How do you prepare for meditation? How do you make it easier to look within? It’s fairly easy, if you are willing to do it!
Here is the original:
5 Tips to Prepare an Environment for Meditation and Mystic Exploration Posted By : Benjamin Langley
Posts Tagged ‘mind’
Using Astrology in Business
Thursday, May 14th, 2009USING ASTROLOGY TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS
By Catherine Masters
I’m an entrepreneur. Always have been. Always will be. I started my own businesses as a kid and at age 64, I’m still starting them. I’m also a builder. I build companies that fill a void and when they are up and running and standing on their own two feet or I get bored, I move on to the next dream and the next challenge. Not everyone is like me. But, very few people plan on owning a business for the rest of their lives. Most want to start a business, make it successful and then sell it for tremendous profits and retire or start another business. True entrepreneurs have a different mind set. They don’t want to show up and get a paycheck. They want to show up and create something special. They want to show up each day and be the best company in the world.
Owning or running the day to day operations of a business is a challenge. Lots of external forces make you change your plans and even start over on projects. The rules and rulebook of many industries and businesses have been thrown out and the new rules haven’t been set. You simply cannot do business like we used to. Retailers used to use deep discounts to bring customers in during poor holiday seasons. Now, not even that is enough to get them in. Auto dealers used to use low interest rates to get buyers. Now, the dealers and buyers can’t get any credit. Small business used to borrow money to keep their businesses growing. Now, they have no access to credit lines. In today’s volatile market place, having an edge will not only get you through the tough times and the many changes, but also help you succeed when everyone else is failing.
That “edge”, I truly believe is astrology. And, I am a user of the science of astrology for my business endeavors. What I have found over the years is that when I use astrology for the timing of certain events, etc. I am nearly 100% successful. When I don’t I get behind the eight ball.
Astrology is many things to many people but to me, it’s a wonderful timing device that allows me to know when the best times are to do specific things. It also tells me when NOT TO DO THINGS. And, it let’s me know when an event begins, the middle and the ending of that event. It can also tell you the best places for you to do business!!
In 2000, I started a women’s pro football league. My astrologer told me that I was “born” to do it and had the skills to do it. She also told me that it would be very successful, which it was. I used my astrologer in building the women’s football league when I opened new teams. She would tell me the best places to open them. One of the places she told me to open a team was in Pensacola, Florida. I wasn’t sure she was right since our football league played in the spring and summer and it was pretty hot in Florida at that time. But, I did and the Pensacola Power became the most well attended team in our league with more than 5,000 fans at every game!
I used my astrologer often for many things including a major negotiation with the NFL. She gave me the timing on when to send the letters, etc. I also used her in a legal battle with one of the teams that I kicked out of the league for breaching their contract.
But, I mostly used my astrologer for timing on press releases and the dates to start new league projects. When I used her to get the best dates, I was successful. When I thought I knew it all and didn’t, I mostly wasn’t.
Astrology can be used to set meeting dates so that they are the best meetings possible. It can be used to find out what the best dates are to sign agreements and contracts so that they are good and binding and work out well for your company. It can also, of course, be used to screen potential employees, vendors or partners. Here’s a list of other things astrology can help you with in your business:
When to incorporate.
When to expand
When to hire employees
When to set up your website
When to dot.com a name.
When to start a new project or product.
When to start a marketing campaign.
When to start an advertising campaign.
When to host annual meetings
When to sell your business.
The key in using astrology for your business is to first, find a really good astrologer. You can go on the net or you can ask a friend for a recommendation. Then, once you have your astrologer, you can start using them just like you would use your accountant or attorney.
The fees you pay an astrologer will depend upon what you negotiate. Some will charge an hourly rate while others will work on a monthly retainer. Just put it in your budget as an expense.
Business people hire all kinds of people in an effort to make their business successful. Everyone hires an accountant, an attorney and as the business grows, hires marketing, sales and pr consultants and so on. In my more than 35 years in business I have found that an astrologer on the payroll is one of the best investments I can make in my business.
