Astrology [antikvár]

The Celestial Mirror I Beginnings From the earliest times the sky has intrigued man, even the most primitive hunter pausing to contemplate the all-enclosing canopy of the heavens. To the prehistoric thinker the sky probably appeared to be the highest ruler. Day and night issued from it, as did the seasonal round. Nature was subject to its governance; from horizon to horizon everything on earth was sealed in by a celestial cave-roof that continually filled and emptied of a myriad strange and fearsome entities composed of fire, wind and water. The sky was always there above, omnipotent. By the time men lived in tribal communities, sky-watching was part of life; the seasonal changes marked by the longest and shortest days (the solstices), and by the times when night and day were equal in length (the equinoxes), became a simple calendar for hunting and planting. Besides these useful routine cycles, the position or state of the sun or moon was noted at the time of significant events, and these observations were handed down to become part of tribal history. As the body of knowledge increased it was seen that certain phenomena in the heavens coincided with particular happenings on earth, so that these parallels became fused into signs of omen. Total eclipses or blood-red moons became associated with bad harvests or massacres, and no chief could afford to disregard such warnings. Everywhere on earth fables arose populating the skies with gods, demons and heroes. Gradually the heavens were hung with myths, every people adding its own version, until eventually in each culture a complex hierarchy of celestial beings was formulated, who watched, judged and manipulated the hves of men below.