We see horoscopes in the newspapers, on our browsers, and when standing on line at the check out counter in the grocery store, most of us have seen those pocket-sized paper back booklets promising us health, wealth, love and happiness if we only learned the mysteries of the zodiac. So here’s the question: is astrology kosher?
First of all, it cannot be emphasized strongly enough that Judaism is a monotheistic religion, and we only worship one G-d. Before monotheism was discovered by Abraham, most people worshipped the sun, the moon, and believed that the stars guided their lives. Abraham, when he was only three years old, reasoned that there must be a prime mover behind these heavenly bodies, and concluded that there was one G-d who controlled the world. He won converts to his cause and eventually the belief that there was one G-d gained prominence.
The Torah speaks in very strong terms against those who try to predict the future through the constellations or who worship heavenly bodies. However, (and this was something I didn’t know until a few years ago), there is something called Jewish Astrology which is indeed kosher and is the source of Western astrology. In the Sefer Yetzirah, the earliest and one of the most important works in Jewish mysticism, the principles of Jewish astrology are described. Basically, the twelve months of the year (there are twelve Jewish months) correspond to the twelve tribes descended from Jacob. Each month also has a special letter of the Hebrew alphabet connected with it and an emotional trait. Those born in certain months may have a predisosition to certain behaviors that can be corrected or channeled in the right way. For instance, those born in Jewish month of Tevet, which is the month we are in now, have a tendency toward anger, and those born in this month can work on channeling the “angry” energy toward productive pursuits.
Basically, when I attended a lecture in Jewish Astrology, the Rabbi told me that it is alright to look at certain months as having certain “moods” and aspects, and to see how personality traits correspond to certain times. However, according to Jewish mysticism, the Jewish soul is beyond the zodiac, and can connect directly with Hashem.