If you look at the headlines today you see a lot of major corporations failing. Or, asking for a bailout. I can tell you that having an astrologer give them timing would have helped all of those companies. I can also tell you that the top executives in the auto industry would have slept better at night if they had had an astrologer working with them.
They would have known how and when the bail out would happen.
What I love about the science of astrology is this: The planets are always moving and doing different things to your personal and business charts. Because of that, in every situation, there is a beginning, middle and an end. Nothing stays the same forever and astrology can help you with each stage with timing.
Not everyone wants to believe in astrology. That’s fine. But if you are a business owner or are the head of a business, don’t you want every single tool you can find to help you succeed? I, do and aside from the traditional business tools, I think astrology should rank right up there with them.
For you that are skeptical, my answer is this: Try it and see what happens. You only have success and knowledge to gain.
Catherine Masters is a sports, entertainment and marketing entrepreneur with over three decades of success and awards. Her astrological advisor is New Yorker Lauren Edmond of artcharts.com
How to Read Tarot Cards For Fun
Saturday, April 25th, 2009Many people are curious about reading Tarot cards for their friends and family. Once you have a deck of Tarot cards, it is only natural to want to use them with others. After experiencing the insight that Tarot cards can give you, anyone would certainly understand that you would want to share this with the people in your life.
When reading for others, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind. The purpose of reading for other people is to share your love of the Tarot cards and to offer them some insights, just as you have received them by reading the Tarot cards for yourself. Keeping these tips in mind will help make reading for others in your life go smoothly and make reading fun.
Begin reading for other people you are comfortable around. This may sound like a very logical thing to do, however there are some that will actually do a Tarot reading when someone says to them, “Oh, Tarot? That’s nonsense….well; let’s see what you can do!” This is not the best atmosphere for even a professional Tarot reader to read under, let alone a beginning Tarot reader. Make your first readings for others are ones for family, friends and people who are genuinely interested in the Tarot. Trust your judgment that these be people who are kind and supportive types.
Let the person begin the Tarot reading by proposing a question. Your Tarot reading begins always with the querent giving a question they would like the reading to focus on. Let the person you are reading come up with the question. Sometimes when we read our family and friends, this means that they want to look into some life issue that may seem tiresome to us but is very close to this person’s heart.
When reading for others it is important to respect people’s feelings. Every question should be treated with respect. Most Tarot questions work best if they are simply phrased and to-the-point. The Tarot question is ideal when it focuses on one issue. When the querent wants to ask about an additional issue, suggest you do a second Tarot reading for that question.
Give the Tarot cards to the person to shuffle. This puts the querent’s energy into the Tarot cards. When you are reading Tarot, this is a very common practice to have the person asking the question shuffle the cards for awhile. It is also fun and makes them feel like a part of the reading. Try not to criticize the way they shuffle your Tarot cards unless they are doing something that might damage your Tarot cards. Many people are not used to handling Tarot cards; suggest they shuffle them, just as they would playing cards.
Trust your intuition to guide the Tarot reading. The Tarot is full of symbolism and other information that will give you a reading for any question that you ask. Trust your own intuition when looking at the cards. You may feel inspired to say something different even though a card’s interpretation according to the book means something a little different. This is quite common with Tarot readers and simply means you are connecting with the Tarot cards in your own personal way. Everyone has their own personal way of reading Tarot and as you read for others, you’ll discover yours.
Don’t make predictions about death, medical or legal issues. Most professional Tarot card readers will not touch these issues with a ten-foot pole. It is advisable that you not do Tarot readings for these issues either. When someone asks you to look into why they get headaches, encourage them to see a medical professional.
People may ask you other questions that make you uncomfortable you don’t have to try to answer them. Simply say politely, “I don’t think I can answer that one.” Don’t say you can’t get the answer “right now” or they’ll try to get you to read the issue later on. When you speak to them, be kind, friendly and polite. Do not let them “box” you into doing a reading that makes you uncomfortable in any way.
Try not to take criticisms or comments about your Tarot readings too much to heart. Some people may criticize your Tarot readings and this can hurt your feelings. Other people may praise you nearly to the heavens, making you out to be some amazing oracle type of person. Don’t let this inflate your ego either. Focus instead on your love of the Tarot cards and continue reading them for pure enjoyment.
