CHAPTER V

THE INFLUENCE OF ASTROLOGY

ON ALCHEMY

THE study of astrology goes back to the earliest period of
the history of man. It formed the basis of many of the
ancient mythologies and religions, and among the early races
of the world there appears to have been a universal belief that
the planetary bodies were the disposers of the affairs of humanity.
As primitive man gazed into the starry vaults of the heavens he
no doubt gradually realized that certain stars upon which his
fate depended accompanied the seasons. He may have reasoned
that if they ruled his fate they also governed his body, and it is
conceivable that he thus endowed them with divine influence.
The first arbitrary division of time, the Zodiac, is generally
attributed to the Sumerians, who were among the earliest people
to study the stars, and some of the symbols by which they were
represented were afterward recorded by the Babylonians on their
b oundary-stones .

The Egyptians from ancient times had a considerable know¬
ledge of the heavenly bodies, as evidenced in some of their
sculptures still extant. The earliest Zodiac known is one found
near the Tigris opposite Baghdad, which is believed to date from
1320 b.c. It represents ten out of the twelve signs and ten out
of the thirty-six decans, each sign being divided into three
decans. The Chinese claim to have studied astrology from
the time of the Emperor Hoang Ti, who flourished about
2670 B.c.

How the twelve Zodiacal signs became associated with the
various figures and animals used to represent them has long
been a matter of conjecture. Primitive man may have noticed
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THE INFLUENCE OF ASTROLOGY

some resemblance to animal and other forms in the constella¬
tions and named them accordingly, as he did with other pheno¬
mena of nature. The Egyptians believed that animals were the
guests of the gods and held them in high esteem. They endowed
them with thought, reason, and passion, and this also may have
contributed to their association with the Zodiac.

Certain celestial influences were believed to emanate from the
thirty-six decans of the signs, and the mysterious effect that they
exercised on the human body was thought to be due to a subtle
ether shed by the heavenly bodies on the earth, that affected
not only mankind, but also animals, plants, and mineral bodies.
Certain parts of the human body were apportioned to each sign,
and the Zodiacal original of the part affected was invoked. This
may have arisen from the custom of the Egyptians of placing
different parts of the body under the protection of special
divinities, both in sickness and in health.

The early astrologers believed that each organ of the human
body was formed by the action of certain media that existed in
the universe; thus after a time astrology became an intimate
part of the healing art.

In almost every work on medicine during the Middle Ages
the importance of the influence of the stars and constellations is
impressed on the physician, and figures representing the internal
organs and the signs associated with them are represented in
many manuscripts and early printed books. Detailed warnings
are given against the treatment of wounds in particular parts of
the body according to the sign through which the moon was
passing at the time of the injury. This idea is thought to have
passed by way of the Gnostics into medieval medicine, the pagan
gods being replaced partly by the planets and Zodiacal signs.

Astrologers called the imaginary divisions of the twelve signs
the twelve houses, and persons born under a certain sign were
supposed to have to some extent its properties and nature.
They also believed that the influence of the planets and stars
corresponded with the medicinal properties of certain plants

37

LURE <$? ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

which might act for good or evil, if they radiated on correspond¬
ing elements in the body of man. They asserted, therefore,
that if they knew the influence of a star, the conjunction of the
planets, and the qualities of the medicine, they would know

AN ALCHEMIST AND AN ASTROLOGER IN CONSULTATION OVER A PROCESS TO BE
CARRIED OUT WHEN THE MOON IS IN THE SIGN OF SCORPIO

From a woodcut
Brunschwig, 1507

what remedies to give to attract such influence as might act
beneficially.

Throughout the writings of the early philosophers there is
constant reference to the mystic connexion between the seven
metals and the seven planets, to which Stephanus of Alexandria
adds the seven colours and the seven transformations; conse¬
quently, in alchemical symbolism the same sign came to repre¬
sent the metal and its corresponding planet.

Thus in subsequent years astrology became closely related to

38

THE INFLUENCE OF ASTROLOGY

the Hermetic Art in its development, and the alchemist came
to be regarded as an authority not only on the transmutation
of metals, but also on astrology and magic.

The alchemist believed that the planets had the power of
maturing metals in the earth and could thus influence his opera¬
tions, which aimed at their transmutation. He inferred that
special forms of matter were more or less directly under the
influence of the heavenly bodies, and in time the connexion
became fixed in the symbols he employed. The favourable
hours for experiments were based on the theory that the seven
planets were associated with the seven metals.

The alchemist accepted the astrological doctrine that each
planet governed some mineral: the Sun ruled gold, the Moon
silver, Mars iron, Venus copper, Saturn lead, Jupiter tin, and
Mercury quicksilver. These, according to the alchemists, were
the seven bodies.

The four spirits were mercury, sal ammoniac, arsenic, and
sulphur, which, says Lyly, a philosopher, “are the fundamental
things by one of which the bodies are changed. These bodies
seven and spirits four whose total is eleven, being properly
calcined, dissolved, coagulated, distilled, and cohobated, are the
whole matter of the Stone.”

Magic and divination, which were inseparably bound up with
astrology, also came to be associated with alchemy. In all these
occult sciences the supreme power was believed to be in the
stars, and from their mysterious emanations all the metals, pre¬
cious stones, plants, and herbs derived their special properties.

As late as 1317, in some countries, the alchemists were classed
with the astrologers. According to a decree issued by Pope
John XXII in that year:

Alchemies are here prohibited, and those who practise them or
procure them being done are punished. They must forfeit to the
public treasury for the benefit of the poor as much genuine gold
and silver as they have manufactured of the false or adulterated
metal. If they have not sufficient means for this the penalty may

39

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

be changed to another at the discretion of the judge, and they shall
be considered criminals.

Later it was taught that the influence of the heavenly bodies

would not be efficient without some intermediate agency to unite
them with bodies subjected to them. This agency is light, and by
this the heavenly bodies manifest natural effects, and by motion
communicate the application of this light, and as all planets re¬
ceive their light from the sun their influence is varied in propor¬
tion to their mutual action.

The variety of colours in the heavenly bodies causes a variety
of effects ; thus the colour of the sun is almost like gold, and that
of the moon nearly white. The sun’s colour was endued with an
active quality because it proceeds from intension.

The sun and the moon were believed to have greater influence
over the human body than all the other heavenly bodies, and
to affect mankind in various ways when they entered a certain
sign of the Zodiac.

It is evident that astrology, which was probably the most
ancient of the occult sciences, had a marked influence on al¬
chemy, in that during the Middle Ages the two so-called arts
were constantly practised together.

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