1

THE DIVINE AND THE HUMAN ASTROLOGY

Fr. Dan Bădulescu

No one doubts today that in our troubled time, astrology plays a role in increasing both in
society and in people's private lives. If we limit our discussion to our country1, we can say that this
attitude has undergone a radical change after 1990. Until then, let's say that during those 40 years of
dialectical materialism, astrology was last among obscurantist pseudo-science, superstition, etc., and as
such, excluded from the accepted social visible area by the state (party): the school, literature, mass
media.
But it continued to exist in the underground level ("underground", a kind of modern catacomb)
being perpetuated and maintained in secret, or at least in particular, by the ancient sin of Eve's
daughters: curiosity, curiosity to learn the forbidden: future, etc. In addition to the divinatory aspect,
astrology had another attractive part: the psychological. This description fits the characteristics of
native temperament, intellectual ability, artistic qualities, defects, etc.
In this trap have already fallen also a part of men with materialistic and atheistic indoctrination,
who had to recognize statistically that many of the features described are suited to their individual cases
and acquaintances. Maybe some went even further and analyze the compatibility of different
individuals according to native sign and ascendant.
However, as we said, these concerns did not see daylight, because the official politics. It does
not mean that party members did not use that knowledge in particular. For instance, there were rumors
about the addiction "Comrade Elena Ceausescu" to astrological indications, something utterly
plausible. In a context poisoned by atheism, astrology offered that surrogate faith that gave the illusion
of contact with the spiritual.
Things took a radical turn in 1990. The overthrow of the regime led to a "transition period",
undefined precisely, but that would be from communism to the "new world order", or new age, or
globalism. Moscow Center gave way to "Euro-Atlantic" power centers, and therefore, those in the
"underground" have emerged, including astrology. Since then, it has become a widely accepted status
in society, the media is saturated with astrologers and horoscopes. On TV appear all kinds of
specialists, are dedicated entire programs, and, let’s say, unfortunately, with great audience, to this
concern.
At the same time, "the customers" (still over 80% women ...) attend churches and occasionally
ask if in the Church is no place for astrology, and how. Some even saw signs of the zodiac even in the
Horologion book.

1
Romania
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Not to mention the cupola of a monastery, here Rila (Bulgaria)

Voronetz (Romania):
 3

Or:
 4

Or in the West:
 5

The article below is primarily addressed to those. Because the author is an Orthodox priest and
first sources used are all of the church: Scripture and Holy Tradition, for those who do not rely on it,
the effect will be practically negligible, although you never know how God works...
The title gives us a first response to the above questions: yes, there is an astrology God of. Let
us try to outline briefly the essential elements of God's astrology, especially given the fact that they are
quasi unknown to the believers, becoming almost a kind of arcane. "I believe in one God… Maker of
heaven and earth..." says our creed. And Genesis says:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth ... and the evening and the morning
were the first day... And God said:" Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide
the waters from the waters. " And it was so. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And
God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day...
And God said: "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. And let them be for the lights in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God he made two great
lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And
to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it
was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." (Genesis 1:1; 7-9, 15-19)
 6

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them... This are the generations
of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth
and the heavens. (Genesis 2:1, 4)

This cosmology is absolutely true, as the revelation of the Holy Spirit, whom all Christians are
committed to believe and confess. This shows that the earth is made at the beginning, it is the center of
the seen creation, and the sky is located, and turns around it. So it is not a planet2, but the central and
stationary point around which appear and rotate the other bodies called lights stars. The greater light is
the sun and the lesser one is the moon. But - beware! they, too, are considered to be planets! Stars are
called those "fixed" bodies which rotate with the sky from sunrise to sunset.
For those with Protestant tendencies (sola scriptura) that will ask now: But where are such
things written in Scripture? we shall indicate that we have used and still use also traditional and
patristic sources:
"But those who overstep the borders,3 making the words of Scripture their apology for the art of
casting nativities, pretend that our lives depend upon the motion of the heavenly bodies, and that thus
the Chaldaeans read in the planets that which will happen to us…
What do they say in reality? When the planets cross in the signs of the Zodiac, certain figures
formed by their meeting give birth to certain destinies, and others produce different destinies."4

2
wandering star
3
hyper ta eskammena pedan is a proverbial phrase for going beyond bounds. cf. Lucian., Gall. vi. and Plat., Crat.
413, a.
4
St Basil the Great HEXAEMERON see http://www.elpenor.org/basil/hexaemeron.asp?pg=52
 7
Concerning the Heaven.5

They say also that there are seven zones of the heaven, one higher than the other. And its
nature, they say, is of extreme fineness, like that of smoke, and each zone contains one of the
planets. For there are said to be seven planets: Sol, Luna, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn…
These are called planets because their movements are the reverse of those of the heaven. For while the
heaven and all other stars move from east to west, these alone move from west to east. And this can
easily be seen in the case of the moon, which moves each evening a little backwards.

Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars.6

…There are, we are told, seven planets amongst these luminaries, and these move in a direction
opposite to that of the heaven: hence the name planets. For, while they say that the heaven moves from
east to west, the planets move from west to east; but the heaven bears the seven planets along with it by
its swifter motion. Now these are the names of the seven planets: Luna, Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, and in each zone of heaven is, we are told, one of these seven planets:

• In the first and highest Saturn

• In the second Jupiter
• In the third Mars
• In the fourth Sol
• In the fifth Venus
• In the sixth Mercury
5
St. John of Damascus: An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith BOOK TWO, Translated by the Rev.
S. D. F. Salmond, 1898. See also http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Exact2_06.html
6
See also http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Exact2_07.html
 8
•In the seventh and lowest Luna.
The course which the Creator appointed for them to run is unceasing and remaineth fixed as He
established them. For the divine David says, The moon and the stars which Thou establishedst7, and by
the word “establishedst”, he referred to the fixity and unchangeableness of the order and series granted
to them by God…
Further, they say that there are in the heaven twelve signs made by the stars, and that these
move in an opposite direction to the sun and moon, and the other five planets, and that the seven
planets pass across these twelve signs. Further, the sun makes a complete month in each sign and
traverses the twelve signs in the same number of months. These, then, are the names of the twelve signs
and their respective months:

•The Ram,  which receives the sun on the 21st of March.

•The Bull,  on the 23rd of April.
•The Twins,  on the 24th of May.
•The Crab,  on the 24th of June.
•The Lion,  on the 25th of July.
•The Virgin,  on the 25th of August.
•The Scales,  on the 25th of September.
•The Scorpion,  on the 25th of October.
•The Archer,  on the 25th of November.
•Capricorn,  on the 25th of December.
•Aquarius,  on the 25th of January.
•The Fish,  on the 24th of February.
But the moon traverses the twelve signs each month, since it occupies a lower position and
travels through the signs at a quicker rate. For if you draw one circle within another, the inner one will
be found to be the lesser: and so it is that owing to the moon occupying a lower position its course is
shorter and is sooner completed…
The circle of the zodiac has an oblique motion and is divided into twelve sections called zodia,
or signs: each sign has three divisions of ten each, i.e. thirty divisions, and each division has sixty very
minute subdivisions. The heaven, therefore, has three hundred and sixty-five degrees: the hemisphere
above the earth and that below the earth each having one hundred and eighty degrees.
The abodes of the planets: The Ram and the Scorpion are the abode of Mars: the Bull and the
Scales, of Venus: the Twins and the Virgin, of Mercury: the Crab, of the Moon: the Lion, of the Sun:
the Archer and the Fish, of Jupiter: Capricorn and Aquarius, of Saturn.
Their altitudes: The Ram has the altitude of the Sun: the Bull, of the Moon: the Crab, of Jupiter:
the Virgin, of Mars: the Scales, of Saturn: Capricorn, of Mercury: the Fish, of Venus."

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Ps. 8, 4
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You might rightly ask, and the following question: "The paper from Genesis is reported by
Moses in a long time after those things occurred. (For those who receive traditional chronology, would
be approx. 3-4000 years after creation of the world.) But until then what said the revelation?"
We have an answer to this question, a traditional one, that can be called apocryphal, contained
in the church timeline books called Chronograph. According to these trustworthy sources, the first man
who received the discovery of settlement and movement of heavenly bodies, i.e. the cosmology and
astrology, was Seth, around the year 300 from creation of the world:

Chronograph (17th century)

And Seth was chosen, <a man> gentle, kind and wise and just to God. This one <Seth, with
his> wisdom gave names to the seven planets of the sky and get it and how the sky turns around.
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In another rendering:

"Set, into his kidnapping by the angel, saw the settlement of Upper creature, the beauty of
heaven and of those movements. The running the sun and moon and stars, the settlement of the
heavenly signs, which are called planets, and their works he knew and saw things unseen and the
unknown he knew, forty days being taught by that angel...
This is also to be believed, that Adam and Seth after the wisdom and knowledge that were given
them from God, set the year in days and weeks and months and has taught the men the science of year
cycle and counting the days and weeks and months and years."
This is certainly the divine initiation into the mysteries of God's cosmology and astrology. And
observe how its supernatural character: Set is kidnapped in the sky 40 days by the angel. In the 20th
century the atheistic scientists, both from the capitalist West (USA) and the communist East (USSR),
want, like those of ancient Tower of Babel, to reach heaven by their own means, using satellites and
missiles. But to what purpose? That one declared as the "conquest of outer space." In this way, it is
repeating what happened after 1953 what happened with papists Western powers after 1453: the great
geographical discoveries, which led immediately to the gains of those territories and populations
discovered, and their inclusion in the huge colonial empires. Now it has the same thing, only on a
planetary scale. This is the explanation of the fabulous amounts to be allocated to these space
programs, led by NASA agency.
Coming back, we say that in parallel with the blessed Set's tribe, "the sons of God", there were
also descendants of Cain, which have deviated from God's commandments, and were the originators of
magic, occultism, witchcraft, fortune telling, occultism, idolatry and polytheism.
Let us now see the emergence and history of astrology from the perspective of the Church:

"Then some philosophers have arrived from the east. These philosophers were kings from
Persia, because then kings and emperors were philosophers and knew the turning of the sky and
walking of the stars. They learned this craft from them ancestor Balaam, who had prophesied the Christ
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and said this: "there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite
the corners of Moab" (Numbers 24:17)8

