The Ishtar Gate of Babylon in Astrology

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon in Astrology. The astrogeographical position of the procession street and gate at the ancient City of Babylon.

Related articles: The Ishtar Temple of Mari, Architecture and Astrology: Libra as the sign of symmetry, Lion statues in astrogeographical field study, The astrogeographical position of Bagdad and the astrology of Iraq, The Ziggurat tower of Babylon,

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon in Astrology

Ishtar Gate was the northern gate and part of the famous procession street in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon. The final design after the long history of its construction, as it can be seen in Pergamon Museum in Berlin was completed during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II . 605-562 BC.).

Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way were the site of the important New Year’s procession, which was part of a religious festival celebrating the beginning of the agricultural year on the day of the spring equinox (20 or 21 March). The rituals surrounding this celebrations lasted for twelve days.

Ishtar was a sky goddess and the most important deity in the Mesopotamian pantheon. She was worshiped as the goddess of love, sexuality and prostitution and was conceived to embody the planet Venus. Besides she was also revered as a goddess of war and equated with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. The lion images on Ishtar Gate are regarded as symbols of the royal position of Ishtar among the Babylonian deities.

Astrogeographic position for morphogenetic field level 3 which describes the atmosphere and energetical topics of the area of Ishtar Gate along with the procession street and surrounding area:  one coordinate of the site of Ishtar Gate area is located in air signs Gemini sign of signposts, symbols, letters, information, learning, propaganda, pathways, road crossings, bridges, technology and practical magic. Gemini stands for the symbolic function of the rituals held at the procession street as to document and display the state cult.

The second coordinate lay in female, aristocratic, service orientated air sign Libra sign of openness, doors, gates, harmony, balance, beauty, decoration, stage presentation, dancing, theater and show performances, symmetry, angels, love, relationship, marriage and prostitution. The astrogeographical resonance of the site with Libra the sign of rulership of Venus` aspect as the sign of relationship directly relates the place to the goddess Ishtar.

Both signs as air signs do not symbolize a fortress or stronghold character of this part of the city wall  but rather describe it as a meeting place and and an opening and pass through of the city fortress that guaranteed free and easy access into the city.

The City of Babylon

Astrogeographical position of the ancient capital city of Babylon for morphogenetic field level 1 which describes the supraregional, international aspects and role of the the city: the City of Babylon was located at 24° in water sign Cancer and 29° the last degree in earth sign Capricorn.

The Ziggurat Tower of Babel in Astrology

The position on the last degree of Capricorn the sign of mountains relates to the highest and final step and stage in the process of climbing up mountains as a simile of the highest stage of contact with the sky symbolized by fixed air sign Aquarius the sign of the sky itself. This aspect therefore resonates with the construction of the legendary skyscraper of the “Tower of Babel” today identified as the “Ziggurat of Babylon” known as the Etemenaki.

The Ziggurat Etemenanki (Temple of the foundation of heaven and earth) in Babylon considered as the tower of Babel by some scholars originally was 91 m tall and located in the combination of the highly defensive earth sign Scorpio (fortress character) with air sign Gemini the sign of language (!!!!), learning, communication and the unhindered expansion of technology.

Gemini the sign of communication, symbols, script,  letters, writing,  compatibility, intelligence and learning is the definite astrological indicator for language and also for bringing together different languages. Therefore the presence of this sign at the site of the Great Ziggurat of Babylon is fascinating enough to be mentioned here. In regard to the legend of the confusion of languages from the Book of Genesis during the construction of the tower of Babel Gemini could not have been the indicator for the hindrances of communication between tribes and nationalities resulting from their cooperation. In fact the opposite is the case:  Gemini is the indicator for the cooperation and communication of different cultures and also of course for their diversity, multiplicity and for their mingling. But Gemini as an indicator for critical review of religion and unhindered expansion of technology does of course not indicate that the Great Ziggurat of Babylon was a temple dedicated to the worship of a deity in the first place. This is to be seen as the element of Gemini here which would explain why “god” (or rather the priest castes) decided to separate humanity and create misunderstanding and warfare among humans in criticism of the Babylonian skyscraper.

“Book of Genesis 11:4–9 :

4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

6 And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Scorpio the sign of alertness, defense,  fortresses, bunkers, closed-up rooms, stone masonry and competition as the major indicator for the domination of individuals in social hierarchies, social systems, groups and herds is the obvious astrological factor to be considered as symptomatic of  (“responsible” for) the limitations of communication at the site of  the Great Ziggurat Etemenanki.  Scorpio is also the major indicator for nomadic cultures and lifestyle. It´s strictly dogmatic approach insisting on hierarchical structures and the domination of single individuals over groups is to be seen as a condition for the survival of nomadic tribes. Therefore the scattering of the tribes as a consequence of the Babylonian Tower Project indicates also a step back in culture from  farming to cattle-breeding cultures. Apart from these characteristics of Scorpio there are a few more aspect of this sign to be considered for the analysis of the choice of a place in Scorpio. Scorpio  is the most important astrological factor for stone masonry, sculpting, technological expertise in construction work, chemistry, alchemy and all attempts to construct buildings in an extremely solid way.

Large parts of the tower of Babel were made from bricks – by the traditional method of putting a mixture of mud mixed with special components into a frame made from wood for drying in the hot sun. This method of brick production could well be related to Scorpio.

In addition to the resonance of the bunker and fortress like design of the Tower of Babylon  with Scorpio the monumental, gigantic size of the building is also a symptomatic trait of design of Scorpio. Compare my article: Scorpio as the sign of sculpting.

Libra as the sign of symmetry

The symmetrical arrangement of the perspective on the procession street and the rectangular form of the towers are typical elements to be found in morphogenetic fields in Libra. Compare my article: Libra as the sign of symmetry

The Orangery Palace in Sanssouci Park also located two air signs – Libra and Aquarius – is a fascinating example for the parallel between Libra  the symmetry orientation and the emphasis on rectangular design.

Orangery Palace in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany is located in two air signs as well. The combination here is Libra with Aquarius. Note the arrangement of the symmetry (Libra) of the stairs leading upwards (Aquarius), the recrangular shape of the towers (Libra) and overall association of the shape of the central building of the Orangery with the astrological symbol of Libra.  An even more explicite representation of the symbol for Libra is the Gloriette building in the park of Schönbrunn Castle in Vienna;

A similar design was used for Brandenburg Gate in Berlin located in Libra with Taurus