Ancient Jewish Views on Astrology

Episode 310 features an interview with Dr. Justin Sledge about ancient Jewish views on astrology, and the complicated relationship between astrology and early Judaism. Our starting point is the geographical location of the Jewish people being situated between Mesopotamia and Egypt, which were two cultures that had very old traditions of astrology dating back to 2000 BCE. We then talk about the role that monotheism played in creating some tensions with early forms of astrology, which were often practiced in a polytheistic context. Later we get into some positive views on astrology held by Jews during the time of the Roman Empire, including the Essenes at Qumran, and a text on Lots and zodiacal releasing attributed to Abraham that was drawn on by Vettius Valens and Firmicus Maternus. We also discuss some of the early zodiac mosaics that feature prominently in synagogues in the first seven centuries CE. Eventually we touch on some of the earliest Jewish astrologers who are known by name and who made major contributions to astrology, such as Masha’allah and Abraham ibn Ezra. Justin is a professor of philosophy and religion who focuses on the western esoteric tradition, and the host of the Esoterica Youtube channel: YouTube.com/ESOTERICAchannel/ This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timestamps Here are some timestamps for topics covered at different points in the episode: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:20 Justin’s background 00:01:48 Origins of the Jewish people 00:03:05 Where ancient Israelites enter history 00:05:10 Judaism’s relationship to astrology 00:06:10 Development of monotheism 00:13:26 Time period for composition of Old Testament 00:14:14 The Babylonian Exile 00:17:17 Astrology in Babylon 00:19:40 Israelite anxiety about divination 00:21:05 Prohibitions are evidence of practice 00:22:14 Diversity of views in ancient Judaism 00:24:40 Move towards focus on monotheism 00:27:15 Stars mentioned in Hebrew Bible 00:28:31 Polytheistic gods demoted into angels 00:31:20 Jewish calendar based on astrological alignments 00:34:51 The Book of Enoch 00:38:07 Josephus claims Abraham invented astrology 00:39:36 Astrological text attributed to Abraham by Valens 00:43:40 Hellenistic Judaism 00:45:00 Alexandrian Judaism 00:46:56 Dead Sea Scroll astrological references 00:49:10 Qumran Caves astrological text discoveries 00:58:10 Gospel of Matthew and Star of Bethlehem 01:00:10 Background of the Messiah 01:04:20 Roman emperors and astrology 01:07:30 Astrology and Fate become entwined 01:08:17 Apocalyptic Judaism 01:10:58 Debates in Christianity about astrology and fate 01:12:00 The Talmud 01:15:53 Talmudic Astrology Source Sheet 01:20:50 Mazel Tov phrase astrological meaning 01:23:29 Debates in Talmud about Mazel 01:29:30 Changing your fate in Judaism 01:34:09 Ptolemy on fate 01:36:09 Christian defense of astrology in middle ages 01:37:09 Aristotelian view vs Neo-Platonic 01:40:24 Zodiac mosaics in synagogues in first seven centuries CE 01:51:09 Jewish astrologers in 8th century and beyond 01:53:10 Jewish astrologer Masha’allah 01:55:02 Is there such thing as a Jewish astrology? 01:56:30 More about Masha’allah 02:01:00 Chart of the founding of Baghdad 02:02:50 Sefer Yetzirah and Tree of Life 02:12:11 Planetary assignments in Tree of Life 02:14:05 Saturn as a feminine planet 02:21:14 Jewish astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra 02:31:30 Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions and messiah predictions 02:35:36 More about Abraham ibn Ezra