By Sarah Cope | 2026-04-28

Across human history, there has been a persistent fascination with the cosmos. In this three-part series, BlueShift takes a deeper look at the way ancient civilizations in very different parts of the world interpreted the heavens.

Ancient European cultures used symbols, myths and astronomical observations to interpret life, death and humanity’s place in the universe.

Celestial movements were thought to align with the will of the gods, studied as divine messages and practical guides for agriculture, navigation and ritual life.

While the methods used to observe and understand the skies varied among cultures as different as those of the Norse in Scandinavia and ancient Greece and Rome, a clear common pattern has been identified.

This indicates a widespread religious and cultural emphasis on celestial bodies, and a desire to relate terrestrial happenings to celestial events.

'Harmony of the Spheres'

While we have Pythagoras to thank for his theorem, a foundational concept in geometry, the Greek philosopher also spent time pondering the cosmos.

Pythagoras linked mathematics, music and philosophy with cosmology in an effort to explain natural phenomena he observed on Earth.

He was a proponent of the "harmony of the spheres," a theory that posits that the movement of celestial bodies produces an inaudible sound.

As the first to identify the inverse relationship between the length of a string and the pitch of a note, Pythagoras established that intervals between two harmonious notes forms a simple numeric ratio.

From his exploration of music, sound and motion, Pythagoras hypothesized that the Sun, moon and planets must also make sound in their orbits.

He suggested that the difference between planets could be conceived of as "tones" that were harmonious.

This theory raised a question -- if these sounds existed, why didn’t humans notice them?

Pythagoras argued that this "music of the spheres" was so continuous in human existence, humans had no point of reference for true silence, and thus our idea of silence included the frequencies emitted by planetary motion.

Greek philosophers also developed detailed models of the solar system, laying the foundation for modern astronomy and centuries of scientific exploration.

With a preliminary architecture of the solar system identified, the Greeks and their neighbors, the Romans, named the observed planets after their gods, reflecting the belief in a connection between the cosmos and divine entities.

Greek and Roman deities

The Greeks and Romans named the largest planet in the sky, Jupiter (or Zeus), for the king of the gods and the god of the sky and thunder.

Mercury was named for Mercurius (Hermes), of the winged sandals, who served as the pantheon’s swift messenger due to the planet’s perceived faster movement through the solar system.

Venus (Aphrodite), seen as the most beautiful "star" in the night sky, was named for the goddess of beauty and fertility, while with its blood red hue, Mars (Aries) earned its name from the god of war.

Saturn (Kronos) was named for the god of agriculture and time.

Roman religious practices believed that the position of the planets could indicate the will of the gods. Key religious events were positioned around astronomical events such as solstices and equinoxes.

Archaeological excavation at Pompeii has found that nine of 11 temples were aligned with the rising of certain stars or with the position of the Sun or moon on certain holidays.

The Greeks and Romans were far from alone in their fascination with celestial bodies or the nexus between spiritual practices and astronomy, borrowing from and building upon the Babylonian Zodiac.

Ancient Babylonian astronomers were able to use mathematical models to calculate planetary positions.

By the fifth century BCE, Babylonians had established a uniform mathematical division framework to understand the movement of celestial bodies.

A practice of divination based on planets and their movements emerged. It was believed that astronomical events were indicators of the feelings of the gods with which they are associated and drove certain ritual practices. The Babylonian system spread and informed ancient Greco-Roman astrological practices.

Astronomical alignment

Further north, the ancient Norse’s idea of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, was seen as the central pillar of existence, representing the structure of the universe, with its roots and branches connecting the nine realms in Norse mythology.

The roots and branches of Yggdrasil were the divine conduit between Asgard (the realm of the Gods), Midgard (Earth), and Hel (the underworld).

Similar to the temples discovered in Pompeii, Stonehenge -- a prehistoric ring of massive sarsen stones and smaller bluestones in what is now England -- is believed to have served as an astronomical observatory.

Stonehenge's structure is aligned with the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice, underscoring a longstanding emphasis on the Sun and the moon, long before modern astronomy and technology.

Across Europe, other megalithic structures show the pervasiveness of a sophisticated understanding of planetary movements and robust observation of the night sky.

Carnac in France is famous for having the largest concentration of Neolithic standing stones -- over 10,000 -- and some theories argue that the stones may have some astronomical alignment.

Ireland’s Newgrange, built around 3,200 BCE, is an enormous passage tomb, with an opening in the roof that aligns with the winter solstice sunrise, illuminating the inner chamber.

While Newgrange’s exact purpose and history remains unknown and an object of study, it is believed to have had religious significance.

Other Irish passage tombs, including Carrowkeel in County Sligo, also align with solstices and equinoxes, indicating the likelihood of some importance of celestial events to ancient spiritual practices associated with life and death.