"Forgetting the one God, alive and almighty, the East fell over time under the rule of human
nature and, because the stars are the most powerful bodies in the built world, this means that they were
ruled by the stars. The eastern peoples believed that planets were living and powerful beings that ruled
over all things made on earth, and human lives too. The eastern nations adored them looking at them as
some good and some evil. They signified good or evil gods, which refreshed their flaming or burning
eyes, keeping or killing life. People offered sacrifices, even human sacrifices, both to the good and evil
gods, so to win the goodwill of the good gods, and to remove the enmity of and evil gods. To get rid of
these popular beliefs inconsistent with human wisdom, scholars from the East began to look in the stars
and see what they can bring to people's lives. They were the first to make the science of the stars: that
we call astrology. However, this science did not bring has brought freedom to the people, but
enslavement, and found a greater and greater fear. The kings of the east "discovered" that the stars were
not actually gods, as people believed, but that their strong influence on all living things on earth was so
great and with so mathematical precision, that no person living was able, through a bit of space or a
moment, to free himself from the blind and ruthless enslavement of the stars. As the stars were not
made for man, but man for the stars! The stars governed his birth and life, the happy and unhappy
experiences, his character and transformations of nature, every event in his life and even death! The
man was a perfect slave and helpless toward the stars. He was a dream, in which the stars have
darkened his consciousness again. This "science" brought and guided and nurtured all kinds of
occultism, witchcraft, divination, spells and charms, and all the other things that, for Christians, have a
single name: superstition. It was a dark and suffocating cloud that spread from the east and west side
down on the world with it's deadly weight. And so the kings did not left free conscience to humans, but
8
Kiriacodromion 25 of December.
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enslaved it even tighter, forming a deep fatalism, in which man was suffocated by the fear of being
alone, rejected and helpless."9
The Scripture is very poor in the astrological references. The only relevant passage can be
found in Job, 9:7-9:
"Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. Which alone spreadeth
out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades,
and the chambers of the south."

But there are many more references relating to the prohibition of the polytheistic worship of the
stars, followed by off mightily by God to "service of the stars", even at the astrological level of the
Persian Magi. The troparion of the Nativity say about them:
"Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, has shed upon the world the light of knowledge
For through it, those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to worship You, the Sun of
Righteousness; And to recognize You as the Dayspring from on high. O Lord, Glory be to you."
God's law as given by the prophet Moses says:
"And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and
the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the
Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." (Deuteronomy 4:19).
"And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any
of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and
enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in
Israel: Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing,
unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die."
(Deuteronomy 17:3-5)

The requirements are set by Moses and the following prophets:

"And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place
of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of
heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods." (Jeremiah 19:13)

So was the God's given to the chosen people. But, unfortunately, even they have turned away
repeatedly from it, rulers and people alike:

"For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared
up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven,
and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will
I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord."
(2 Kings 21:3-5)

King Josiah, helped by the high priest Hilkiah took very drastic measures in order to destroy
astrology idolatry:

"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the
keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal,
and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of
Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the

9
St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Sermon on Nativity.
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kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places
round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to
the planets, and to all the host of heaven." (2 Kings 23:4-5)

It is known that not only the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia and Persia were studying the
stars. This included both astronomy and astrology and the two separated themselves much later, during
the Enlightenment (eighteenth century). There are known such achievements of the Egyptians, Greeks,
Chinese, Aztec, Celtic Druids, and even the Dacians. Sarmisegetuza sanctuary contains without any
doubt the ruins of the observatory.

The astrological concerns were, of course, very pragmatic too. This is logical, given the
propensity of the founders of the fleshly and worldly fallen science, the kainite tribe. Even if this was
destroyed completely during the flood, their spirits continued and will continue working until the end
of time.
In what would be then the difference between "good" and "evil" astrology? We shall find that
answer, by understanding why was necessary for man to know the movements of the heavens, being
initiated into this, as seen, by God: "...To him, i.e. to man – for whom He allowed that the sea to be
crossed (by ships), adorning also the earth with endless variety of plants. To him He gave power over
the animals that crawled into the depths, and over flying beings. He was gifted with the power of
knowledge that can embrace all the sciences, and to contemplate giving up and creation of heaven,
teaching him the cycles of the sun, moon, planets orbits and positions of fixed stars."10
"Now the Greeks declare that all our affairs are controlled by the rising and setting and collision
of these stars, viz., the sun and moon: for it is with these matters that astrology has to do. But we hold
that we get from them signs of rain and drought, cold and heat, moisture and dryness, and of the
various winds, and so forth, but no sign whatever as to our actions. For we have been created with free
10
Eusebius of Cesareea Vita Constantini
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wills by our Creator and are masters over our own actions. Indeed, if all our actions depend on the
courses of the stars, all we do is done of necessity: and necessity precludes either virtue or vice. But if
we possess neither virtue nor vice, we do not deserve praise or punishment, and God, too, will turn out
to be unjust, since He gives good things to some and afflicts others. Nay, He will no longer continue to
guide or provide for His own creatures, if all things are carried and swept along in the grip of necessity.
And the faculty of reason will be superfluous to us: for if we are not masters of any of our actions,
deliberation is quite superfluous. Reason, indeed, is granted to us solely that we might take counsel,
and hence all reason implies freedom of will.
And, therefore, we hold that the stars are not the causes of the things that occur, nor of the
origin of things that come to pass, nor of the destruction of those things that perish. They are rather
signs of showers and changes of air. But, perhaps, some one may say that though they are not the
causes of wars, yet they are signs of them. And, in truth, the quality of the air which is produced by
sun, and moon, and stars, produces in various ways different temperaments, and habits, and
dispositions. But the habits are amongst the things that we have in our own hands, for it is reason that
rules, and directs, and changes them."11
So the benefit of knowing the positions and motions of planets and stars was primarily related
to meteorology and agriculture, and later travels, especially the navigation of the seas and oceans.
So used the astrology (and chronology) the "sons of God", i.e. the sethits. But do not forget that in the
same period lived also the "sons of men", the cainits, who used the same knowledge for enlarged goals,
not blessed by God. What were these goals?
According to the nature fallen into the sin of knowledge of good and evil, the curiosity of
knowing the future was blended with the desire to control and manipulate this knowledge for its own
selfish. Knowing the future is inherently inaccessible to people. It is entrusted by God providentially to
chosen vessels of the prophets and saints with the gift of before sight. But the cainits, magicians,
occultists, being as the devil, their father, deprived of these charismata, sought to replace them in all
sorts of divinatory techniques. One of the most important use was just astrology. By studying in detail
the positions and motions of planets and stars were made different predictions, from a personal level,
down to the office. They fit sometimes, so that those deceived by them gain greater confidence in the
validity of their "science".
The Holy Fathers and ecclesiastical writers have strengthened with one the voice condemnation
of astrology:

