Dedicated to Dr Gary Posner and Skeptics everywhere.
Galileo's Finger

Galileo's middle finger, pointing southwest towards Rome, is preserved in the Museum of the History of Science in Florence. He held the Chair of Astrology at the University in Padua and was the first to realize that the planets revolved around the Sun, not the earth as had been taught by the Church for centuries.   After being imprisoned by the Inquisition for postulating this heretical position,  he was finally released as long as he promised not to ever publish his theory again.  For good measure, and to ensure his silence, his mother was imprisoned for the rest of her life.  How very appropriate that this universal gesture of defiance is raised for all time next to the very instruments he measured the stars with. 

Here is an astrolabe he might have used  from the Medici collection at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence Italy. 

Although the Church had deemed Galileo's theory as heresy,  the Vatican very much needed the science of Astrology in order to accurately maintain the Liturgical Calendar.  For example, Easter Sunday is calculated as being the first Sunday after the Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.  This can be as early as the end of March and as late as the end of April.  In order to calculate the Equinox, you first have to calculate when the Solstice is and proceed from there.  Complex calculations were required to mark these points and it was decided to place permanent markers cut into the floors of Cathedrals  because of both their large square footage and walls high enough for the angle of the Oculus based on the 42 - 43 degree latitudes of Rome, Florence and Bologna.

This is the Meridian, the DaVinci Code "Rose Line", at the Cathedral Santa Maria Degli Angeli in Rome, Italy

The small beam of light enters the Cathedral from the Oculus, positioned high on the wall for Rome's latitude.   The calculations for the Oculus were done by Michelangelo.

This the Meridian Line,  with the orbits of the planets outlined,  in Santa Maria De Angeli in Rome.  I was there a week after the June 2003 Solstice, late in the afternoon and you can see the Sun lighting up the line at the column towards the back.

The Meridian line is built right into the floor of the Cathedral.  The line itself is made of bronze, with bronze star insets in the marble mosaic.

This is the beginning of the line at Cancer, sunrise on the day of the Summer Solstice.

This is the end of the line - Capricorn -  sunset on the Longest Day of the Year.

The different signs of the Zodiac are imbedded in the floor in marble mosaics.  My favorite one is Scorpio.

Aries the Ram

Gemini, the Twins

Virgo, the ONLY Female Sign of the Zodiac.  

This is my favorite - Scorpio, hiding behind the pillar, tail raised ready to strike. 

Sagittarius - The Archer

Aquarius, the Water Bearer

Pisces, Two Fish tails tied together swimming in opposite directions. 

My favorite place to find signs of the Zodiac written in stone is in Washington DC.  Of course, what else would you expect from a Virgo Town?  I say if the Zodiac is good enough to adorn the facades of our government buildings it is good enough for me. 

In October 1987, I found myself testifying in Washington DC in front of Senator William Proxmire about problems with the F-16. I was in the Senate Hearing room at the Dirksen building when I looked up and saw, to my amazement, that I was sitting under the Zodiac glyph for Libra.  As I looked around the room I saw that each of the 12 signs of the zodiac were inset into the ceiling tiles of the room.  It was so appropriate that I, an Astrologer, while exercising my First Amendment Right to Petition the Government to Redress a Grievance,  was testifying under the sign of Libra the Scales. These photos are from the Architect of the Capitol Photography Database, and are the actual construction designs and official photos.  With most sincere thanks to my friend Paul Casasco for the photos.  

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

Johannes Kepler

What you see here I found at the University of California Santa Cruz in the McHenry special collections department.  

This is the natal chart of an Austrian nobleman, Hans Hannibal Hutter von Huttershofen, born at 5:00 pm on Sept 10, 1586. 

This is an astrological chart drawn by none other than Astronomer Johannes Kepler, who said 

"Unto all men God has given his manner of sustenance - to the astronomer it is astrology". 

My favorite book  is Johannes Kepler's "On the more certain fundamentals of
astrology" (Prague, 1601).

While traveling around Greece in 2005, I found these mosaics from 5 AD in a Museum in Argos - wonder if it is Virgo and Gemini.