Astrology
There were elements in the Greek world that may have come from the East, partly Egyptian and Babylonian, which gave rise to astrology. The basic conviction of astrology was that the heavenly bodies were deities that in a direct way control life and events on earth. An older idea of tychē, or “fate,” originally signified the chance element in the universe, a capriciousness that increased insecurity. Astrology transformed this into a fate or destiny in which everything is strictly regulated by celestial deities. Man’s problem, then, is that of finding security from overwhelming powers outside human control. One way is to “read a horoscope.” Because the heavenly deities are systematic and orderly according to astronomic observation, this order and regularity can be exploited to see how and in what way events will happen and can perhaps be used or avoided. Another way is to deal with such forces through magic. From the Hellenistic period many magical papyri with formulas for dealing with sicknesses, demons, and other adverse forces have been found. Magic attempts to manipulate and control what affects the world by a kind of participation in the event.