The person who loves Tarot most often runs into both of these types of people during their reading experiences. You don’t want to let either of them ruin your experience with Tarot cards. When reading Tarot cards, be kind and respectful of others and even if your readings are not perfect they will be the best you can do.
Reading the Tarot for others can be fun, entertaining and quite enjoyable. Having respect for other people and also the Tarot is critical. Once you become skilled at this, it is also a great way to earn additional income.
Love and Relationship Tarot Spreads
Friday, April 24th, 2009If you are in love and want to know how your love story will end up, you might be interested to learn about love tarot spread illustrations that predict such an outcome. This could also help you understand your proposed life partner better, and/or tell you whether this is the right choice for you. So many questions pop up in your mind when you think of a relationship. Are not you curious to know the answers? Often these answers could be answered at the click of the mouse. In other cases, a visit to your favorite psychic could give you amazing insights. Whether you choose the Internet as your medium or a live psychic, knowing about the types of tarot spread illustrations would always be helpful.
Among all the divinations, magic potions, miracles sought, prayers offered, the most would be found in search of love. Human beings are perpetually hungry for love. While often this love is for and about a life partner, there are many times when people seek the love and acceptance of their parents, siblings, friends, children, God. When you seek answers through tarot card reading about love it is good to learn a little about the basics that go into such a divination process.
The Internet is a great teacher and information disseminator. Grab a scrap pad and a pencil and settle in front of your computer seeking tarot spread illustrations that divine love and relationships. One of the popular love divination spreads would be the 13 card spread. In this spread, there are seven cards that would describe you and your position in the relationship; the other six cards would be drawn three at a time, the first indicating your past, present and future and the second set of three cards indicating the other person’s past present and future.
The seven cards spread about you would read as follows, the card no 1 tells about you and your feelings in the relationship. In order to understand clearly what is said, it would help if you have a tarot spread in front of representing each card and its meaning close by until you know them by heart. Card no 2 would tell you about the other person’s character. Card 3 would give you an overall feeling about the situation. Card 4 would identify the obstacles in your path towards achieving the full love of the person you want to love you back. Card 5 would indicate what exactly the other person thinks or feels about you. Card 6 is about the expectations of the other person from you and the relationship; and lastly card 7 will tell you where exactly the relationship is at present.
The reading sounds easy, even fun. However, if you go through a few sessions or see some tarot spread illustrations you would realize that there are a lot of grey in the readings and very little pure black and white areas. This means you need to have that inner intuition that psychics are blessed with and a lot of experience before you could really understand the language of the tarot cards.
Rekindle your Love Life With Feng Shui Romance Tips
Friday, April 24th, 2009Human relationships form the basic core of our existence and the stronger the bonds are with our loved ones, the more we feel content and satisfied with life. However, most of us need to realize that no relationship can be taken for granted, be it between parent and child, friends, couples and for that matter any relationship at all needs nurturing. Among all these bonds, that between couples is perhaps the most delicate yet strongest one. Like all other bonds, this relationship too needs constant assurance and strengthening with ingredients like trust, care, faith and of course, romance. Feng Shui romance tips can be potent tool in enhancing your love life. You could use these tips to attract love into your life or to strengthen the bonds of an already existing relationship.
Feng Shui romance tips use the ancient Chinese methods to improve the personal relationship aspect of our lives, which is a crucial part of an individual’s existence. Simple tips and minor adjustments in our immediate environment can bring about astounding results. As for example, artwork and visual artifacts tends to have a strong impression on our mind. Therefore, if we surround ourselves with pictures of happy couples or ourselves and our partner in a happy frame of mind, we can induce that sense of well being into our daily lives. Similarly, placing the seating arrangements in a comfortable position and introducing comfortable couches and love seats gives out the signal that you are ready for a warm and loving relationship and is an important part of Feng Shui romance tips.
It is also strongly recommended under Feng Shui romance tips that electronic items like the television set are best removed from the bedroom. The electronic signals sent out by the objects could spread negative vibes and create problems for the couple using the bedroom. Also a king sized bed may appear to be more spacious and comfortable; however, it is not ideal for symbolizing intimacy between a couple. It would therefore be better to downsize your bed to a queen-sized one. Also, ensure that your bed is not pushed against the wall from one side and there should be sufficient space to walk up to the bed from either side.
