Ancient Texts Support MERCURY As The TRADITIONAL RULER OF ASTROLOGY

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Ancient texts support MERCURY ruling astrology.
According to traditional astrology it's Mercurius
also
TRADITIONALLY
Only THE SEVEN ANCIENT CLASSICAL PLANETS can '..rule..' anything
by definition







.

Mercury is the traditional ruler of astrology in traditional astrology only on this particular traditional astrology board.

Support for Mercury as the ruler of traditional astrology comes from mythology. The Sumerian goddess Nisaba (Nidaba) ruled scribes and counting. She kept a star list on lapis luzuli tablets. Her role was usurped by the Babylonian god Nebo (Nabu,) and subsequently by Hermes and Mercury. Manilius in Astronomica(ca 30-40 CE) attributes astrology to Mercury in his dedication.

waybread said:

Support for Mercury as the ruler of traditional astrology comes from mythology. The Sumerian goddess Nisaba (Nidaba) ruled scribes and counting. She kept a star list on lapis luzuli tablets. Her role was usurped by the Babylonian god Nebo (Nabu,) and subsequently by Hermes and Mercury. Manilius in Astronomica(ca 30-40 CE) attributes astrology to Mercury in his dedication.

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We could include the ancient Greco/Roman goddess of the Heavens, Ourania/Urania, as an alternative to her grandfather, the deposed Greco/Roman god of the Heavens, Ouranos/Caelus. That would make it obvious as to which ancient deity astrology and astronomy should be attributed, since she was literally the Greco/Roman "MUSE of Astrology and Astronomy".

Unless, of course, there's an objection to a ancient goddess ruling astrology, instead of an ancient god.

Bunraku, it is highly likely that Ptolemy observed Uranus (150 CE) but he thought it was a fixed star. Several 17th century astronomers clearly did observe and catalogue Uranus, but they thought it was a fixed star. Hershel's big discovery in 1781 was in observing that Uranus actually moved: slowly, but it did move; which led to its reclassification as a planet.

Just to keep things as traditional as possible here, modern astrology did not begin to emerge until the late 19th century. Traditional western astrology nearly died out in the 18th and early 19th centuries but it was the only kind still practiced then.

(See Nicholas Campion's 2-volume history of astrology for details.)

The planet Uranus (Greek Ouranos) was probably assigned the modern rulership of astrology because the ancient god Uranus was the primordial "father sky" complement to "mother earth," or Gaia. There weren't a lot of myths about him, but he was frequently mentioned in Antiquity as the personification of the starry night sky.
https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ouranos.html

Also, Uranus was the planet that pushed back the frontiers of the known solar system.

When several traditional astrologers first started to work with Uranus in the early 19th century, they thought it was a malefic similar to Saturn, and assigned Uranus the same essential dignities.

It is interesting that mythologically the son of Uranus was Saturn (Greek Kronos) who rules the concept of time. Anciently before paper calendars were invented, people observed the night sky to note the passage of time.

Urania was something else again. She was one of the muses, who symbolized astronomy and astrology. https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/MousaOurania.html

The assignment of Mercury (Greek Hermes) to astrology is also ancient.
https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hermes.html As I mentioned earlier, this is probably because he took over the functions earlier Mesopotamian scribe gods in ancient Greece. In ancient Mesopotamia, scribes and priests presided over observing and recording the positions of heavenly bodies. Also, as the ruler of our mental faculties, Hermes was credited with inventing various branches of learning, including astrology.
https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hermes.html

david starling said:

What's the purpose in designating a "ruler of astrology"?

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David, this might come in handy in a chart reading. Suppose someone asks if she could succeed as a professional astrologer. It would be helpful to look at the planetary ruler of astrology in relation to her MC or other chart factors.

JA, try to relax around the history of astrology a little bit.

Traditional astrology persisted in anglophone countries, albeit at a minimal level, through the middle of the 19th century. You can't realistically suppress astrological history that is relevant to this period. The traditional astrologers of that time weren't living in caves, unaware of advances in planetary astronomy, but just weren't sure how to deal with them.

It turns out that a lot of what you have posted is irrelevant to your thread title.

Maybe you can quote some more ancient texts on Mercury as the ruler of astrology.

Hey Ya'll. We aren't so far gone it's a free for all yet. Keep topics relevant to the board. Please stop feeding trolls. And go on about your business. I deleted off topic comments, off board comments, and replies to same.

~Tamara

waybread said:

JA, try to relax around the history of astrology a little bit.

Traditional astrology persisted in anglophone countries, albeit at a minimal level, through the middle of the 19th century. You can't realistically suppress astrological history that is relevant to this period. The traditional astrologers of that time weren't living in caves, unaware of advances in planetary astronomy, but just weren't sure how to deal with them.

It turns out that a lot of what you have posted is irrelevant to your thread title.

Maybe you can quote some more ancient texts on Mercury as the ruler of astrology.

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The OP clearly states that traditional astrology utilises
the SEVEN VISIBLE PLANETS
do attempt to relax and accept that WB

now if you can quote ancient texts

that support Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
as alternatives to MERCURY being the traditional ruler of astrology
then by all means do so


.

That's not the point, JA.

Nobody's disputing the Ptolemaic tables, which you posted twice. Sect is irrelevant. Your thread title is about how ancient texts support Mercury as the ruler of astrology. [Which obviously is the only type of astrology an ancient text could support. Duh, uh.] Ptolemy's table (or the Egyptian terms, for that matter,) do not address this question. Mercury's planetary strengths and weaknesses in the horoscope say nothing about its rulership of astrology. Ptolemy giving Mercury authority over astrologers does say something about it.

