Midpoints in Astrology: Historical Origins

3/27/20261 hr 19 min

In the episode I trace the history and origins of the astrological technique called midpoints back to two students of Placidus who lived in the 17th century, and then tell the story of its recovery and popularization by German astrologers in the early 20th century. For the past twenty years, the history of midpoints has been shrouded in mystery. Many astrologers have speculated about its origins, with myths tracing the technique back to the 13th-century astrologer Guido Bonatti, the 2nd-century astrologer Claudius Ptolemy, or assuming it was invented from scratch by Alfred Witte and the Hamburg School around the 1920s. After spending a while researching the history, I'm excited to present the conclusions I came to and help set the record straight. It turns out that the midpoint technique actually originated in 1675. That is when two students of the famous astrologer Placidus, named Francesco Brunacci and Francesco Maria Onorati, introduced the concept of what they called "equidistances" in an appendix to the second edition of their teacher’s work, Physiomathematica. However, this technique almost didn't survive. Throughout the episode, I discuss how the midpoint doctrine went through two distinct periods of suppression: first by the Catholic Church and the Inquisition in the late 17th century, and later by the Nazis in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. We follow the lineage of the technique from its near-erasure in Italy, to its survival via a subtle reference by the 17th-century astrologer Antonio Francesco de Bonattis (not to be mistaken for Guido Bonatti), and finally to its rediscovery by Albert Kniepf in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. From there, we explore how the technique was championed and popularized by Alfred Witte and the Hamburg School and Uranian Astrology, as well as by Reinhold Ebertin through his approach called Cosmobiology, eventually becoming a staple of late 20th-century astrology. This is episode 529 of The Astrology Podcast. Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction00:01:45 What is a Midpoint?00:03:56 The Mystery of Historical Origins00:08:49 17th Century Origins of Midpoints00:16:55 Introduced by Students of Placidus in 167500:31:20 Did Ptolemy Mention Midpoints?00:34:01 Placidus's Works Banned by the Inquisition00:38:41 Antonio Francesco di Bonattis in 168700:43:39 Rediscovery and Popularization in Germany00:45:01 Albert Kniepf Recovers the Technique00:46:06 Alfred Witte and the Hamburg School00:49:39 Reinhold Ebertin and Cosmobiology00:54:06 Suppression of Astrology During WWII01:01:45 Popularization of Midpoints After WWII01:03:55 Summary and Conclusions01:10:16 Special Thanks and Sources01:16:35 Endcards Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfFK61RenOg

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First 90 seconds

Chris Brennan· Host0:00
In the late 20th century, a new technique called midpoints exploded into the astrological community and was adopted by a number of leading astrologers. But the origins surrounding this technique and history have been shrouded in mystery because there are a number of different speculations about when and how it was originated and how it was popularized. So some people, for example, there's some myths that trace it back saying that the technique goes back to the 13th century astrologer Guido Bonatti or even to the 2nd century astrologer Claudius Ptolemy. Other astrologers believe that it was invented from scratch by the Uranian astrologer Alfred Witte in the 1920s or in the early 20th century. So I've been researching this topic because it's something I've been thinking about for 20 years and I finally did a research project to figure it out. And it turns out that none of the speculations that people have had up to this point are true, but instead that the technique actually dates back to the 17th century with a couple of students of the famous astrologer Placidus, who's known for the system of house division that came to be named after him. So what I want to do in this episode is I want to present my research and I want to set the record straight and trace the lineage of the midpoint technique from its origins in the 17th century through its popularization among German astrologers in the early 20th