Sacred Objects: Constellations & Synagogue Mosaics

Thus said GOD:
Do not learn to go the way of the nations,
And do not be dismayed by portents in the sky;
Let the nations be dismayed by them!

(9) These two things shall come upon you,
Suddenly, in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood
Shall come upon you in full measure,
Despite your many enchantments
And all your countless spells. (10) You were secure in your wickedness;
You thought, “No one can see me.”
It was your skill and your science
That led you astray.
And you thought to yourself,
“I am, and there is none but me.” (11) Evil is coming upon you
That you will not know how to bribe away;
Disaster is falling upon you
That you will not be able to appease;
Coming upon you suddenly
Is ruin of which you know nothing. (12) Stand up, with your spells and your many enchantments
On which you labored since youth!
Perhaps you’ll be able to profit,
Perhaps you will find strength. (13) You are helpless, despite all your art.
Let them stand up and help you now,
The scanners of heaven, the star-gazers,
Who announce, month by month,
Whatever will come upon you. (14) See, they are become like straw,
Fire consumes them;
They cannot save themselves
From the power of the flame;
This is no coal for warming oneself,
No fire to sit by! (15) This is what they have profited you—
The traders you dealt with since youth—
They have all wandered off on separate paths,
There is none to save you.

Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i says: Abraham our forefather was so knowledgeable in astrology that all the kings of the East and the West would come early to his door due to his wisdom.

The Sages taught: What is the definition of the soothsayer mentioned in the verse: “There shall not be found among you…a soothsayer” (Deuteronomy 18:10)? ... And the Rabbis say: This is one who deceives the eyes, as though he is performing sorcery. Rabbi Akiva says: This is one who calculates the fortune of times and hours, and says, for example: Today is a propitious day for going away on a journey; tomorrow is propitious for purchasing property successfully...

These twelve letters, [God] designed, formed, combined, weighed, and changed, and created with them the twelve divisions of the heavens (namely, the zodiacal constellations), the twelve months of the year, and the twelve important organs of the frame of the human, namely the right and left hands, the right and left feet, the two kidneys, the liver, the gall, the spleen, the intestines, the gullet, and the stomach.

(8) Who is an observer of times? They that point at times, saying astrologically: "That day is a good one, that day is a bad one; that day is fit to do that particular work, but that year, or that month, is bad for that particular thing."

(9) It is forbidden to tell fortunes... Anyone who performs a deed because of an astrological calculation or arranges his work or his journeys to fit a time that was suggested by the astrologers is [liable for] lashes...

Rabbi Ḥanina said...it is the constellation of the hour that determines one's nature.

One who was born under the influence of the sun will be a radiant person...because he will be like the sun that shines and is revealed to all.

One who was born under the influence of Venus will be a rich and promiscuous person... Because fire was born during the hour of Venus, he will be subject the fire of the evil inclination, which burns perpetually.

One who was born under the influence of Mercury will be an enlightened and expert man, because Mercury is the sun’s scribe, as it is closest to the sun.

One who was born under the influence of the moon will be a man who suffers pains, who builds and destroys, and destroys and builds. He will be a man who eats not from his own resources and drinks not from his own resources, and whose secrets are hidden. If he steals he will succeed, as he is like the moon that constantly changes form, whose light is not its own, and who is at times exposed and at times hidden.

One who was born under the influence of Saturn will be a man whose thoughts are for naught. And some say that everything that others think about him and plan to do to him is for naught.

One who was born under the influence of Jupiter [tzedek] will be a just person [tzadkan]...

One who was born under the influence of Mars will be one who spills blood...

It was stated that Rabbi Ḥanina says: A constellation makes one wise and a constellation makes one wealthy, and there is a constellation for the Jewish people that influences them.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There is no constellation for the Jewish people that influences them. The Jewish people are not subject to the influence of astrology....The nations will be dismayed by them, but not the Jewish people.