It must be remembered that it was the almost universal belief in
those days, that all the celestial spheres revolved in some
mysterious fashion around the earth, which appeared by far the most
important body in the universe. It was imagined that the sun, the
moon, and the stars indicated, in the vicissitudes of their
movements, the careers of nations and of individuals. Such being the
generally accepted notion, it seemed to follow that a professor who
was charged with the duty of expounding the movements of the heavenly
bodies must necessarily be looked to for the purpose of deciphering
the celestial decrees regarding the fate of man which the heavenly
luminaries were designed to announce.
Kepler threw himself with characteristic ardour into even this
fantastic phase of the labours of the astronomical professor; he
diligently studied the rules of astrology, which the fancies of
antiquity had compiled. Believing sincerely as he did in the
connection between the aspect of the stars and the state of human
affairs, he even thought that he perceived, in the events of his own
life, a corroboration of the doctrine which affirmed the influence of
the planets upon the fate of individuals.
[PLATE: KEPLER'S SYSTEM OF REGULAR SOLIDS.
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