents a theory of how the heavenly bodies influence our world below it was clear to al kindly and his peers that everything in the world was intimately connected possibly influenced by the historic idea of sympathea and this not only includes the material world but also the heavens so to al kindy he suggests that the heavenly bodies and the stars so the planets and everything influence things down here through the emanation of rays the influence of the stars is undoubtedly due to the rays sent from them into the world end quote these rays are what determines and creates all effects in the material world different rays and different combinations of rays have different effects and thus create the variety of things that we can experience these rays also give and sustain life through their power this idea of the stellar rays is a way for alkindi to propose a theory for how astrology works how the stars influence things in the material world but it is primarily also a way to explain the workings of magic when one is doing magic one is simply controlling and using the rays of the heavens to affect things on earth a talisman for example is made in connection to a certain constellation or planetary condition in order to capture the powers or rays of that heavenly event in the words of the scholar lyanna saif quote in essence astral magic is an act of informing and ensouling that entails harnessing the rays of planet stars and constellations to charge an object that is constructed according to a thorough knowledge of correspondences between celestial and terrestrial things enabling the operator to organize the elements of her practice towards a specific purpose elkind himself writes that quote all different locations and times produce different individual things in this world this is achieved by the heavenly harmony all things receive rays from the heavens but all things on earth also emit rays themselves which is what leads to cause and effect between terrestrial objects and phenomena so the rays come from the heavenly bodies from the beginning but that those rays also stay within the world so that objects in the terrestrial world have rays themselves which they omit and which also causes cause and effect different actions produce different rays and different amounts of rays a magical action can capture the powers of rays vocal incantations produce rays which is how words and phrases can have magical effects perhaps controversially to some this is also how prayers work toward kindy when praying one is producing race which can have an effect on one's life he also points out that animal sacrifice in particular produces an explosion of race and is thus the most effective way of producing magical results without necessarily condoning the practice this idea of these stellar rays would become very influential not only in later islamic astrology but also in europe as well even today there are remnants of this kind of idea we often hear people talk about energies that exist everywhere and affects things around us and hindi is those of course a hugely important figure in intellectual history even if most people probably don't realize it but why were scholars like al kindy and abu masha writing these things and creating these theories about astrology well one of the primary reasons was to legitimize astrology as a practice by showing the way that the stars and heavenly bodies had an influence on earth through things like the rays al kindy was trying to show that this was a completely legitimate natural science if all these things could be explained naturally like that there were now no difference between using the astral rays for a magical practice than of giving medicine to a patient by making astrology a natural science they were trying to legitimize it to its critics in some circles and times this was successful in others it wasn't as we saw in the beginning and one of the things that the critics would often point to was precisely the way that the astrologers gave causal power to the planets and stars powers that according to them should only be attributed to god and this was actually quite a heated debate even before the islamic period did the heavenly bodies have actual causal powers in themselves that is did they actually cause the things to happen on earth or were they just indications or signs of things that were caused by something higher earlier platonic philosophers like plutinus and some of his followers like porphyry had argued that these stars were simply signs that could be read but that they had no direct causal powers in themselves others disagreed islamic thinkers like al-kindi and abu masad seemed to have taken a kind of middle position in the case of al-qindi he argued that these stars and planets were indeed effective causes of things on earth but he was a muslim after all and thus is a strict monotheist to him god is always the ultimate power and cause of all things so the heavenly bodies are from his perspective only secondary causes they are the tools with which god makes things happen on earth powerful in themselves but only insofar as they are given that power by god he imagines someone shooting an arrow to hit a deer for example the arrow flying in the air is the heavenly bodies but the shooter is god so the arrow obviously has an effect once it hits the targets but that effect is ultimately caused by god shooting it to begin with abu mashad on the other hand doesn't seem as clear on the matter he definitely attributes causal powers to the stars and planets in a direct way abu mashad al balhi was a persian astrologer living contemporarily