The art of astrology is considered problematic in Judaism, special because of a commandment that forbids idol worship, paganism etc. in spite of that there is a great emphasis on astrology in Judaism, in the Torah itself and in the Kabala – the Jewish mysticism.
We shell begin with the Jewish calendar which has a close connection to astrology. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. The Jewish month symbolize the orbit of the moon – In the beginning of the month (Rosh Chodesh – the first day of the month) the moon is hidden since it is beside the sun, the middle of the month is a full moon, continuing towards the end of the month when the moon lessens. Many of the Jewish holidays take place at the night of the full moon.
Each Jewish month is accurately related to an astrological sign, in fact this is the lunar cycle that complete a full round of the zodiac every month, it starts in proximity with the sun and ends the cycle to catch up with the sun when it had already moved to the next sign.
Libra – Tishrei
Scorpio – Cheshvan
Sagittarius – Kislev
Capricorn – Tevet
Pisces – Adar
Arias – Nisan
Taurus – Iyar
Gemini – Sivan
Cancer – Tamuz
Leo – Av
Virgo – Elul
According to the Kabala the world was created out of 22 letters. This Idea holds in it not only the creation of the world, but also the cyclicality of nature. The 22 letters or the 22 Kabalistic paths maintain a complete astrological system. Just like the Greeks, the Indians and the Egyptians who relates the stars and the natural phenomena to the gods who control the world, Judaism includes the entire natural phenomenon into 22 letters that represent the powers on which this world is based.
3 of these letters symbolize 3 of the 4 elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth.
A series of another 7 letters represents the 7 planets and the rest of the letters, each signifies a sign from the zodiac.
Inside the Hebrew letters there is a complete cosmology, a complete system of the creation of the world.
Biblical Jacob had 12 sons who later become the 12 tribes of Israel. Actually these are the 12 astrological signs; another amazing fact is that the number of people that was mentioned in each tribe indicates the number of stars in each of the constellations.
The Jewish perception of time is considered to be of a cyclic nature, one which repeats itself every year. According to the Kabala every year a specific month will have the same quality, the quality of the sign that rules this month. Each month’s time we can connect with the specific energy of the month, bring it in us and learn from it. As long as we have lessons to learn that are related to this sign, these lessons will keep appearing every year in the exact time of year.
The art of astrology is considered problematic in Judaism, special because of a commandment that forbids idol worship, paganism etc. in spite of that there is a great emphasis on astrology in Judaism, in the Torah itself and in the Kabala – the Jewish mysticism.