I
N COMMENCING this brief elucidation
of the Astro-logos of the Ancients, it is nec-
essary, perhaps, to inform the reader that the
system about to be elaborated is purely
astro-masonic and constitutes that special
branch of the primeval “Wisdom Religion” which
made the ancient Occult Schools of Egypt and
Chaldea so justly famous for their Esoteric learning.
Astrology is a combination of two sciences:
astronomy and correspondences. These two are
related to each other as hand and glove; the former
deals with suns, moons, planets and stars, and
strictly confines its researches to a knowledge of
their size, distance and motion, while the latter
deals with the spiritual and physical influences of
the same bodies—first upon each other, then upon
the earth, and lastly upon the organism of man.
Astronomy is the external lifeless glove; corre-
spondences is the living hand within.
It was from the mystical land of Chaldea that our
Egyptian ancestors derived their knowledge of
Astronomy and Astrology. This knowledge was,
fortunately, transplanted into good soil and flour-
ished for untold ages under the fostering care of
her mighty priesthood and colossal sacerdotalism.
From the fertile valley of the Nile, long ages
before Abraham and his herdsmen wandered over
the desert of Arabia, this sublime science of the
starry heavens, with its priestly devotees, was
earned by tidal emigration over the Caucasus,
across the arid steppes of Asia, through the wild
mountain passes of Afghanistan and Tibet to the
burning plains of Hindustan, and from thence was
spread by India’s dusky sons among the Mongol
and Tartar races of the still remoter East.
Knowledge, we are told, travels westward, and,
so far as Europe and America are concerned, this is
true in the present cycle. But the time once was
when this mental and intellectual current was
reversed, and knowledge traveled eastward.
From the magical schools of the lost Atlantis, the
sacred stream of learning flowed towards the ris-
ing sun into the regions of Central Africa, and from
thence to the coast, up the Persian gulf to Chaldea,
then from the banks of the sacred Euphrates and
the plains of Shinar the stream flowed backward
(as though weary and seeking rest) toward its
native home in the Western seas, only to be
detained upon its journey and to find a temporary
resting place in the wondrous valley of the Nile;
when, after changing its personal appearance
somewhat and adopting the dress of its gifted
patrons, it was again projected onward by the rest-
less impulse of Egyptian enterprise, along the
shores of the Mediterranean and Black seas to the
Caucasus, and thence eastward, as before men-
tioned, to the dreamy skies of India.
When we come to think of the awful vastness
and inconceivable beauty of the glittering worlds
which stud, like jewels, the dark canopy of our
midnight skies, undoubtedly, we must admit that
the contemplation of the shining heavens, with its
myriad galaxies of starry systems and stretch of
fathomless eternities, forms a sublime study for the
thinking astronomical mind. There, alone, can we
see something of the boundless reaches of the uni-
verse. But to the occult student of Urania’s blazing
firmament, the shining constellations, with their
cabalistic names and weird mythological histories,
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The Science of the Stars
ASTROLOGY
This article forms the introduction to Thomas Burgoyne’s
two volume study, The Light of Egypt, or The Science of the
Soul and the Stars, which appeared in 1889. The reader will
recognize some of the terms and concepts as part of the
perennial wisdom of esoteric teachings.
the glittering suns of these far off astral systems,
and the shining planets which belong to the same
solar family as ourselves, possess a deeper interest.
Everything around us, save this blazing firmament,
is in a state of transition. Besides the fleeting
changes, which the return of the seasons bring, the
landscape around us is changing its aspect every
year. In fact, all around us is change. There is noth-
ing but one eternal change of form. But the gor-
geous creations in the sky are still there,
undimmed in brightness, unchanged in grandeur,
performing, with unflagging pace and unvarying
precision, their daily, their annual, and their
mighty cyclic rounds. Upon the same heavens, just
as we see them now, bespangled with the same
planets and with the same familiar stars, gazed the
first parents of our race, when they began and also
when they ended their pilgrimage upon this mun-
dane sphere of life. The same constellations—
Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades—sang together
with the morning stars when the fiery foundations
of our earth were laid, and they rolled in the fabled
darkness over Calvary when the gentle Nazarene
was slain. These wonders in the sky, are truly the
only objects which all nations have witnessed, and
all people have admired. They are truly the only
objects in the universe which have remained
unpolluted by the finger of man. They presided at
the horoscope of our birth; they will sing the funer-
al requiem when we die, and cast their pale radi-
ance over the cold, silent tomb beneath which our
physical bodies are ultimately destined to repose.
Before the aspiring student can become the
astrologer, he must make himself familiar with the
general principles of astronomy, and learn how to
trace the external symbols of physical life, which
are the phenomenal results, back into the stellar
worlds of cause. The whole mystery of this system,
therefore, may be designated in general terms as
the science of cause and effect....