with al kindy and the two seem to have interacted he is often remembered as the most important astrologer of the early islamic world and also worked in baghdad under abbasid patronage he didn't speak about the stellar rays of al-qindi but also theorized in his own way about the ways that the heavens influenced things on earth and the four elements in his works most famously perhaps the kitab al muthkalet kibir the great introduction he attempts to justify astrology as a legitimate science and as a companion science to medicine according to abumasha the heavenly bodies have an effect through the heat that they emit the heat that the planets emit affect the elements in the terrestrial world and causes change to happen furthermore on a more particular level this happens in two ways in the words of lyanna saif again quote according to abu mashad the celestial bodies act as causes in two interrelated ways they unite form with matter and they are responsible for the union and harmony between the body and the vital and rational souls as a result of this action a connection between the heaven and earth exists and the elements below move transform and experience generation and corruption so how was astrology employed in practice as we have seen in a lot of ways it was always a very significant form of divination of foretelling future events or of things like reading your horoscope for example this means that it has always been very important and appealing to those in power caliphs of the abbasid dynasty later sultans and kings of various dynasties across the islamic world would all employ astrologers to help them in strategy foretell the outcome of things or to bring them luck he was also of course a very central part of the practical art of magic as we saw earlier this becomes especially apparent in a work like the massively important book of magic called the rayatul hakim or the goal of the sage thoughts have been written by the andalusian muslim by even class this work more famously known by its later translated latin title the pikatrix is one of the most influential work of occult sciences in history both in the islamic world and in european contexts we're going to dedicate a full episode to this work later this year but important for us today is that it takes a lot of the ideas presented by figures like al kindy and abu mashar synthesizes them and with other currents as well and creates a very practical manual for how to practice astral magic the reatel hakeem features detailed instructions on how to create talismans for different purposes if you want to make this and that person fall in love do these particular things while the planets are in this particular alignment if you want to destroy an entire town do this and that in connection to this position of the moon and many such things the stars planets and heavens generally are at the center of the practices described in the pika tricks much of which can be traced back to figures like el kindy the rayatal hakim or pikatrix in latin form would go on to become one of the most important perhaps the most important grimoire in europe during later periods and had an enormous impact on astrologers in the later medieval and modern periods it is still widely read and influential to western esotericism and occultism so we can see how the islamic astrologers have been directly influential to developments in western esotericism and astrology both directly through translations of abu mashar's work like his great introduction as well as al-quindi's on the stellar race but also indirectly through the huge importance and influence of the pikatrix which in itself featured many of the ideas and traditions developed by the earlier islamic philosophers picking up from this point in particular my good friend dr angela puka will be making a companion video to this one where she explores astrology in western esotericism in particular and if you watch that video you will be able to see how many of these early islamic thinkers are hugely influential on the tradition of western esotericism and astrology in the more western world as well so definitely go check out that video dr puka is a phd and university lecturer in religious studies and her youtube channel called angela symposium is focused on the academic study of magic esotericism witchcraft paganism and all other occult topics so i highly recommend that channel she's an amazing scholar and her videos are really informative for now i hope this has been an informative and interesting introduction to astrology in the islamic world particularly as it developed in the earliest periods as well as how those early thinkers have influenced some of the currents in later western esotericism and astrology in the western world as well we will have an opportunity later on to discuss the more later developments of astrology in the islamic world as well as to focus on specific things like particular grimoires like the raya talakim or the shams and marif as well as subjects like alchemy and the science of letters it's gonna get weird but truly fascinating i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

Views: 161,528

Keywords: Astrology in Islamicate World, Astrology, Astronomy, Islamic astrology, al Kindi, Abu Mashar, Occult sciences, Occultism, Islamic Occultism, Islamic esotericism, Islam, Arabic astrology, Persian astrology, Hermeticism, Religion, history of religion, occult religion, occult philosophy, islamic philosophy, muslim philosophers, golden age of Islam

Id: eFChQrywc28

Length: 22min 30sec (1350 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 30 2022