Know Thyself & the Practice of Astrology within Plato

Know Thyself is a central teaching within Plato’s dialogues. Socrates consistently recommended introspection in order to determine the best way of making decisions. Unless one knows oneself, he argued, one cannot possibly know what is best for oneself. Plato’s dialogues contain not just this simple exhortation however. They also contain suggestions for how to pursue it. Overall, all suggestions for knowledge of any sort converge on virtue within Plato’s writings. Virtue is considered to be one’s greatest wealth because its practice increases the clarity and strength of the mind. With a strong mind we could come to know ourselves and through that knowledge, come to know what is good for us. More specifically however, in the Republic and Laws Plato outlined a progression of subjects that must be studied and mastered in order to obtain the ultimate perfect knowledge of the Good, in itself. Knowing the Good in itself is short-hand for the knowledge of what is best for oneself in every situation. This training, in Plato, starts with mathematics, progresses to geometry, then to solid geometry and finally, to astrology.

“And isn’t he also a master of astronomy [astrology] and arithmetic and music—of all that an educated man should know?” (Theaetetus, 145a, cf. Republic 528d-e).

And it is in the description of astrology that we see the circle closed; that is, astrology is the science that brings the scientist to study him or herself most directly. The prior disciplines give the philosopher the tools which he or she then brings to astrology in order to see oneself most clearly.

The Greek word used within the dialogues is not the word for astrology but is rather the word, astronomy. This causes confusion in many readers when they are unable to understand how astronomy could be used as a device for self-inquiry. But the description given for what is called “astronomy” is not astronomy as we know it today but is rather actually astrology as it has developed in the West. Astronomy, as it is known and practiced today, was closer to what is called natural philosophy in pre-Socratic Greece. In the following quote we can understand the reference to Hesiod as a reference to natural philosophy; that is, philosophy concerned with physical objects.

“Its name is astronomy, an answer no one would ever expect through unfamiliarity with the subject. People do not know that the true astronomer must be the wisest person. I do not mean anyone practicing astronomy the way Hesiod did and everyone else of that sort . . . but the one who has observed seven of the eight circuits, each of them completing its own orbit in a way no one can easily contemplate who is not endowed with an extraordinary nature” (Epinomis, 990a, emphasis mine).

This is not a description of astronomy. The field of astronomy discovers, names and describes the physical characteristics of the stars and planets while the field of astrology interprets these discoveries as metaphorically significant to our daily lives. In other words, astrology looks at the night sky as if there is a meaningful intelligence behind their placements, movements, appearance, etc. It is this meaningful design that differentiates astronomy from astrology, in the main. Astrology assumes that there is a meaningful correspondence between what we see in the sky above and in our very lives on earth. Astrology therefore looks at moving objects in nature and studies that movement in order to make better decisions in life in general.

A lot of confusion about this comes from the fact that astrology can be and has been used for different purposes; i.e., purposes that Plato did not endorse. Plato’s is not an astrology that predicts the future based on the movements of the planets and stars. The predictive way of using astrology is, to the best of our knowledge today, how astrology originally developed in Babylon and Sumeria. But Plato pointed to some other way of practicing astrology—to study oneself and the circumstances of one’s life through the orbits of the planets. This is the use of astrology that Plato recommended and may have even invented. Regardless of who first developed this type of astrology, today called natal astrology, it developed and grew in popularity from Plato’s time continually, up to and including today. Ptolemy summarized this Plato-inspired science of astrology in his Tetrabiblos (2nd century AD). Quite differently, astronomy, as a modern science, denies that there is any rational reason for looking at the planets in the way Plato suggested. Astronomy is only interested in studying observable characteristics—as if the planets and stars were only physical bodies, not designed and ruled by intelligence.

Socrates, however, rejected this type of materialistic science as the mere analysis of shadows. He taught that ontological reason and purpose must be the foundation behind any study of what moves and changes. Thus, astronomy serves utilitarian purposes of survival, security, comfort and pleasure while natal astrology serves self-inquiry. Although predictive astrology claims to serve the same utilitarian purposes that astronomy does (giving tools in order to win wars, for example), natal astrology is interested only in the movement of the soul from ignorance to wisdom, from imbalance to balance, from disharmony to harmony, from sickness to health.

