Astronomy and astrology in Middle-Earth?

[The Might]

Aren't we far too off topic here?

The question was if they exist in M-e not what they are and I think we have our answer.
Unless, someone has proof that they did make predictions by looking at the stars.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by The Might

The question was if they exist in M-e not what they are and I think we have our answer.
Unless, someone has proof that they did make predictions by looking at the stars.

And that is what I am waiting for - if we can find any proof (or I hoped that we could find at least "no" from the Prof in the Letters or something). Or something closer about astronomy. I wouldn't have started the thread in the first place, because I had my own opinion about the matter, yet I wanted to learn if there is anything else.

[Gwathagor]

Well...I think my CRAZY idea that astrology and astronomy are secretly the same thing is relevant to the question, because if I am right, then our question is wrong and we are setting up a false dichotomy.

If we are understanding astrology to mean newspaper horoscopes and petty fortune-telling, then I agree, it's nothing like astronomy. And yet, both things are produced from the same impulse, and have essentially the same purpose. This is more obvious if you are operating in a classical or medieval cosmology (which is the worldview within which Middle-earth exists). Until the rise of modernity, astrology was NOT horoscopes and crystal balls. It was based on the sensible notion that God's sovereign will and reason were reflected in his creation. By observing the movements of the heavenly bodies, a careful, scientifically-minded astrologer could attain a superior knowledge of the way the universe works, and what's going on in it. This is science. Astronomers, until the modern era, WERE astrologers: Ptolemy, the Magi, Pythagoras, Galileo (seriously); and our "astronomy vs. astrology" question is indicative of the same materialism and rationalism that likes to make Galileo a martyr for science who was locked up by the superstitious Church for refusing to compromise his professional, scientific integrity.

So, my point is that in Middle-earth (being a land firmly grounded in a medieval worldview) wise men who studied the stars could be safely called either astrologers or astronomers with equal accuracy.

I apologize, I think I may have just ranted.

[The Might]

Ok, ok, interesting information there, I agree.

But, and this is the crucial point, where is your proof?
You can surely show me some documents that clearly show Galileo was an astrologer as well and I will obviously believe you.
But, what documents can you show me to make me believe Meneldur or anyone else in M-e was an astrologer?
If you can, then awesome!

But I personally doubt there are any. And as there aren't any I see no reason to believe there were astrologers.
I can well imagine that say, Southrons saw some new stars in the sky and said, "Oh, now we will have good crops!". But does Tolkien ever mention it? No.
Which brings me to my earlier point: astrology in M-e is as far as we know not existant, however possible and also plausible.

[Gwathagor]

Proof? Faith is an island in the setting sun, but proof is the bottom line for everyone...no, wait, that's Paul Simon...

I don't really have any textual proof; I've basically made a philosophical argument based on inference. I personally think the line about wise men watching the stars is pretty clear, but I'll see if I can't dig up something more substantial. Something in the letters, or the HoMe, or the Unfinished Tales.

Cheers.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

If we are understanding astrology to mean newspaper horoscopes and petty fortune-telling, then I agree, it's nothing like astronomy. And yet, both things are produced from the same impulse, and have essentially the same purpose. This is more obvious if you are operating in a classical or medieval cosmology (which is the worldview within which Middle-earth exists). Until the rise of modernity, astrology was NOT horoscopes and crystal balls. It was based on the sensible notion that God's sovereign will and reason were reflected in his creation. By observing the movements of the heavenly bodies, a careful, scientifically-minded astrologer could attain a superior knowledge of the way the universe works, and what's going on in it. This is science. Astronomers, until the modern era, WERE astrologers: Ptolemy, the Magi, Pythagoras, Galileo (seriously); and our "astronomy vs. astrology" question is indicative of the same materialism and rationalism that likes to make Galileo a martyr for science who was locked up by the superstitious Church for refusing to compromise his professional, scientific integrity.

So, my point is that in Middle-earth (being a land firmly grounded in a medieval worldview) wise men who studied the stars could be safely called either astrologers or astronomers with equal accuracy.

If you read my post, you must know from there that I am aware of this. However, what I think, and in fact, what is the main purpose of this thread to find out, is, whether M-E REALLY saw stars as some kind of things that contain ANY information. Astronomy in M-E: yes, definitely. The people were looking at the skies, naming objects, this one is Nénar and this is Borgil, and the question posed at the very beginning of this thread is whether they also did other things (like looking what trajectory this and this stellar object follows); we agreed upon something. But I was looking for a proof whether astrology was in M-E as well, and that, if you read my posts above, concerns astrology in all that it means. My question was, DID the people in M-E really think this antic and medieval way as you say it? Did they think something about Eru's creation can be deciphered from the stars? "It was based on the sensible notion that God's sovereign will and reason were reflected in his creation," you say, yes, but was this "sensible notion" also in M-E? That is the question and surely you must have noticed I am aware of the fact astrology is not just horoscopes (don't know where you took crystal balls), if you read my posts (at least the opening one).

[Gwathagor]

Crystal balls was hyperbole.

My argument hinges on that last sentence in my great, big, overblown post.

I don't have any evidence. I think that since Middle-earth is written from a worldview which is largely medieval, that it is safe to assume that the inhabitants believed certain things about the heavens, but I can't actually PROVE it...yet. Still working on that...maybe I'll get around to it.

[The Might]

Well, it is similar, but it is not truly medieval, it is after all fantasy.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Yes, and the relation of the inhabitants of the world towards the Powers/Eru was quite different from the one the ancient/medieval people had to their gods/God, especially concerning the Elves. For the Elves, unless they were specifically instructed by Varda that there is something to discover in the stars, and largely in the world that had close to the West/Elves/Edain, the "learned" world (meaning the world that was getting their knowledge, although passed over several receptors, from the Valar), they would most probably, in my opinion, not perform astrology. Maybe the primitive Men or later the more "barbaric" nations would seek their own way to the Powers and the knowledge of the world through other means, like for example trying to read the information about the world in stars. Since we are not told that Eru or Valar ciphered anything in the stars (or I was hoping to get a knowledge about this through this thread, if Tolkien wrote anywhere that they did, though personally I doubt it), I presume it was not so and thus, astrology would have been just a superstition and therefore, even if some of the inhabitants of Middle-Earth performed it, the Valar would tell the Eldar and the Eldar would tell the Edain and the Edain would pass the knowledge among the other Men, that astrology has no sense in Middle-Earth.