ASTROLOGY 



among its disciples. Rudolph II., Emperor of Ger- 

 many, devoted much of his time to its practice, and 

 employed the celebrated Tycho-Brahe in this labor 

 and in astrological work. Lord Bacon, Spinoza, 

 Leibnitz and Sir Isaac Newton all believed in the 

 transmutation of metals through the Philosopher's 

 Stone. The minds of all men were so imbued with 

 the conviction that a-priori reasoning was the only 

 gateway to knowledge that the valuable results of 

 experiment were to a great extent lost. The concep- 

 tion that the Platonic, idealistic doctrine of the Form- 

 ative Spirit alone lent to matter its tangible exis- 

 tence gave birth to an endless number of imaginary 

 aerial beings that exercised a controlling influence 

 over all their work. Every metal stood under the 

 mysterious influence of one of the planets. It be- 

 came therefore necessary in their researches that the 

 astronomical, or rather the astrological, state of the 

 heavens should be observed, as it would be an all- 

 important factor in the hoped for result. Each 

 planet and each metal held control over certain por- 

 tions of the human body. The almanacs for the 

 people long held, and a few still hold, a chart in 

 which the human body is apportioned among the rul- 

 ing planets and the signs of the zodiac. This rela- 

 tion between them and the nature of man must also 

 enter into consideration, since the planets or certain 



