Under One Sky
The Evolution of Astrology and Astronomy
Now that we’ve established that all of mankind began as one species, and developed into a single race of humans, with a variety of unique cultures; we can look at something else that they all shared.  From the very early existence, mankind has recognized that they are only part of a much larger universe, and though ancient civilizations were separated by great distance, they all shared the same sun, moon and blanket of stars.  It is how each of the cultural groups placed themselves within the universe; studying, enjoying and exploiting the powers of the sun, moon and stars, that further separated or united them.
Existing records reveal acknowledgment of the heavens and in many cultures, the Sun, the Moon and the planets were viewed as gods, who possessed the power to direct and intervene in physical events.  Much of Greek Mythology was based on the stars, which were given human qualities embodying arrogance, love, fear, strength, compassion, vanity and tenderness.  They saw the sky as an array of monsters, animals and heroes, but alongside this mythological view, was another based on geometrical and mathematical relationships, though the Greeks may have been the first to actually apply mathematics to the study of the heavens.

The early Babylonians believed that the planets had a divine nature and the ability to influence human destiny. They established the existence of a variety of gods, each controlling a particular area of human experience. Mercury was the god of intellect and was seen as quick and cunning.  Mars was the ruler of violence and war; Jupiter, a kingly figure and sovereign of men; and Saturn, quick tempered and cruel.

Early North American civilizations, also adopted mythological heroes, like the Wily Raven whose trickery put sun, moon and stars in the sky and was responsible for world order. The Sioux, like the ancient Greeks, used animal imagery, with the sun represented as a crow, and an eagle as sun’s assistant.  The moon was given human form, but had an owl to lend a hand; while the evening stars were buffalo.  The Natchez, who resided along the Mississippi River, held the Sun as their divine ruler, and their chief a direct descendant.  Other American tribes living in the plains performed a ritual known as the Sun Dance, where they inflicted physical pain as a way of giving thanks to the Sun and assuring it’s future comfort. 

In fact, the sun was respected as the giver of life by all the world’s cultures to the point of worshipping it as a god.  The early Egyptians called their sun god Ra and considered him the creator of light and all things. They believed that humankind was born from the tears of Ra, thereby creating the first couple, Shu and Tefnut, the parents of the earth and sky.
Helios was the sun god of the Greeks.  He drove the sun from east to west across the sky, every day in his golden chariot, and after sunset, moved it back across the ocean.  Malina, the sun-goddess of the Eskimo people had a brother Anningan, the moon-god.  Before being elevated to their current positions, they were mere mortals, but one day got into a terrible fight.  In a fit of rage, Malina spread black grease all over her brother’s face and then ran into the sky as far away as she could to become the sun.  Naturally, her brother chased after her,  and subsequently became the moon.  This eternal chase accounts for the alternating between them in the sky and the surrounding she stars were the  “openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.”

In Chinese mythology, there were actually ten suns, taking turns during the Chinese ten-day week. One day, all of these suns decided to appear in the sky together, but the heat was so intense that the Chinese people had to ask them to separate.  They refused, so their father sent the archer Yi down from the heavens to reprimand his disobedient children.  Each one held his ground (or sky), and were picked off until only the strongest survived.  The Romans worshipped Sol as their sun god after their emperor Heliogabalus imported the cult of Sol Invictus ("the invincible sun") from Syria, making him the official god of the state of Rome.

There are thousands of similar legends and myths in the annals of history, all attesting to the value given the solar system, from the beginning of time.  But, as early man watched the heavens in wonderment, a definite correlation was recognized between the happenings above and those on earth, giving rise to the birth of astrology and astronomy.
The oldest evidence of actual astrological study and practice is found in China. More than 4,000 years ago, the ancient Chinese had determined the length of the year to be 365 days,  and their meticulous astrological records reveal that they also knew the cardinal points of direction, and had clearly mapped the paths of the Sun and Moon, well enough to predict eclipses.

The Chaldeans of Mesopotamia, famed as magicians and sages;  were one of the first to recognize that the events in the sky followed a pattern. As they watched the stars move in fixed order, while the planets orbited in much the same plane, it became apparent that although the planets had their own individual movement, they behaved in coherent cycles. It was in Chaldea where the first tables of planetary motion were constructed.  Their cosmological system made use of the twelve main constellations through which the Sun and Moon regularly pass; the precursor of the zodiac.

