26°40’. Yama, the god of death or the setting sun, presides, and the planet Venus rules
Bharani. This sign implies a “cutting” energy, and is a good time to do unpleasant but
necessary activities; people may be more mentally quick and spontaneous, while also
exhibiting tendencies towards amorality or fickleness during this time.
—Pramela ThiagesanTHEBIBLE ANDASTROLOGY
The Hebrew and Christian Bibles are a complex set of documents. To advocates of
astrology, it is not difficult to find passages presenting the science of the stars in a posi-
tive light. If, on the other hand, one wishes to attack astrology, it is also possible to find
passages condemning stargazing. Certain Scriptures appear—at least in the King James
Version (KJV)—to condemn astrologers as those who keep, watch, or observe the
times; e.g., “Ye shall not eat anything with the blood, neither shall ye use enchant-
ment, nor observe times” (Lev. 19:26). This allusion to astrology, however, was an
interpolation by KJV translators. In modern translations, it is clear that the original
biblical condemnation was against divination in general, rather than astrology in par-
ticular: “You shall not eat meat with the blood in it. You shall not practise divination or
soothsaying” (New English Bible); and “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it.
You shall not practice augury or witchcraft” (Revised Standard Version).
Advocates of astrology, however, can point to such passages as “God created
lights in the heavens, and He made them for signs and for seasons” (Gen. 1:14), which
is capable of being interpreted as a reference to astrology. More generally, because the
God of Western religions is a sky-god, many different scriptural passages portray God
as utilizing heavenly signs to instruct the faithful. These signs are often ambiguous
enough to be given an astrological interpretation. With a little reworking, it is not dif-
ficult to read many otherwise innocent passages in an astrological manner, for exam-
ple, the Lord’s Prayer, as noted in Don Jacobs’s Astrology’s Pew in the Church):
Our Father who lives in the heavens,
Let your name be honored,
Let your Kingdom come,
Let your will be done down here on the earth,
As perfectly as it is in the sky.
From these examples, it is not difficult to see that both supporters and detrac-
tors must “massage” various biblical passages to get an unambiguous message on the
status of astrology. One of the few biblical accounts in which we can clearly perceive
the practice of astrology is the story of The Three Wise Men. The Magi were clearly
astrologers, and the Star of Bethlehem, as scholars have long pointed out, was actually
a major planetary conjunction. The Magi believed, as do many of our contemporaries,
that our planet was on the verge of entering a “new age,” and this particular conjunc-
tion was taken to indicate the birth of a new world teacher.
Sources:
Jacobs, Don. Astrology’s Pew in the Church.San Francisco: The Joshua Foundation, 1979.
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [87]
The Bible and Astrology