Judicial astrology is the art of forecasting events by calculation of the planetary and stellar bodies and their relationship to the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. The term "judicial astrology" was mainly used in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

to mean the types of

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

that were considered to be heretical by the

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, distinguished from the "natural astrology" such as

medical astrology Medical astrology (traditionally known as iatromathematics) is an ancient applied branch of astrology based mostly on ''melothesia'' (Gr. μελοθεσία), the association of various parts of the body, diseases, and drugs with the nature of the ...

and meteorological astrology, which were seen as acceptable because they were a part of the natural sciences of the time.

Categorisation

In the Middle Ages natural astrology was mainly focused on the diagnosis and the treatment of medical patients. For more information on this, see the article on

. An additional use would have been the application of astrology to determine future weather patterns based on the Aristotelian/

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

rationale that the planets cause change in the sublunary world by producing an efflux of elements and qualities. Every other branch was lumped together into the heading of 'judicial astrology'. These included

natal astrology Natal astrology is also known as Genethliacal Astrology, which implies nativity. It is a system of astrology that claims to shed light on an individual’s personality or path in life. This concept is based on constructing a horoscope or natal c ...

mundane astrology Mundane astrology, also known as political astrology, is the branch of astrology dealing with politics, the government, and the laws governing a particular nation, state, or city. The name derives name from the Latin term ''mundus'', 'world'. ...

horary astrology Horary astrology is an ancient branch of horoscopic astrology in which an astrologer attempts to answer a question by constructing a horoscope for the exact time at which the question was received and understood by the astrologer. The answer t ...

, and electional astrology. Judicial astrology is an obsolete category, because since the Middle Ages other sciences have arisen, astrology has ceased to be a tool in medicine and

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

, and scientifically demonstrable parts of natural astrology such as the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

's effect on tides are considered to be

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

not astrology.Wood, 1970. pp. 5–6

References

Sources

* {{cite book , title=Chaucer and the Country of the Stars: Poetic Uses of Astrological Imagery , publisher=Princeton University Press , author=Wood, Chauncey , date=1970

Categorisation

References

Sources

Further reading