Episode 310 features an interview with Dr. Justin Sledge about ancient Jewish views on astrology and the complex relationship between astrology and early Judaism.
Our starting point is the geographic location of the Jewish people between Mesopotamia and Egypt, two cultures with very ancient traditions of astrology dating back to 2000 BC.
Next, we discuss the role monotheism played in creating some tensions with early forms of astrology, often practiced in a polytheistic context.
Later we have some favorable comments on the astrology held by the Jews during the Roman Empire, including the Essenes at Qumran and the text of lots and zodiacal releases attributed to Abraham by Vettius Valens and Firmicus Maternus.
We also discuss some of the early zodiac mosaics that can be seen prominently in temples during the first seven centuries AD.
Finally, we will focus on the earliest known Jewish astrologers, such as Masha’Allah and Ibrahim ibn Ezra, who are known by their names and who contributed greatly to astrology.
Justin is a professor of philosophy and religion with a focus on western esoteric traditions and the host of the Esoterica YouTube channel:
This episode is available in audio and video versions below.
Time signs
Here are some timestamps for the topics covered at various points in the episode:
00:00:00 Login
00:00:20 Justin’s background
00:01:48 The origin of the Jewish people
00:03:05 The place where the ancient Israelites entered history
00:05:10 Judaism’s attitude to astrology
00:06:10 development of monotheism
00:13:26 Time to compose the Old Testament
00:14:14 Babylonian exile
00:17:17 Babylonian astrology
00:19:40 Israeli concern about divination
00:21:05 Bans are proof of practice
00:22:14 Diversity of views in ancient Judaism
00:24:40 Try to focus on monotheism
00:27:15 Stars mentioned in the Hebrew Bible
00:28:31 Many gods were turned into angels
00:31:20 Jewish calendar based on astrological alignments
00:34:51 The Book of Enoch
00:38:07 Josephus Abraham claims to have invented astrology
00:39:36 Astrological text on Abraham by Valens
00:43:40 Hellenistic Judaism
00:45:00 Alexandrian Judaism
00:46:56 Dead Sea Scroll astrological references
00:49:10 Qumran Caves Astrological Text Discovery
00:58:10 The Gospel of Matthew and the Star of Bethlehem
01:00:10 Information about Christ
01:04:20 Roman emperors and astrology
01:07:30 Astrology and destiny are connected
01:08:17 Apocalyptic Judaism
01:10:58 Astrology and destiny debates in Christianity
01:12:00 Talmud
01:15:53 Talmudic astrology resource sheet
01:20:50 The astrological meaning of Mazel Tov
01:23:29 Debates about Mazel in the Talmud
01:29:30 Changing your destiny in Judaism
01:34:09 Ptolemy about destiny
01:36:09 Christian Defense of Astrology in the Middle Ages
01:37:09 Aristotelian view and Neo-Platonic
01:40:24 Zodiac mosaics in synagogues in the first seven centuries AD
01:51:09 Jewish Astrologers in the 8th Century and Later
01:53:10 Jewish astrologer Masha’Allah
01:55:02 Is there such a thing as Jewish astrology?
01:56:30 More about Masha’Allah
02:01:00 Chart of the founding of Baghdad
02:02:50 Sefer Yetzirah and the Tree of Life
02:12:11 Planetary quests in the Tree of Life
02:14:05 Saturn as a female planet
02:21:14 Jewish astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra
02:31:30 Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions and messi predictions
02:35:36 More about Ibrahim ibn Ezra
02:38:06 Jewish legal code and astrology
02:40:48 Justin’s YouTube and website
02:42:40 Closing remarks
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Transcription
Here is the full transcript of this episode: Episode 310 Transcript
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