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What do you know about the year 2012?
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Who or what might be the cause of this? Can we do anything to predict or change this point in time?

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Its time for change on earth and that begins with information. Browse the site comment when you feel like it. Spread the word and help begin the revolution…

It’s time for a revolution and we’ve not got long to go!
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We’ve only just begun to understand a fraction of the infinite possibilities of our existence. Now is the time to look outisde our self created boxes of material items, education and rules.

Do you want a stab at the answer; to the question hanging over all our heads? Then embrace earth2012 and help it grow and change the world for the common good!

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Bohemian Club

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“Weaving spiders come not here”—inscription surrounding an owl on a bronze bas-relief plaque built into the brick wall near the corner of Taylor and Post Streets in San Francisco

The Bohemian Club is a private men’s club in San Francisco, California, United States.

Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco.[1] Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journalists, artists and musicians, it soon began to accept businessmen and entrepreneurs as permanent members, as well as offering temporary membership to university presidents and military commanders who were serving in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Today, the club has a diverse membership of many local and global leaders, ranging from artists and musicians to businessmen.

Contents

History

Bohemianism

Main article: Bohemianism

In New York City and other American metropolises in the late 1850s, groups of young, cultured journalists flourished as self-described “bohemians” until the American Civil War broke them up and sent them out as war correspondents.[2] During the war, reporters began to assume the title “bohemian,” and newspapermen in general took up the moniker. “Bohemian” became synonymous with “newspaper writer”.[2] California journalist Bret Harte first wrote as “The Bohemian” in The Golden Era in 1861, with this persona taking part in many satirical doings. Harte described San Francisco as a sort of Bohemia of the West.[3] Mark Twain called himself and poet Charles Warren Stoddard bohemians in 1867.[2]

Founding

The Bohemian Club was originally formed in April 1872 by and for journalists who wished to promote a fraternal connection among men who enjoyed the arts. Michael Henry de Young, proprietor of the San Francisco Chronicle, provided this description of its formation in a 1915 interview:

The Bohemian Club was organized in the Chronicle office by Tommy Newcombe, Sutherland, Dan O’Connell, Harry Dam and others who were members of the staff. The boys wanted a place where they could get together after work, and they took a room on Sacramento street below Kearny. That was the start of the Bohemian Club, and it was not an unmixed blessing for the Chronicle because the boys would go there sometimes when they should have reported at the office. Very often when Dan O’Connell sat down to a good dinner there he would forget that he had a pocketful of notes for an important story.[4]

Journalists were to be regular members; artists and musicians were to be honorary members.[5] The group quickly relaxed its rules for membership to permit some people to join who had little artistic talent, but enjoyed the arts and had greater financial resources. Eventually, the original “bohemian” members were in the minority and the wealthy and powerful controlled the club.[6] Club members who were established and successful, respectable family men, defined for themselves their own form of bohemianism which included men who were bons vivants, sometime outdoorsmen, and appreciators of the arts.[3] Club member and poet George Sterling responded to this redefinition:

Any good mixer of convivial habits considers he has a right to be called a Bohemian. But that is not a valid claim. There are two elements, at least, that are essential to Bohemianism. The first is devotion or addiction to one or more of the Seven Arts; the other is poverty. Other factors suggest themselves: for instance, I like to think of my Bohemians as young, as radical in their outlook on art and life; as unconventional, and, though this is debatable, as dwellers in a city large enough to have the somewhat cruel atmosphere of all great cities.[7]

Despite his purist views, Sterling associated very closely with the Bohemian Club, and caroused with artist and industrialist alike at the Bohemian Grove.[7]

Oscar Wilde, upon visiting the club in 1882, is reported to have said “I never saw so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-looking Bohemians in my life.”[8]

Membership

A number of past membership lists are in public domain,[5] but modern club membership lists are private. Some prominent figures have been given honorary membership, such as Richard Nixon and William Randolph Hearst. Members have included some U.S. presidents (usually before they are elected to office), many cabinet officials, and CEOs of large corporations, including major financial institutions. Major military contractors, oil companies, banks (including the Federal Reserve), utilities, and national media have high-ranking officials as club members or guests. Many members are, or have been, on the board of directors of several of these corporations; however, artists and lovers of art are among the most active members. The club’s bylaws require ten percent of the membership be accomplished artists of all types (composers, musicians, singers, actors, lighting artists, painters, authors, etc). Artistic members are admitted after passing a stringent audition demonstrating their talent.

Bohemian Grove

Main article: Bohemian Grove

The club’s mascot owl cast in masonry perched over the main entrance at 624 Taylor. The owl is flanked by the letters B and C and surrounded by words of the club’s motto

Every year the club hosts a two week long (three weekends) camp at Bohemian Grove, which is notable for its illustrious guest list and its eclectic Cremation of Care ceremony which mockingly burns “Care” (the normal woes of life) with grand pageantry, pyrotechnics and brilliant costumes, all done at the edge of a lake and at the base of a forty-foot ’stone’ owl statue. In addition to that ceremony, there are also two outdoor performances (dramatic and comedic plays), often with elaborate set design and orchestral accompaniment. The more elaborate of the two is the Grove Play, or High Jinks, the more ribald is called Low Jinks.[9] More often than not, the productions are original creations of the Associate members but active participation of hundreds of members of all backgrounds is traditional.[10]

See also

Portal icon San Francisco Bay Area portal

References

Notes
  1. ^ Kay, Jane (July 6, 2009). “No retreat from uproar over Bohemian Club woods”. San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/07/06/MNUU18ICIV.DTL. Retrieved 14 July 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c The Mark Twain Project. Explanatory Notes regarding the letter from Samuel Langhorne Clemens to Charles Warren Stoddard, 23 Apr 1867. Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Ogden, Dunbar H.; Douglas McDermott; Robert Károly Sarlós Theatre West: Image and Impact, Rodopi, 1990, pp. 17–42. ISBN 9051831250
  4. ^ Interview with Michael Henry De Young, 1915, reproduced at http://www.archive.org/stream/variedtypes00odayrich/variedtypes00odayrich_djvu.txt.
  5. ^ a b The Elite directory for San Francisco and Oakland, Argonaut Publishing Co., 1879, pp. 175–184.
  6. ^ Bohemian Club. Constitution, By-laws, and Rules, Officers, Committees, and Members, Bohemian Club, 1904, p. 11. Semi-centennial high jinks in the Grove, 1922, Bohemian Club, 1922, pp. 11–22.
  7. ^ a b Parry, 2005, p. 238.
  8. ^ Finn, Maria (October 9, 2010). “Keeping Reality at Bay”. Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575532063842966330.html. 
  9. ^ Garnett, 1908.
  10. ^ Domhoff, 1975.
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Aztec

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Aztecs)
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For other uses, see Aztec (disambiguation).

The Aztec Pyramid at St. Cecilia Acatitlan, Mexico State.


Aztec jade mask depicting the god Xipe Totec.


Large ceramic statue of an Aztec Eagle Warrior


Aztec cosmogram in the pre-Hispanic Codex Fejérváry-Mayer - the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli is in the center.

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. “Aztec” (Nahuatl pronunciation: [astekaʔ]) is the Nahuatl word for “people from Aztlan“[1], a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time, and later adopted as the word to define the Mexica people. Often the term “Aztec” refers exclusively to the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan (now the location of Mexico City), situated on an island in Lake Texcoco, who referred to themselves as Mexica Tenochca or Colhua-Mexica.

Sometimes the term also includes the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan’s two principal allied city-states, the Acolhuas of Texcoco and the Tepanecs of Tlacopan, who together with the Mexica formed the Aztec Triple Alliance which controlled what is often known as “the Aztec Empire”. In other contexts, Aztec may refer to all the various city states and their peoples, who shared large parts of their ethnic history and cultural traits with the Mexica, Acolhua and Tepanecs, and who often also used the Nahuatl language as a lingua franca. In this meaning it is possible to talk about an Aztec civilization including all the particular cultural patterns common for most of the peoples inhabiting Central Mexico in the late postclassic period.

From the 13th century, the Valley of Mexico was the heart of Aztec civilization: here the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance, the city of Tenochtitlan, was built upon raised islets in Lake Texcoco. The Triple Alliance formed a tributary empire expanding its political hegemony far beyond the Valley of Mexico, conquering other city states throughout Mesoamerica. At its pinnacle Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments. In 1521 Hernán Cortés, along with a large number of Nahuatl speaking indigenous allies, conquered Tenochtitlan and defeated the Aztec Triple Alliance under the leadership of Hueyi Tlatoani Moctezuma II. Subsequently the Spanish founded the new settlement of Mexico City on the site of the ruined Aztec capital, from where they proceeded with the process of colonizing Central America.

Aztec culture and history is primarily known through archaeological evidence found in excavations such as that of the renowned Templo Mayor in Mexico City; from indigenous bark paper codices; from eyewitness accounts by Spanish conquistadors such as Hernán Cortés and Bernal Díaz del Castillo; And especially from 16th and 17th century descriptions of Aztec culture and history written by Spanish clergymen and literate Aztecs in the Spanish or Nahuatl language, such as the famous Florentine Codex compiled by the Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagún with the help of indigenous Aztec informants.

Contents

Definitions

Aztec calendar.svg
Aztec civilization
Aztec society
Nahuatl language
Religion · Mythology · Philosophy · Calendars
Human sacrifice · Medicine
Aztec history
Aztlán · Codices · Warfare
Aztec Triple Alliance
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Fall of Tenochtitlan · La Noche Triste
Montezuma II · Hernán Cortés

Aztec people

When used about ethnic groups the term “Aztec” refers to several Nahuatl speaking peoples of central Mexico in the postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, especially the ethnic group that had a leading role in establishing the hegemonic empire based at Tenochtitlan, the Mexica. Other ethnic groups associated with the Aztec empire are the Acolhua and Tepanec ethnic groups and some of the ethnic groups that were incorporated into the empire, and the term is also sometimes used about them. In older usage the term was commonly used about modern Nahuatl speaking ethnic groups, as Nahuatl was previously referred to as the “Aztec language”. In recent usage these ethnic groups are rather referred to as the Nahua peoples.[2][3] Linguistically the term “Aztecan” is still used about the branch of the Uto-Aztecan languages (Also sometimes called the yuto-nahuan languages) that includes the Nahuatl language and its closest relatives Pochutec and Pipil.[4]

To the Aztecs themselves the word “aztec” was not an endonym for any particular ethnic group. Rather it was an umbrella term used to refer to several ethnic groups, not all of them Nahuatl speaking, that claimed heritage from the mythic place of origin, Aztlan. In the Nahuatl language “aztecatl” means “person from Aztlan”. In 1810 Alexander von Humboldt originated the modern usage of “Aztec” as a collective term applied to all the people linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to the Mexica state and the Triple Alliance. In 1843, with the publication of the work of William H. Prescott, it was adopted by most of the world, including 19th century Mexican scholars who saw it as a way to distinguish present-day Mexicans from pre-conquest Mexicans. This usage has been the subject of debate in more recent years, but the term “Aztec” is still more common.[5]

Aztec culture

Aztec culture is the culture of the people referred to as Aztecs, but since all ethnic groups of central Mexico in the postclassic period shared most basic cultural traits, many of the basic traits of Aztec culture cannot be said to be exclusive for the Aztecs. For the same reason the notion of “Aztec civilization” is best understood as a particular horizon of a general Mesoamerican civilization.

