great astronomers were also astrologers, including such luminaries as Tycho Brahe and
Johannes Kepler.
Several hundred years ago, however, the two fields began to diverge, and today
there are two distinct communities: astrologers, who are largely ignorant of astronomy,
and astronomers, who know almost nothing about astrology. For the most part, con-
temporary astronomers despise astrology as a medieval superstition. This is not, how-
ever, because astrology fails to pass empirical tests of validity, but because astronomers
reject astrology out of hand. When skeptics have actually subjected astrology to
empirical tests, they have found—sometimes to their dismay—correlations between
celestial and terrestrial phenomena.
For their part, astrologers are more often than not woefully ignorant of astron-
omy. This ignorance is sometimes compounded by an attitude that condemns all sci-
ence as narrow-minded and spiritually dead. There are, however, a handful of contem-
porary astrologers who have explored current astronomy for potential astrological
insights, including Michael and Margaret Erlewine, whose Astrophysical Directions
offers a starting point for astrologers interested in pursuing this line of research, and
Philip Sedgwick, whose Astrology of Deep Spaceis a creative follow-up on the
Erlewines’ work.
Sources:
Brau, Jean-Louis, Helen Weaver, and Allan Edmands. Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology.New
York: New American Library, 1980.
Erlewine, Michael, and Margaret Erlewine. Astrophysical Directions.Ann Arbor, MI: Heart Cen-
ter School of Astrology, 1977.
Sedgwick, Philip. The Astrology of Deep Space.Birmingham, MI: Seek-It Publications, 1984.
ATE
Ate, asteroid 111 (the 111th asteroid to be discovered, on August 14, 1870), is
approximately 156 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 4.2 years. It was
named after the goddess of blind folly, rashness, infatuation, and mischief. According
to Greek tragedians, Ate was behind the avenging curse that was the ultimate cause of
the Trojan War. The natal position of Ate by sign and house may indicate where one
is most prone to folly. When afflicted, Ate may show where one is likely to respond to
real or imagined insults in an exaggerated fashion.
Sources:
Kowal, Charles T. Asteroids: Their Nature and Utilization.Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Ellis
Horwood Limited, 1988.
Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names.London: Routledge, 1988.
Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia.St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.
ATHENE
Athene, asteroid 881 (the 881st asteroid to be discovered, on July 22, 1870), is
approximately 12 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 4.2 years.
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [75]
Athene