RELG231

This course explores the place of the stars in major religious traditions. Beginning with the emergence of Babylonian, Chinese, Vedic, and Greco-Roman zodiac systems, we examine how ancient civilizations looked skyward to make sense and order of life on earth. This question sets the foundation for our inquiry: how does astrology align with the constellations of specific religious doctrines, beliefs, and practices? Each case study is scientifically, philosophically, and historically contextualized, among them the constitutive status of Vedic astrology in Hinduism, a Christian prohibition of astrology from St. Augustine and Martin Luther to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and centuries of competing rabbinic commentaries, responsa, and debates in Judaism. We will not be “doing” astrology in this class; rather, students will learn the core principles of religious traditions and astrological systems while considering religious and secular critiques of astrology and the rise of the New Age. No prerequisites.