“It signifies moving together (homou polēsis), whether the moving together of the heavens around what we call the poles (poloi), or the harmonious moving together in music which we call ‘being in concert’ (symphonia); for, as those who are clever in astronomy [astrology] and music say, all these things move together simultaneously by a kind of harmony. Apollo is the god who directs the harmony and makes all things move together (homopolõn), whether for gods or human beings” (Cratylus, 405c).

“It’s likely that, as the eyes fasten on astronomical motions, so the ears fasten on harmonic ones, and that the science of astronomy [astrology] and harmonics are closely akin” (Republic, 530d).

“The love felt by good people . . . must be encouraged and protected.. This is the honorable heavenly species of Love, produced by the melodies of Urania, the heavenly muse. The other . . .is common and vulgar. . . .when the sort of Love that is crude and impulsive controls the seasons, he brings death and destruction. He spreads the plague and many other diseases. . . All these are the effects of the immodest and disordered species of Love on the movements of the stars and the seasons of the year, that is, on the objects studied by the science called astronomy [astrology]” (Symposium, 187c-188b).

“A soul or souls—and perfectly virtuous souls at that—have been shown to be the cause of all these phenomena [of the stars and planets]” (Laws, 899a).

I am not claiming Plato’s words directly created the way in which astrology is practiced today. He only recommended a way of contemplating the planets and the stars in pursuit of self-knowledge. Western astrology developed out of this suggestion. Plato’s ultimate goal for astrology was to see the Good, in itself, as represented by the sun. His astrologer, after a long period of contemplation,

“finally, I suppose, he’d be able to see the sun, not images of it in water or some alien place, but the Sun itself, in its own place, and be able to study it. . . . And at this point he would infer and conclude that the sun provides the seasons and the years, governs everything in the visible world, and is in some way the cause of all the things that he used to see” (Republic, 516a-c).

This causation however is easily misunderstood.

When Socrates stated that the astrologer would eventually realize that the Sun is the cause of all changing phenomena he was describing the awakening of one who has left the cave (from the Republic’s famous Allegory of the Cave). This is the realization that intelligence precedes material forms: seeing the Sun as the cause of all phenomena then leads to seeing light as the cause of all phenomena and seeing light as the cause of all phenomena then leads to seeing our capacity to perceive as the cause of all phenomena. So when the astrologer recognizes that the Sun is the cause of all things, he or she is verifying the premise of astrology; i.e., that intelligence is behind our perception of all objects and their motions. This is also the perception of the possibility for permanent happiness through the recognition of an intimate connection between our internal and external worlds.

Socrates’ astrology also engages the virtue of piety (eusebeia) because on face value it is concerned with the gods. For Socrates, astrology begins when one (at least, hypothetically) accepts that the planets and stars are intelligent gods who are actually our controllers, managers, judges, directors, advisors and even owners/puppeteers. This piety is, of course, largely absent from modern astrology. But nevertheless it is quite stridently described in Plato’s dialogues:

“I declare that God is the cause and that it could never be otherwise. . . . Unless a soul is attached to each of them or even in each [of them], earth, heaven and all the stars and all the masses made of these things cannot move with such precision. . . . making all that takes place turn out good for us all” (Epinomis 983b-c, emphasis mine).

So Plato’s astrology automatically includes and supports piety while modern astrology doesn’t require this idea of divine agency within a divine plan in order for it to be practiced. For Plato, astrology is presented as a vehicle for piety in that it gives a tangible way to picture, envision and listen to the gods. This divine form of communication naturally requires an intense effort on our part to decipher. Our intelligence naturally expands in our efforts to decipher the movements of the planets and stars in order to understand what the gods are saying.

The astrological interpretations of the astronomical observations thus serve a spiritual purpose and not a material one. The message in the sky, Socrates reported in the Republic, has nothing to do with physics in the modern sense:

“We should consider the decorations in the sky to be the most beautiful and most exact of visible things. We should consider their motions to fall far short of the true ones. . . . [the astrologer] won’t try to grasp the truth about them (their motions, etc.) in any sort of way since they’re connected to body and visible [like the shadows of the cave]. . . . It is by means of problems then, as in the study of geometry [or measurement], that we will pursue astronomy and we will let be the things in the heavens if we are to have a part in the true science of astronomy and so, convert to right use from uselessness that natural indwelling intelligence of the soul. . . . [And so, we should prevent our students] from attempting to learn anything that does not conduce to the end we have in view . . . the [spiritual] goal of everything” (Republic, 529c-531a emphasis mine).

