Claudius Ptolemy (100 AD – 170 AD)

You might reasonably expect that the man who brought the ancient art of astrology into the ‘modern’ age would at least have a horoscope. Unfortunately, none exists, so I cannot show you his birth chart.

The 9th century Persian astronomer Abu Maʻshar presents Ptolemy as a member of Egypt’s royal lineage, stating that the descendants of the Alexandrine general and Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, were wise “and included Ptolemy the Wise, who composed the book of the Almagest“. Abu Maʻshar recorded a belief that a different member of this royal line “composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy”. We can evidence historical confusion on this point from Abu Maʿshar’s subsequent remark: “It is sometimes said that the very learned man who wrote the book of astrology also wrote the book of the Almagest. The correct answer is not known.” Not much positive evidence is known on the subject of Ptolemy’s ancestry, apart from what can be drawn from the details of his name, although modern scholars have concluded that Abu Maʻshar’s account is erroneous. It is no longer doubted that the astronomer who wrote the Almagest also wrote the Tetrabiblos as its astrological counterpart.^[

Wikipedia

The reason I’m looking at this individual is the sneaky suspicion I have that he is one of my past lives. But I have no empirical proof, it’s just a hunch. The Egyptian city of Alexandria is at the heart of it all.

I am humbled by the idea that such an individual may be in my background, but it does explain why I am so adamant that astrology is the answer to all of life’s mysteries: “As Above, So Below”.