Monday, February 23, 2009

Egyptians and Astrology

Egyptian Astrology
The majority of our appreciation of Egyptian astrology is contained in the Cairo Calendar, which includes a listing of all the times of an Egyptian year. Unlike modern astrology as found inside papers, where one can select whether to follow the recommendation there in or not, the Egyptians strictly sticked to what an astrologer would counsel. Some of the most fascinating and misunderstood info about the traditional Egyptians concerns their calendarical and astrological system. Of the best misconception about traditional Egypt and its belief in astrology concerns the supposed worship of animals. The Egyptians did not worship animals, rather the Egyptians according to an animals astrological importance, behaved in certain ritualistic techniques toward certain animals on certain days. The base for deciding if a date was favorable or adverse was based upon a belief in possession of good or malevolent spirits, and on a mythological ascription to the gods.

Simply, an animal wasn’t ritually respected as it was an animal, but rather as it had the capability to become possessed, and therefore could cause harm or help to any individual near them. It was also conceived of that certain gods could on particular days take the form of explicit animals. Thus on certain days, it was much more likely for a particular kind of animal to become possessed by a spirit or god than on other days.

Therefore , the origin of Egyptians worshipping animals, has more to do with the rituals to displace malevolent spirits, and their astrological system, way more than it does to essentially worshipping animals.
Egyptian Astrology

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