11
St. John of Damascus: An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith BOOK TWO, Translated by the Rev.
S. D. F. Salmond, 1898. Vezi şi http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Exact2_07.html
 15

"Among the various occupations of people we can not fail to notice some art or profession who
led to the worshiping of idols. The astrologers do not even make mention, but since one of them dared
to justify himself the fact that he continues to practice this profession, I'm going to say a few words
about it. I will not say that to place names of false gods in heaven, to assign a kind of omnipotence and
the people turn from prayers to God, by giving them the belief that their destiny is predetermined by
the stars - I will not say that all it would be tantamount to worship of false gods. But I say that
astrology, in this case, it is like the fallen angels who have departed from God to deceive the human
race... If magic is punishable, and astrology is a variety of this kind, then together with the gender is
reprehensible also the species. Thus, during the rise of gospel, all kinds of sophists, astrologers,
sorcerers, magicians and diviners must be absolutely punished."
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St. Basil the Great (4th century)12

"...The inventors of astrology seeing that in the extent of time many signs escaped them, divided
it and enclosed each part in narrow limits, as if in the least and shortest interval, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,13 to speak with the Apostle, the greatest difference should be found between one
birth and another. Such an one is born in this moment; he will be a prince over cities and will govern
the people, in the fullness of riches and power. Another is born the instant after; he will be poor,
miserable, and will wander daily from door to door begging his bread. Consequently they divide the
Zodiac into twelve parts, and, as the sun takes thirty days to traverse each of the twelve divisions of this
unerring circle, they divide them into thirty more. Each of them forms sixty new ones, and these last
are again divided into sixty.
Let us see then if, in determining the birth of an infant, it will be possible to observe this
rigorous division of time.
The child is born. The nurse ascertains the sex; then she awaits the wail which is a sign of its
life. Until then how many moments have passed do you think? The nurse announces the birth of the
child to the Chaldaean: how many minutes would you count before she opens her mouth, especially if
he who records the hour is outside the women's apartments? And we know that he who consults the
dial, ought, whether by day or by night, to mark the hour with the most precise exactitude.

What a swarm of seconds passes during this time! For the planet of nativity ought to be found,
not only in one of the twelve divisions of the Zodiac, and even in one of its first subdivisions, but again
in one of the sixtieth parts which divide this last, and even, to arrive at the exact truth, in one of the
sixtieth subdivisions that this contains in its turn. And to obtain such minute knowledge, so impossible
to grasp from this moment, each planet must be questioned to find its position as regards the signs of
the Zodiac and the figures that the planets form at the moment of the child's birth.

12
St Basil the Great HEXAEMERON, Complete Translated by Bl. Jackson.
http://www.elpenor.org/basil/hexaemeron.asp?pg=52
13
1 Corynthians 15:52
 17
Thus, if it is impossible to find exactly the hour of birth, and if the least change can upset all,
then both those who give themselves up to this imaginary science and those who listen to them open-
mouthed, as if they could learn from them the future, are supremely ridiculous.

6. But what effects are produced? Such an one will have curly hair and bright eyes, because he
is born under the Ram; such is the appearance of a ram. He will have noble feelings; because the Ram
is born to command. He will be liberal and fertile in resources, because this animal gets rid of its fleece
without trouble, and nature immediately hastens to reclothe it. Another is born under the Bull: he will
be enured to hardship and of a slavish character, because the bull bows under the yoke. Another is born
under the Scorpion; like to this venomous reptile he will be a striker. He who is born under the Balance
will be just, thanks to the justness of our balances. Is not this the height of folly? This Ram, from
whence you draw the nativity of man, is the twelfth part of the heaven, and in entering into it the sun
reaches the spring. The Balance and the Bull are likewise twelfth parts of the Zodiac. How can you see
there the principal causes which influence the life of man? And why do you take animals to
characterize the manners of men who enter this world? He who is born under the Ram will be liberal,
not because this part of heaven gives this characteristic, but because such is the nature of the beast.
Why then should we frighten ourselves by the names of these stars and undertake to persuade ourselves
with these bleatings? If heaven has different characteristics derived from these animals, it is then itself
subject to external influences since its causes depend on the brutes who graze in our fields. A ridiculous
assertion; but how much more ridiculous the pretence of arriving at the influence on each other of
things which have not the least connexion! This pretended science is a true spider's web; if a gnat or a
fly, or some insect equally feeble falls into it it is held entangled; if a stronger animal approaches, it
passes through without trouble, carrying the weak tissue away with it.