From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that
the reader must not expect the revelation of some
divine, mysterious secret that will instantly convey
the power of reading the past, realizing the influ-
ences of the present, and foreseeing the momen-
tous events within the womb of the future. On the
contrary, he must expect nothing but a clear and
concise statement of Nature’s immutable laws,
which require both study and application to master.
He will, however, find in this series of lessons a
complete exposition of the occult principles of
Nature, insofar as they mold and guide the physi-
cal destiny of embodied humanity. But, the princi-
ples involved and the ultimates evolved as the nat-
ural outcome of cause and effect, can only be mas-
tered and understood by devoting time, unpreju-
diced thought, and deep study; first, in learning the
theory, and then in reducing that theory to practice.
Astrology does not imply fatality. On the con-
trary, probably two thirds of man’s so-called mis-
fortunes are the result of his benighted ignorance.
Man, when ignorant of the laws of Nature which
control his existence and destiny, is somewhat like
a lifeless log floating with the stream. It may be that
the various currents of the river will carry him safe-
ly to the river’s mouth, and launch him uninjured
48
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upon the great Ocean of Eternity. But it is far more
likely that the winding course of the river of life
will land him into a mud bank of trouble where he
may stick fast for the remainder of his days; or, lib-
erated by some stronger current, may again take
his chances, either of future safety or of floating
into some whirlpool of destruction. But when man
understands the laws of his being, he is then safe
on board a strong boat. He sees the whirlpools and
mud banks of life ahead, and skillfully, by the use
of his steering apparatus (the will), avoids collision.
But it often happens that with all his knowledge
and skill he cannot successfully battle against the
mighty currents that oppose his way, simply
because there are, in these days, too many lifeless
logs of human lumber that are constantly throwing
themselves with the swell of the current athwart
his path. But it must be at once apparent to the stu-
dent how infinitely superior the one is to the other,
and how enormous the chances of success are upon
the side of the one who has attained unto wisdom;
who by study, knows himself and the laws of Nature.
The heavenly bodies urge, predispose, and influ-
ence to a great extent, but they do not compel.
When we are ignorant of their power, we decide
our actions to the best of our worldly knowledge,
and we think we have free will in the matter; but,
if we could only see the influences at work mould-
ing our actions, we should see that we were obey-
ing the stellar powers with slave-like servility; not
always wisely, indeed, but blindly and too well.
Under such a state of bondage the planetary influ-
ence would, indeed, be fatality.
Knowledge alone is the great liberator from human
suffering, and social inharmony. Our delivery from
pain, our freedom from bondage, in other words,
our free will, increases exactly in proportion to the
extent of our knowledge, if used properly. It is the
wise man who rules his stars, and the fool who
blindly obeys them. Consequently, this Chaldean
science of the stars, in order to be practically uti-
lized, must be thoroughly realized; but when real-
ized, it will repay the student a hundred-fold for
the time and labor bestowed in learning the way. It
will give him a tangible foundation, whereon he
may safely stand amid the wild and conflicting
opinions of unbalanced mystics. In it, he will find
the key of the sacred sanctuary wherewith he may
eventually unlock the doors of the temple and pen-
etrate the mystic veil of Isis—there, to behold the
lovely form of the Goddess and to read the glow-
ing verities of Nature inscribed upon the imperish-
able scrolls of time, and, if he have the will to seek
further and deeper, the truths of eternity itself.
Astrology, in its purity, though forming a system
of divination, is totally unconnected with either
fortune-telling or sensitive, irresponsible medi-
umship. It is a divine science of correspondences,
in the study and application of which the intellect
and intuition become blended in a natural, harmo-
nious manner. They commence to vibrate in uni-
son. When this union becomes complete, the igno-
rant man becomes the prophetic sage.
Therefore, we would earnestly request the stu-
dent...to thoroughly master each principle and
detail laid down; commit them to memory so as to
be able, instantly, to recall and repeat them when
necessary. Study well the occult principles of the
science before attempting to master the external
mathematical formula; and never lose sight of the
fact that no one principle is of itself absolute, but,
to become potent, requires the active cooperation
of the other forces. If these oppose with their influ-
ence, instead of assisting, then it at once becomes
a question of power against power; if they equal
each other, the influence of both becomes nil, and
the effects, instead of evolving into the realm of
external life, become crystallized within the realm
of force, and die within the womb of Nature. And
lastly, remember that this ancient system of the
hoary sages, who first discovered the starry truths
of the Chaldean lore, constitutes the basic principle
from which all doctrines, occult theories, and sac-
erdotal systems have radiated. Every religion
under the sun has an astrological foundation, and
every science the human mind is capable of elabo-
rating, springs from, returns to, and ultimately
becomes lost within the starry realms of Urania.
In conclusion, therefore, we hope that our efforts
to instruct the student in these sublime mysteries
will assist him to store up a supply of precious
food which will enable him to receive mental plea-
sure and spiritual profit, thus proving a blessing to
the body as well as the soul.
Ë
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