Chaldean order and the magical morning sky of June 2022
June was a magical month in 2022. All of the five visible planets were lined up along the ecliptic (the sun’s path) in the morning sky. This was special as all the planets were in a line in the same order as their distance from the sun. This pattern was visible in early June 2022 in the morning sky. By early July 2022, Mercury, who never ventures far from the sun, disappeared under the horizon. Unfortunately where I live, there were only a couple of clear June mornings so I had limited opportunity to enjoy the sight but I definitely made the most of it. Standing and facing north Mercury could be seen just above the horizon in the east, then following the ecliptic to the North, Venus the brightest of the planets was shining her beauty, then came Mars with his red glow, followed by Jupiter also shining very brightly high in the northern sky and lastly to the west sat Saturn, the planet furthest from the sun and the dimmest of the five. I have drawn a picture to represent what I was seeing below from southern hemisphere skies.
This alignment was unusual as the planets are not all always together above the horizon at the same time in this order. Often some planets will be visible pre dawn as morning stars, while the others shine in the night sky as evening stars. When the planets are close to the sun ( within approximately 15° ) they are not visible. Every geometric pattern or alignment has significance and meaning in astrology, and it is very valuable to not only see it on paper but also in the heavens. There is a different appreciation and depth of understanding when you see the planetary cycles in real time, observing them closely, just as the ancient astrologers/astronomers did.
In ancient astrology, when the visible planets (including the sun and moon) are in the order of their mean motions, it is called Chaldean order. The word Chaldean comes from ancient times. Astrology originated in ancient Mesopotamia. The term Chaldean was originally used to describe people who had migrated into Mesopotamia, but eventually due to the strong presence of astrology and the sharing of information, it became interchangeable with the word astrologer. The Mesopotamian astrologers recorded their observations of celestial movements and earthly events on tiny clay tablets and the most popular of these collections is the Enuma Anu Enlil. In Edward Brooke Itching’s book the Sky Atlas, he notes that the priest-scribes who contributed the divinatory interpretations of the observed celestial omens in the Enuma Anu Enlil, were usually referred to as the Chaldeans. If you would like to know more about the history of Ancient Astrology Chris Brennan’s book Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune is the most comprehensive treatment of the subject and beautifully written.
Chaldean order is significant in the study of the decans in ancient astrology. The Egyptians developed a system of 36 decans which were associated with fixed stars or clusters of stars lying in a band south of the ecliptic. The decans divide each zodiacal sign into three segments of ten degrees each. They were used as a calendar and clock and then as Hellenistic astrology was being developed around the second century BCE, this Egyptian knowledge of the decans was merged with the Mesopotamian zodiac. The Hellenistic astrologers constructed a system of assigning the planetary rulers to each decan basing it on the Chaldean order. It was not the only system developed, but the most popular.
The decans are an important part of my ancient astrology practice and I feel they provide unique insight into how a planet behaves in a certain zodiacal sign and how this is manifested personally in some-one’s life. They have great depth and I always use them in my chart analysis. The magic of the decans has been brought to life by Austin Coppock and it is a subject I will definitely expand on in another blog soon.
I really enjoyed reflecting on the beautiful pre dawn June sky this year, not only having the gift of being able to see all the visible planets together for a short period of time but also thinking back to the ancient astrologers. I thought of the Chaldeans and all the observations they recorded which were an integral part of the development of this magical system 4,000 years ago.
