Astrology, Mythology, and Catholic Religion: A Reorientation
As a just lately returning Catholic, I’ve undergone a serious non secular and mental shift: That’s, a dedication to shifting away from predictive, or judicial, astrology in gentle of my renewed religion. This has been a gradual and tough course of, as mirrored in my previous couple of YouTube movies, the place you’ll be able to clearly see me wrestling with the incongruity. Nevertheless, the shift most likely began with my determination to finish yearly horoscopes in 2020 after which decreasing the frequency of astrology readings as they felt more and more uncomfortable and spiritually incompatible.
Throughout the COVID lockdowns, I had time away from readings and opened my Etsy store, Heavenly and Holy. Via the grace of god, this little inventive challenge is fortunately maintaining me afloat financially throughout this tough transition. I started attending Mass in 2023 and was deeply moved by the standard providers. Nevertheless, I struggled to take care of the state of grace wanted for communion, unaware on the time of the Church’s instructing on astrology. I later realized simply how critical this dilemma was.
Whereas astrology as soon as served as a framework for understanding life’s occasions and in search of that means, I’ve come to acknowledge that predictive astrology is basically incompatible with Catholic instructing, notably as articulated by Thomas Aquinas and the broader scholastic custom. But, moderately than abandoning the symbolic dimension of astrology altogether, I’ve turned towards a extra reflective engagement with mythology—notably the archetypal figures of the asteroid goddesses—as a manner of exploring the human psyche with out falling into the errors of divination.
The Scholastic Distinction: Pure vs. Judicial Astrology
The medieval Church distinguished between two sorts of astrology. Pure astrology referred to the examine of how celestial our bodies affect the bodily world—tides, seasons, climate, even bodily humors and temperaments. This was thought of a reliable discipline of pure philosophy. Judicial astrology, against this, claimed to foretell human affairs, decisions, and destinies primarily based on the celebrities. It was this predictive kind that the Church constantly rejected as spiritually harmful and philosophically unsound.
Thomas Aquinas affords one of many clearest articulations of this distinction within the Summa Theologiae. In Half I, Query 115, Article 4, he addresses whether or not the heavenly our bodies are the reason for human acts. He acknowledges that the celebrities have actual results on the fabric world:
“The vast majority of males comply with their passions, that are actions of the delicate urge for food, through which actions the affect of the heavenly our bodies is felt. Few are the smart who by motive resist their passions. Due to this fact, astrologers are in a position to forecast the reality within the majority of circumstances, particularly generally issues, however not particularly circumstances, which rely upon the rationale or will.” (ST I, Q115, a.4)
Right here Aquinas attracts an important distinction. Whereas the celebrities could incline bodily inclinations—shaping temperament, moods, or tendencies—they can’t decide the rational will. Human beings stay free, able to resisting passions by way of motive. As he summarizes:
“Man has free-will, which isn’t topic to the celebrities. Therefore it’s that the astrologers themselves say that ‘the smart man guidelines the celebrities,’ forasmuch as he guidelines his passions.” (ST I, Q115, a.4, advert 3)
This place is usually summarized by the phrase astra inclinant, non necessitant—“the celebrities incline, they don’t compel.” Whereas not Aquinas’s precise wording, it captures his instructing: the heavens could affect, however they can’t dictate ethical selection.
Theological Risks of Judicial Astrology
For Aquinas, judicial astrology was not merely a scientific error however a non secular hazard. To attribute human decisions or destinies to the celebrities undermines free will, ethical duty, and, most significantly, divine windfall. In Summa Contra Gentiles (III, c.88), he insists that though celestial our bodies could have an effect on human passions, “the free will of man has energy to withstand them. And so the celebrities will not be a ample explanation for human acts.”
Furthermore, Aquinas warns that demons can manipulate astrological indicators to deceive human beings, additional illustrating the non secular dangers of divinatory practices. This concern echoes Scriptural prohibitions in opposition to divination (Deuteronomy 18:10–12), the mocking of astrologers in Isaiah 47:13–14, and Jeremiah 10:2’s command to not worry the “indicators of the heavens.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church follows this line, stating:
“All types of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Devil or demons, conjuring up the useless, or different practices falsely purported to ‘unveil’ the longer term. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm studying… contradict the dignity, respect, and loving worry that we owe to God alone.” (CCC §2116)
Thus, predictive astrology stands in contradiction each to motive, by denying human freedom, and to revelation, by usurping belief that belongs to God alone.
Archetypal Fantasy and the Asteroid Goddesses
But Aquinas’s rejection of judicial astrology doesn’t require abandoning symbolic or mythological reflection on the heavens. The truth is, his allowance for pure influences leaves open the potential of contemplating the celebrities and myths in a non-divinatory manner, as a part of the broader symbolic language of creation.
Within the trendy period, depth psychologists similar to Carl Jung and James Hillman have developed a symbolic or archetypal strategy to astrology. Right here, celestial figures will not be learn as determinants of destiny however as archetypes that resonate with the human psyche. Asteroid goddesses like Ceres and Pallas Athena supply notably wealthy mythological materials for self-reflection. To ponder these myths is to not predict the longer term however to interact the creativeness in dialogue with timeless symbols.
This apply aligns extra intently with literature, artwork, or psychology than with divination. It treats fable as a mirror of the soul moderately than a script of future. On this sense, exploring the asteroid goddesses by way of their myths can enrich self-understanding whereas remaining trustworthy to the Catholic prohibition in opposition to judicial astrology.
Conclusion
My return to the Catholic Church has required me to relinquish predictive astrology, in obedience to each Scripture and the Church’s magisterial instructing. Guided by Aquinas, I now see clearly that whereas the celebrities could incline bodily inclinations, they don’t compel the desire, and to deal with them as determinants of destiny is to fall into error. On the similar time, my love for symbolic that means and fable stays intact. By turning to the goddess myths and their archetypal resonances, I can create evergreen content material that honors the creativeness, deepens psychological reflection, and respects the boundaries set by religion.