Astrology And Medical World

In the ancient world and until the end of the 16^th century, astrology was always a central part of a doctor’s university training and medical practice.  If you studied medicine you automatically learned astrology as a means of helping you with both diagnosis and prognosis.  Rightly so, for the affinity between each part of the body and the planets and signs of the zodiac can give a medically trained astrologer invaluable clues as to underlying tensions and stresses and the weak areas of the body where problems are likely to manifest.

By studying the chart of an individual and the chart of the moment when he or she was taken ill, or took to their bed, the astrologer can make deductions as to the kinds of issues that are likely to be involved in the illness and the likely critical points in the days ahead.  Likewise an astrologer with a medical background and training can use the birth chart to help better understand the kinds of physical problems an individual may experience, the kinds of precautionary and dietary measures to take, and the kinds of therapy that may be most beneficial to them.

However, no one without some kind of medical training should attempt to use the birth chart in this way.  Just as an ill-informed reading of a medical encyclopaedia can quickly make one believe that one has typhoid fever, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s, so too can novice astrologers immediately believe the medical worst of difficult patterns in a chart, or of difficult times ahead for themselves and their nearest and dearest.

All major transits and progressions to sensitive parts in the natal chart can express themselves in part through the body.  The transits of Saturn, Chiron and Neptune are particularly prone to express themselves in physical terms.

An astrologer with a knowledge of medicine can use astrology to understand the processes going on within an individual at both a psychological and a physical level. For example, someone with a prominent but poorly integrated Mars in their chart is likely both to be prone to unnecessarily forceful, aggressive behaviour and to be accident-prone and run fevers.