Though no written records survived, in India humans also studied the solar system, and Indian astrology was held in such good standing that In The Life of Appollonius, a book written by Philostratus in   210 CE, he says of the Greek astrologer: “the wisdom and learning of Appollonius are set high above his contemporaries because he had studied astronomy and astrology with the sages of India."
About 150 BCE,  Hipparchus invented the first astrological tools and his instruments were so accurate that he was able to determine the length of the year to within six minutes. Three centuries later Ptolemy relied almost entirely on Hipparchus' data as the basis of his world system. In 1543,  Copernicus put the sun at the center of the universe and in 1687, Isaac Newton's book 'Principia Mathematica' opened the door to modern astronomy. 

But long before scientific instruments or written manuals were available, there is evidence that man had devised ways to observe and utilize the power of the heavens.
Stonehenge in England, built about 2500 BCE,  is a perfect example.  In the late 1960's the  British astronomer G.S. Hawkins, made an analysis of the famous monument and showed with astronomical computations that the positioning of its stones pinpointed the solstices and could predict eclipses.  In later years the layout of this stone circle was submitted to computer analysis, and an even wider range of alignments were found.
 
Stone work built about 5,000 years ago in Newgrange, Ireland; thought originally to be tomb, turned out in fact to be an observatory which the ancient Irish used to mark the solstice point of winter. Just before 9 am on each December 21, the shortest day of the year; the morning sun enters a small 8 inch portal and ignites the interior of the mound, showing that they were not only skilled architects, but learned astronomers as well.

At Medicine Mountain, Wyoming, there is an ancient site, dubbed the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, that proves how the aboriginal people of the area, used the solar system to their advantage.   Now a tourist attraction, with interpretive presentations by people from nearby Crow and Cheyenne tribes, the wheel could reasonably predict summer and winter solstice by the way the rock formations lined up with the stars.

In fact there are at least 40 other similar wheels on the high plains of North America; most of them in Canada, including the Moose Mountain Wheel in Southeastern Alberta.  Since the principal function of these sites was to compute the yearly movements of the celestial bodies, their primary purpose was for agriculture and migration.  For example, at the Wyoming site, the aboriginal people were able to predict that the star Rigel rose 28 days after the summer solstice and Sirius 28 days after that; marking the end of summer and time to leave the mountain.

The Egyptian Pyramids, which served a dual purpose; a burial place of the pharaohs, and astrological calculators, are probably the most famous man-made scientific phenomena.  Sloping corridors leading into the interior, allowed astrologers to make naked-eye observations with great accuracy, from which astrological calculations were processed.  

But even larger than the Egyptian pyramids, is Monk’s Mound, located across the Mississippi from St. Louis.  Once surrounded by a thriving metropolis of 30,000 aboriginal Americans, it was built completely from the ground up and would have taken thousands of workers about 200 years to construct, without the aid of wheeled carts.
Just as in Egypt, the Mound was a burial place for the early American nobility and countless sacred artifacts have been unearthed at the site.  Many tombs were discovered, even some of children, buried in full regalia, complete with feather capes and ritual weapons in miniature.  Also discovered were the remains of “woodhenges”, similar to the stone ones in England, whose massive posts aligned with the sun, to let the farmers know the ideal time to sow.
There are countless findings world-wide, that attest to the intellect of all mankind, from the earliest times, not just in the known world before the common era. Early North Americans may not have known about the people in far away places like Egypt and Rome, but Egypt and Rome were not aware of them either.  And yet their discoveries regarding the heavens, were amazingly similar; part mythological and part actual, giving them all the ability to chart the direction of their lives.
 
It is also interesting to note how similar their contributions to art, culture and philosophy were.  Though without an abundance of gold and precious gems to create the ornate trappings of an ancient Egypt, the aborigine’s enlightened sense of being allowed them to be creative with what resources were available, resulting in some of the most beautiful antiquities found anywhere; and their sage advice passed down from one generation to the next, would have rivaled the awareness of Plato.
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