THE RENAISSANCE

The Revival of Ptolemaic Astrology

These articles on the history of astrology in the Renaissance were originally published in the Mountain Astrologer. You can start the series at the Astrology in the Renaissance Main Page.

The Trend toward Ptolemaic Astrology

One of the most characteristic components of the Renaissance was the trend towards humanism, a revival of classical knowledge.

This rediscovery of the knowledge of antiquity also took place in astrology; astrologers increasingly turned to Ptolemy as the exemplar of "true" classical astrology.

Claudius Ptolemy was an Alexandrian Greek who lived in the 2nd century A.D. His Tetrabiblos, a
basic text of astrology, was always highly regarded, but during the Renaissance, astrologers began
to consider it canonical and to reject any astrological doctrine or technique that it did not include.

Some branches of astrology, like horary and electional, or techniques like firdaria were branded
"Arabic inventions" because they do not appear in Tetrabiblos. (Ironically, some modern scholars
have speculated that Ptolemy was not even a practicing astrologer, noting that he provided no examples and fails to mention such basic techniques as the influences of the planets in the signs
and houses.)