7. They do not, however, stop here; even our acts, where each one feels his will ruling, I mean,
the practice of virtue or of vice, depend, according to them, on the influence of celestial bodies. It
would be ridiculous seriously to refute such an error, but, as it holds a great many in its nets, perhaps it
is better not to pass it over in silence.
I would first ask them if the figures which the stars describe do not change a thousand times a
day. In the perpetual motion of planets, some meet in a more rapid course, others make slower
revolutions, and often in an hour we see them look at each other and then hide themselves. Now, at the
hour of birth, it is very important whether one is looked upon by a beneficent star or by an evil one, to
speak their language. Often then the astrologers do not seize the moment when a good star shows itself,
and, on account of having let this fugitive moment escape, they enrol the newborn under the influence
of a bad genius. I am compelled to use their own words. What madness! But, above all, what impiety!
For the evil stars throw the blame of their wickedness upon Him Who made them. If evil is inherent in
their nature, the Creator is the author of evil. If they make it themselves, they are animals endowed
with the power of choice, whose acts will be free and voluntary. Is it not the height of folly to tell these
lies about beings without souls? Again, what a want of sense does it show to distribute good and evil
without regard to personal merit; to say that a star is beneficent because it occupies a certain place; that
it becomes evil, because it is viewed by another star; and that if it moves ever so little from this figure it
loses its malign influence. But let us pass on. If, at every instant of duration, the stars vary their figures,
then in these thousand changes, many times a day, there ought to be reproduced the configuration of
royal births. Why then does not every day see the birth of a king?"
 18

Blessed Augustine (4-5th century)

"...But didst Thou fail me even by that old man, or forbear to heal my soul? For having
become more acquainted with him, and hanging assiduously and fixedly on his speech (for though in
simple terms, it was vivid, lively, and earnest), when he had gathered by my discourse that I was given
to the books of nativity-casters, he kindly and fatherly advised me to cast them away, and not
fruitlessly bestow a care and diligence, necessary for useful things, upon these vanities; saying, that he
had in his earliest years studied that art, so as to make it the profession whereby he should live, and
that, understanding Hippocrates, he could soon have understood such a study as this; and yet he had
given it over, and taken to physic, for no other reason but that he found it utterly false; and he, a grave
man, would not get his living by deluding people. "But thou," saith he, "hast rhetoric to maintain
thyself by, so that thou followest this of free choice, not of necessity: the more then oughtest thou to
give me credit herein, who laboured to acquire it so perfectly as to get my living by it alone." Of whom
when I had demanded, how then could many true things be foretold by it, he answered me (as he could)
"that the force of chance, diffused throughout the whole order of things, brought this about. For if when
a man by haphazard opens the pages of some poet, who sang and thought of something wholly
different, a verse oftentimes fell out, wondrously agreeable to the present business: it were not to be
 19
wondered at, if out of the soul of man, unconscious what takes place in it, by some higher instinct an
answer should be given, by hap, not by art, corresponding to the business and actions of the demander.
And thus much, either from or through him, Thou conveyedst to me, and tracedst in my
memory, what I might hereafter examine for myself. But at that time neither he, nor my dearest
Nebridius, a youth singularly good and of a holy fear, who derided the whole body of divination, could
persuade me to cast it aside, the authority of the authors swaying me yet more, and as yet I had found
no certain proof (such as I sought) whereby it might without all doubt appear, that what had been truly
foretold by those consulted was the result of haphazard, not of the art of the star-gazers."14

St. Gregory Palamas (14th century):

"Not only that someone knows God and himself and his condition (which even the most simple
Christians now know it) is higher than the physical science and astrology and philosophy than
anything about these teachings, but also to know the inability of our mind and to try to cure this, is far
better than knowing the size of the circle of stars, words of physics, and how were made the things
down there, and change of the upper ones, turnings and risings of stars, reinforcements and twists, and
hook-up, distances, and shortly, all those connections in many kinds of motion. For that one who knows
the weakness of his mind, he found the place where to enter his salvation, and to approach the light of
knowledge, and will receive the true wisdom that even in this life will not unlock with him."15

14
Augustine's Confessions, translated by E.B. Pusey
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/augustine/Pusey/book04
15
St. Gregory Palamas Philokalia
 20

St. Simeon of Thessalonica (14th century)

"Talking about luck, about the Fates, on explanation of births, after signs or stars and stars
readings it is a godless and crazy thing... but our good and bad things move after our own will."

Church Canons reinforce them:

Laodicea Canon 3616

"They who are of the priesthood, or of the clergy, shall not be magicians, enchanters,
mathematicians, or astrologers; nor shall they make what are called amulets, which are chains for their
own souls. And those who wear such, we command to be cast out of the Church.

Balsamon.

“Magicians” are those who for any purpose call Satan to their aid. “Enchantors” are those who
sing charms or incantations, and through them draw demons to obey them. “Mathematicians” are they
who hold the opinion that the celestial bodies rule the universe, and that all earthly things are ruled by
their influence. “Astrologers” are they who divine by the stars through the agency of demons, and
place their faith in them."

Hence we have ban on any astrological concerns, or encourage them, or even tacit
acceptance. In the confession it would proper to give more careful inquiry, especially on women, to see
if they have not fallen into this sin, which most of them do not realize it as such.

Church Rule:

The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were
16

Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.viii.vii.iii.xli.html

 21
"2045. - Astrology or search in Signs, appealing exposed in horoscope, is alleged science,
which can know how to be, and the fate of someone, after days of planets, and astronomical
findings. In reality it is a hoax occultist, contrary to truth and condemned by the Church because it has
no knowledge about astronomy or the truths of revelation."

