October is a good time to fight and fight, but November is a time to collect acorns.
Those are some of the timely pieces of advice from medieval astrologers featured in a new exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles called Rising Signs: The Medieval Science of Astrology.
For centuries, astrology was taught at major European universities as part of scientific disciplines, including medicine. Kings hired court astrologers and consulted them on matters of diplomacy and military strategy. The position of the stars and planets at the time of a person’s birth was thought to influence the organs in their body and the diseases they were most likely to develop. Gemini was seen as more susceptible to respiratory problems, Sagittarius to muscle and joint problems and Scorpio to sexually transmitted diseases.
Today, the study of the stars has shifted from an elitist intellectual practice to a popular pastime. The Getty’s exhibition has already attracted at least one A-list celebrity, Andrew Garfield, who created the collection of illuminated manuscripts’kind of dope”. But it has also proven challenging for some visitors, as it explains that their primary zodiac sign might actually be different based on medieval calculations.
The exhibition’s curator is Dr. Larisa Grollemond, Getty’s assistant curator of manuscripts, who is also writing a book on medieval welfare practices. Grollemond spoke to The Guardian about how the culture of astrology has changed over the centuries, what shocks modern-day astrology fans about medieval practices and why people in the Middle Ages would have loved Instagram. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What are some of the big differences between the way people use astrology today? and how they used it medieval Europe?
Today’s astrology is much more focused on aspects of personality – often on questions about compatibility, romance, how you interact with other people. Astrology was a much more scientifically oriented activity in the Middle Ages. People gave it great credence as a principle for understanding the passage of time and the influence of the sun, moon and other planets on the body. It had much more to do with daily life: nutrition, medications, activities that you should undertake at a certain time of the year.
How many people left would medieval Europe have known their mark?
It’s a fascinating question, and difficult to answer. The zodiac and astrology were certainly part of the intellectual discourse. It was part of university education. It was part of medical practice. It is fair to say that most people treated for medical ailments of any kind would have come into contact with some sort of astrological ideas, whether that has to do with the balance of the body’s fluids (fluids such as blood and mucus, which is thought to affect personality), or, for example, the right time to let blood flow. Or that every peasant in rural medieval France meant (knew their sign) – probably not.
Are you saying that astrology was used as part of medical treatment? Would people who were sick and trying to get treatment be asked their astrological sign?
There is an enormous variation in practices within medicine. You might have someone like a barber surgeon, who does more extensive, slightly more invasive surgeries and more phlebotomy, and you might have someone who’s a folk medicine practitioner who prescribes herbal remedies or does some light phlebotomy. In both cases there would be some consultation with astrological ideas, whether that meant a deeper analysis of someone’s sun sign and the time of year or their mood and their ailment – or it could be much more superficial: is Is this in generally a good season to use medicine? Different signs were believed to control different parts of the body.
This exhibit explains to visitors that your astrological sign according to medieval astrology may be different from the sign you have today. Why is that?
In the Middle Ages the system was much simpler: each month was associated with a sign. With greater accuracy in astronomical observations, today we have much greater information about the positions of certain constellations at certain times of the year, providing greater specificity in the dates assigned to corresponding constellations.
The idea that you could have a different sign in the Middle Ages – it shakes people’s identities in a way that I find very fascinating. Our astrological sign is part of our personality in a way that makes us readable to other people. I’m a September Virgo. In the medieval system, I am a Libra, and I don’t identify as Libra at all. People who had the same sign in the Middle Ages and today are convinced that the sign is really who they are, and they have a sense of superiority about it.
There were the same number of skeepicism about astrology in the Middle Ages as it is today?
It was quite common for noble and royal courts to employ an astrologer, who consults with kings and rulers on macro-level decisions, military decisions. There were always whispers about counselors who were too influential, or which ruler valued too much what his astrologer said. That’s where the skepticism came in. They were skeptical of the idea of using astrological interpretation for telling the future, or aspects of divination, because it presupposes that people are able to understand God’s plan in a way that may cross boundaries. .
People who reject astrology today reject the whole idea. The medieval view was somewhat more nuanced.
Today we think of astrology as separate from Christianity – perhaps even a spiritual competitor, or an alternative to religious practices. Was that also the case in the Middle Ages?
The constellations often appeared in devotional or religious books, and the interpretation of the movement of celestial bodies was truly consistent with a Christian worldview. It was believed that God not only created everything divinely, but that he also individually placed the stars where they should go. The interpretation of these objects created by God corresponded to what God wants people to do.
You recently hosted a conversation with online astrologers. One of the panelists, Kyle Thomas, said there have been major changes in the culture of astrology in recent years, and that too Gen Z and other young people have a much more rigid and literal approach to astrological guidance than previous generations. What did you make of that?
There’s something about tragic events like the pandemic that force a reevaluation of how people exist in the world, and the fact that people are using astrology to fill that void, to answer those questions, is such an interesting cultural shift. I wonder if, 600 years from now, people will consider 2024 a particularly astrological time.
What is one of the biggest similarities you have found between astrology centuries ago and now?
Towards the end of the 15th and 16th centuries, some of these astrological treatises were printed. The information was spread much more widely and there was greater knowledge about different temperaments based on the moods and astrological signs. There was a cultural parallel between them, and people today have more access to the details of astrology through social media and apps. I think it stimulates a greater interest in astrology, just as the printing press did in the fifteenth century.
You mentioned that medieval astrological illustrations are very popular with people on social media these days; these very old images are still recognizable and even shareable. Do you think people from the Middle Ages could also relate to today’s online astrology content?
I believe the average medieval person would love Instagram because it really is an inherently visual experience. They might recognize some of the astrological content we have today, especially images of the symbols of the zodiac. I think they would get a little lost in the idea of personality, like, “Because you’re a Virgo, you are this.”
What advice does medieval astrology offer us for this? October and November?
October is a good time to fight and fight, which is a very Scorpio thing. Also a good time to take medications in general. November is Sagittarius. It’s a particularly good time to collect acorns, reaping and marrying, but also reconciling with enemies and shedding blood from the poor.
People always ask if it’s a good season for bloodletting. That’s all people want to know.