Among the cultural traits that the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan shared with many other cultures of central Mexico are the agricultural basis of maize cultivation, the basic social organization dividing society into classes of noble pipiltin and macehualli commoners, the complex religious beliefs and practices including most of the pantheon (e.g. gods such as Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl), the calendric system of a xiuhpohualli of 365 days intercalated with a tonalpohualli of 260 days. Cultural traits particular to the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan was the veneration of the Mexica patron God Huitzilopochtli, the construction of twin pyramids, and the ceramic ware known as Aztec I to III.[6]

Aztec empire

The Aztec empire was a tribute empire based in Tenochtitlan, which extended its power throughout Mesoamerica in the late postclassic period.[7] It originated in 1427 as a triple alliance between the city-states Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan who allied to defeat the Tepanec state of Azcapotzalco, that had previously dominated the Basin of Mexico. Soon Texcoco and Tlacopan became junior partners in the alliance which was de-facto led by the Mexica of Tenochtitlan.[8] The empire extended its power by a combination of trade and military conquest. It was never a true territorial empire controlling a territory by large military garrisons in conquered provinces, but rather controlled its client states primarily by installing friendly rulers in conquered cities, by constructing marriage alliances between the ruling dynasties, and by extending an imperial ideology to its client states.[9] Client states paid tribute to the Aztec emperor, the Huey Tlatoani, in an economic strategy limiting communication and trade between outlying polities making them depend on the imperial center for the acquisition of luxury goods.[10] The political clout of the empire reached far south into Mesoamerica conquering cities as far south as Chiapas and Guatemala and spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans. The empire reached its maximal extent in 1519 just prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Cortés who managed to topple the Aztec empire by allying with some of the traditional enemies of the Aztecs, the Nahuatl speaking Tlaxcalteca.

History

Main article: History of the Aztecs

Migrational period

The Nahua peoples began to migrate into Mesoamerica from northern Mexico in the 6th century. They populated central Mexico dislocating speakers of Oto-Manguean languages as they spread their political influence south. As the former nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples mixed with the complex civilizations of Mesoamerica, adopting religious and cultural practices the foundation for later Aztec culture was laid. During the Postclassic period they rose to power at such sites as Tula, Hidalgo. In the 12th century the Nahua power center was in Azcapotzalco, from where the Tepanecs dominated the valley of Mexico. Around this time the Mexica tribe arrived in central Mexico.

Rise of the Triple Alliance

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

The Valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

The true origin of the Mexicas is uncertain. According to their legends, the Mexica tribe place of origin was Aztlán. It is generally thought that Aztlán was somewhere to the north of the Valley of Mexico; some experts have placed it as far north as the Southwestern United States.

Based on these codices as well as other histories, it appears that the Mexicas arrived at Chapultepec in or around the year 1248.[11]

At the time of their arrival, the Valley of Mexico had many city-states, the most powerful of which were Culhuacan to the south and Azcapotzalco to the west. The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco soon expelled the Mexicas from Chapultepec. In 1299, Culhuacan ruler Cocoxtli gave them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan, where they were eventually assimilated into Culhuacan culture.

According to Aztec legend, in 1323, the Mexicas were shown a vision of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus, eating a snake.[clarification needed] This vision indicated that this was the location where they were to build their home. In any event, the Mexicas eventually arrived on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco where they founded the town of Tenochtitlan in 1325.[citation needed] In 1376, the Mexicas elected their first Huey Tlatoani, Acamapichtli, who was living in Texcoco at the time.

For the next 50 years, until 1427, the Mexica were a tributary of Azcapotzalco, which had become a regional power, perhaps the most powerful since the Toltecs, centuries earlier. Maxtla, son of Tezozomoc, assassinated Chimalpopoca, the Mexica ruler. In an effort to defeat Maxtla, Chimalpopoca’s successor, Itzcoatl, allied with the exiled ruler of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl. This coalition was the foundation of the Aztec Triple Alliance, which defeated Azcapotzalco in 1428.


Jaguar warrior, from the Codex Magliabechiano.

The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan would, in the next 100 years, come to dominate the Valley of Mexico and extend its power to both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific shore. Over this period, Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance.

Two of the primary architects of the Aztec empire were the half-brothers Tlacaelel and Montezuma I, nephews of Itzcoatl. Moctezuma I succeeded Itzcoatl as Hueyi Tlatoani in 1440. Although he was also offered the opportunity to be tlatoani, Tlacaelel preferred to operate as the power behind the throne. Tlacaelel reformed the Aztec state and religion. According to some sources, he ordered the burning of most of the extant Aztec books claiming that they contained lies. He thereupon rewrote the history of the Aztec people, thus creating a common awareness of history for the Aztecs. This rewriting led directly to the curriculum taught to scholars and promoted the belief that the Aztecs were always a powerful and mythic nation; forgetting forever a possible true history of modest origins. One component of this reform was the institution of ritual war (the flower wars) as a way to have trained warriors, and created the necessity of constant sacrifices to keep the Sun moving.

Spanish conquest

Main article: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

The empire reached its height during Ahuitzotl’s reign in 1486–1502. His successor, Motehcuzōma Xocoyotzin (better known as Moctezuma II or Moctezuma, or Montezuma), had been Hueyi Tlatoani for 17 years when the Spaniards, led by Hernándo Cortés, landed on the Gulf Coast in the spring of 1519.

Despite some early battles between the two, Cortés allied himself with the Aztecs’ long-time enemy, the Confederacy of Tlaxcala, and arrived at the gates of Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519.

The Spaniards and their Tlaxcallan allies became increasingly dangerous and unwelcome guests in the capital city. In June, 1520, hostilities broke out, culminating in the massacre in the Main Temple and the death of Moctezuma II. The Spaniards fled the town on July 1, an episode later characterized as La Noche Triste (the Sad Night). They and their native allies returned in the spring of 1521 to lay siege to Tenochtitlan, a battle that ended on August 13 with the destruction of the city. During this period the now crumbling empire went through a rapid line of ruler succession. After the death of Moctezuma II, the empire fell into the hands of severely weakened emperors, such as Cuitláhuac, before eventually being ruled by puppet rulers, such as Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh, installed by the Spanish.

Despite the decline of the Aztec empire, most of the Mesoamerican cultures were intact after the fall of Tenochtitlan. Indeed, the freedom from Aztec domination may have been considered a positive development by most of the other cultures. The upper classes of the Aztec empire were considered noblemen by the Spaniards and generally treated as such initially. All this changed rapidly and the native population were soon forbidden to study by law, and had the status of minors[citation needed].

The Tlaxcalans remained loyal to their Spanish friends and were allowed to come on other conquests with Cortés and his men.

Colonial period population decline

Main article: Population history of American indigenous peoples

In 1520–1521, an outbreak of smallpox swept through the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city. It is estimated that between 10% and 50% of the population fell victim to this epidemic.

Subsequently, the Valley of Mexico was hit with two more epidemics, smallpox (1545–1548) and typhus (1576–1581). The Spaniards, to consolidate the diminishing population, merged the survivors from small towns in the Valley of Mexico into bigger ones. This broke the power of the upper classes, but did not dissolve the coherence of the indigenous society in greater Mexico.

The population before the time of the conquest is unknown and hotly contested,[nb 1] but disease is known to have ravaged the region; thus, the indigenous population of the Valley of Mexico is estimated to have declined by more than 80% in the course of about 60 years.[12]

Cultural patterns

Government


The maximal extent of the Aztec Empire

The Aztec Empire was an example of an empire that ruled by indirect means. Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse, but unlike most European empires, it was more of a system of tribute than a single system of government. In the theoretical framework of imperial systems posited by Alexander J. Motyl[13] the Aztec empire was an informal or hegemonic empire because it did not exert supreme authority over the conquered lands, it merely expected tributes to be paid. It was also a discontinuous empire because not all dominated territories were connected, for example the southern peripheral zones of Xoconochco were not in direct contact with the center. The hegemonic nature of the Aztec empire can be seen in the fact that generally local rulers were restored to their positions once their city-state was conquered and the Aztecs did not interfere in local affairs as long as the tribute payments were made.[14]

Although the form of government is often referred to as an empire, in fact most areas within the empire were organized as city-states, known as altepetl in Nahuatl. These were small polities ruled by a king (tlatoani) from a legitimate dynasty. The Early Aztec period was a time of growth and competition among altepetl. Even after the empire was formed (1428) and began its program of expansion through conquest, the altepetl remained the dominant form of organization at the local level. The efficient role of the altepetl as a regional political unit was largely responsible for the success of the empire’s hegemonic form of control.[15]

Tribute and trade


Aztec feather headdress, often described as the crown of Moctezuma II. Its actual owner is unknown, but the feathers must have been brought from tropical rainforest areas far away from the Aztec capital.

Several pages from the Codex Mendoza list tributary towns along with the goods they supplied, which included not only luxuries such as feathers, adorned suits, and greenstone beads, but more practical goods such as cloth, firewood, and food. Tribute was usually paid twice or four times a year at differing times.[16]

Archaeological excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces show that incorporation into the empire had both costs and benefits for provincial peoples. On the positive side, the empire promoted commerce and trade, and exotic goods from obsidian to bronze managed to reach the houses of both commoners and nobles. Trade partners included the enemy Tarascan, a source of bronze tools and jewelry. On the negative side, imperial tribute imposed a burden on commoner households, who had to increase their work to pay their share of tribute. Nobles, on the other hand, often made out well under imperial rule because of the indirect nature of imperial organization. The empire had to rely on local kings and nobles and offered them privileges for their help in maintaining order and keeping the tribute flowing.[17]

Economy

The Aztec economy can be divided into a political sector, under the control of nobles and kings, and a commercial sector that operated independently of the political sector. The political sector of the economy centered on the control of land and labor by kings and nobles. Nobles owned all land, and commoners got access to farmland and other fields through a variety of arrangements, from rental through sharecropping to serf-like labor and slavery. These payments from commoners to nobles supported both the lavish lifestyles of the high nobility and the finances of city-states. Many luxury goods were produced for consumption by nobles. The producers of featherwork, sculptures, jewelry, and other luxury items were full-time commoner specialists who worked for noble patrons.

In the commercial sector of the economy several types of money were in regular use. Small purchases were made with cacao beans, which had to be imported from lowland areas. In Aztec marketplaces, a small rabbit was worth 30 beans, a turkey egg cost 3 beans, and a tamal cost a single bean. For larger purchases, standardized lengths of cotton cloth called quachtli were used. There were different grades of quachtli, ranging in value from 65 to 300 cacao beans. One source stated that 20 quachtli could support a commoner for one year in Tenochtitlan. A man could also sell his own daughter as a sexual slave or future religious sacrifice, generally for around 500 to 700 beans. A small gold statue (approximately 0.62 kg / 1.37 lb) cost 250 beans. Money was used primarily in the many periodic markets that were held in each town. A typical town would have a weekly market (every 5 days), while larger cities held markets every day. Cortés reported that the central market of Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlan’s sister city, was visited by 60,000 people daily. Some sellers in the markets were petty vendors; farmers might sell some of their produce, potters sold their vessels, and so on. Other vendors were professional merchants who traveled from market to market seeking profits. The pochteca were specialized merchants organized into exclusive guilds. They made long expeditions to all parts of Mesoamerica, and they served as the judges and supervisors of the Tlatelolco market. Although the economy of Aztec Mexico was commercialized (in its use of money, markets, and merchants), it was not “a capitalist economy because land and labor were not commodities for sale.”[18]

Transportation

The main contribution of the Aztec rule was a system of communications between the conquered cities. In Mesoamerica, without draft animals for transport (nor, as a result, wheeled vehicles), the roads were designed for travel on foot. Usually these roads were maintained through tribute, and travelers had places to rest and eat and even latrines to use at regular intervals, roughly every 10 to 15 kilometres (6 to 9 mi). Couriers (paynani) were constantly travelling along those ways, keeping the Aztecs informed of events, and helping to monitor the integrity of the roads.

Mythology and religion

Main articles: Aztec religion and Aztec mythology

The Coat of Arms of Mexico, from Aztec mythology


The Aztec Sun Stone, also known as the Aztec Calendar Stone, at National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.


The Aztec goddess of Coatlicue, mother of earth. National Museum of Anthropology.

The Mexica made reference to at least two manifestations of the supernatural: tēōtl and tēixiptla. Tēōtl, which the Spaniards and European scholars routinely mistranslated as “god” or “demon”, referred rather to an impersonal force that permeated the world. Tēixiptla, by contrast, denoted the physical representations (”idols”, statues and figurines) of the tēōtl as well as the human cultic activity surrounding this physical representation. The Mexica “gods” themselves had no existence as distinct entities apart from these tēixiptla representations of tēōtl (Boone 1989).