Feng Shui romance tips also include the creation of your personal ‘relationship gua’. If you keep your entrance door as the reference point, the far right hand side corner of the room will be your ‘relationship gua’ and this corner should be decorated in an intimate and cozy manner with the perfect décor and lighting. Colors are also an integral part of our lives and according to Feng Shui, warm colors like pink, rose and coral can greatly enhance your love life. Follow some simple rules and see your life change for the better with Feng Shui romance tips. However, while applying and implementing Feng Shui tips in your life, it is always advisable to get the advice and guidance of an expert Feng Shui consultant who could show you the right way of inviting harmony, peace and prosperity in your lives.
Chinese Astrology Romance Compatibility
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009Exploring the possibility of romance between the 12 animal signs is a very interesting and entertaining way of using a Chinese horoscope. If the love match says that 2 animal signs are compatible, it translates into the happy occasion of love or marriage or romance.
Triangles of Affinity/ Romance Compatibility Triangles
There are four triangles of affinity. The 12 animal signs are divided between these. On the basis of similar thinking patterns and general compatibility, 3 animal signs constitute each triangle.
An atmosphere of harmony, success and endurance in romance is assured between the 3 animals belonging to the same triangle. Happiness is doubled because of similar interests, hobbies, tastes, mutual understanding; a scorching sexual intimacy adds that special spark to the romance.
Minor disputes and niggling problems will always be there. But on the whole, there is a high chance of a long, durable and stable union. These 3 compatible animal signs should go ahead with marriage if there is romance in the air.
This does not however mean that, romantic relations cannot exist between all the Chinese astrology signs.
Horse, Dog and Tiger
Obviously, the most loyal and transparent of the trio is the dog, but it is lacking in the mobility of the horse. Liberty is what they thrive on. They are defiant and like to rebel against injustice, they are full of life, energetic, high spirited, honest, affectionate, loyal, impulsive, idealistic, skilful communicators and love to serve others.
Dragon, Monkey and Rat
They are performance oriented people who love to take initiatives. This group constitutes the most positive and competitive people of the four triangles, with the whole trio being action oriented. They share complementary characteristic traits.
They are commonly perceived as intense, passionate, restless, energetic, dynamic, ambitious, imaginative, and innovative by people. They can’t look beyond progress.
For e.g. Dragon’s courage compensates for rat’s timidity. Monkey and rat possess a lot of cunning. But this negative quality is absent in dragon’s character.
Sheep, Pig and Rabbit
They have a keen sense of aesthetics and are very sensitive. Intelligence is not their forte, but they can be humble. All three of them are flexible, dependent on others, diplomatic, creative with an artistic bent of mind, calm and cool-headed, expressive, intuitive, sensual, emotional, peace loving and seekers of beauty and love.
Snake, Rooster and Ox
They also are endowed with complementary traits like the animal personalities in the 1st triangle of affinity. They are always focused on their goals and ambitions; defeat is something that shatters them. Profoundly thoughtful, meticulous, systematic, determined, dedicated, purposeful, these people are supposed to be steadfast, intellectual, independent-minded, slow but sure and dutiful.
Romance Incompatibility
Romance between snake and pig, dog and dragon, rooster and rabbit, monkey and tiger, sheep and ox and horse and rat is difficult, might turn out to be disastrous and thoroughly sorrowful and it is best to avoid such a match.
Psychic and Astrology – How Does it Affects our Daily Lives
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009Psychic is a term used in the field of parapsychology which refer to the ability to perceive the things that is hidden to ordinary senses through means of extra-sensory perception, or though the use of other techniques such as cold reading,prestidigitation and a lot more. While the term astrology is define as the study of the relationships between people and events on earth, and the cycles, movement of the planets and how they influence the live of peoples. This parapsychology and astronomical matters affects our daily lives in the way it influence the beliefs of many from generation until now. It also depicts the life of a person, events and other phenomena that makes many peoples lives much more interesting and comfortable through the years. Psychic and astrology are all part of people’s lives, this are the aspects of life that affects once decision through love or career, it depicts and steadily point to the part of every peoples journey.
