It is important to understand the basics of Astrology in order to understand the dynamics and mechanics of how it works. It is often assumed that basics are nothing more then understanding the signs and houses this is a grave mistake which is very prevailent primarily among the astrologers who practice modern Astrology. These may be the basics in interpretation but these certainly are not the basics of understanding Astrology. To understand Astrology you must understand the mindset of the ancient astrologer. Only then, once you have placed yourself in the mindset of the astrologer, will you derive true benefit and understanding of what Astrology is. To think as he thought, to read as he read and most importantly, to understand as he understood. Thus, this treatise is an attempt to put the modern astrologer into the traditional astrologers mindset and therefore open the doors of understanding towards the system of the cosmos according to the fathers of Astrology. For the cosmos is the very essence and basic principle of all Astrology to date. Without the understanding of the cosmos of the ancients, you cannot understand Astrology as a whole.
The view of the solar system has been skewed because scientists are not historians and historians are not scientists and therefore there has been little credit given to the ancient and classical authors with regards to an accurate model of the solar system. The view of most modern astrologers (as well as Historians) was that the Geocentric model was a scientific model of the Solar system which displayed accurately the placement of the Planets; this is the first incorrect assumption. The study of Astrology and Astronomy were but one science and art. With this mindset it is easy to criticize the knowledge of the ancients and their methods of Astrology; that is knowing that the Sun is the center of the solar system and not the Earth. The mentality has very little to offer the Astrologer and therefore they ignore this and believe that the model was based after ignorance of the ancients but this is also false. For the entire system of the ancients had been followed for years, not because it was scientifically proven but because it had philosophical significance that outweighed the scientific reality of any of it. It was only after the philosophical mindset broke off towards the scientific mindset that the solar system was recreated into what we understand it as today.
In order to understand the reasoning behind the Geocentric system one must understand how the ancients viewed the composition of the World. With this understanding, it is simple to see why the Geocentric system was favored, even if the ancients had scientific knowledge of a Heliocentric system (of which there is proof of this since Pythagoras all the way up to 16th century Astronomy books stating clearly that the Earth revolving around the Sun). The purpose of the Geocentric model was not to illustrate the scientific positions of the heavenly bodies accurately in how they appear in space because this was quite useless to the Astrologer but to illustrate the control and influence each astrological aspect had over its inferior part and how it appeared visually in the sky. According to the ancient mindset, there were two divisions in the universe. These two division were the Superior and Inferior, they were the heavenly and earthly, they were the above and below and many other terms were used to describe these.
The superior always controled the inferior and everything that was above (whether literally or figuratively) was always viewed as superior. For example, Saturn appears visually above Jupiter in the sky and therefore is superior and thus placed above him. The inferior was further broken up into four base parts called Elements. The first Element being called Fire which was the highest of all the Elements and therefore superior unto them. Fire is the most subtle Element, hot and dry of which surrounds the second Element which is Air. Air is below the Fire therefore inferior but superior to Water and Earth. Air takes from Fire the subtleness and hotness but adds moisture from Water from which Air surrounds. Water thus is inferior to Air but superior to Earth, wet and cold, receiving its coldness from the Earth. The Earth is thus surrounded by Water and is cold and dry and the most inferior of all the Elements.
From this description it is easy to see how the ancients adopted their understanding of these Elements. For is it not true that our earth is surrounded by water? Is water not surrounded by air? Is air not surrounded by fire (or Thermosphere where aurora borealis appears as flaming light)? The Element of Fire has control over the Air, thus the Air to the Water and from there the Water to the Earth. Earth makes up the grossness and the body of the actual Planet Earth and therefore thus the center of the astrological cosmos is the Earth because it is the amalgam of all the Elements into one Sphere and from all of these each Planet and Sign circulates around it. From earth radiates layers of other Elements all the way to God. The earth Planetary and Elementary is the very foundation of the entire Cosmos of the ancient world, or as termed by Christian Doctors, the footstool of God. It is not the actual Planet Earth that the Ancient Astronomers are speaking of but the body in which makes up the most inferior Element, which is of Earth, the foundation.
Ascending further above Fire is the Sphere of Luna. Extending after Luna is the Sphere of Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Geocentric system was not a scientific model of the Solar system but it was used to show the different Spheres or Levels of Heaven and to show the superior-inferior dialogue and relationship. Above each level is a more powerful influence which, like the system of Elements, Saturn has superiority over Jupiter, Jupiter over Mars, Mars over the Sun, the Sun over Venus, Venus over Mercury and Mercury over Luna and Luna over the Fire and so forth. This means that Saturn is the most powerful Planet being in the highest Sphere.
The next Sphere is the Sphere of the Zodiac or the Firmament of Fixed Stars which is superior unto the Planets. Each Planet is under the rule or inferior to two specific signs of the Zodiac which depart their virtues unto them. Just as the Elements have the are inferior and are influenced by the Planets, the Zodiacal Sphere places its influence into the Planets and everything is filtered down through the Spheres. The Sphere which influences and controls above the Zodiacal Sphere is the Crystalline Heaven. This Sphere is not described by astrologers because it has very little to do with the understanding of Astrology. Following this Sphere is another Sphere which is not spoken about as well and that is the First Movable. The First Movable is the Sphere which sets and controls the motion of the Crystalline Heaven, the Zodiacal Sphere and every other sphere descending. Nothing more is spoken of this Sphere. The last and final Sphere is The Imperial Heaven. The Imperial Heaven is where God is said to reside and therefore also called the Habitacle of God. God is the master controler of all the Spheres and sets the spheres in motion through the First Movable. Therefore God has control over everything in the cosmos from the Crystalline Heaven, to Venus to Water. This Sphere should be very little concern to the astrologer and is therefore not mentioned in further detail. It is important to note here that with this said, God has ultimate control over our destinies and fates, not the Planets or stars becuase he is above and superior to all of them.
In order to illustrate the Geocentric System of Spheres to aid in the understanding this diagram is included for the reader's convenience.