Veneration of Huitzilopochtli, the personification of the sun and of war, was central to the religious, social and political practices of the Mexicas. Huitzilopochtli attained this central position after the founding of Tenochtitlan and the formation of the Mexica city-state society in the 14th century. Prior to this, Huitzilopochtli was associated primarily with hunting, presumably one of the important subsistence activities of the itinerant bands that would eventually become the Mexica.

According to myth, Huitzilopochtli directed the wanderers to found a city on the site where they would see an eagle devouring a snake perched on a fruit-bearing nopal cactus. (It was said that Huitzilopochtli killed his nephew, Cópil, and threw his heart on the lake. Huitzilopochtli honoured Cópil by causing a cactus to grow over Cópil’s heart.) Legend has it that this is the site on which the Mexicas built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of arms of Mexico.

According to their own history, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac valley (Valley of Mexico) around Lake Texcoco, the groups living there considered them uncivilized. The Mexicas borrowed much of their culture from the ancient Toltec whom they seem to have at least partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan. To the Mexicas, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; “Toltecayōtl” was a synonym for culture. Mexica legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.

As all other Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztecs played a variant of the Mesoamerican ballgame, named tlachtli or ollamaliztli in Nahuatl. The game was played with a ball of solid rubber, called an olli, whence derives the Spanish word for rubber, hule. The players hit the ball with their hips, knees, and elbows and had to pass the ball through a stone ring to automatically win. The practice of the ballgame carried religious and mythological meanings and also served as sport.

Human sacrifice


Human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano

Main article: Human sacrifice in Aztec culture

For most people today, and for the European Catholics who first met the Aztecs, human sacrifice was the most striking feature of Aztec civilization.[citation needed] While human sacrifice was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, if their own accounts are to be believed, brought this practice to an unprecedented level. For example, for the reconsecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days, reportedly by Ahuitzotl, the Great Speaker himself.

However, most experts consider these numbers to be overstated.[citation needed] For example, the sheer logistics associated with sacrificing 84,000 victims would be overwhelming, though historians and archaeologists agree that 2,000 is a more likely figure. A similar consensus has developed on reports of cannibalism among the Aztecs.

Accounts by the Tlaxcaltecas, the primary enemy of the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish Conquest, show that at least some of them considered it an honor to be sacrificed. In one legend, the warrior Tlahuicole was freed by the Aztecs but eventually returned of his own volition to die in ritual sacrifice. Tlaxcala also practiced the human sacrifice of captured Aztec Citizens.

Social structures

Main articles: Aztec society and Aztec slavery

Class structure

Main article: Class in Aztec society

A painting from Codex Mendoza showing elder Aztecs being given intoxicants.

The highest class were the pīpiltin or nobility.[nb 2] Originally this status was not hereditary, although the sons of pillis had access to better resources and education, so it was easier for them to become pillis. Later the class system took on hereditary aspects.

The second class were the mācehualtin, originally peasants. Eduardo Noguera[19] estimates that in later stages only 20% of the population was dedicated to agriculture and food production. The other 80% of society were warriors, artisans and traders. Eventually, most of the mācehuallis were dedicated to arts and crafts. Their works were an important source of income for the city.[20]

Slaves or tlacotin also constituted an important class. Aztecs could become slaves because of debts, as a criminal punishment or as war captives. A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. However, upon becoming a slave, all of the slave’s animals and excess money would go to his purchaser. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they had children with or were married to their masters. Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.

Traveling merchants called pochtecah were a small, but important class as they not only facilitated commerce, but also communicated vital information across the empire and beyond its borders. They were often employed as spies.

Education

Until the age of fourteen, the mandatory universal[21] education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpōlli. Part of this education involved learning a collection of sayings, called huēhuetlàtolli (”sayings of the old”), that embodied the Aztecs’ ideals.

There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas.

Arts


This ornament features a turquoise mosaic on a carved wooden base, with red and white shells used for the mouths. Probably worn across the chest, this ornament measures 20 by 43 cm (8 by 17 in). It was likely created by Mixtec artisans from an Aztec tributary state. 1400–1521, from the British Museum [1].

Song and poetry were highly regarded; there were presentations and poetry contests at most of the Aztec festivals. There were also dramatic presentations that included players, musicians and acrobats.

A remarkable amount of this poetry survives, having been collected during the era of the conquest. In some cases poetry is attributed to individual authors, such as Nezahualcoyotl, tlatoani of Texcoco, and Cuacuauhtzin, Lord of Tepechpan, but whether these attributions reflect actual authorship is a matter of opinion. Miguel León-Portilla, a well-respected Aztec scholar of Mexico, has stated that it is in this poetry where we can find the real thought of the Aztecs, independent of “official” Aztec ideology.[22]

“Poetry” was in xochitl in cuicatl a dual term meaning “the flower and the song” and was divided into different genres. Yaocuicatl was devoted to war and the god(s) of war, Teocuicatl to the gods and creation myths and to adoration of said figures, xochicuicatl to flowers (a symbol of poetry itself and indicative of the highly metaphorical nature of a poetry that often utilized duality to convey multiple layers of meaning). “Prose” was tlahtolli, also with its different categories and divisions (Garganigo et al.).


Turquoise mask. Mixtec-Aztec. 1400–1521.

The most important collection of these poems is Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, collected (Tezcoco 1582), probably by Juan Bautista de Pomar.[nb 3] Bautista de Pomar was the great-grandson of Netzahualcoyotl. He spoke Nahuatl, but was raised a Christian and wrote in Latin characters. (See also: “Is It You?“, a short poem attributed to Netzahualcoyotl, and “Lament on the Fall of Tenochtitlan“, a short poem contained within the “Anales de Tlatelolco” manuscript.)

City-building and architecture

The capital city of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan, now the site of modern-day Mexico City. Built on a series of islets in Lake Texcoco, the city plan was based on a symmetrical layout that was divided into four city sections called campans. The city was interlaced with canals which were useful for transportation.

Tenochtitlan was built according to a fixed plan and centered on the ritual precinct, where the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan rose 50 m (164.04 ft) above the city. Houses were made of wood and loam, roofs were made of reed,[23] although pyramids, temples and palaces were generally made of stone.

Around the island, chinampa beds were used to grow foods as well as, over time, to increase the size of the island. Chinampas, misnamed “floating gardens”, were long raised plant beds set upon the shallow lake bottom. They were a very efficient agricultural system and could provide up to seven crops a year. On the basis of current chinampa yields, it has been estimated that 1 hectare of chinampa would feed 20 individuals and 9,000 hectares of chinampas could feed 180,000.[24]

Anthropologist Eduardo Noguera estimates the population at 200,000 based in the house count and merging the population of Tlatelolco (once an independent city, but later became a suburb of Tenochtitlan). If one includes the surrounding islets and shores surrounding Lake Texcoco, estimates range from 300,000 to 700,000 inhabitants.[24]

Agriculture

The pre-conquest Aztecs were a society that had four main methods of agriculture. The earliest, most basic form of agriculture implemented by the Aztecs is known as “rainfall cultivation.” The Aztecs also implemented terrace agriculture in hilly areas, or areas that could not be used for level ground farming. In the valleys irrigation farming was used. Dams diverted water from natural springs to the fields. This allowed for harvests on a regular basis. The Aztecs built canal systems that were longer and much more elaborate than previous irrigation systems. They managed to divert a large portion of the Cuauhtitlan River to provide irrigation to large areas of fields. The network of canals was a very complex and intricate system.

In the swampy regions along Lake Xochimilco, the Aztecs implemented yet another method of crop cultivation. They built what are called chinampas. Chinampas are areas of raised land, created from alternating layers of mud from the bottom of the lake, and plant matter/other vegetation. These “raised beds” were separated by narrow canals, which allowed farmers to move between them by canoe. The chinampas were extremely fertile pieces of land, and yielded, on average, seven crops annually. In order to plant on them, farmers first created “seedbeds,” or reed rafts, where they planted seeds and allowed them to germinate. Once they had, they were re-planted in the chinampas. This cut the growing time down considerably.

The Aztecs are credited with domestication of the subspecies of wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, which is native to this region.[25]

While most of the farming occurred outside the densely populated areas, within the cities there was another method of (small scale) farming. Each family had their own garden plot where they grew maize, fruits, herbs, medicines and other important plants.

Of the various crops grown by the Aztecs, maize was the most important. Aztec diets centered on it. Maize was grown across the entire empire, in the highland terraces, valley farms and also on the chinampas. Women ground maize into a coarse meal by rubbing it with a grinding stone called a manos against a flat stone called a metate. The Aztecs made tortillas from the corn meal. Other crops that the Aztecs relied upon were avocados, beans, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chia, amaranth and chilies. These crops were also grown everywhere. Crops that were specific to the lowland regions were cotton, fruits, cacao beans and rubber trees.

Relationship to other Mesoamerican cultures

Aztecs admired Mixtec craftsmanship so much that they imported artisans to Tenochtitlan and requested work to be done in certain Mixtec styles. The Aztecs also admired the Mixtec codices, so some of them were made to order by Mixteca for the Aztecs. In the later days, high society Aztec women started to wear Mixtec clothing, specifically the quexquemetl. It was worn over their traditional huipil, and much coveted by the women who could not afford such imported goods.

The situation was analogous in many ways to the Phoenician culture which imported and duplicated art from other cultures that they encountered.

Archaeologists usually do not have a problem differentiating between Mixtec and Aztec artifacts. However, the Mixtec made some products for “export” and that makes classification more problematic. In addition, the production of craft was an important part of the Mexica economy, and they also made pieces for “export”.

Legacy

Most modern day Mexicans (and people of Mexican descent in other countries) are mestizos, of mixed indigenous and European ancestry. During the 16th century the racial composition of Mexico began to change from one that featured distinct indigenous (Mexicas and members of the many other Mexican indigenous groups) and immigrant (mostly Spanish) populations, to the population composed primarily of mestizos that is found in modern day Mexico.

The Nahuatl language is today spoken by 1.5 million people, mostly in mountainous areas in the states of central Mexico. Local dialects of Spanish, Mexican Spanish generally, and the Spanish language worldwide have all been influenced, in varying degrees, by Nahuatl. Some Nahuatl words (most notably chocolate and tomato) have been borrowed through Spanish into other languages around the world.

Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, making it one of the oldest living cities of the Americas. Many of its districts and natural landmarks retain their original Nahuatl names. Many other cities and towns in Mexico and Central America have also retained their Nahuatl names (whether or not they were originally Mexica or even Nahuatl-speaking towns). A number of town names are hybrids of Nahuatl and Spanish.

Mexican cuisine continues to be based on and flavored by agricultural products contributed by the Mexicas/Aztecs and Mesoamerica, most of which retain some form of their original Nahuatl names. The cuisine has also become a popular part of the cuisine of the United States and other countries around the world, typically altered to suit various national tastes.

The modern Mexican flag bears the emblem of the Mexica migration story.

Historiography

Before the development of archaeology in Mexico in the 19th century, the historians mainly interpreted the ancient written sources to reconstitute Aztec history. Archaeology allowed to reconsider and criticize some of those interpretations and contradictions between the primary sources. Now, the scholar study of aztec civilization is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies.


