Egyptian god worshipers often regarded the eastern horizon as the starting point of their spiritual source. This idea also deeply influenced the way the Egyptians formulated their calendar. Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians originally used a calendar based on the cycles of the moon. But the difference is: the Mesopotamians started each month with the new moon in the west at sunset, while the Egyptians started each month with the new moon in the east at sunrise. When the influence of the Western Renaissance spread to Egypt, the Egyptians' faith began to waver. They soon realized that while the lunar calendar had practical value in most situations, it had many flaws. The biggest drawback is that every twelve-month calendar cycle adds 11 extra days each year. In order for the calendar to always comply with the solar terms, one month can only be added every two years to make up for it.
In the third and fourth millennia BC, the Egyptians tried to abolish the traditional lunar calendar and introduce a new "national" calendar based on the solar cycle. The new calendar was used to serve the state authorities in managing the country, while the lunar calendar was still retained in monastic affairs and daily public activities. By recording the movements of Sirius, which appears and disappears at the same time as the sun, they have even been able to calculate that the sun takes 365 days to orbit the ecliptic. For convenience, they simply divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each. The other five days are a separate period, during which they are mainly used for celebrations. Each month is divided into three weeks of 10 days each. The start of each week was marked by the rise of a particular star or star cluster at dusk, rather than trying to match the changing phases of the moon. To make the new calendar more effective, they also refined the celestial sphere into 36 segments so that the time of night could be determined by the rising and setting of the stars.
The Egyptians' new calendar divided the year into 36 intervals, and each interval was controlled by a special divine star. This gave rise to the concept of the so-called "classical astrological ten degrees" in the astrological theoretical system, although after that this concept was often recognized as a patent of medieval astrological theory. This is why the zodiac, which was originally divided into 30 degrees, has been refined into 10-degree divisions, and each division is controlled by a planet. Sidereal time thus became God's time - the measure of human destiny. Although this fact was not known for sure until the symbolism was superseded, the astrological use of the 10th degree was already demonstrated by the temple of Esna, founded in 200 BC.
In the fourth century BC, the famous Sicilian astrologer Firmicus Maternus, one of the astrologers who emphasized the importance of the 10 divisions, declared that the power of a planet in its division is the same as that of the sign it rules. Just as powerful. Manilius also attributed the 10-degree division to the iconic theory of zodiac division. But most astrologers, including Ptolemy (the ancient Greek astronomer, geographer, mathematician in the second century AD, and the founder of the geocentric theory), believe that the 10-degree division is just the decreasing power of the planets in order of distance from the earth ( Such as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon).
Firmicus Maternus claimed that he presented this theoretical system to Nechepso - "The greatest monarch of Egypt was also a truly excellent astrologer, who had accurately predicted all diseases and pains through the 10-degree division theory. "In fact, there is no record in history that proves the existence of such an emperor, but it is possible that Firmicus did present his theory to the last pharaoh of Egypt, Nectanebo II (360-343BC), a man named St. Alexander's astrologer. emperor. Such an important astrological system was finally completed in 150 BC and named after the legendary Nechepso and the Egyptian high priest Petosiris. Petosiris was probably a high priest who served the Pharaoh during the Ptolemaic era in 300 BC.
Nechepso and Petosiris were later recognized as the founders of the astrological theory that planets are as powerful in their decans as in their signs. Although we cannot yet verify the exact origin time of the 10-degree division theory, we can at least guess that this theory was used in astrology at least before the third century BC.
