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Astrology in Irish history
Brief summaries
Irish zodiac preserved in the library at Basel view
An article published in 1925 about a zodiac scribbled on the blank side of a page in a manuscript (probably 8th-9th century) of De Rerum Natura by Isidore of Seville. Includes image of the zodiac and descriptions of its various inscriptions.
Early Irish astrology: an historical argument.
author: Peter Berresford Ellis view
This article originally appeared in Réalta (vol 3. no.3 1996). While I was editor I heard from a fellow astrologer living in London (Maurice McCann) that a friend of his had been researching early Irish cosmology. I contacted Peter and he kindly agreed to submit an article on his work for publication. Peter Berresford Ellis has written many books on Celtic themes. As far as I am aware, this is the first serious article on astrology and the Irish Celts to have been published in an astrology journal. It was prompted by some spurious ideas masquerading under the name of Celtic astrology which had been circulating in astrologer circles for a few years. Of particular interest is the speculative connection between the Irish word budh, a name for the planet Mercury (which symbolises knowledge) and the Sanskrit word budh which means to 'know', and is also the name for the planet Mercury. The past participle of the stem budh is buddha. Which means 'enlightened'.