As we mentioned at the beginning of the article the "new age", let us remember that the
ideology of this movement has an intense use of astrology, calling this era "the age of Aquarius":

"In the common modern understanding, the New Age movement emerged in the twentieth
century in the U.S. Up here, a claim with little scientific accuracy. But we deliberately chose to
emphasize the general phrase to emphasize the somewhat diffuse nature of the movement. If the space
would be specific the state of California, the issue date of birth of the movement is more
controversial. According to the astrological perspective, anthropological or psychological, other
researchers have placed time either in 1904 or 1910 or 1917, according to others on 5 February 1962
(when there was a certain grouping of the planets). According to Jung, the age of Aquarius begins in
1997 or 2154.This total imprecision and lack of consistency is typical to the movement and it’s due to
the fact that is based on astrological interpretations that are subject to arbitrariness and subjectivity of
those concerned."17
"The ages" to which refers these prophets of freemasonry occult and theosophical origin, is
bounded according to astrological criteria in which the sun goes through the regressive way for about
2160 years a sector of the 12 known celestial zodiac. This journey has major consequences resulting
cyclic changes of evolutive character in the mentality, culture and even the spirituality of
humankind. At present we are, witnessing the "transition" from the Age of Pisces to Aquarius which
will be installed into a new era. Here we can see how the precession (astronomy reverse motion)
17
Pr. Dan Bădulescu New age Împărăţia răului, Christiana, Bucureşti, 2001, p.38.
 22
becomes a double millenialist Utopia (2000 years of happiness in Aquarius). In the hippie musical
movie (rock opera) of the '60s Hair18 (Broadway 1968) one of the key programmatic themes is the song
The Age of Aquarius19:

When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding

Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets

18
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj4vfrPdfdo&playnext=1&list=PL34B09531E692A5BB
19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwGNrpX8KCM&feature=related
 23
And love will steer the stars20

In terms of astronomical observations new age astrologers suffer from serious flaws that make it
appear a multitude of different timelines as to when this transformation occurs. What interests us in this
present study are the theological implications present in these concepts and their effect on Christian
faith and doctrine. For, far from being a mere aberration astronomical and petty superstition, new age
movement is emerging as a dangerous enemy of Christianity worldwide."21
It would not hurt to stop for a moment to explore in terms of astrological / astronomical on what
are based these assumptions.
Famous astronomers of antiquity, Iparchos and Claudius Ptolemy and had concerns of astrology
and astronomy simultaneously. In their astronomical system that has dominated the authority for over
1,500 years22, the zodiac was a sector in the heavens which revolved around the earth for 24 hours. It
was divided in 12 sectors or signs.
Broadly speaking, the classical astrology can be described as follows:
"Blastaris, when he wrote these words, seems to have read the paschal rules of Anatolius, an
Alexandrian by birth and a very scholarly man from the third century, who became about the year 270
bishop Syria Laodicea and was still living in the year 282. This fragment is preserved in the
Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea of Palestine (Book. VIL, chap. 32). Under the
opposite side of the universe means the southern hemisphere of the celestial globe, which is divided by
the celestial equator, called by Matthew Blastaris in another place of the treaty, the largest circle of the
parallels, equinoctial circle, by the northern hemisphere. In the month of March the sun finishes its
course in the southern hemisphere and move in the northern one. It has his way in the zodiac, which is
divided into 12 parts, called by Blastaris twelfths, 6 in the northern hemisphere and 6 in the southern
hemisphere. The sun through this route in a year passing through the 12 twelfths and spending in each
of them almost a month. The 12 months of the year thus correspond to the 12 parts of the solar
track. The first twelfth is that of Aries, in which the sun enters the northern passage. When this is at its
beginning, then it is in one of two points, in which the solar path, the ecliptic, cuts the celestial equator,
equinoctial circle, i.e. the spring equinoctial point, about Blastaris says elsewhere that it is seen at the
beginning of Aries. So after our pascaliograph, the men who were involved in observing the stars, say
astronomers, called this twelfth of the circle of the zodiac "the equinoctial twelfth". During the time
that the sun is in the afore mentioned twelfth, in the northern hemisphere begins to increase its power
of heaters, in our part the nature wakes from the winter sleep to a new life. This time is very well suited
to begin a new year with him, and that’s why the month in which falls the vernal equinox was chosen
by several people as the first month of the year; so the ancient Hebrew begun their year with the month
of Nisan, the ancient Romans with March. Hence the name is easily explained: "the beginning of
month", which the ancient astronomers gave to that twelfth according to Blastaris. Ancient Astronomy
counted the degrees of the sun and all stars length from 0 to 360 from the spring equinoctial point to the
west. This point is also a starting point in determining the path of the sun and planets, of which all
known in the ancient times run through the zodiac. From here come the names: "The head of the
circle", "the opening of the planets course" for the first twelfth. And if this twelfth assignment of
names: "the beginning of the months, head circle, the opening of planets’ course", then, consistently,
the twelfth before this had to be named: "The last of the months, the twelfth in the end, the conclusion
of planetary revolution."23

