ETHICS ANDASTROLOGY
Astrological organizations often promulgate explicit codes of ethics, partly because no
government agencies regulate the behavior of astrologers and partly because of the
tendency of astrology’s critics to portray astrologers as unethical charlatans. These
codes of ethics go back at least as far as Firmicus Maternus (330 B.C.E.), who in Mathe-
sisset high standards for astrologers:
Shape yourself in the image and likeness of divinity, so that you may
always be a model of excellence. He who daily speaks about the gods
must shape his mind to approach the likeness of divinity. Be modest,
upright, sober, and content with few goods, so that the shameful love of
money may not defile the glory of this divine science. Outdo the train-
ing and principles of worthy priests. For the acolyte of the Sun and
Moon and the other gods, through whom all earthly things are gov-
erned, must educate his mind to be proved worthy in the sight of all
mankind. See that you give your responses publicly in a clear voice, so
that nothing illegal may be asked of you. Do not give a response about
the condition of the Republic or the life of the Emperor—that is ille-
gal. Have a wife, a home, friends; be constantly available to the public;
keep out of quarrels; do not undertake any harmful business; do not be
tempted by the offer of money; keep away from all passion of cruelty;
never take pleasure in others’ quarrels or capital sentences or fatal
enmities.... Be generous, honest and truthful.... Be reticent about peo-
ple’s vices.... Do not give away the secrets of this religion to wicked
men, for the astrologer must be pure.
Later astrologers, such as the seventeenth-century British astrologer William
Lilly, based their ethical admonitions on those of Firmicus Maternus. In Lilly’s case,
this is clear from certain passages in his celebrated Christian Astrology,one of which, as
noted in Annabella Kitson’s History and Astrology: Clio and Urania Confer,says:
As thou daily conversest with the heavens, so instruct and form thy
mind according to the image of divinity; learn all the ornaments of
vertue, be sufficiently instructed therein; be human, courteous, familiar
to all ... covet not an estate, give freely to the poor ... let no worldly
wealth procure an erroneous judgment from thee, or such as may dis-
honour the Art, or this divine Science.... Be sparing in delivering
Judgment against the Commonwelth thou livest in. Give not judgment
of the death of thy Prince.... Marry a wife of thy own, rejoice in the
number of thy friends.
In the English-speaking world, almost all explicit ethical codes for astrologers
can be traced back to Lilly. Other points usually mentioned in professional codes of
ethics are confidentiality, both of personal information shared by the client and of the
natal chart itself; disclaiming the ability to predict events in precise detail; de-empha-
sis on potentiality for future illnesses, accidents, or disasters; and avoiding approaches
that would in any way encourage clients to become dependent upon the astrologer or
to in any way abdicate responsibility for their own lives. Astrologers are furtherEthics and Astrology
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