Why Astrology Works

There's been a lot of discussion and debate about why astrology works (or why it can't possibly work). Ever since western astrology was revived in the middle ages, the popular opinion has tended towards the scientific. Originally, this followed Ptolemy and Aristotle in ascribing the planets an elemental character; later, this followed Newton is ascribing the planets an invisible force akin to gravity; after Einstein theorized that gravity wasn't a force after all, this ascribed the planets a wave theory akin to electromagnetism.

These are all well and good, but I've never found them convincing. But while reading Chris Brennan's Hellenistic Astrology, I came across a theory that seems much more satisfactory. Evidently, the Mesopotamians didn't believe the planets caused the effects we see here on earth any more than the arms of a clock cause it to be a particular time: rather, they're simply a sign that provides information to those who know how to read it. Where did this sign come from? From Ea,* god of water, wisdom, crafts, and mischief, who apparently made a colossal clock in the skies so that those who cared to study it—that is to say, the wise (his followers, naturally)—would always "know what time it is" and thereby possess an unfair advantage over those who did not.

* I'm no expert in Mesopotamian myth, but Ea sounds rather like Mercury to me. The association is reinforced by the fact that in Western astrology, Mercury rules astrologers; and that in Mesopotamian myth, the androgynous (that is, mercurial) Asu-Shu-Namir and those like them possess the gift of prophecy.

On Fickleness (Again)

How is it that Venus became associated with fickleness? Venus' orbit is, by some margin, the most circular, regular, and predictable of them all, even Terra's (which is quite circular as well).

Luna's orbit, by contrast, is so complex that we couldn't accurately predict Her until a few centuries ago; to read the terms of Lunar theory, ordered by magnitude, is to read the history of mathematics and astronomy. Similarly, her speed and shape are the most variable; should we not consider Her the fickle one?