20
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/hair/aquarius.htm
21
Pr. Dan Bădulescu New age Împărăţia răului, Cristiana, Bucureşti, 2001, p.38.
22
Large amount of years if one take the traditional chronology in which the universe has around 7 500 years!
23
Matthew Blastaris Syntagma Letter P: On the Holy Pascha
 24
This difference causes the phenomenon of precession of the equinoxes, i.e. degree after degree
gradual shift in the retrograde sense of the zodiac i.e. from Aries to Pisces, then Aquarius, etc. At this
point allude new age astrologers.
And because nowadays most people, be they believers or even practitioners, they need like air a
confirmation from the scientific authority, we offer you an item that will be shocking to many: a
current astronomical map (obtained by program Home Planet - hp - you can download free from the
internet) to the vernal equinox:

Note the sun location ,, at the core diagram in the sign of Pisces (on the chart between 0° -
30°), and close to the sign Aquarius (on the diagram between (360° - 330°). In order to obtain the
astronomical map above a modern computer for astronomical observations program was used. Source:
Your Sky www.fourmilab.ch
Let's see what it says about the same time an astrological chart (produced with the program
ASTROLOG 5.40)
 25

Sidereal zodiac on March 21 2010

Notice the equinox when the sun : exactly the same shown in the previous diagram.

The Modern and contemporary astrology is an amalgam of "classical" astrology, based on

modern movements. Lucky for professional astrologers today is that their followers and clients are
almost totally ignorant of the implications of the above mentioned. Just take a look at TV programs and
see the current image of the astrologist: far away is the cap and the crystal ball, the owl and the starry
staff. Instead, an intellectual figure (with or without glasses) and often a laptop that inspires serious and
scientific exactness. The audience makes telephone calls in the studio, communicate a birth date, and
in 2-3 seconds the astrological program (there are more of this type) provides a chart.

"Tropical and sidereal zodiac

Another issue related to the zodiac, which is good to be clear from the beginning for anyone
dealing with astrology, is the difference between tropical and sidereal zodiac or astrological zodiac
signs and constellations of the zodiac. Many confuse them and thus it appears a false dilemma: why is
 26
it that a man is born under a certain sign, although at his the birth of the sun was in a different
constellation of the zodiac?
Confusion arises because the zodiac signs and the constellations are named the same and thus
believed to be one and the same thing. Zodiac signs name was given, indeed, after the 12 constellations
located on the ecliptic, i.e. that band sky map in which routes are part of the solar system planets and
the Sun and Moon, as they are seen on Earth. But while the constellations are fixed positions is in the
sky, given the positions of stars that make them up (and which are moving too, but so slow compared
to other stars, that they are considered "fixed stars"), physically speaking, the zodiac signs do share
only the names and order in the zodiac with the constellations, and the fact that in both cases we have
the Earth as an observation (reference) frame.
We have, therefore, a zodiac of the constellations, called the sidereal zodiac, and a zodiac of the
proper astrological signs, called the tropical zodiac. In the sidereal zodiac, zodiac correspond almost
exactly with the 12 zodiacal constellations as they are seen in the sky, while in the tropical zodiac, the
zodiacal signs are the 12 equal arcs (corresponding, therefore, to equal time periods) covered by Sun at
spring equinox until the next equinox, practically a zodiacal year.
 27

These intervals do not correspond to physical constellations, but only symbolical and
vibrational. We can imagine these two zodiacs as two overlapping circles, which rotate at constant but
different speeds, so at some point and zodiac constellations overlap exactly, but that occurs at intervals
of approximately 26,000 years.
To explain a little more clearly, I will say that the point of the sidereal zodiac and the Sun on
the vernal equinox in astronomy is called the vernal point. This point moves continuously on the
sidereal zodiac and the constellations do a complete turn in about 26,000 years. At present, this point is
about 7 degrees in the constellation of Pisces and moving backwards, approaching the constellation
Aquarius. Therefore it is said that the current era was over and the approaching Age of Aquarius (it
already beginning the transition to it).
This means that only those born in the last seven degrees of signs (in our age) have also the Sun
in the corresponding zodiac constellation.
To remove this confusion and to operate only with the constellations, some astrologers
(relatively few) uses the sidereal zodiac. But most astrologers use, in the Western astrological system,
the tropical zodiac, which has the advantage that is reported to the terrestrial cycle of the seasons, being
clearly pointed out by the equinoxes and solstices, so it is easier to study from the perspective of living
on Earth. It is very likely that, in time, the importance given the sidereal zodiac in astrology will
increase, but this can only happen as the man in the evolution of his consciousness, it may raise the
point that may approach things from the perspective of cosmic consciousness, symbolized by the
constellations. Until then, the man is still working largely at the level of planetary, terrestrial
 28
consciousness.
In conclusion, we can say that the tropical zodiac is a projection of the sidereal zodiac in the
terrestrial level of consciousness. Many are asking the question which one is best. My opinion is that
both are equally functional, but its effectiveness depends on the point from which each are discussed.
The best tool is always the one that best fits with the intentions and the approach he uses."24
Astrologer in question25 is a typical representative of the mixture of ancient astrology
(geocentrical) and modern astronomy (helio/acentrical). We drew this conclusion which would not
offend him the least because in his own statement: "In the area of Romania and throughout Europe, the
most commonly used is the European zodiac, which comes from ancient civilizations that lived in the
Indo-European: Chaldeans, Romans, Greeks and Arabs have contributed to what we call today the
European zodiac. But like any science, astrology is also evolving through the centuries and continuous
changes and improvements have occurred in the working system with the zodiac.
The European zodiac divides the year into 12 Zodiac Signs, always the first one since starting
with the spring equinox. The 12 signs bearing the names of 12 constellations located on the ecliptic, i.e.
the path that - apparently - is accomplished by the sun through the sky around the Earth. But while the
constellations have fixed spatial positions on the sky map, the signs are actually segments of time,
reported to the equinoxes and solstices, in fact, to the movement of the Earth's revolution around the
sun. Only about 26,000 years, the zodiac signs and constellations come to coincide in space-time
continuum."
The figure of 26,000 years was obtained after explanation of the manual26 as Hipparch's
comments, made on the consistency of a fixed star and the vernal point on long journeys. This would
result in an annual difference of 50,3", which would give the following formula:

