Akhet Hwt-Hrw An Educational Resoruce for Ancient Egyptian Religion & Esoteric Studies www.Hwt-Hrw.com Heru@Hwt-Hrw.com P.O. Box 6142 Nashua, NH 03063 U.S.A.

Khru Akhet
Newsletter of Akhet Hwt-Hrw
Volume IV, Issue 1, Page 3, Shomu 2004

Copyright 2004, all rights reserved.

Astrology in Ancient Egypt
Kerry Wisner

On the ceiling of a rooftop shrine in Hwt-Hrw's late period temple of Dendera the now famous circular map of the heavens was found. This is one of the most elegant pieces of Egyptian religious art known to exist. Perhaps what is most intriguing is that it not only depicts long standing traditional Egyptian images of the sky, it also shows the twelve signs of the zodiac. This has lead to speculation that astrology, as it is practiced today, may have been in use throughout the history of Pharonic Egypt. Being trained in contemporary astrology myself this is a particularly appealing idea. However, to my knowledge, no convincing evidence has emerged that would indicate the existence of the traditional zodiac in Egyptian culture prior to the Persian invasion. Archeological evidence demonstrates that the system of the zodiac as it is understood today stems from Babylon and not Greece as some authorities had initially suggested (Parker 1978.719). It was during the Babylonian control of Egypt that the zodiac was first introduced to the Nile valley.

During Babylon's reign over Egypt it is known that there was a constant cultural exchange occurring throughout the various countries that the Persians ruled. Dr. Richard Parker explains:

"Egyptian priests are known to have been in Persia; indeed, we have the personal account of one Udjeharresnet, who was commanded to return to Egypt by Darius I (521 - 486 B.C.). And there reform the Houses of Life, the centers in the precincts of the temples where medical and religious books were written. It may well have been through him that the first astrological literature reached Egypt from Babylonia." (Parker 1978.723)

It was during this period that the Egyptian priesthood enthusiastically received this new way of ordering the sky. In fact, they proceeded to incorporate their system of the decan stars into the zodiac, placing three decans in each of the twelve signs. Again, Dr. Parker sheds light on this:

"The first horoscope we have is dated to 410 B.C. and is Babylonian. Horoscopic astrology probably came to Egypt with the zodiac around the turn from the fourth to the third century B.C. as a developing Hellenistic science to which Egypt made little or no contribution that can be specifically identified, except for the decanal divisions of the zodiacal signs." (Parker 1978.725)

Despite its foreign origins the priesthood of Egypt found real meaning and value in this system of divination. They quickly merged this system of viewing the sky with their own spiritual disciplines. It is for this reason that we find the wonderful depictions of the zodiac in some of the most sacred portions of Hwt-Hrw's temple of Dendera. Construction of the temple that now stands was begun during the reign of Ptolemy XII Auletes (80 - 51 B.C.) and continued until the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero (A.D. 54 - 68). By this point the concept of the zodiac had been in Egypt for close to four hundred years. This was long enough for the priesthood to become highly proficient in this art.

Before the intervention of the Babylonian system the Egyptians recognized that various celestial bodies did hold specific influence. Many of these objects were seen as the embodiment of various Neteru. Nevertheless, until the introduction of Persian astrology predictions concerning the future of individuals was more dependant on determining the festival that the person was born on and whether this was a "lucky" or "unlucky" day. The establishment and continued development of Babylonian astrology within Egyptian culture brought with it a means of determining specific information on the influence of the celestial bodies in one's life. This, in my opinion, seems to have been quite compatible with Ancient Egyptian thought in that the Egyptians had always seen these stellar forces as manifesting as the Neteru. With the entry of the science of astrology this expression of celestial forces could be understood and predicted in ways that were only hinted at before.

