Astrotheology

Cryptognosticism
"Three Parts of the Wisdom of the Whole Universe" Alchemy • Astrology • Theurgy Movements Ariosophy • Freemasonry Rosicrucianism • Theosophy • Thelema • Wicca Orders Knights Templar • Ordo Templi Orientis Scottish Rite Freemasonry Topics Christian Kabbalah • Hermetic Qabalah People Aleister Crowley • François Rabelais Francis Dashwood and the Hellfire Club

Astrotheology

Astrotheology, astral mysticism, astral religion, astral or stellar theology (also referred to as astral or star worship) is the worship of the stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, and other heavenly bodies as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. In anthropological literature these systems of practice may be referred to as astral cults.

The most common instances of this are Sun gods and Moon gods in polytheistic systems worldwide. Also notable is the association of the planets with deities in Babylonian, and hence in Greco-Roman religion. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Gods, goddesses, and demons may also be considered personifications of astronomical phenomena such as lunar eclipses, planetary alignments, and apparent interactions of planetary bodies with stars. The Sabians of Harran, a poorly understood pagan religion in Harran during the early Islamic period (7th–10th century), were known for their astrotheology ('the astral cult').

The term astrotheology was first used in 18th- to 19th-century scholarship to discover the original religion, particularly primitive monotheism. Astro-theology is any "religious system founded upon the observation of the heavens," and in particular, may be monotheistic. More recently, the term astrotheology is used by Jan Irvin, Jordan Maxwell, and Andrew Rutajit (2006) about "the earliest known forms of religion and nature worship," advocating the entheogen theory of the origin of religion.

The related term astrolatry usually implies polytheism. Some Abrahamic religions prohibit astrolatry as idolatrous. Pole star worship was also banned by imperial decree in Heian period in Japan.

Etymology

Astrotheology (or astrotheology) comes from Greek ἄστρον astron, which means "star," and the word theologia (θεολογία), a combination of theos (Θεός, 'god') and logia (λογία, 'utterances, sayings, oracles')—the latter word relating to Greek logos (λόγος, 'word, discourse, account, reasoning'), thus "the study of God."

Astrolatry has the suffix -λάτρης, itself related to λάτρις latris, "worshipper" or λατρεύειν latreuein, "to worship" from λάτρον latron, "payment".

See also [ Astrology ]

Wikipedia article: Astrotheology

Jump to: Main Page • Micropedia • Macropedia • Icons • Time Line • History • Life Lessons • Links • Help
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root