A painting of Tlaloc, as shown on page 20R of Codex Rios

Aztec codices

There are few extant Aztec codices created before the conquest and these are largely ritual texts. Post-conquest codices, like Codex Mendoza or Codex Ríos, were painted by Aztec tlacuilos (codex creators), but under the control of Spanish authorities. The possibility of Spanish influence poses potential problems for those studying the post-conquest codices. Itzcoatl had the oldest hieroglyphics destroyed for political-religious reasons and Bishop Zumarraga of Mexico (1528–48) had all available texts burned for missionary reasons.[26]

The conquistadors

The accounts of the conquistadors are those of men confronted with a new civilization, which they tried to interpret according to their own culture. Cortés was the most educated, and his letters to Charles V are a valuable firsthand account. Unfortunately, one of his letters is lost and replaced by a posterior text and the others were censored prior to their publication. In any case, Cortés was not writing a dispassionate account, but letters justifying his actions and to some extent exaggerating his successes and downplaying his failures.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo accompanied Cortes, and he later wrote a book named: The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico.[nb 4] In his book, Capitan Bernal Díaz del Castillo provides his account of the Conquest of Mexico, in which he describes the events leading up to the conquest of Mexico including accounts of the human sacrifices and cannibalism that he witnessed first hand. Bernal Díaz wrote several decades after the fact, he never learned the native languages, and he did not take notes. His account is colorful, but his work is considered erratic and exaggerated by historians.[citation needed]

Although Francisco López de Gómara was Cortes’ chaplain, friend, and confidant, he never visited the New World so his account is based on hearsay.

Priests and scholars

The accounts of the first priests and scholars, while reflecting their faith and their culture, are important sources. Fathers Diego Durán, Motolinia, and Mendieta wrote with their own religion in mind, Father Duran wrote trying to prove that the Aztec were one of the lost tribes of Israel. Bartolomé de las Casas wrote apologetically about the Indians, accusing the Spanish conquistadors of committing unspeakable atrocities in their subjugation of the Aztecs and other indigenous groups. Some authors tried to make a synthesis of the pre-Hispanic cultures, like “Oviedo y Herrera”, Jose de Acosta, and Pedro Mártir de Anghiera.[clarification needed]

The most significant source about the Aztec are doubtless the manuscripts of Bernardino de Sahagún, who worked with the surviving Aztec wise men. He taught Aztec tlacuilos to write the original Nahuatl accounts using the Latin alphabet. Because of fear of the Spanish authorities, he maintained the anonymity of his informants, and wrote a heavily censored version in Spanish. Unfortunately the Nahuatl original was not fully translated until the 20th century, thus realising the extent of the censorship of the Spanish version. The original Nahuatl manuscript is known as the Florentine Codex.

Native authors

Other important sources are the work of native and mestizo authors, descendants of the upper classes. These authors include Don Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc, Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin, Juan Bautista de Pomar, and Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl. Ixtlixochitl, for example, wrote a history of Texcoco from a Christian point of view. His account of Netzahualcoyotl, an ancestor of Ixtlilxochitl’s, has a strong resemblance to the story of King Solomon and portrays Netzahualcoyotl as a monotheist and a critic of human sacrifice.

Diego Muñoz Camargo (1521 – c. 1612), a Tlaxcalan mestizo, wrote the History of Tlaxcala six decades after the Spanish conquest. Some parts of his work have a strong Tlaxcala bias.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ By one series of estimates, the population before the time of the conquest is estimated at 19 million; by 1550, the estimated population was 4 million and by 1581 less than two million[citation needed]
  2. ^ singular form pilli
  3. ^ This volume was later translated into Spanish by Ángel María Garibay K., teacher of León-Portilla, and it exists in English translation by John Bierhorst
  4. ^ Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España, Escrita por el Capitan Bernal Diaz del Castillo, uno de sus conquistadores — Published in the Spanish language by Fernandez, Editores S.A. Mexico City, (Published in the English language by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy in 1956 Library of Congress Catalog Number 56-5758)

Footnotes

  1. ^ etymonline.com: Aztec
  2. ^ Lockhart 1992[page needed]
  3. ^ Smith 1997, p. 2
  4. ^ Campbell 1997[Full citation needed]
  5. ^ Miguel Leon Portilla (2000). “Aztecas, disquisiciones sobre un gentilicio”. p. 6. 
  6. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 4–7
  7. ^ Smith 2001, pp. 250–252
  8. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 49–58
  9. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 174–175
  10. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 176–182
  11. ^ Smith 1984, p. 173
  12. ^ Silent Killers of the New World
  13. ^ Motyl, Alexander J. (2001). Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 13, 19–21, 32–36. ISBN 0-231-12110-5. 
  14. ^ Berdan, et al. (1996), Aztec Imperial Strategies. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC[page needed]
  15. ^ Smith, Michael E. (2000), Aztec City-States. In A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures, edited by Mogens Herman Hansen, pp. 581–595. The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, Copenhagen.
  16. ^ The Codex Mendoza, edited by F. Berdan and P. Anawalt, University of California Press, 1992
  17. ^ Smith, Life in the Provinces of the Aztec empire, Scientific American, September 1997
  18. ^ (Smith, The Aztecs, 2nd edition, chapter 5)
  19. ^ Annals of Anthropology, UNAM, Vol. xi, 1974, p. 56
  20. ^ Sanders, William T., Settlement Patterns in Central Mexico. Handbook of Middle American Indians, 1971, vol. 3, p. 3–44.
  21. ^ http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-inventions.html
  22. ^ León-Portilla, Broken Spears.[page needed]
  23. ^ “Azteken” (8th ed. ed.). 1975. 
  24. ^ a b Eduardo Noguera (1974). “Sitios de Ocupacion de la periferia de Tenochtitlan” (XI ed. ed.). 
  25. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Wild turkey: Meleagris gallopavo, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
  26. ^ Holtker, George,” Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol 1/5, “The Religions of Mexico and Peru”, Catholic Truth Society.

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Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (1988) The Great Temple of the Aztecs. Thames and Hudson, New York. ISBN 0-500-39024-X.
Miller, Mary; and Karl Taube (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05068-6. OCLC 27667317. 
Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. (June 1983). “Counting Skulls: Comment on the Aztec Cannibalism Theory of Harner-Harris”. American Anthropologist (Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association) 85 (2): pp.403–406. doi:10.1525/aa.1983.85.2.02a00130. ISSN 0002-7294. OCLC 1479294. 
Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. (1990). Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1562-9. OCLC 20798977. 
Prescott, William H. (1843) (online reproduction, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library). History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary View of Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortes. New York: Harper and Brothers. OCLC 2458166. http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/PreConq.html. 
Restall, Matthew (2004). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest (1st pbk edition ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517611-1. OCLC 56695639. 
Ruiz de Alarcón, Hernando (1984) [1629]. Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions and Customs That Today Live Among the Indians Native to This New Spain, 1629. Civilization of the American Indian series, no. 164. translated & edited by J. Richard Andrews and Ross Hassig (original reproduction and translation of: Tratado de las supersticiones y costumbres gentílicas que oy viven entre los indios naturales desta Nueva España, first English ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1832-6. OCLC 10046127.  (Nahuatl) (English)
Sahagún, Bernardino de (1950–82) [ca. 1540–85]. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12. vols. I-XII. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson (eds., trans., notes and illus.) (translation of Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España ed.). Santa Fe, NM and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-082-X. OCLC 276351. 
Sahagún, Bernardino de (1997) [ca.1558–61]. Primeros Memoriales. Civilization of the American Indians series vol. 200, part 2. Thelma D. Sullivan (English trans. and paleography of Nahuatl text), with H.B. Nicholson, Arthur J.O. Anderson, Charles E. Dibble, Eloise Quiñones Keber, and Wayne Ruwet (completion, revisions, and ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2909-9. OCLC 35848992. 
Schroeder, Susan (1991). Chimalpahin and the Kingdoms of Chalco. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-1182-9. OCLC 21976206. 
Smith, Michael E. (1984). “The Aztlan Migrations of Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History?” (PDF online facsimile). Ethnohistory (Columbus, OH: American Society for Ethnohistory) 31 (3): pp.153–186. doi:10.2307/482619. ISSN 0014-1801. OCLC 145142543. http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-84-Aztlan.pdf. 
Smith, Michael E. (1997). The Aztecs (first ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23015-7. OCLC 48579073. 
Smith, Michael E. (May 2005). “City Size in Late Post-Classic Mesoamerica” (PDF). Journal of Urban History (Beverley Hills, CA: SAGE Publications) 31 (4): pp.403–434. doi:10.1177/0096144204274396. ISSN 0096-1442. OCLC 1798556. http://www.public.asu.edu/%7Emesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-05-CitySize.pdf. 
Smith, Michael E. and [1] (2001). “The Archaeological Study of Empires and Imperialism in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico”. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 20: 245–284. doi:10.1006/jaar.2000.0372. 
Smith, Michael E, “Life in the Provinces of the Aztec Empire”, Scientific American.PDF (538 KiB)
Soustelle, Jacques (1961). Daily Life of the Aztecs:On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest. Patrick O’Brian (Trans.). London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1842125087. OCLC 50217224. 
Taube, Karl A. (1993). Aztec and Maya Myths (4th University of Texas printing ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78130-X. OCLC 29124568. 
Townsend, Richard F. (2000). The Aztecs (2nd edition, revised ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28132-7. OCLC 43337963. 
Zantwijk,Rudolph van (1985). The Aztec Arrangement: The Social History of Pre-Spanish Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-806-11677-3. OCLC 11261299. 
Primary sources, available in English
Berdan, Frances F. and Patricia Reiff Anawalt (1997) The Essential Codex Mendoza. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-20454-9.
Cortés, Hernan (1987) Letters from Mexico. New Ed. edition. Translated by Anthony Pagden. Yale University Press, New Haven. ISBN 0-300-03724-4.
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal (1963) The Conquest of New Spain. Translated by J. M. Cohen. Penguin, New York. ISBN 0-14-044123-9.
Díaz, Gisele and Alan Rogers (1993) The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript. Dover Publications, New York. ISBN 0-486-27569-8.
Durán, Fray Diego (1971) Book of the Gods and Rites and The Ancient Calendar. Translated by Fernando Horcasitas and Doris Heyden. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. ASIN B000M4OVSG. ISBN 0-8061-1201-8 (1977 Ed. edition).
Durán, Fray Diego (1994) The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated by Doris Heyden. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. ISBN 0-8061-2649-3.
Garganigo et al., (2008) Huellas de las Literaturas Hispanoamerica. 3 edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. (Note, this source in Spanish). ISBN 0-13-195846-1.
Zorita, Alonso de (1963) Life and Labor in Ancient Mexico: The Brief and Summary Relation of the Lords of New Spain. Translated by Benjamin Keen. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. ASIN B000INWUNE. ISBN 0-8061-2679-5 (1994 paperback).

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Aztecs.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aztec


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Astrology

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Astrological traditions, types, and systems

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system of horoscopes that claim to predict aspects of an individual’s personality or life history based on the positions of the sun, moon, and other planetary objects at the time of their birth. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, and Mayans developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations.

Among Indo-European peoples, astrology has been dated to the third millennium BCE, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications.[1] Through most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition. It was accepted in political and academic contexts, and its concepts were built into other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine.[2] At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy (such as heliocentrism) began to damage the credibility of astrology, which subsequently lost its academic and theoretical standing. Astrology saw a popular revival in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of a general revival of spiritualism and later New Age philosophy, and through the influence of mass media such as newspaper horoscopes.[3]

While astrology may bear a superficial resemblance to science, it is a pseudoscience because it makes little attempt to develop solutions to its problems, shows no concern for the evaluation of competing theories, and is selective in considering confirmations and dis-confirmations.[4][5]

Contents

Etymology


Marcantonio Raimondi engraving: 15th cent.

