Astrology and Music of the Spheres
Costas Tolis
2023-10-05
2023-10-05
The influence of astrology on the formation of the musical scale.
In Astrology we have 7 visible and sacred planets, of which 5 rule 2 signs each and the Sun and Moon rule 1. (For convenience, Sun and Moon are considered planets in Astrology.)
In Music we have 7 notes of which 5 have sharp # and 2 do not.
The signs in Astrology are 12 just like the Musical scale has 12 intervals.
So with a first and simple glance we saw the main similarities. But with a more careful look, perhaps, we will discover some more.
The note C (Do) is directly reminiscent of Jupiter (Deus) and just as Jupiter wherever it is gives joy, so the note C creates auditory pleasant feelings and is mainly used in songs that praise joy, celebration.
The note D (Re) on the other hand directly brings to mind the planet Mars and is usually used in wild and violent rhythms.
The note G (Sol-soul) although it has no grammatical similarity with any of the planets, is nevertheless used for melancholic purposes and thus we can without much reservation attribute it to the planet Saturn.
The note A (La) that is used in songs and rhythms that talk about Love, we can easily attribute it to Aphrodite.
The F (Fa) note, which does not have many songs starting with it, but plays an important role as a connecting link in the parts of all kinds of songs, logically we must attribute it to the planet Mercury, the messenger of the Gods.
The note E (Mi) is used in epic purposes and melodies, so to speak, that want to touch deeper emotions and anyway it has a depth incomparable to the other notes and since it does not have a sharp, we easily conclude that it corresponds to the Sun.
This leaves the B (Si) note which, like Fa (Mercury), is not used enough as a key in songs and is somewhat colorless by itself but takes its color from the reflections of others, such as the Moon. And it also has no sharp either.
In the same way we can match the signs with the Musical Scale since we believe that we have not fallen out in our attributions above. So we have:
Aries - Re
Taurus - La
Gemini - Fa
Cancer - Si
Leo - Mi
Virgo - Fa#
Libra - La#
Scorpio - Re#
Sagittarius - Do
Capricorn - Sol
Aquarius - Sol#
Pisces - Do#
As you can see, there are no coincidences here. The similarities are too many to attribute to coincidence.
The Music of the Spheres
Pythagoras, a mathematician and astronomer, was the first to discover a mathematical relationship between the frequencies of the various sounds of the musical scale and the movement of the planets in our solar system. He hypothesized that the orbits of the planets have a similar relationship based on distance from the center, and characterized their orbits as interrelated as a "harmony of the spheres."
It was the Greek philosophers who came up with the idea of "music of the spheres" and that the planets should make a sound as they move harmoniously through space. At that time, only seven planets were known: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and interestingly, Western music evolved with seven-tone scales. Music and Astrology come together in this suite dedicated to the seven planets.
Alan Leo in his book Esoteric Astrology has different correspondences which are wrong. I suppose he was influenced by Madame Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, and as both were not musicians, and neither were they Orientals, they tried unsuccessfully, at least on this point, to render Eastern Thought in the West.
You see there is a succession in the order of the signs related to their Elemental performance. The signs are grouped by Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, and the sequence is broken (not always) by the Sun and Moon (which aren't really planets), i.e., the Mi and Si notes that don't have sharps.
We again observe the Mysterious phenomenon of the "random" coincidences of the Incomprehensible and are overwhelmed by the Awe of the Infinite Design. :)