Nowadays many people used astrology and psychic for business, households and even in other establishments for it’s well known used, some other used it for their personal needs. Astrology is a method predicting events based upon the assumption of celestial bodies particularly planets, moon, sun and even stars that depicts the events to a persons existence. In psychic,our physical five sensory world we are often not aware of the entourage of spirit that accompanies us through our every day life. Our senses will pick up smells and sounds, and we may even see things – and we often put it down to logical reasoning. It is easy to explain away these things. Yet sometimes we do question the relevance of this things that we commemorate. Psychic and astrology makes an enormous impact to every peoples live, even though many people accept this facts that this kind of matter are present and can be useful to others who believe in it, the misconception and clarity of this things is still unknown to many.
It affects our lives in so many way, like communicating to elemental spirits and love ones that pass away using proper psychic techniques which develop and implemented through decades of research and formulation that is proven and tested by so many psychic experts, while astrology depicts love life, career, luckiness, and even bad luck and wrong misconception of life using astrological symbolism. We cannot deny that all this kind of things is really happening and present to our daily lives, that conclusively affects our beliefs and faith through generations. Being open minded to this type of phenomena and being to cope to the changes of nature makes a person lives much more better.
Becoming aware to your inner potential to connect with your highest self, and to know that you are at one with all around you. You are a spiritual being having a human experience; therefore your spiritual being is still connected to spiritual experience – including communication to the spirit world. This is a natural part of life!
Spirit Walk Up Tarot Holy Mountain
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009The teachings found in the Element Cards, the minor arcana—Ace to 10 only—focus on the lessons experienced in mundane or every day life. These lessons are presented as a “spirit walk.” As the spirit walk begins, we are standing at the foot of Tarot Holy Mountain. Each face or side of the mountain is connected to an aspect of ancestral wisdom and spiritual evolution.
We begin our spirit walk by climbing Tarot Holy Mountain one step at a time, learning to explore the four elements of our lives: mind, ego, emotions, and body. In the east we enter the landscape of the mind and meet the first holy element: air, represented by the Sword of Illumination. The suit of swords represents the Mind, the attitudes we hold in life. Emphasis is placed on learning to balance this masculine energy by centering it and begin “feeling” with the mind. The ancestral wisdom of air reminds us that life experiences, whether of a supportive or problematic nature, happen in pairs; if we can experience happiness, somewhere in our lives we will experience sadness; love-hate, success-failure, birth-death, gain-loss. By understanding this basic nature of life, we learn how not to “lose” our “heads” to any given situation, but remain calm and centered.
The second face of Tarot Holy Mountain is the lesson of fire/wands. Here we enter the landscape of ego- will power. Wands represents willpower/ego or little self, placing emphasis on the masks we wear and how we use our power. This suit teaches us the ancestral wisdom to be aware of our control issues, learning how to find balance between ego and Sacred Self, warning against using excessive control, as well as warning against surrendering personal power.
On the west-face of Tarot Holy Mountain we enter the landscape of the heart, connecting with the lesson of water/cups, which represents the emotional body. This feminine element is directed toward the heart center and relationships. The ancestral wisdom taught here is to learn to “think” with the heart, to achieve emotional balance, and move into sacred relationship with self-first before others.
Lastly, the fourth side of Tarot Holy Mountain is the suit of earth, the landscape of instinct—the body, containing the coin, or “Faery gold”. The suit of pentacles embraces the lessons of the three other Elements by merging them in the ancestral wisdom of cycles. Here we learn the natural law of giving and receiving, moving into a mode of abundance, one based on nature rather than extreme materialism. Through the natural laws of this physical realm, issues surrounding prosperity and poverty consciousness are explored, and respect toward nature and our natural resources emphasized. We are reminded to get back in touch with the primal land.