The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia,[6] deriving from the Greek noun ἀστρολογία, ‘account of the stars’. Astrologia later passed into meaning ’star-divination’ with astronomia used for the scientific term.[7]

Historically, the word star has had a loose definition, by which it can refer to planets or any luminous celestial object.[8] The notion of it signifying all heavenly bodies is evident in early Babylonian astrology where cuneiform depictions for the determinative MUL (star) present a symbol of stars alongside planetary and other stellar references to indicate deified objects which reside in the heavens.[a] The word planet (based on the Greek verb πλανάω planaō ‘to wander/stray’), was introduced by the Greeks as a reference to how seven notable ’stars’ were seen to ‘wander’ through others which remained static in their relationship to each other, with the distinction noted by the terms ἀστέρες ἀπλανεῖς asteres aplaneis ‘fixed stars’, and ἀστέρες πλανῆται asteres planetai, ‘wandering stars’.[9] Initially, texts such as Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos referred to the planets as ‘the star of Saturn’, ‘the star of Jupiter’, etc., rather than simply ‘Saturn’ or ‘Jupiter’,[10] but the names became simplified as the word planet assumed astronomical formality over time.[11]

The seven Classical planets therefore comprise the Sun and Moon along with the solar-system planets that are visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This remained the standard definition of the word ‘planet’ until the discovery of Uranus in 1781 created a need for revision.[12] Although the modern IAU definition of planet does not include the Sun and the Moon, astrology retains historical convention in its description of those astronomical bodies, and also generally maintains reference to Pluto as being an astrological planet.[b]

Core principles


Robert Fludd’s 16th century illustration of man the microcosm within the universal macrocosm

A central principle of astrology is integration within the cosmos.[13] The individual, Earth, and its environment are viewed as a single organism, all parts of which are correlated with each other.[14] Cycles of change that are observed in the heavens are therefore said to be reflective (not causative) of similar cycles of change observed on earth and within the individual.[15] This relationship is expressed in the Hermetic maxim “as above, so below; as below, so above”, which postulates symmetry between the individual as a microcosm and the celestial environment as a macrocosm.[16] Accordingly, the natal horoscope depicts a stylized map of the universe at the time of birth, specifically focussed on the individual at its centre, with the Sun, Moon, and celestial bodies considered to be that individual’s personal planets or stars, which are uniquely relevant to that individual alone.[17]

At the heart of astrology is the metaphysical principle that mathematical relationships express qualities or ‘tones’ of energy which manifest in numbers, visual angles, shapes and sounds – all connected within a pattern of proportion. Pythagoras first identified that the pitch of a musical note is in proportion to the length of the string that produces it, and that intervals between harmonious sound frequencies form simple numerical ratios.[18] In a theory known as the Harmony of the Spheres, Pythagoras proposed that the Sun, Moon and planets all emit their own unique hum based on their orbital revolution,[19] and that the quality of life on Earth reflects the tenor of celestial sounds which are physically imperceptible to the human ear.[20] Subsequently, Plato described astronomy and music as “twinned” studies of sensual recognition: astronomy for the eyes, music for the ears, and both requiring knowledge of numerical proportions.[21]


William Blake’s characterisation of Isaac Newton working with the principle of Divine Proportion

Later philosophers retained the close association between astronomy, optics, music and astrology, including Ptolemy, who wrote influential texts on all these topics.[22] Alkindi, in the 9th century, developed Ptolemy’s ideas in De Aspectibus which explores many points of relevance to astrology and the use of planetary aspects.[23] In the 17th century, Kepler, also influenced by arguments in Ptolemy’s Optics and Harmonica,[24] compiled his Harmonices Mundi (’Harmony of the World’), which presented his own analysis of optical perceptions, geometrical shapes, musical consonances and planetary harmonies. Kepler regarded this text as the most important work of his career, and the fifth part, concerning the role of planetary harmony in Creation, the crown of it.[25] His premise was that, as an integral part of Universal Law, mathematical harmony is the key that binds all parts together: one theoretical proposition from his work introduced the minor planetary aspects into astrology; another introduced Kepler’s third law of planetary motion into astronomy.[26]

Another core principle is exemplified in an astrological maxim used by Francis Bacon in the 17th century: “The last rule (which has always been held by the wiser astrologers) is that there is no fatal necessity in the stars; but that they rather incline than compel”.[27] Bacon advocated an emphasis on what he called “sane astrology” based on the study of subtle influences that “lie concealed in the depths of Physic”.[28] His arguments reflect how astrology has always involved consideration of the psyche,[13] a more recent expression of which can be found in the writings of Carl Jung and the development of modern psychological astrology.

World traditions

Although most cultural systems of astrology share common roots in ancient philosophies that influenced each other, many have unique methodologies which differ from those developed in the west. The most significant are Hindu astrology (also known as “Indian astrology” and in modern times referred to as “Vedic astrology”) and Chinese astrology. Both have yielded great influence upon the world’s cultural history.

Western astrology

For more details on this topic, see Western astrology.

Western astrology is largely horoscopic, that is, it is a form of divination based on the construction of a horoscope for an exact moment, such as a person’s birth.[29] It is founded on the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, planets, which are analyzed by their aspects (angles) relative to one another. These are usually considered by their placement in houses (spatial divisions of the sky), and their movement through signs of the zodiac (spatial divisions of the ecliptic). Astrology’s modern representation in western popular media is often reduced to sun sign astrology, which considers only basic relationships of planets to the zodiac sign of the Sun at an individual’s date of birth. The full analysis of the birth chart, as performed by an astrological practitioner, involves much more detailed consideration than this.


Page from an Astrological Treatise, ca. 1750

Indian and South/West Asian astrology

For more details on this topic, see Hindu astrology.

Indian astrology uses a different commencement point to its 12-fold division of the zodiac than Western astrology but retains the same names and meanings for the signs and shares many of the same traditional principles. The two methods differ mainly in their focus on sidereal and tropical astrology. Hindu astrology relies on the sidereal zodiac in which the signs of the zodiac are aligned to the position of the corresponding constellations in the sky. In order to maintain this alignment, Hindu astrology uses an adjustment, called ayanamsa, to take into account the gradual precession of the vernal equinox (the gradual shift in the orientation of the Earth’s axis of rotation). Western astrology does not make this adjustment. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which is aligned to the points where the Sun’s position on the ecliptic creates the change of seasons.[30] The two systems differ on the point where they start the astrological year by about 23 degrees. In both systems, the astrological year starts with the spring or vernal equinox. However, in Hindu astrology the equinox occurs when the Sun is 6 degrees in Pisces. Western astrology places the equinox at the beginning of Aries, about 23 degrees after the equinox in the Hindu system.[31] Hindu astrology also includes several sub-systems of zodiac division, and employs the notion of bandhu: connections that, according to the Vedas link the outer and the inner worlds. This principle is similar to that found in Western and Chinese astrology, in considering the connection between the macrocosm and microcosm.

In India, there is a long-established and widespread belief in astrology. It is commonly used for daily life, particularly in matters concerning marriage and career, and makes extensive use of electional, horary and karmic astrology.[32][33] It remains considered a branch of Vedic science.[34][35] In 2001, Indian scientists and politicians debated and critiqued a proposal to use state money to fund research into astrology[36] resulting in vedic astrology being introduced into the curriculum of Indian universities.[37] In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology’s standing in India when it dismissed a case which had challenged it status as a science.[38]

The astrology commonly used in Sri Lanka is largely based on Hindu astrology with some modifications to bring it in line with Buddhist teachings. Tibetan astrology also shares many of these components but has also been strongly influenced by Chinese culture and acknowledges a circle of animal signs similar to that of the Chinese zodiac (see below).

Chinese and East-Asian astrology

For more details on this topic, see Chinese astrology and Chinese zodiac.

Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmony, heaven, earth and water) and uses the principles of yin and yang and concepts that are not found in Western astrology, such as the wu xing teachings, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, and shichen (時辰 a form of timekeeping used for religious purposes).

The system of Chinese astrology was elaborated during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) and flourished during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD), during which all the familiar elements of traditional Chinese culture - the Yin-Yang philosophy, theory of the 5 elements, Heaven and Earth, Confucian morality - were brought together to formalise the philosophical principles of Chinese medicine and divination, astrology and alchemy.[39]

The early use of Chinese astrology was mainly confined to political astrology, the observation of unusual phenomena, identification of portents and the selection of auspicious days for events and decisions.[40] The constellations of the Zodiac of western Asia and Europe were not used; instead the sky is divided into Three Enclosures (三垣 sān yuán), and Twenty-eight Mansions (二十八宿 èrshíbā xiù) in twelve Ci (十二次).[41] The Three Enclosures occupy the area close to the North Celestial Pole, where the stars are visible to northern hemisphere observers all year around. The Twenty-eight Mansions occupy the zodiacal band and find their equivalent in the 28 Lunar mansions of western astrology and the Nakshatra of Indian astrology. Though marked along the zodiac they are defined by the movement of the Moon in a lunar month rather than the Sun in a solar year. The Zhou Bi Suan Jing is an important astronomical text, dating from the Zhou dynasty but completed in the Han dynasty. It presents a complex lunisolar calendar whose focus reflects a long-standing division between mathematical astronomy “li fa” and portent astrology “tian wen”.[42]

The zodiac of twelve animal signs is said to represent twelve different types of personality. This is not derived from divisions of the ecliptic as in Western astrology, but represents annual rather than monthly themes, being based on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (the shichen). The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the cycle proceeds through 11 other animals signs: the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.[43] A complex system of predicting fate and destiny based on one’s birthday, birth season, and birth hours, known as Zi Wei Dou Shu (simplified Chinese: 紫微斗数; traditional Chinese: 紫微斗數; pinyin: zǐwēidǒushù) is also still used regularly in modern day Chinese astrology.

The Korean zodiac is identical to the Chinese one. The Vietnamese zodiac is almost identical to Chinese zodiac except that the second animal is the Water Buffalo instead of the Ox, and the fourth animal is the Cat instead of the Rabbit. The Japanese zodiac includes the Wild Boar instead of the Pig. The Thai zodiac includes a Naga in place of the Dragon and begins, not at Chinese New Year, but at either on the first day of fifth month in Thai lunar calendar, or during the Songkran festival (now celebrated every 13–15 April), depending on the purpose of the use.[44]

History

Main article: History of astrology

Ancient world

For more details on ancient astrology, see Babylonian astrology and Hellenistic astrology.

Astrology, before its differentiation from astronomy, began when humans started to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles.[45] Early evidence of this appears as markings on bones and cave walls, which show lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25,000 years ago. These were the first steps towards recording the Moon’s influence upon tides and rivers, and towards organizing a communal calendar.[46] Agricultural needs were also met by increasing knowledge of constellations, whose appearances change with the seasons, allowing the rising of particular star-groups to herald annual floods or seasonal activities.[47] By the third millennium BCE, widespread civilizations had developed sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and are believed to have consciously oriented their temples to create alignment with the heliacal risings of the stars.[48]

There is scattered evidence to suggest that the oldest known astrological references are copies of texts made during this period. Two, from the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa (compiled in Babylon round 1700 BCE) are reported to have been made during the reign of king Sargon of Akkad (2334-2279 BCE).[49] Another, showing an early use of electional astrology, is ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash (ca. 2144-2124 BCE). This describes how the gods revealed to him in a dream the constellations that would be most favorable for the planned construction of a temple.[50] However, there is controversy about whether they were genuinely recorded at the time or merely ascribed to ancient rulers by posterity. The oldest undisputed evidence of the use of astrology as an integrated system of knowledge is therefore attributed to the records of the first dynasty of Mesopotamia (1950-1651 BCE).

Medieval Islamic world

For more details on this topic, see Astrology in medieval Islam.
Image of a Latin astrological text

Latin translation of Abū Maʿshar’s De Magnis Coniunctionibus (‘Of the great conjunctions’), Venice, 1515.

Astrology was taken up enthusiastically by Islamic scholars following the collapse of Alexandria to the Arabs in the 7th century, and the founding of the Abbasid empire in the 8th. The second Abbasid caliph, Al Mansur (754-775) founded the city of Baghdad to act as a centre of learning, and included in its design a library-translation centre known as Bayt al-Hikma ‘Storehouse of Wisdom’, which continued to receive development from his heirs and was to provide a major impetus for Arabic-Persian translations of Hellenistic astrological texts.[51] The early translators included Mashallah, who helped to elect the time for the foundation of Baghdad,[52] and Sahl ibn Bishr, (a.k.a Zael), whose texts were directly influential upon later European astrologers such as Guido Bonatti in the 13th century, and William Lilly in the 17th century.[53] Knowledge of Arabic texts started to become imported into Europe during the Latin translations of the 12th century, the effect of which was to help initiate the European Renaissance.