I do need to point out that the late period was a time of decline in Ancient Egyptian culture, religion and even its very identity. It seems obvious that the influx of foreign culture, concepts, religious and magical ideas contributed to this decay. Perhaps even more to the point, it has been argued that this influx was the primary cause of the eventual loss of the Ancient Egyptian spiritual tradition. To counter this loss of sacred knowledge some authorities have postulated that the increase of inscriptions within the late period temples was an attempt on the part of the priesthood to keep their sacred teachings intact. Astrology, as a foreign discipline, may potentially be classified in the category of an outside influence that contributed to the decline of Egyptian wisdom. Thus there is a real quandary, as a contemporary temple, whether to accept astrology as the late period priesthood had or to see it as an outside teaching that only served to dilute the Egyptian spiritual message. For our temple of Akhet Hwt-Hrw one telling fact seems obvious, several representations of the zodiac exist in Dendera. If in fact the priesthood were attempting to save their wisdom from eventual extinction the inclusion of this system into the hieroglyphic record of Dendera may indicate that the priesthood did see this as an important (albeit foreign) contribution to Egyptian esoteric wisdom. Still, we may never know with certainty whether its inclusion should be welcomed or shunned.

As a contemporary temple I would like state the we at Akhet Hwt-Hrw do accept and use astrology, finding it consistent with much of Ancient Egyptian thought. With this new ordering of the sky and the revisions that came with it, new ways of interpreting the influences of the movements of the celestial bodies became apparent to the Egyptian priesthood. When understood and used properly astrology can be a powerful and highly effective tool for the initiate.

I would like to point out that the use of astrology does not imply a fatalistic view toward life. In my experience, at best, astrology shows the general trends and basic conditions occurring at any given moment. Astrology is not unlike a weather report describing the conditions for any given day. And like a weather report it is always up to the individual to decide how they will react to those conditions. Astrology shows the various celestial winds that may blow through life, indicating tendencies, opportunities or the possibility for potential problems. Generally the individual is largely in control. The person's decisions and choices ultimately decide how the celestial influences will manifest in their life. The comments of R.J. Stewart may help to clarify this concept:

"In standard astrology it is often assumed that the relationships shown in the chart define modes of expression available during the lifetime of the individual. The esoteric traditions teach that the entity gravitates towards chosen sequences in the astrological synchronicity, which will bring it to birth in the circumstances most suited to its requirements."

He continues:

"In ancient magical workings, specific planetary or stellar patterns were employed to aid incarnation. This was not because the conjunctions caused certain Beings to appear in the physical world, but because the conjunction was identical to the nature of the Being, enabling it to manifest within the womb, and to be born at a harmonically related point and place." (Stewart 1985.162)

Thus we see that astrology is a tool showing the synchronic patterns and flow of energy that link the individual to all that is. Once an understanding of this pattern develops the initiate is able to use this knowledge to time rituals for greater efficiency. Working harmoniously with the patterns found within astrological configurations allows the intent of the ritualist to merge with the natural course of events.

Before leaving the subject of astrology I want to state emphatically that at no time am I implying that the techniques of contemporary astrology were in use in Egypt before the influx of information from Babylon. While portions of what would develop into contemporary astrology did come to form a comprehensive part of temple study and practice in the late periods after the Babylonian influence, this type of astrology was not part of Pharonic Egyptian practice. As such, while we as a contemporary temple do use astrology and find it very useful, we leave it up to each student to decide for them self if this is an art that they too should or should not embrace.

As a trained Astrologer I has begun preparing several in depth correspondence courses dedicated to this ancient art for Akhet Hwt-Hrw. We anticipate that these courses on both natal (birth chart) and predictive Astrology, will be ready for release in late 2004. In addition I will be offering personalized Astrological chart interpretations. To learn more about either of these please contact me at heru@hwt-hrw.com

Other Pages in the Newsletter
Return to Page One
Go to Page Two, "Creating Meaningful Kemetic Festival Social Gatherings"
Go to Page Four, "The Litany of Ra and its use in Ritual Today"
Go to The Festival of the Victory of Horus