Let be the things of the heavens is the key phrase here indicating a rejection of the scientific study of objects for utilitarian purposes. The [spiritual] goal of everything refers to reason. We are told to Know Thyself in order to find the Good, in itself. How can we recognize what is good for us if we don’t know who we are? And the Good, in itself, is what we want for its capacity to make us permanently happy. We gain that knowledge through virtue, through the power of virtue to clear our minds of all lies. So astrology is a means of developing that difficult to develop virtue, piety—looking up at the planets and stars to see our place within the theater of the gods—for the help it gives us purifying our minds. Needing a clear mind to know ourselves and see the Good, astrology has the ultimate goal of everything, always in mind.

Interestingly, Socrates presented astrology, in this very specific way, as the highest of philosophical practices. It is through the contemplation of celestial appearances and motions that we learn the most important lesson the gods have to offer: math, measurement and proportion. Measurement is a skill, utilized and developed through contemplation of the heavens, giving structure to the dialogues as a whole. Measurement utilizes the discovery of the single defining principle of what is real and true and so begins the journey of building wisdom along an absolute path. Measurement is therefore a repudiation of relativism and so its development is crucial in any attempt to give philosophical support to morality and ethics in society. Thus, the beginning, practice and end of “star-gazing” is what allows for measurement to exist in the absolute sense—the realization that reason or intelligence has ordered and is controlling all things. And the sky, Socrates said, is the easiest place in which to verify that for ourselves.

“The only account that can do justice to the wonderful spectacle presented by the cosmic order of sun, moon and stars and the revolution of the whole heaven is that reason arranges it all” (Philebus, 28d).

“Such was the reason, then, such the god’s design for the coming to be of time, that he brought into being the Sun, the Moon and five other stars, for the begetting of time” (Timaeus, 38c).

The astral bodies, then, through a depiction of order, depict the intelligent stage upon which we have been placed and the intelligent script which we are then to read.

Astrology as loosely sketched within the dialogues is a practice that leads to a deeper spiritual understanding of ourselves and our lives. This is astrology in its purest form. Through it, we study the movement of the stars in order to determine how best we should move.

“Now there is but one way to care for anything, and that is to provide for it the nourishment and the motions that are proper to it. And the motions that have an affinity to the divine part within us are the thoughts and revolutions of the universe. These, surely, are the ones which each of us should follow. We should redirect the revolutions in our heads that were thrown off course at our birth, by coming to learn the harmonies and revolutions of the universe [in the night sky], and so, bring into conformity with its objects our faculty of understanding, as it was in its original condition. And when this conformity is complete, we shall have achieved our goal: that most excellent life offered to humankind by the gods, both now and forevermore” (Timaeus, 90c-d, emphasis mine).

In other words, we study the night sky to study ourselves, our capacity for harmony and disharmony, in order to learn how to live the best of all possible lives. That this quote comes from Timaeus is significant as this dialogue was the most influential of all of Plato’s dialogues until the Age of the Enlightenment (when Marsilio Ficino and others reintroduced ancient Greek texts to Europe).

All in support of developing virtue, astrology for Plato was also used to provide a proof for the existence of gods in the first place:

“two arguments in particular which encourage belief in the gods. . . . One is . . .[that] the soul . . . is far older and far more divine than all . . . things . . . Another argument was based on the systematic motion of the heavenly bodies and the other objects under the control of reason, which is responsible for the order in the universe” (Laws, 966d-e, emphasis mine).

In other words, the heavenly bodies show a mathematical harmony that proves intelligent creation or the primacy of intelligence over matter. And so, astrology is used to refute

“scientists [who] assert that these things are simply earth and stone, incapable of paying heed to human affairs” (Laws, 886e).

