Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought [Paperback]

Matityahu Glazerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1568219350 | ISBN-13: 978-1568219356

Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought uncovers the profound connection between Jewish mysticism and classic astrology by citing the many references scattered throughout Jewish literature to the influence of the stars on human destiny. Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson gives a month-by-month rendering of Jewish astrology according to kabbalah, summarizing the complex system of elements in Jewish thought that correlates to each astrological sign. The book also explains the unique relationship the Jewish people have to astrology, and under what circumstances astrological consultations are permitted to individuals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc. (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568219350
• ISBN-13: 978-1568219356
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astrology with an academic and historical, Jewish perspectiv, January 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought (Paperback)

I bought this book years ago and it remains one of my most treasured. The Introduction reads "The Practice of Judaism and The Science of Astrology" with quotes of Jewish law, Nadmanides, Rabbi Solomon Luria's commentary on Maimonides, the Zohar - and this is just the first few paragraphs! The table of contents includes each sign, i.e. Aries/Nissan, Taurus/Iyar, etc. Each page is chock full of quotes, anecdotes. I feel 'justified' as a Jew who also is an astrologer. You'll never want to let this book out of your library and I feel that you'll always be glad that you own it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Star stuff, August 28, 2007

By 

John McConnell (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought (Paperback)

Seemingly without exception, Western agnostics and atheists equate astronomical symbolism knowingly employed by ancient mystical writers as some evidence of religion being "bogus" and religious figures being "literary hoaxes". But such is not the case. The plain fact is our worldview has changed. We moderns are conditioned to "scientifically" view our Cosmos actually as chaos - random agglomerations of disparate and unrelated facts. This is our worldview. Unless we step back and examine our a priori premises, any appreciation of our true place in a Cosmos that IS "cosmos" (beautifully well ordered) must of necessity elude us. Moreover, the votes are not all in whether we've got it right. Further, every good scientist (Feynman, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Einstein, et alia) knows science *by definition* can make no meaningful refutation of the varieties of religious experience. Science and religion exist on two different planes of reality and human experience. And as Joseph Campbell observed, both the atheist and the religious fundamentalist "are stuck with their metaphor": The atheist *knows* the metaphor is false and the fundamentalist *knows* the metaphor is true. (Both *know* that their myth is most certainly *not* a metaphor.) True religious experience involves neither extreme.

The Hebrews are far more canny and deep in this area, having devoted thousands of years of careful study to religious symbolism and epistemology. The Hebrew (and Catholic) tradition views the incorporation of astronomical symbolism as both valid and necessary. To those with a mystical appreciation of the Cosmos and our place in it - as to the logical and well-ordered religious Hebrew mind - God doesn't create "random disparate facts". (As Einstein devoutly opined, "God doesn't play dice".) The Cosmos *is* a cosmos: There is order everywhere. Including the heavens.

Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought is a valuable resource for understanding the validity of astronomical symbolism in the Hebrew religious tradition. Like Mazzaroth by Frances Rolleston, which makes clear the incorporation of astronomical symbolism in the synoptic gospels, author Rabbi Glazerson provides an excellent discourse of twelve chapters (each devoted to one constellation) on astronomical symbolism in the Old Testament and Kabbalistic philosophy:

"Within Jewish literature, the source for the spiritual meaning of the astrological constellations is the Sefer Yetzirah ... whose authorship tradition attributes to the patriarch Abraham" (page ix).

This book is also a valuable reference for anyone studying the Western Hermetic Tradition's roots in the Sefer Yetzirah. Glazerson's analysis of the constellations Cancer (Hebrew, "Tammuz") and Sagittarius (Hebrew, "Kislev") sheds particular light on the Golden Dawn attributions of The Chariot to the eighteenth path and Temperance to the twenty-fifth path of the Hermetic Kabbalistic Tree. (There is, however, an editorial lapse from page 105 through page 107, in which material that belonged in the Tammuz chapter was erroneously placed in the Aquarius [Shevat] chapter.)

Highly praised for an (otherwise) extremely clear presentation.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Controversial but interesting, September 27, 2007

By 

Danny "dannyza" (JHB, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Above the Zodiac: Astrology in Jewish Thought (Paperback)

There is no rabbinical approbation on such a book (which is necessary in this field). The author does quote numerous rabbinical sources (however accurate they maybe is open to interpretation) - mainly the Ariz"al and the Zohar, as well as Rabbeinu Bachaya, Ramban and Ibn Ezra. I thought the historical map at the end was a nice summary of the book, but was not produced by the author. It was certainly an interesting find, the English translations and discussion should however be researched before any conclusions should be drawn from such a work.