Other important Arabic astrologers include Albumasur and Al Khwarizmi, the Persian mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, who is considered the father of algebra and the algorithm. The Arabs greatly increased the knowledge of astronomical cycles, and many of the star names that remain in common use today, such as Aldebaran, Altair, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Vega retain the legacy of their language.

20th and 21st century

Early in the 20th century, Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, developed sophisticated theories concerning astrology.[54] These included concepts such as archetypes, the collective unconscious[55] and with the collaboration of pioneer theoretical physicist (and Nobel laureate), Wolfgang Pauli, synchronicity.[56] Astrologers like Dane Rudhyar[57] pursued a similar path to Jung and others such as Liz Greene[58][59] and Stephen Arroyo[60] were influenced by the Jungian model leading to the development of psychological astrology.[61]

In the middle of the 20th century, Alfred Witte and, following him, Reinhold Ebertin pioneered the use of midpoints, called midpoint astrology in horoscopic analysis.[62] A new kind of locational astrology began in 1957–58, when Donald Bradley published a hand-plotted geographic astrology map. In the 1970s, American astrologer Jim Lewis developed this technique under the name of Astro*Carto*Graphy.[63] The world map displays lines where the Sun, Moon, planets and other celestial points appear to be on any of the Four Angles (Rising, Setting, MC and IC) at a given moment in time. By comparing these lines with the horoscope, an astrologer attempts to identify the potential in any location.[64]

Effect on European culture

For more details on this topic, see Cultural influence of astrology.

Aquarius: one of the twelve zodiac signs on the church of Saint-Austremonius, Auvergne, France.

Belief in astrology holds firm today in many parts of the world: in one poll, 31% of Americans expressed belief in astrology and according to another study 39% considered it scientific.[65] According to Gallup opinion polls, around 25% of adults in the UK and US accept that astrology or the position of the stars and planets affect people’s lives, whilst other sources report the figure to be much higher.[66]

Along with tarot divination, astrology is one of the core studies of Western esotericism, and as such has influenced systems of magical belief not only among Western esotericists and Hermeticists, but also belief systems such as Wicca that have borrowed from or been influenced by the Western esoteric tradition. Tanya Luhrmann has observed that “all magicians know something about astrology,” and refers to a table of correspondences in Starhawk’s The Spiral Dance, organized by planet, as an example of the astrological lore studied by magicians.[67]

Astrology has had an influence on both language and literature. For example, influenza, from medieval Latin influentia ‘influence’, was so named because doctors once believed epidemics to be caused by unfavourable celestial influences.[68] The word disaster comes from the Greek δυσαστρία, disastria, derived from the negative prefix δυσ-, dis- and αστήρ, aster ’star’, meaning not-starred or badly-starred.[69] The adjectives lunatic (Luna/Moon), mercurial (Mercury), venereal (Venus), martial (Mars), jovial (Jupiter/Jove), and saturnine (Saturn) are all used to describe personal qualities thought to be influenced by the astrological characteristics of predominating personal planets.

In literature many writers, such as Chaucer and Shakespeare, used astrological symbolism to add subtlety and nuance to the description of their characters’ motivations.[70] More recently, Michael Ward has proposed that C.S. Lewis imbued his Chronicles of Narnia with the characteristics and symbols of the seven planets that govern the heavens in medieval astrology.[71] In 1978, notes from Margaret Mitchell’s library revealed that she had based each character from her classic prize-winning novel, Gone with the Wind (1936), including the central star-crossed lovers, Scarlett (Aries) and Rhett (Leo), around an archetype of the zodiac.[72] In 2010, a detailed personal horoscope analyzed and illustrated by J.K. Rowling at the time she was writing her first Harry Potter novel, came up for sale. The auctioneer commented that Rowling “displays a detailed knowledge of Western astrology which was later to play an important part in her books”.[73]

In music the best known example of astrology’s influence is in the orchestral suite The Planets by British composer Gustav Holst, the framework of which is based on the astrological tones and signatures of the planets.[74]

In politics, in 1981, after John Hinckley’s attempted assassination of President Reagan, first lady Nancy Reagan commissioned astrologer Joan Quigley to act as the secret White House astrologer. However, Quigley’s role ended in 1988 when it became public through the memoirs of former chief of staff, Donald Regan.[75][76][77]

Modern scientific appraisal

Contemporary science considers astrology a pseudoscience.[78] Criticisms include that astrology is conjectural and supplies no hypotheses, proves difficult to falsify, and describes natural events in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes.[79][not in citation given] It has also been suggested that much of the continued faith in astrology could be psychologically explained as a matter of cognitive bias.[80] Skeptics[who?] say that the practice of western astrologers allows them to avoid making verifiable predictions, and gives them the ability to attach significance to arbitrary and unrelated events, in a way that suits their purpose,[81] although science also provides methodologies to separate verifiable significance from arbitrary predictions in research experiments, as demonstrated by Gauquelin’s research and Carlson’s experiment.[citation needed]

Astrology has repeatedly failed to demonstrate its effectiveness in controlled studies, according to the American Humanist Society. The group characterised those who continue to have faith in astrology as doing so “in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary.”[82] One well-documented and referenced paper, for instance, which conducted a large scale scientific test, involving more than one hundred cognitive, behavioral, physical and other variables, found no support for astrological accuracy.[83]

Astrology has been criticized for failing to provide a physical mechanism that links the movements of celestial bodies to their purported effects on human behavior. In 1975, amid increasing popular interest in astrology, The Humanist magazine presented a rebuttal of astrology in a statement put together by Bart J. Bok, Lawrence E. Jerome, and Paul Kurtz.[84] The statement, entitled ‘Objections to Astrology’, was signed by 186 astronomers, physicists and leading scientists of the day. They said that there is no scientific foundation for the tenets of astrology and warned the public against accepting astrological advice without question. Their criticism focused on the fact that there was no mechanism whereby astrological effects might occur:

We can see how infinitesimally small are the gravitational and other effects produced by the distant planets and the far more distant stars. It is simply a mistake to imagine that the forces exerted by stars and planets at the moment of birth can in any way shape our futures.[85][86]

Astronomer Carl Sagan declined to sign the statement. For this reason, his words have been quoted by those who argue that astrology retains some sort of scientific validity.[87] Sagan said he took this stance not because he thought astrology had any validity at all, but because he thought that the tone of the statement was authoritarian, and that dismissing astrology because there was no mechanism (while “certainly a relevant point”) was not in itself convincing. In a letter published in a follow-up edition of The Humanist, Sagan confirmed that he would have been willing to sign such a statement had it described and refuted the principal tenets of astrological belief. This, he argued, would have been more persuasive and would have produced less controversy.[88]

In 1953, philosopher Theodor W. Adorno conducted a study of the astrology column of a Los Angeles newspaper as part of a project examining mass culture in capitalist society. Adorno concluded that astrology was a large-scale manifestation of systematic irrationalism, where individuals were subtly being led to believe that the author of the column was addressing them directly through the use of flattery and vague generalizations.[89]

In a lecture in 2001, Stephen Hawking stated “The reason most scientists don’t believe in astrology is because it is not consistent with our theories that have been tested by experiment.”[90] Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson asserted that “astrology was discredited 600 years ago with the birth of modern science. ‘To teach it as though you are contributing to the fundamental knowledge of an informed electorate is astonishing in this, the 21st century’. Education should be about knowing how to think, ‘And part of knowing how to think is knowing how the laws of nature shape the world around us. Without that knowledge, without that capacity to think, you can easily become a victim of people who seek to take advantage of you‘“. The founder of the Astrological Institute to which Tyson’s criticism was directed responded “It’s quite obvious that he hasn’t studied the subject.”[91]

Astrologers for their part prefer not to attempt to explain astrology,[92] and instead give it supernatural explanations such as divination or synchronicity.[93][94][95] Others have proposed conventional causal agents such as electro-magnetism within an intricate web of planetary fields and resonances in the solar system.[96][97] Scientists dismiss magnetism as an implausible explanation, since the magnetic field of a large but distant planet such as Jupiter is far smaller than that produced by ordinary household appliances.[98]

Carlson’s experiment

A different approach to testing astrology quantitatively uses blind experiment. The most renowned[99] of these is Shawn Carlson’s double-blind chart matching tests in which he challenged 28 astrologers to match over 100 natal charts to psychological profiles generated by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) test. When Carlson’s study was published in Nature in 1985, his conclusion was that predictions based on natal astrology were no better than chance, and that the testing “clearly refutes the astrological hypothesis”.[100]

Gauquelin’s research

Main article: Mars effect

The initial Mars effect finding, showing the relative frequency of the diurnal position of Mars in the birth charts (N = 570) of “eminent athletes” (red solid line) compared to the expected results [after Michel Gauquelin 1955][101]

In 1955, Michel Gauquelin stated that although he had failed to find evidence to support such indicators as the zodiacal signs and planetary aspects in astrology, he had found positive correlations between the diurnal positions of some of the planets and success in professions (such as doctors, scientists, athletes, actors, writers, painters, etc.) which astrology traditionally associates with those planets.[101] The best-known of Gauquelin’s findings is based on the positions of Mars in the natal charts of successful athletes and became known as the “Mars effect“.[102] A study conducted by seven French scientists attempted to replicate the claim, but found no statistical evidence, and attributed the effect to selective bias on Gauquelin’s part, accusing him of attempting to persuade them to add or delete names from their study.[103]

Theological criticism

Some of the practices of astrology were contested on theological grounds by medieval Muslim astronomers such as Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) and Avicenna. They said that the methods of astrologers conflicted with orthodox religious views of Islamic scholars through the suggestion that the Will of God can be known and predicted in advance.[104] Such arguments mainly concerned “judicial branches” (such as Horary astrology), rather than the more “natural branches” such as Medical and Meteorological astrology, these being seen as part of the natural sciences of the time.

For example, Avicenna’s ‘Refutation against astrology’ Risāla fī ibṭāl aḥkām al-nojūm, argues against the practice of astrology while supporting the principle of planets acting as the agents of divine causation which express God’s absolute power over creation. Avicenna considered that the movement of the planets influenced life on earth in a deterministic way, but argued against the capability of determining the exact influence of the stars.[105] In essence, Avicenna did not refute the essential dogma of astrology, but denied our ability to understand it to the extent that precise and fatalistic predictions could be made from it.[106]

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), in his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, also used physical arguments in astronomy to question the practice of judicial astrology.[107] He recognized that the stars are much larger than the planets, and argued:[108]

And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra’s and al-Dhanab, which are two imaginary points [ascending and descending nodes]?