You might want to look at the hermetic writings ["hermetic"= of Hermes, the Greek name for Mercury] attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, an amalgam of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian scribe god Thoth. Writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were probably penned by several authors in Egypt during the early decades CE. But these authors point to the Egyptianized Greek god Hermes as the founder of astrology, at least its more magical ancient uses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus


Please identify some ancient texts for us giving Mercury the rulership of astrology, like Manilius, Astronomica.

Since you're a big fan of Vettius Valens, you might have pointed out what he says about Mercury in Book One of his Anthologies: "It also rules those skilled interpreters of the
heavens."

https://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/vettius valens entire.pdf

waybread said:

That's not the point, JA.

Nobody's disputing the Ptolemaic tables, which you posted twice. Sect is irrelevant. Your thread title is about how ancient texts support Mercury as the ruler of astrology. [Which obviously is the only type of astrology an ancient text could support. Duh, uh.] Ptolemy's table (or the Egyptian terms, for that matter,) do not address this question. Mercury's planetary strengths and weaknesses in the horoscope say nothing about its rulership of astrology. Ptolemy giving Mercury authority over astrologers does say something about it.

You might want to look at the hermetic writings ["hermetic"= of Hermes, the Greek name for Mercury] attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, an amalgam of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian scribe god Thoth. Writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were probably penned by several authors in Egypt during the early decades CE. But these authors point to the Egyptianized Greek god Hermes as the founder of astrology, at least its more magical ancient uses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus


Please identify some ancient texts for us giving Mercury the rulership of astrology, like Manilius, Astronomica.

Since you're a big fan of Vettius Valens, you might have pointed out what he says about Mercury in Book One of his Anthologies: "It also rules those skilled interpreters of the
heavens."

https://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/vettius valens entire.pdf

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This suggests that an astrologer's Mercury placement and its Natal-chart condition would influence the interpretations themselves. Which would explain the different opinions among astrologers--their different "angles of view".

waybread said:

Your thread title is about how ancient texts


support Mercury as the ruler of astrology.

[Which obviously
is the only type of astrology
an ancient text could support.

Duh, uh.]

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Indeed




.

david starling said:

This suggests that an astrologer's Mercury placement and its Natal-chart condition would influence the interpretations themselves. Which would explain the different opinions among astrologers--their different "angles of view".

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Sticking to traditional astrology, you would want to look at Mercury's essential dignities and debilities. The table attributed to Ptolemy that JA posted indicates what these are.

You would also look at "accidental" dignities and debilities: whether Mercury is in a "good" or "bad" house, whether it is in an angular house, and its relationships to other planets through aspects (like a trine vs. a square) or proximity. The latter would be something like whether Mercury is combust the sun, cazimi, or besieged (between Saturn and Mars.)

The planet in a chart with the highest level of essential dignity is called the almuten. The planet with the highest level of essential plus accidental dignity is called the lord of the geniture, so it would be good if Mercury were one of these.

There's probably no end to additional variables one could look at (conjunctions with fixed stars, Arabic parts, &c) but basically I would start with assessing Mercury's condition: is it strong or weak?

Beyond that, Mercury's sign and house would indicate how and in what part of life Mercury operates.

JUPITERASC said:

on the contrary
[/B][/COLOR]
Traditional astrological SECT is foundational

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JA, I am just looking at your thread title. You wrote it, not me. Maybe you should ask one of the moderators to change your thread title to better indicate whatever it was you actually had in mind.

Sect has nothing to do with Mercury as the traditional ruler of astrology.

JA, it's nice that you think so highly of Vettius Valens. But odd that you didn't mention him as assigning astrology to Mercury.

waybread said:

David, this might come in handy in a chart reading. Suppose someone asks if she could succeed as a professional astrologer. It would be helpful to look at the planetary ruler of astrology in relation to her MC or other chart factors.

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So, would it also affect the type of astrology one practices?

For example I have retrograde Mercury at 19 degrees Pisces, and my Asc. is at 15 degrees Pisces. So, that's 1st House Whole-sign or 12th House Placidus. It's also conjunct Mars at 17 degrees Pisces, and very wide orb to my M.C. in Sagittarius.

Maybe that's why I've avoided becoming a professional astrologer, but am extremely involved with it on a personal level, and in a person-to-person manner. (Whole-sign does fit me best.)

Alas, David-- your Mercury is in the sign of its fall, and retrograde to boot. But it is in its own terms and face, so it's not bereft of essential dignity.

In any case, your charm and good looks more than make up for it.

My impression is that traditional astrologers have more "conservative" charts, like an emphasis in Capricorn. Also, some have difficult placements in the type of astrology that Dare Not Speak Its Name on this board; so traditional astrology makes them feel a bit better about themselves.

Astrology is a very mental exercise-- at one time astrologers had to do all of the chart construction calculations by hand. In ancient Roman sources, astrologers were called "mathematicians." Mercury seems like a fitting ruler So the position and condition of one's Mercury should have a big effect. Maybe not on whether or not you will do astrology, but what type you will do and how you would go about it.

Traditionally, the astrologers' aspect goes: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all aspecting each other.

david starling said:

This suggests that an astrologer's Mercury placement and its Natal-chart condition would influence the interpretations themselves. Which would explain the different opinions among astrologers--their different "angles of view".

Click to expand...

Oddity said:

Traditionally, the astrologers' aspect goes: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all aspecting each other.

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What about squaring, trining, conjunct or opposite?

Those all count. And yes, I've got that configuration myself, with three of those planets angular - it's a ring of sextiles in my case, ending in an opposition.

david starling said:

What about squaring, trining, conjunct or opposite?

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