360°(21 600") ≈ 26 000 years

50.3"

24
http://www.eastrolog.ro/astrologie-abc/initiere-in-astrologie/002_ce-este-zodiacul.php
25
Adi Mândruţă Tănăsescu
26
See http://www.crystalinks.com/precession.html
 29

The position in question is actually very ungrateful for its representatives. But thanks to the fact
that they were not faced with a challenge authority, they were able to maintain with nonchalance their
lost and shaky position.
If someone could somehow take into account any influence of the zodiacal constellations, both
the native27 and the ascendant28, in fact, "the sidereal zodiac", how can anyone explain the influence of
the "tropical zodiac", which is precisely the one used in 99% and practically the only known case of
public opinion? Astrologers reply that: "These intervals do not correspond to physical constellations,
but only symbolical and vibrational... In conclusion, we can say that the tropical zodiac is a projection
of the sidereal zodiac in the terrestrial level of consciousness."29
What can be that "symbolical and vibrational" influence remains a mystery of new age type,
immersed in fog. The tropical zodiac boundaries remain mere temporal landmarks with the seasons, so
the equinoxes and solstices.
This explanation seems to clarify things and take them out of the astrologers embarrassing
impasse, but in reality things are more complicated for them. Signs of the tropical zodiac remain simple
intervals are "symbolic and vibrational", while the constellations, i.e. the "signs" in the sidereal zodiac
remain visible realities! Routinely astrologers and their clients mix and confuse the two zodiacs,
especially since the overwhelming majority of the latter does not even know the difference between
them. And then we can not wonder about dating fantasy genre "in 1904 or 1910 or 1917, according to

27
The sun’s location in the moment of birth.
28
The sign’s location at the horizon in the moment of birth.
29
See above.
 30
others on 5 February 1962 (when there was a certain grouping of the planets) ... 1997 or 2154"30 They
remind us of as serious dating of the end of the world as they were exposed from the same poisoned
area by heretics millenialist Mormons, Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses...
As it was not lost enough, contemporary astrologers and their deceived followers, fall also into
other heresies: Hermetics, Kabbalah, heliocentrism, evolution, reincarnation, karma, ufolatry, new age:
- Hermetics. Universal laws (principles of truth): 1. Mentalism law, 2. correspondence law,
3. law of vibration, 4. polarity law, 5. rhythm law, 6. law of cause and effect; 7. gender law.31
- Evolutionism. "But like any science, astrology is also evolving over centuries and appeared
continuous changes and improvements to the system to work with the zodiac."
- Heliocentrism. Among these "improvements" are - could be otherwise? – the abandoning of
the traditional geocentric perspective and taking over without hesitation of Copernican model: "The
european zodiac divided the year into 12 zodiac signs, the first of them always from the Spring
Equinox. The 12 signs of the 12 constellations that are named on the ecliptic, or path that - apparently -
is the sun through the sky around the Earth. But while the constellations were fixed spatial positions on
the sky map, the houses are actually segments of time, reported the equinoxes and solstices, in fact, to
the movement of the Earth's revolution around the sun. Only about 26,000 years, zodiac signs and
constellations come to coincide in space-time continuum."32 Thus, astrologers undermine their own
basis of reference for astronomical calculations and the positions of celestial movements.
- Reincarnation, Karma. "What is the ultimate goal of man and of humanity according to this
doctrine? After so many lives, after so many deaths, rebirths, and soothe painful awakening, is there a
limit to this work never tired of the soul? Yes, absolutely, yes..."33
- New age. "On the horizon is now rising the sign of Aquarius, the sign of initiation into the
mysteries of love and the occult."34

Let those who believe, being deceived by the enemy, that they can be simultaneously with
Christ and Belial, i.e. good Christians and followers of astrology, take care!
This type of faithful met increasingly often since 1990 especially among women, who come to
church and parallel research in various publications and individuals involved in astrology. And -
summit! - sometimes receive from these "experts" urge to ask the priest to read the molybdenum of St.
Basil the Great, whether in church or at home linked with the blessing of water. There is said:
"So, Lord, take away from Thy servant (N) all work of the devil, all strife, all spell, serving
idols, witchcraft with the stars, divination with the stars..."
What do they think that could mean: "witchcraft with the stars, divination with the stars", if not
astrology and horoscopes?
Serious research, both theological-spiritual and the scientific astronomical proves eloquently
that "human astrology" is an error in both directions as part of the magic, the occult and divination,
with the same features inspired by the same source: the devil. We can not serve two masters at the same
time, and the light and darkness have no fellowship. And even less of Christ with Belial...

30
See note 17
31
See http://www.eastrolog.ro/astrologie-abc/initiere-in-astrologie/002_ce-este-zodiacul.php
32
Idem
33
Armand G. Constantinescu Cer şi destin Ananda Kali, 1999, p. 297
34
Ibidem, p. 298