To understand Tarot Holy Mountain better, let us look at it as if it were a wheel, one that is connected to the seasonal year. Using the compass or a circle divided into four parts, each part is connected to one of the cardinal directions: east-south-north-west. Each Element suit has a place on this wheel, in connection to a cardinal point of energy. In the East we have the element suit of air/swords; in the South we have fire/wands; the West is water/cups, and in the North is found earth/pentacles. Using correspondences with Tarot is very helpful because they give additional material to draw from when giving a reading.
For example: if you wanted to know what season an event might take place, the Ace of each suit could be used to determine the season, i.e. Swords would be spring, Wands-summer, Cups-autumn, and Pentacles -winter.
A predominance of fire/wands cards in a reading could give an indication as to something happening around mid-day, with air/swords cards indicating early morning, water/cups cards indicating evening, and earth/pentacles cards indicating nighttime. Correspondences add depth to a reading. They become food for the mind. They prompt deeper psychic attunement.
The system of Tarot is ideally a system designed for self-transformation. As already reviewed each side of Tarot Holy Mountain pertains to our basic life. We learn the lessons of each Element suit and deal with what’s learned from our perspective of life, from “being there.” In essence each suit represents an aspect of human relationship, whether with self, others, the planet, or Spirit.
The air/swords is a suit that has gotten a bum rap because it is presented as the more negative cards of the lesser secrets. This suit contains messages of danger, warnings, frustration, sorrow, depression, death, accidents, hostile forces, and setbacks. Yet, the swords contain a very important teaching, which is why they are the first suit of the Tarot. While they are what we might call our “wake up call,” when an air card comes up it’s because we’re saying to ourselves, snap out of it. One is reminded that there is choice. One can either choose to experience the negative aspect of the card or look at options and make changes, thereby moving into a different direction.
The fire/wands deal with the basic understanding of power—willpower, ego—politics, aspects of commerce. The wands represent conflicts, personality conflicts, successes and failures, winning or losing. Basically the wands represent the games of life, the face we show to the world, the mask we wear, our pretenses, attitudes that we sometimes use to cover-up our own sense of insecurity or fear.
The suit of water/cups deals with the heart, emotions, about love and good feelings. Yet, sometimes cups will also highlight imbalance within our emotions, where we’re sinking, where we’re wallowing in self-pity. They also deal with relationship with self, relationships with other people, all the way from familiar relationships through romance through work relationships—children, romance, sex, love, marriage, and so on.
Earth/pentacles move into the physical, the possession aspect of life, money, inheritances, real estate, gifts, giving and receiving cycle, as well as our stinginess, and our sharing ability. Understanding whether we function in abundance or scarcity consciousness.
Learning to Spirit Walk with the Tarot promises great insight into WHO you really are.
The Hitchhiking Journey of Life and Tarot Cards Help
Saturday, April 18th, 2009People have been using tarot cards to peer into the future, past and present for centuries. They help people and provide them right guidance for the solution of their pressing problems.
In the beginning of life, things are less complicated and that?s why we have a carefree attitude. But as we get older and older, things begin to become more and more complicated. It?s a human habit that they live in present, but most of the time they like to think about the past and the future and because of this habit we have a lot of questions related to the future.
We want answer of these questions. Sometimes we try to utilize our own estimates and assessments keeping the occurrences of the past and present in mind, but when our assessments and estimates prove wrong, we seek the help of someone else who knows the things better than us.
With the help of tarot cards we can know about the latent obstacles and problems of life and can also find suitable solutions for these problems. Many people who do not go through a tarot card reading before think that these are simple general readings, but they are not so.
Tarot card readings for health, wealth and love:
With the help of these cards you can get better know how about your current and future health. The information you get from these reading can prove helpful to make necessary adjustments and curb the coming health problems.
Similarly, these cards can be utilized to know about the possible opportunities in business and wealth creation. Tarot card readings can tell you whether you can succeed in a certain business or not.
The tarot cards are also used to know about the riddles of love. Tarot readings can tell you about the coming man or woman in your life and similarly can provide you information about current relationship. These readings often tell about the physical aspects of the person you are about to meet.
Love, health and wealth are the basic topics that most people want to know about, but the utilization of tarot cards doesn?t end here as they are used to get a better insight and solve other problems related to education, relationship, career and coming difficulties of life.