In proving for intelligent design, Socrates sought to prove the soul as both its object and its agent and as the faculty within us capable of following the instructions conveyed by it on how to do best in life and achieve the happiness that we want. This places astrology in a very highly esteemed position within Socrates’ instructions since everything depends on our ability to successfully transfer our identity from the body to the soul—from something changing to something unchanging, from something fleeting to something durable. The soul, Plato taught, is the landing strip for the practice of Know Thyself. We need a knowledge of the soul in order to come on board with and acquire virtue and thereby make our communities better for it:

“What about the soul? Will it be a good one if it gets to be disorganized or if it gets to have a certain organization and order? The name for the states of organization of the body is ‘healthy,’ as a result of which health and the rest of bodily excellence comes into being in it. . . .And the name for the states of organization and order of the soul is ‘lawful’ and ‘law’ which lead people to become law-abiding and orderly and these are justice and self-control” (Gorgias, 504b-d).

This is the same way that Socrates connected virtue—as the health of the soul—with obeying the law in the Republic. And it is the soul that astrology studies and helps to prove—all in the service of virtue and making the best of all possible choices in life:

“Soul, by virtue of its own motions, stirs into movement everything in the heavens and on Earth and in the sea. The name of the motions of soul are: wish, reflection, diligence, council, opinion, true and false, joy and grief, cheerfulness and fear, love and hate. All those qualities which soul employs when in conjunction with reason it runs aright and always governs things rightly and happily. And when, in converse, with unreason, it produces results that are in all respects opposite” (Laws, 897 a-b emphasis mine).

And so, in Plato’s astrology there are eight gods that come to be revered when piety is developed: the Sun, the Moon, five planets and the sky itself. The “heavens,” the sky itself, or Uranus, is the place in which not only the stars and planets dwell but the earth as well. It also represents the practice of astrology as Plato described it. So, for Socrates the night sky referred to the known universe. And these heavens are considered, as a whole, the god Uranus. Socrates placed special importance on this god (as the patron of astrology itself) in the power that this god has within our lives and also the importance of the lessons he teaches. This is most likely why modern astrology considers the planet Uranus to be the god of astrology.

“How can we keep from believing that what causes all things that are good for us is also the cause of the good that is by far the greatest, namely, wisdom? So, Megillus and Clinias, what god am I speaking of with such solemnity? Uranus, the god whom above all others it is most just to pray to and to honor, as all the other divinities and gods do. We will unanimously agree that he has been the cause of all other good things for us. But we declare that he is really the one who gave us number too [i.e., measurement], and he will continue to give it, supposing that we are willing to follow him closely [to practice astrology—I suggest]. If we come to contemplate him in the right way—whether we prefer to call him Cosmos or Olympus or Heaven [Uranus]—let us call him as we like, but let us notice carefully how by decorating himself and making the stars revolve in himself through all their orbits, he brings about the seasons and provides nourishment for all. Together with the entirety of number, he also furnishes, we would insist, everything else that involves intelligence and everything that is good. But this is the greatest thing, for a person to receive from him the gift of numbers and go on to examine fully the entire revolution of the heavens” (Epinomis, 977a-b, emphasis mine).

This quote, in its entirety, is actually an instruction in astrology as an expression of piety. That “intelligence and everything that is good” is furnished by the god is not given as a statement to be considered for its factual basis. It is given instead to those who have already accepted Socrates’ suggestion that virtue must be developed. Accepting that, this speech recommends piety related to the sky as divine. It tells us how and why to be pious and how that must exclude any impulse to utilize empirical observations non-reverentially.

So, this quote instructs us that the god of the sky is the god of astrology who teaches the lesson of number by giving us a model of it to look at. So the lesson of number not only teaches the metaphysics of absolutism (how to judge things absolutely; i.e., measure them precisely for good and bad) but it also teaches us the cyclical or periodic nature of all motions in the world. The planets move forward and they also move backward with regularity. This and other types of celestial motions give us periodicity or time, itself. As Socrates proclaimed in the Republic,

“for everything that has come into being destruction is appointed. . . There is a cycle of bearing and barrenness for soul and body as often as the revolution of their orbs come full circle” (546a).

An understanding of cycles is thus a very practical aspect of wisdom as a whole. Therefore, astrology is the branch of wisdom that concerns not only measurement but also timing. Both are aspects of order and harmony. We observe the periodicity of the motions of the planets and introspect about the presence of similar cycles within. If both show an underlying intelligence then a bridge appears between our inner and outer worlds giving us hope for some type of lasting fulfillment.