Message #25494

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                                                          Arabic Astrology




The Arab astrologers defined a new form of astrology called electional astrology that could be used for all manner of divination in everyday life, such as the discovery of propitious moments for the undertaking of a journey, or the beginning of a business venture etc. They also were the first to speak of 'favourable' and 'unfavourable' indications, rather than categorical events.
                                         


Albumasur or Abu Ma'shar (805 - 885) was the greatest of the Arab astrologers. His treatise 'Introductoriam in Astronomium' spoke of how 'only by observing the great diversity of planetary motions can we comprehend the unnumbered varieties of change in this world'. The 'Introductoriam' was one of the first books to find its way in translation through Spain and into Europe in the Middle Ages, and was highly influential in the revival of astrology and astronomy there.



                           
ABOVE: The 10th-century astronomer Abu Sa’id al-Sizji held the contemporary view that the Earth was the center of the universe, but he modeled the solar system on the concept that the Earth rotated on its axis—as shown in this display at the Institute for the History of Arab–Islamic Science in Frankfurt.