The tarot readings are quite beneficial for those who seek guidance to decide difficult issues of life. With the help to these readings we can better decide the things and can tread the path of success easily.
Astrology in Judaism Speculum Vol Iv- the Medieval Period
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Shabbethai Donalo Doctor and Astrologer (913-970) was borne in south Italy. At the age og 12 he was coptured (925) by an Arabic Batalion, his relatives had redeem him by paying for him a large amount of money.
At first he educated him self by the medicine discipline, since in those days a part of the diagnosis was done by astrology matters, he thought himself all that were known in this period in his soundings. How ever he decided to widen his knowledge by studying the Greek, Babylonian, and Indian Astrology.
In the city of Baghdad Donalo found a wise man in the name of Bagdsh who was a great scholar in mathematics and astrology, his (Donalo) conclusion about astrology was that the real basics of astrology are written by an Hebrew Talmudic Rabbi by the name of Rabbi D’Shemuel in an essay named Berayita D’rbbi Sehmuel.
Donalo settle dawn in the city named Modina in Italy serving as M.D for forty years, there Donalo wrote books on medicine, medication and astrology among other books he wrote a commentry on the astrology of the Book of Creation “Sefer H’Yetzirah” which by Hebrew tradition was written By Abraham the ancient Hebrew forefather
“ I went to explore the wisdom of the Greeks, the Arabs, the Acadian’s and the Indian’s, I did not rest until I was skilled in all nation astrology wisdom, and I compeard them with the Israelies Astrological knowledge and wisdom, and I find them all equal in there knowledge, Itookup on me to transleate all thoes books, and all my conclusion I wrote in my book “Chckmoni”which is the my commentry on “Sefer hyetzira” See: Shabbethai Donalo,the introduction in “The book Chokmoni”
Iben Ezra
Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164 C.E. Spain) Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela Sapin. He led Spain in 1140,for the next three decades he wandered through Europe, spending time in Rome, Lucca, Rouen, London, and Béziers, Israel.
Ibn Ezra’s literary legacy consists of short and extremely popular handbooks in a wide variety of fields: grammar and poetics, astrology and arithmetic, astronomy and religious speculations, as well as both short and lengthier biblical commentaries.Ibn Ezra wrote following astrological treatises, the most important are:
Beginning of Wisdom.
The Book of Reasons.
The Book of Nativities.
The Book of Elections.
The Book of Lights.
The Book of the world
The Treatise od the AstrolabeAn itroduction the the Book of Muhammed Ibn Al-matani, translated by Ibn Ezra.
A Translation from Arabic into Hebrew of a book by Masha’ allah on the Eclipes of the sun and the Moon
See : The Book of Reasons . translaed by Meira Epstein.
Astrology was one of Ibn Ezra’s major interests, and it plays an important role in his thought ,the central place of astrology in Ibn Ezra’s thought promothed and strnghnd the legitimacy of astrology, in the jewish community, scholars and layman.
There is no difference between Jews and non-Jews with regard to astral governance, in his astrological writings, the Jews are no different from other peoples, in that they too are associated with certain planets and signs; this point was not lost upon his super-commentators. Ibn Ezra’s astrology, like his philosophy overall, is humanist and universal, not Jewish and particularist.
While we are going to assess Ibn Ezra writings, we should bear in mind that Ibn Ezra is not exposing to the reader all his knowledge, on the contrary, the reader is getting the impressing that Ibn Ezra is hiding his knowledge, and revealing bits hear and there, mostly regarding Astrological Astral Magic.
Maimonides
Moshe ben Maimon or Moses Maimonides- The Rambam (March 30, 1135 – December 13, 1204). Maimonides was a Rabbi, Physician, and Philosopher,
he was borne in Spain and died in Israel. Maimonides conducted his work in Spain Moroccoand Egypt and israel.
On face of it, Momonides concept and approach towards, astrology was negative namely, once should not exercises astrology. Maimonides answered an inquiry concerning astrology, addressed to him from Marseille. In this answer to inquiries from scholars of southern France, Maimonides exposes foibles and fallacies of astrology, while touching upon such questions as the sources of knowledge, creation of the world, divine providence and free will, and the Messiah. Inasmuch as this letter was intended for general circulation, with no pretense to esotericism.