Education

Education in astrology is offered in a number of countries of the world:

United States

In the United States, astrological education is offered at institutions such as Kepler College, a liberal arts college with an emphasis on astrology in Lynnwood, Washington, near Seattle, which opened in 2001[109] and awarded its first 8 Bachelor of Arts degrees in Astrological Studies in 2004.[110] However, unless they are completing a course of study, students attending Kepler College after March 9, 2010,[111] are not awarded degrees but certificates of completion of a course of study.[112] The degrees granted by Kepler are not recognized by national or regional accrediting agencies.[113] Other astrological organizations offer study programs and correspondence courses to certify astrologers.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, astrological education is offered at a number of institutions, some offering a diploma upon completion of the course and an examination. In addition, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David at Lampeter offers an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology.[114]

India

In February, 2001, vedic astrology, Jyotish Vigyan, was introduced into the curriculum of Indian universities. Undergraduate (called “graduate” in India) post-graduate and research courses of study were established. “Beneficiaries of these courses would be students, teachers, professionals from modern streams like doctors, architects, marketing, financial, economic and political analysts, etc.”[37] In April 2001 the Andhra Pradesh High Court declined to consider a petition to overturn the curriculum guideline on the ground that astrology was a pseudoscience, a decision affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2004 which declined as a matter of law to interfere with educational policy. The court noted that astrology studies were optional and that courses in astrology were offered by institutions of higher education in other countries.[115]

Notes

  1. ^ Babylonian planet names took a multitude of deity forms, most drawn from one basic deity association; for example, the basic association of Mars was with the war-god Nergal, for whom it expressed representation as the ‘the star of Nergal’.[116]
  2. ^ Some ‘traditional astrologers’ prefer to work only with the seven Classical planets, but most modern astrologers include reference to Uranus (discovered in 1781), Neptune (1846) and Pluto (1930).
    It is therefore conventional for astrology texts to refer to ten planets, which does not include the Earth. These, with their astrological symbols, are as follows:
    ☉ Sun | ☽ Moon | ☿ Mercury | ♀ Venus | ♂ Mars | ♃ Jupiter | ♄ Saturn | ♅ Uranus | ♆ Neptune | ♇ Pluto

