ASA July Friday Meeting

FRIDAY NIGHT Lecture - 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Jupiter, Saturn & the Persian Astrology of the Magi: A Detective Story Through Astrological History

We're all aware of the 20-year Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycle, and of the most recent conjunction in Taurus back in the year 2000. Some of us even remember the 'triple-conjunction' in Libra back in 1980-81.

However, the great cycles of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions were used throughout Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Zoroastrian chronologies to determine the timing of the rise and fall of new dynasties, prophets, and world religions, the dawn of new millenniums, and even the ultimate battle between good & evil at the end of the world. Christopher Columbus was a great proponent of the messianic and apocalyptic portents of this cycle, but he stood on the receiving end of a long-standing and wide-spread tradition.

But how and where did this tradition arise? And what gave rise to it? Tracing out an intricate pattern of interlacing triangles around the zodiac, the conjunction cycle provides a unique entry into the mysteries of Persian astrology, and their tradition of astrological histories. One of our earliest sources for its use is Masha'allah (8th century CE), who used the thousand-year conjunction cycle to place the advent of both Christ and Christianity, and Mohammed and Islam, into the Persian astrological context.

The story of the astrological use of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle is a fascinating one, stretching all the way from Babylon in the 6th century BCE to 18th century Christian Europe, and beyond. Among its many advocates we find names both famous and infamous, from history, science and religion. There's a lot to learn from the historical uses and abuses of the conjunction cycle, especially as we seek to discern its relevance in our lives today.