But all in all, the reasons why the Zoning Theory is arranged the way it is is certainly more complicated than the exact time when it was officially used in astrology. Ptolemy believed that the Egyptian calendar was consistent with astrology. But he trusted the Egyptian calendar more because he believed it was more accurate. But we can understand that the theory of partitions was developed in a complex way in the Egyptian calendar, but it is well used and simplified in astrology. Ptolemy's main criticism of the Egyptian partition system was that the Egyptian partition system was arbitrary. The degrees used to draw charts describing how the planets determine their destiny are proportional divisions of the year. He claimed that he was in possession of ancient manuscripts containing methods suitable as simple rational divisions of astrology. Combining the respective advantages of both theories, he created his own theoretical system, a new theory based on symbols, the doctrine of three-in-one and the enhancement of planetary power. This theoretical basis was generally accepted by the Western astrology community and was detailed in William Lilly's astrological tutorials in the 17th century:
Many centuries later, until the Ptolemaic era, astrologers began to officially accept the 10th degree. Partitioned perspective. After Ptolemy's death, almost all Greeks immediately learned to use his methods. From that time until today, when Christianity unified Europe, the 10-degree division is still considered the most reasonable part of astrological theory.
Although we currently lack detailed evidence of how ancient astrologers actually used this technique, its use during the period of classical astrology is well documented. Through a resurgence of interest in traditional astrology, these medieval astrological techniques have returned to the practice of modern astrology.
The details of the Egyptians’ deified concept of time are worthy of attention. In Egyptian belief, each star was represented as a god and governed a decade of the ecliptic. The way they are determined is that the star that rises first at the beginning of each week is the ruler and god of that week. In the early days, sidereal clocks were built to determine the ruling star for each week. This simple device indicates the exact time of arrival for each ten-degree interval, even at night. Astrologers could therefore record these times and chart each hour of the night. This method of recording time is generally believed to have originated in 2400 BC, but in fact twelve existing examples found in Egyptian temples have proven that this method was more valued at that time as a method for the undead. An important way to provide wealth in the underworld. In the temple of Ramses IV, a seated human figure was found that was arranged in the position of the stars in the sky. Using these star positions, it is easy to express the exact time of night in a fourteen-day cycle of the year.
A further application of the deified time calendar of ancient Egypt is that it can indicate the controlling stars at any time through the movement of stars and asterisms. These guardian spirits of the twelve hours of daylight under the realm of the sun are particularly important in mythology. Of course, the patron saint at night is also important. When the sun god sinks below the horizon, he must pass through the realms of the gods in each hour zone in the dark world. These gods opened the door for the Sun God and sent him to the next realm. The password to open the door was known only to the guardian gods of the night. The concept of the God of Hours is also used in astrology, especially when astrological judgments need to be accurate to a certain hour or hours. But later the planets were unified as guardians of each hour, and became very effective descriptive omens in astrological inquiries.
However, planetary time is not fixed and continuous like ordinary clocks. It changes in length, which is also a manifestation of following the Egyptian calendar. Through the invention of the water clock, the Egyptians created a 24-hour day for the first time, including 12 hours during the day and 12 hours at night.
At the spring and autumn equinoxes, the 24 hours of day and night are equally divided, but at other times of the year, the length of each hour often changes. Their calculation method is: divide the sunrise to sunset into 12 hours of daytime, and then divide the sunset to sunrise into 12 hours of nighttime. Therefore, the 12 hours of daytime are longer in summer and shorter in winter; the 12 hours of night are shorter in summer and longer in winter.
Since sunset and sunrise were defined as the "death" and "rebirth" of the sun, they have held great significance. The appearance or disappearance of the sun changes a person's entire life pattern from active to silent. The time calendar left by the Egyptians is very valuable for marking such changes. Religious ceremonies are often held at sunrise (such as morning prayers in English churches, Catholic midnight or dawn prayers) - one of the functions of the priest - to invoke the divine power of the daytime planets. This planet is regarded as the commander of the sky at this time, and the guardian planet of this hour is also the agent of this person in this life. The astrological hourly ruling order is in the astrological order of the planets: Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury. Another religious ceremony (Vespers, the evening prayer of the seven daily Catholic prayers) is held at the eighth hour of the day, when the ruler of this hour changes back to the planet that rules the day. Although the seven days of our current week are still named after these planetary rulers, planetary hours were considered suitable only for use in mystical doctrines. The system of equal lengths of 24 hours was introduced in the Greek cultural era and has been developed to this day, but this time system completely separates the connection between each day and the seasons.