References

  1. ^ Koch-Westenholz (1995) Foreword and p.11.
  2. ^ Kassell and Ralley (2010) ‘Stars, spirits, signs: towards a history of astrology 1100–1800′; pp.67-69.
  3. ^ Campion (2009) pp.259-263, for the popularizing influence of newspaper astrology; pp. 239-249: for association with New Age philosophies.
  4. ^ Kelly, I.W., R. Culver and P.J. Loptson, 1989: Astrology and science: an examination of the evidence. In Cosmic perspectives: essays dedicated to the memory of M.K.V. Bappu, S.K. Biswas, D.C.V. Mallik, and C.V. Vishveshwara, eds., Cambridge University Press, 249 pp.
  5. ^ Asquith and Hacking (1978) ‘Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience‘ by Paul R. Thagard. See also National Science Board (2006) Science and Engineering Indicators; ch 7: ‘Science and Technology. Public Attitudes and Understanding: Belief in Pseudoscience‘. National Science Foundation (2006); retrieved 19 April 2010:”About three-fourths of Americans hold at least one pseudoscientific belief; i.e., they believed in at least 1 of the 10 survey items[29]” …” Those 10 items were extrasensory perception (ESP), that houses can be haunted, ghosts/that spirits of dead people can come back in certain places/situations, telepathy/communication between minds without using traditional senses, clairvoyance/the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future, astrology/that the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives, that people can communicate mentally with someone who has died, witches, reincarnation/the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death, and channeling/allowing a “spirit-being” to temporarily assume control of a body.”
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas. “astrology”. Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=astrology. Retrieved 2011-12-06. “Differentiation between astrology and astronomy began late 1400s and by 17c. this word was limited to “reading influences of the stars and their effects on human destiny.”" 
  7. ^ “astrology, n.”. Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989; online version September 2011. http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/12267. “In Old French and Middle English astronomie seems to be the earlier and general word, astrologie having been subseq. introduced for the ‘art’ or practical application of astronomy to mundane affairs, and thus gradually limited by 17th cent. to the reputed influences of the stars, unknown to science. Not in Shakespeare.” 
  8. ^ Soanes (2006) ‘Star’ sense 1. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster (1989) p.369. Online at wordsources.info, retrieved 5th August 2011.
  10. ^ Tetrabiblos (Robbins ed. 1940) I.4, p.35, footnote 3.
  11. ^ Pliny (77 AD) illustrated the irony of the use of the term ‘planet’ since the planetary cycles were known to be regular and predictable: “…the seven stars, which owing to their motion we call planets, though no stars wander less than they do”. Pliny the Elder (77) II.iv, p.177.
  12. ^ “Definition of planet”. Merriam-Webster OnLine. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/planet. Retrieved 2007-07-23. 
  13. ^ a b Lewis (1994) p.58: “The Hermetic doctrine of the macrocosm and the microcosm provides the philosophical foundation of astrology and is a counterpart to the modern philosophy of holism. In this view, the psyche is not merely a whole unto itself but is also a part of the greater whole that reflects it”.
  14. ^ Manilius (77) p.87-89 (II.64-67): “the entire universe is alive in mutual concord of its elements and is driven by the pulse of reason, since a single spirit dwells in all its parts and, speeding through all things, nourishes it like a living creature”.
  15. ^ Alkindi (9th cent.) is clarifying this point where he says in his text On the Stellar Rays, ch.4: “… we say that one thing acts with its elemental rays on another, but according to the exquisite truth it does not act but only the celestial harmony acts”.
  16. ^ Culpeper (1653) An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man, p.1: “As the heart is in the Microcosm, so is the Sun in the Macrocosm: for as the Sun gives life, light, and motion to the Creation, so doth the heart to the body; therefore it [the heart] is called Sol Corporis [’bodily sun’], as the Sun is called Cor Coeli [’heavenly heart’] because their operations are similar”.
  17. ^ McRitchie (2006) p.7: “Each individual, whether it is a person, thing, or an event, is a microcosm born at the center of its own macrocosmic universe. Each individual has its own planets, is identified with its native circumstances, and has a sensitive dependence on its initial configuration within the world of experience that is known and shared in common among other individuals. The circumstances of birth show what has begun.” This clarifies the philosophical principle found in many traditional works, such as Kepler (1619) Harmony of the World, pp.274-5, which describes the astrological influence at birth as a ’spiritual idea’ in which the zodiac exists ‘within’ as well as ‘without’: “the vital faculty, lit in the heart and burning as long as life exists, is in a certain sense a zodiac since its essence consists in activity and in a flow of flame, as it were, the result is that the whole sensible shape of the zodiac flows into it …When therefore, it begins to be what it is at the time when it constructs the harmonies, then most of all the sensible radiant harmony of the planets flows into it”.
  18. ^ Weiss and Taruskin (2008) p.3.
  19. ^ Pliny the Elder (77) pp.277-8, (II.xviii.xx): “…occasionally Pythagoras draws on the theory of music, and designates the distance between the Earth and the Moon as a whole tone, that between the Moon and Mercury as a semitone, …. the seven tones thus producing the so-called diapason, i.e. a universal harmony”.
  20. ^ Houlding (2000) p.28: “The doctrine of the Pythagoreans was a combination of science and mysticism… Like Anaximenes they viewed the Universe as one integrated, living organism, surrounded by Divine Air (or more literally ‘Breath’), which permeates and animates the whole cosmos and filters through to individual creatures… By partaking of the core essence of the Universe, the individual is said to act as a microcosm in which all the laws in the macrocosm of the Universe are at work”.
  21. ^ Davis (1901) p.252. Plato’s Republic VII.XII reads: “As the eyes, said I, seem formed for studying astronomy, so do the ears seem formed for harmonious motions: and these seem to be twin sciences to one another, as also the Pythagoreans say”.
  22. ^ Smith (1996) p.2.
  23. ^ Hackett (1997) p.245 and Smith (1996) p.56.
  24. ^ An English translation of the Harmonica was recently published by Andrew Barker, in his Greek Musical Writings vol. II (Cambridge University Press, 2004). The work was also discussed by James Frederick Mountford in his article ‘The Harmonics of Ptolemy and the Lacuna in II, 14’ (Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 57. 1926; pp.71-95). Mountford refers to Ptolemy’s Harmonica as “the most scientific and best arranged treatise on the theory of musical scales which we possess in Greek”.
  25. ^ Kepler (1619) ‘Introduction’, p.xix. “Kepler did not ascribe any direct physical influence to the celestial bodies but supposed the astrological effects to be the result of instinctive responses of individual souls to the harmonies of certain configurations or aspects. A soul was also ascribed to the Earth itself, whose response to the aspects explained their influence on the weather”. In his Tertius Interveniens, 1610, Kepler defined the horoscope as the celestial imprint imparted at birth: Ch,7: “When a human being’s life is first ignited, when he now has his own life, and can no longer remain in the womb - then he receives a character and an imprint of all the celestial configurations (or the images of the rays intersecting on earth), and retains them unto his grave”. See translated excerpts by Dr. Kenneth G. Negus on Cura. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  26. ^ Kepler (1619) Kepler’s Third Law used to be known as the harmonic law. It captures the relationship between the distance of planets from the Sun, and their orbital periods. “The square of the orbital period is proportional to the cube of the mean distance from the Sun “.[1] See also Gerald James Holton, Stephen G. Brush (2001). Physics, the Human Adventure. Rutgers University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0813529085. http://books.google.com/?id=czaGZzR0XOUC&pg=PA45&dq=Kepler+%22harmonic+law%22. 
  27. ^ Bacon (1623) De Augmentis, p.351. The maxim that the stars impel but do not compel was used by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century, “following the same line of argument as St Augustine and others before him” (A history of magic by Richard Cavendish; p.66., Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977).
  28. ^ Bacon (1623) De Augmentis, p.351.
  29. ^ Soanes (2006) ‘Astrology’ “The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world”. Retrieved 16 July 2011. Also Weiner (1973) ‘Astrology’ by David Pingree. “…the study of the impact of the celestial bodies”. Retrieved 2nd December 2009.
  30. ^ James R. Lewis, 2003. The Astrology Book: the Encyclopedia of Heavenly Influences. Visible Ink Press. Online at Google Books.
  31. ^ James T. Braha, 1986. “Ancient Hindu astrology for the modern western astrologer”. Hermetician Press.
  32. ^ Kaufman, Michael T. (1998-12-23). “BV Raman Dies”. New York Times, December 23, 1998. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/23/world/bangalore-venkata-raman-indian-astrologer-dies-at-86.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  33. ^ Dipankar Das, May 1996. “Fame and Fortune”. http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/predictive-sciences/astrology.asp. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  34. ^ “In countries such as India, where only a small intellectual elite has been trained in Western physics, astrology manages to retain here and there its position among the sciences.” David Pingree and Robert Gilbert, “Astrology; Astrology In India; Astrology in modern times”. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008
  35. ^ Mohan Rao, Female foeticide: where do we go? Indian Journal of Medical Ethics Oct-Dec2001-9(4)[2]
  36. ^ “Indian Astrology vs Indian Science”. Bbc.co.uk. 2001-05-31. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/highlights/010531_vedic.shtml. Retrieved 2011-12-10. 
  37. ^ a b “Guidelines for Setting up Departments of Vedic Astrology in Universities Under the Purview of University Grants Commission”. Government of India, Department of Education. http://www.education.nic.in/circulars/astrologycurriculum.htm. Retrieved March 26, 2011. “There is an urgent need to rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology in India, to allow this scientific knowledge to reach to the society at large and to provide opportunities to get this important science even exported to the world,” 
  38. ^ ‘Astrology is a science: Bombay HC’, The Times of India, 3 February 2011
  39. ^ Sun and Kistemaker (1997) pp.3-4.
  40. ^ Sun and Kistemaker (1997) pp.22, 85, 176.
  41. ^ F. Richard Stephenson, “Chinese Roots of Modern Astronomy”, New Scientist, 26 June 1980. See also 二十八宿的形成与演变
  42. ^ Cullen, Christopher. Astronomy and mathematics in ancient China: the Zhou bi suan jing”. Cambridge University Press. 1996. pages 2-6.
  43. ^ Theodora Lau, The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, pp2-8, 30-5, 60-4, 88-94, 118-24, 148-53, 178-84, 208-13, 238-44, 270-78, 306-12, 338-44, Souvenir Press, New York, 2005
  44. ^ “การเปลี่ยนวันใหม่ การนับวัน ทางโหราศาสตร์ไทย การเปลี่ยนปีนักษัตร โหราศาสตร์ ดูดวง ทำนายทายทัก”. http://www.myhora.com/%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%82%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C/%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%82%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C-004.aspx. 
  45. ^ Campion (2008) pp.2-3.
  46. ^ Marshack (1972) p.81ff.
  47. ^ Hesiod (c. 8th cent. BCE). Hesiod’s poem Works and Days shows how the heliacal rising of constellations were used as a calendar for agricultural events, which started to acquire astrological associations, e.g.: “Fifty days after the solstice, when the season of wearisome heat is come to an end, is the right time to go sailing. Then you will not wreck your ship, nor will the sea destroy the sailors, unless Poseidon the Earth-Shaker be set upon it, or Zeus, the king of the deathless gods” (II. 663-677).
  48. ^ Kelley and Milone (2005) p.268.
  49. ^ Two texts which refer to the ‘omens of Sargon’ are reported in E. F. Weidner, ‘Historiches Material in der Babyonischen Omina-Literatur’ Altorientalische Studien, ed. Bruno Meissner, (Leipzig, 1928-9), v. 231 and 236.
  50. ^ From scroll A of the ruler Gudea of Lagash, I 17 – VI 13. O. Kaiser, Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments, Bd. 2, 1-3. Gütersloh, 1986-1991. Also quoted in A. Falkenstein, ‘Wahrsagung in der sumerischen Überlieferung’, La divination en Mésopotamie ancienne et dans les régions voisines. Paris, 1966.
  51. ^ Houlding (2010) Ch. 8: ‘The medieval development of Hellenistic principles concerning aspectual applications and orbs’; pp.12-13.
  52. ^ Albiruni, Chronology (11th c.) Ch.VIII, ‘On the days of the Greek calendar’, re. 23 Tammûz; Sachau.
  53. ^ Houlding (2010) Ch. 6: ‘Historical sources and traditional approaches’; pp.2-7.
  54. ^ Jung, Carl G. Letters 1906–1950, ed. Gerhard Adler, et al. (Princeton University Press: Bollingen, 1992), Letter from Jung to Freud, 12 June 1911. ISBN 9780691098951 “I made horoscopic calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth.”
  55. ^ Campion (2009) p.251–256: “At the same time, in Switzerland, the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) was developing sophisticated theories concerning astrology…”
  56. ^ Gieser, Suzanne. The Innermost Kernel, Depth Psychology and Quantum Physics. Wolfgang Pauli’s Dialogue with C.G.Jung, (Springer, Berlin, 2005) p.21 ISBN 3-540-20856-9
  57. ^ Campion, Nicholas. “Prophecy, Cosmology and the New Age Movement. The Extent and Nature of Contemporary Belief in Astrology.“( Bath Spa University College, 2003) via Campion, Nicholas, History of Western Astrology, (Continuum Books, London & New York, 2009) p.248 p.256 ISBN 9781847252241
  58. ^ Holden, James, A History of Horoscopic Astrology: From the Babylonian Period to the Modern Age, (AFA 1996) p.202 ISBN 0-86690-463-8
  59. ^ Campion (2009) p.258: “Jungian Analyst, Liz Greene.”
  60. ^ Hand, Robert, Horoscope Symbols (Para Research 1981) p.349 ISBN 0-914918-16-8
  61. ^ Hyde, Maggie. Jung and Astrology. (Aquarian/Harper Collins, 1992) p.105 ISBN 185538115X http://www.skyscript.co.uk/synchronicity.html
  62. ^ Harding, M & Harvey, C, Working with Astrology, The Psychology of Midpoints, Harmonics and Astro*Carto*Graphy, (Penguin Arkana 1990) (3rd edition pp.8–13) ISBN 1873948034
  63. ^ Davis, Martin, From Here to There, An Astrologer’s Guide to Astromapping, (Wessex Astrologer, England, 2008) Ch1. History, p.2 ISBN 9781902405278
  64. ^ Lewis, Jim & Irving, Ken, The Psychology of Astro*Carto*Graphy, (Penguin Arkana 1997) ISBN 1357918642
  65. ^ Humphrey Taylor. “The Religious and Other Beliefs of Americans 2003″. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=359. Retrieved 2007-01-05.  Also see “Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding”. National Science Foundation. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c7/c7s2.htm#c7s2l3. Retrieved 2007-01-05. 
  66. ^ Gallup (2005): Paranormal Beliefs by Linda Lyons, retrieved 20 July 2011. For the view that belief in astrology could be much higher than Gallup reports see Campion (1997), ‘British Public Perceptions of Astrology: An Approach from the Sociology of Knowledge’ by John Bauer and Martin Durant, which reports a figure of 73%.
  67. ^ Luhrmann, Tanya (1991). Persuasions of the witch’s craft: ritual magic in contemporary England. Harvard University Press. pp. 147–151. ISBN 0674663241. 
  68. ^ “Online Etymology Dictionary”. Etymonline.com. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=influenza. Retrieved 2011-12-10. 
  69. ^ Ζωλότας Ξενοφών. “Ελληνικές λέξεις στην αγγλική”. http://www.xhmikos.gr/ZOLWTAS-ELLHNIKA-AGGLIKA.pdf. Retrieved 3 January 2011. 
  70. ^ For discussions of Chaucer’s astrological references see A. Kitson (1996). “Astrology and English literature”. Contemporary Review, October 1996. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_n1569_v269/ai_18920172. Retrieved 2006-07-17.  M. Allen, J.H. Fisher. “Essential Chaucer: Science, including astrology”. University of Texas, San Antonio. http://colfa.utsa.edu/chaucer/ec22.html. Retrieved 2006-07-17.  A.B.P. Mattar et al.. “Astronomy and Astrology in the Works of Chaucer”. University of Singapore. http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/astronomy_and_astrology_in_the_works_of_chaucer.pdf. Retrieved 2006-07-17.  For discussions of Shakespeare’s astrological references see P. Brown. “Shakespeare, Astrology, and Alchemy: A Critical and Historical Perspective”. The Mountain Astrologer, February/March 2004. http://www.astrofuturetrends.com/id19.html.  F. Piechoski. “Shakespeare’s Astrology”. http://starcats.com/anima/shakespeare.html. 
  71. ^ Alastair Jamieson (2008-11-30). “Secret theme behind Narnia Chronicles is based upon the stars, says new research”. The Telegraph, London. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/3536716/Secret-theme-behind-Narnia-Chronicles-is-based-upon-the-stars-says-new-research.html. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  72. ^ Spencer, Neil. Stargazers? But of course. The Observer. (12 November 2000)[3] “Gone With the Wind, is a thinly disguised astrological allegory. Margaret Mitchell based the characters of her torrid epic on the zodiac, leaving a blatant trail of clues which were only picked up in 1978 when US astrologer Darrell Martinie was shown photocopies of notes from Mitchell’s library.”
  73. ^ “Rare JK Rowling work on the market for £25,000″. The Scotsman, Edinburgh. 30 July 2010. http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Rare-JK-Rowling-work-on.6449408.jp.  Robert Currey. “Astrology and J K Rowling”. www.astrology.co.uk. http://www.astrology.co.uk/news/jkrowlingastrology.htm. Retrieved 3 August 2011.  Paul Fraser (26 May 2010). “An incredibly rare unpublished work by J.K.Rowling”. Paul Fraser Collectibles. http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com/section.asp?catid=78&docid=1888. 
  74. ^ Campion (2009) pp.244–245.
  75. ^ Regan, Donald T., (1988) For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York ISBN 0151639663
  76. ^ Quigley, Joan (1990), What does Joan say? My Seven Years as White House Astrologer to Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Birch Lane Press, New York ISBN 1-55972-032-8
  77. ^ Gorney, Cynthia (May 11, 1988) The Reagan Chart Watch; Astrologer Joan Quigley, Eye on the Cosmos, Washington Post [4]
  78. ^ Richard Dawkins (31 December 1995). “The Real Romance in the Stars”. London: The Independent, December 1995. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/the-real-romance-in-the-stars-1527970.html. . See also “Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic’s Resource List”. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/pseudobib.html. 
  79. ^ Hartmann, P; Reuter M, Nyborga H (May 2006). “The relationship between date of birth and individual differences in personality and general intelligence: A large-scale study”. Personality and Individual Differences 40 (7): 1349–1362. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.11.017. 
  80. ^ Eysenck, H.J., and Nias, D.K.B. (1982) pp.42-48.
  81. ^ About.com: Is Astrology a Pseudoscience? Examining the Basis and Nature of Astrology
  82. ^ Bart Bok, Paul Kurtz and Lawrence Jerome, “Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists” in The Humanist September/October, 1975.
  83. ^ Is Astrology relevant to consciousness and Psi?
  84. ^ The Humanist, volume 35, no.5 (September/October 1975); pp. 4-6. The statement is reproduced in ‘The Strange Case of Astrology’ by Paul Feyerabend, published in Grim (1990) pp.19-23.
  85. ^ “Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists”. The Humanist, September/October 1975. Archived from the original on 2009-03-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20090318140638/http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/astrology.html. 
  86. ^ Bok, Bart J.; Lawrence E. Jerome, Paul Kurtz (1982). “Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists”. In Patrick Grim. Philosophy of Science and the Occult. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 14–18. ISBN 0873955722. 
  87. ^ See for example Das (2009) Introduction, p.xvii.
  88. ^ The Humanist, volume 36, no.5 (1976).
  89. ^ http://cablegram.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/5639-the_stars_down_to.pdf
  90. ^ “British Physicist Debunks Astrology in Indian Lecture”. Associated Press. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/63/story_6346_1.html. 
  91. ^ “Ariz. Astrology School Accredited”. The Washington Post. 2001-08-27. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010827/aponline135357_000.htm. 
  92. ^ M. Harding. “Prejudice in Astrological Research”. Correlation, Vol 19(1). http://www.astrozero.co.uk/astroscience/harding.htm. 
  93. ^ Jung, C.G., (1952), Synchronicity - An Acausal Connecting Principle (London: RKP English edition, 1972), p.36. “synchronicity …(is)…a coincidence in time of two or more casually unrelated events which have the same or similar meaning, in contrast to ’synchronism’, which simply means the simultaneous occurrence of two events”.
  94. ^ Maggie Hyde, Jung and Astrology; p.24–26; 121ff. (London: The Aquarian Press, 1992). “As above, so below. Early in his studies, Jung came across the ancient macrocosm-microcosm belief with its enduring theme of the organic unity of all things”; p.121.
  95. ^ Cornelius (2003). Cornelius’s thesis is - although divination is rarely addressed by astrologers, it is an obvious descriptive tag “despite all appearances of objectivity and natural law. It is divination despite the fact that aspects of symbolism can be approached through scientific method, and despite the possibility that some factors in horoscopy can arguably be validated by the appeal to science.” (’Introduction’, p.xxii).
  96. ^ Dr. P. Seymour, Astrology: The Evidence of Science. Penguin Group (London, 1988) ISBN 0-14-019226-3
    The Scientific Proof of Astrology. A scientific investigation into how the stars influence human life.[5] Quantum, Foulsham (Slough 1997) ISBN 0-572-02906-3
  97. ^ Frank McGillion. “The Pineal Gland and the Ancient Art of Iatromathematica”. http://www.astrology-research.net/researchlibrary/Iatr/pineal.htm. 
  98. ^ “Sunday Times Article on Percy Seymour’s book “Scientific Proof of Astrology”". Astrologer.com. 2004-05-16. http://www.astrologer.com/tests/seymour.htm. Retrieved 2011-12-10. 
  99. ^ Muller, Richard (2010). “Web site of Richard A. Muller, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California at Berkeley,”. http://muller.lbl.gov/homepage.html. Retrieved 2011-08-02. My former student Shawn Carlson published in Nature magazine the definitive scientific test of Astrology.
    Maddox, Sir John (1995). “John Maddox, editor of the science journal Nature, commenting on Carlson’s test”. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fqwVx-Bt9BMJ:www.randi.org/encyclopedia/astrology.html+maddox+perfectly+convincing+and+lasting+demonstration&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&source=www.google.com. Retrieved 2011-08-02.  ” … a perfectly convincing and lasting demonstration.”
  100. ^ Carlson, Shawn (1985). “A double-blind test of astrology”. Nature 318 (6045): 419–425. Bibcode 1985Natur.318..419C. doi:10.1038/318419a0. http://muller.lbl.gov/papers/Astrology-Carlson.pdf. 
  101. ^ a b Gauquelin, Michel (1955). L’influence des astres : étude critique et expérimentale. Paris: Éditions du Dauphin. 
  102. ^ Gauquelin, Michel (Fall 1988). “Is There Really a Mars Effect?”. Above & Below Journal of Astrological Studies (11): 4–7. http://www.theoryofastrology.com/gauquelin/mars_effect.htm. 
  103. ^ Benski,