Richard Kieckhefer's Magic In The Middle Ages

From pages of 120-133 in Magic in the Middle Ages, author Richard Kieckhefer discusses the practice of astrology in medieval Europe. He explains how astrology is a mix of Arabic science and Aristotelian cosmology, and is occult in its nature because it focuses on “those which cannot be ascribed to the physical makeup” (Kieckhefer, 131) of themselves. I find that the most interesting point in this reading is when Kieckhefer explains how the zodiac is rooted in astronomy, yet astrologers used the zodiac to shape their ideas. Keeping in mind our class discussion that established astronomy as the science of movements, astrology as the science of effect, and that all astrologers were astronomers but not all astronomers were astrologers, I find
This realization made me ponder how astrology then grew into how I know it today, as primarily spiritual. Towards the beginning of the reading, Kieckhefer discusses how astrology “could show how heavenly bodies affected a person’s character and general destiny” (122), which, to me, describes astrology in today’s world. It seems as though that definition of astrology has endured over time, whereas its astronomical, scientific aspect has lessened, taking on the zodiac as its own for spiritual, occult purposes. To me, this transformation of astrology occurred because, as science advanced, spiritualty and occult properties became less and less relevant, pushing astrologers to part from astronomy. Occult properties, however, continue to go unexplained because they do not exist in physical matter and, thus, are mystical. As such properties cannot be proven, they are associated with astrology and its study of cosmic influences. Therefore, in understanding the zodiac as explained in this reading, I came to conclude the importance of astronomy in astrology, and how astrology may have transformed throughout the