Mentioning words like "zodiac" or "horoscope" in a medical context can now be a serious cost. At least - reputation.
A professional reputation if a doctor is noticed in such a thing. And the reputation of a sane person in all other cases.
In general, there are reasons. The situation with the current astrology and predictions is very much reminiscent of one character by J. K. Rowling from the famous Harry Potter series. Sibylla Trelawney is a divination teacher at the wizarding school. She is constantly under the threat of dismissal, since you cannot wait for real fulfilling prophecies from her, and the subject she is engaged in is of little interest to anyone - except for the overly enthusiastic dimwitted young ladies. They keep her at school only because “it’s supposed to be”.
Modern astrology does not even have this. Nobody allocates any "set" quota for it anywhere. She finally slipped into the marginal spheres of the “gilding the handle” level.
But once things were exactly the opposite. In the Middle Ages, such respected sections of today's big medicine as surgery and pharmaceuticals were considered something unimportant, or even completely nasty, since they assumed "work with their hands", to which a real doctor cannot stoop - his job is to work with his head and hover in celestial spheres. Astrology, on the other hand, dedicated to precisely these areas, on the contrary, was not just preferable, but obligatory for study and application in practice.
Half horse without coat
Even earlier, at the very dawn of medicine, this branch of knowledge and astrology were almost synonymous. In any case, they came from one root. This is indirectly recorded in the famous Hippocratic Oath, which, with some changes, has survived to this day. This is how it begins: "I swear by Apollo, the physician Asclepius, Hygieia and Panacea, all the gods and goddesses, taking them as witnesses …"
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The listed names are most directly related to the world of medicine. Apollo, as you know, is the god of healing, Hygieia and Panacea, respectively, the goddess of health and healing. Doctor Asclepius - there are no questions here. Just the first doctor who passed on his art to everyone else, thereby laying the tradition of training and founding a corporation of doctors as such.
But from whom did he learn to heal himself? The text of the oath does not give an answer. But Greek mythology tells about how medicine and doctors appeared in great detail. The fact is that Asclepius did not receive his art from the hands of God. And not from human hands. And from the hands of a creature that is fundamentally different from everyone else.
The centaur Chiron is who, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, instructed Asclepius in medical wisdom. And it was Chiron, according to legend, who was the first to divide the annual path of the Sun across the firmament into 12 parts. That is, he was the first to describe the zodiacal belt and divided it into 12 zodiacal sectors-signs.
Of course, all this is pure mythology. However, the real life of the Ancient World relied entirely on it. And this fulcrum was no worse than the others. In any case, the systematization of medical knowledge would be unthinkable without the scientific apparatus of astrology.
Claudius Ptolemy, a scientist from Hellenistic Egypt, is deservedly considered the first theoretical astronomer. But at the same time it is forgotten that he was the author of the famous work "Tetrabiblos" - "The Four Books". Based on Aristotle's concepts of nature and matter, as well as using the most perfect mathematical apparatus at that time, he creates the oldest manual on Western astrology. Claudius Ptolemy devotes an essential part of this work to the most detailed tables confirming the inviolable connection between man, his illnesses and medicines for the position of the heavenly bodies. By and large, this part of the Tetrabiblos has long become the most important set of medical prescriptions, each of which was firmly tied to the position of the stars - and woe to anyone who makes a mistake.
Life Juices
The current unfortunate horoscopes, assuring that a certain color, element and metal correspond to certain signs of the zodiac, are also from those times. And I must say that the astrologers of that time managed to determine the development of medical science for many centuries to come. Some things have remained unchanged to this day. Let's say psychologists operate with four main psychotypes of a person. Those go back to the concept of four temperaments - everyone probably knows what a choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic are. The concept of temperaments, in turn, was based on the doctrine of the four "vital juices" of the human body, which, according to Hippocrates, were blood, black bile, phlegm and yellow bile. Metals and elements, which were inseparable from the planets, were responsible for the "life juices". And from their course across the sky.
As long as all "life juices" are in harmony, a person is healthy. But as soon as some of them “change their course,” the person began to fall ill. To restore the correct flow of the "juice", it was necessary to use the appropriate medicine - herb and mineral. And only in accordance with the corresponding course of the stars. Roughly speaking, if an old fracture hurts, apply iron to it at the moment when Mars enters the sign of Aries, and also use preparations based on blackthorn and thistle.
Now it seems primitive and ridiculous. But by and large it was this nonsense that gradually led to the systematization of knowledge regarding herbal medicine. And also to a serious breakthrough in pharmaceuticals - the emergence of drugs of mineral origin.
Another thing is that these achievements were not taken seriously. Further mainstream development of astrology and medicine side by side led to complete confusion. Already in the Renaissance, katavasiya in these matters became phenomenal.
Physician or Astrologer?
A simple question - who was the most famous doctor in those days? The answer will be lightning fast: of course, Paracelsus! In the same way, they will promptly answer the question of who was the most famous astrologer and soothsayer. Nostradamus, there's nothing to think about!
In fact, you have to think. Because from the modern point of view, everything was exactly the opposite.
The same Philip Aureol Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who is more often called Paracelsus and is considered an unsurpassed physician, in reality was rather an astrologer. No, he, of course, expressed the progressive idea that the human body contains the same substances that occur in nature, and introduced chemistry into medical use. But at the same time he thought in a very original way. Here is what Paracelsus wrote about medicines and how they should be used: “What can you say about the medicines for the uterus that you give women if they do not take into account the influence of Venus? What is brain medicine if it does not attract the moon to help? It passes through the stomach and intestines without having any effect. The art is that you don't have to say: lemon balm is a healing herb for mothers, marjoram works on the head. This is what foolish people say. Their beneficial effects are much more related to Venus and the Moon. This is what a doctor should know when it comes to the basics of the art of healing. If he does not know this, then he is none other than a deceiver, and is engaged in the art of healing like a peasant who plunges a pumpkin into wine and heals all people with this."
Michel de Notre Dame, on the other hand, was precisely that doctor, moreover, quite successful. It is known that with elementary measures in terms of hygiene and sanitation, he significantly reduced the scale of the plague epidemic in at least two cities in Provence - Aix and Salon. We can say that he really saved them.
But when he entered the University of Montpellier, there was a scandal. Young Michel should have been presented with documents confirming that he was born legally, that he was at least 22 years old and, most importantly, that he had never been engaged in "manual labor". The latter, that is, crafts, then included surgery and pharmaceutical craft. And here there was a hitch. Nostradamus was caught in a lie: “The one who is recorded here as Michel de Notrdam was a pharmacist. We were notified of this by the pharmacist of his city. That is why I, Guillaume Rondelet, as Procurator of Students, blotted out his name from the register of students. " And Nostradamus had to prove his loyalty to the profession. Although, according to our concepts, he was an excellent practitioner, besides, he also had pharmacological experience.
This confusion has not been eliminated to this day. But, fortunately, "astrological medicine" has been pushed to the periphery. Although not quite - as evidenced by the numerous "diets according to the horoscope" and "treatment according to the zodiac", returning us to the time of the centaur Chiron.
Konstantin Kudryashov