Maimonides responded that man should believe only what can be supported either by rational proof, by the evidence of the senses, or by trustworthy authority. He affirms that he had studied astrology, and that it does not deserve to be described as a science. He ridicules the supposition that the fate of a man could be dependent upon the constellations; he argues that such a theory would rob life of purpose, and would make man a slave of destiny.
According to Maimonides the Heberw Astrological wisdome was lost and forgotten during the years in the long past,overviewing cearfully Mimodidas writings we cam learn about the Mimonides duality apparoch , in one aspect the Mimonides sees in Astrology the top of sciences, and on the other hand his stand is against Astrology,
See Shlomo Sela “ Astrology and Biblical Exegesis in Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Thought”
Iben Tzarza and his friends could not assimilate Mimonides opposition to astrology. Looking in to his work they came to the conclusion that so to speak, the Mimonides take a stand against Astrology,but this was only when he was referring to the crowd, to mass of people, however when the Mimonides was speaking to his peoples or to the Intellectual Jewish elite, his views were entirely different.
See : Dov Schwarrtz “Amulets,Properties and rationalism in Medieval Jewish Thoght”
Trachtenberg is another scholar who is supporting this view namely Maimonides was not opposing astrology, his opinion is that Mimonides was accepting the Astrology discipline regarding the Medical use, (in those days every Medicine Doctor was skilled in the astrology discipline) which means Maimonides give his blessing to use astrology for Medical proposes.
See: Trachtenberg, J ‘ “Jewish Magic and Superstition”
Thus Maimonides concept towards Astrology was ambivalent and dual. Maimonides had one concept for the esotericism group of scholars, and another concept for the common layman, which means, only the intellectual elite should exercises Astrology, al the others should stay away from it, because thy wont understand the discipline and material, moreover there is a danger that the common layman will believe in determinism, which will led him a way from the Jewish belief, the Jewish belief is saying:” Everything is Foreseen, but the Permit is Given. This is an Anti-thesis to determinism.
Nahmanides
Nahmanides – Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi -Ramban (1194-1270) was a Biblical commentator, Kabbalist, Philosopher and Physician.
Nahmanides studied medicine which he practiced as a means of livelihood; he also studied philosophy In his writings Nahmanides reveals a conservative tendency that distinguished his later works — an unbounded respect for the earlier authorities.In the view of Nahmanides, the wisdom of the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud, as well as the Geonim (rabbis of the early medieval era) was unquestionable.
Nahmanides was an adversary of Rabbi Abraham Ib Ezra. Nahmanides disagrees with him; especially with regard to Kabballa (Jewish mysticism), which is considered part of the normative Jewish tradition. Notwithstanding, he had tremendous respect for ibn Ezra, as is evidenced in his introduction to his commentary on the Five books of Moses.
Nahmanides formed part of the Spanish school of Cabalists. He was intruded into the Gnostic type of mysticism that had hitherto reigned in Jewish mysticism. This Gnostic mysticism had originated in a rabbinic gnosis of the 1st and 2d centuries A.D.The Neoplatonic trend of Nahmanides’s mysticism centered on the sefirot, or “soul” or “inner life,” of the hidden transcendent God. On this basis Nahmanides formed his mystical theory of history
Nahmanides was a key figur in Kabblistic esoteric persona in Spanish 13th century.Regarding his astrological atettude Nahmanides wrote a stating that while one may not ask an astrologer for a prediction, astrology itself is real. He states rules that one must ultimately trust in God, and not in any lesser force. As such, he concludes that one is forbidden to ask an astrologer for a prediction, but one may act on the words of an astrologer if advice is freely given. Ultimately he holds that while the stars give a person certain inclinations, people have the ability to overcome their own inclinations, and thus maintains free will.
Thus it is adviseble to emphesiss that the persons who were infulensive of Nahmanides concepet were Ibn Ezra and Yhuda Halevy
Monius I.Khoschen -Klein
Monius.ikk@gmail.com
www.monius-astro-site.com
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