Archetypal criticism of cosmic elements in the illustration of Safavid divination related to human destiny

Since long ago, the movements of celestial objects and what occurs in the sky have been wondrous and thought-provoking for humans. Their curious minds have continually sought clear answers to discover the relation between their destiny and celestial events. In historical documents and books, humans and the world have regarded their significant historical events to be related to celestial events and recorded them. Attention to this matter can also be observed in most religions and myths recorded by humankind. During the period after Islam, this relation laid the ground for one of the most important scientific activities of Muslims and numerous books have been written concerning astronomy. The presence of cosmic elements in works of art, including miniatures are a reminder of the importance of paying attention to celestial objects that humans believed played a role in their destiny. This research seeks answers that would clarify the relation between human destiny and celestial changes with a new meaning. Therefore, by examining some illustrations of the Persian Topkapi divination, looks for the reasons for believing in the relation between humans and celestial events and it answers the question of what were the concepts and meaning of the cosmic motifs used in these paintings, and what factors have contributed to the emergence of celestial elements and the belief in their influence on human destiny. The purpose of this research is to investigate the astronomical elements and to discover the cause of their belief in connection with human destiny, and in the way of reaching this goal, the theories of philosophers with an archetypal approach have been used. This research used a descriptive-analytical method and the documentary and library data were collected through note-taking and image-reading. Further, the data have been examined through qualitative analysis. The research results indicate that the cosmic elements have been created due to their clear concepts and effects on the destiny of generations of humans. Further, they have been passed down from generation to generation throughout centuries as a collective unconscious due to their significance and repetition. Ultimately, they have been recreated by artists to convey the concept according to the influential archetype in human destiny and have ended up in the form of illustrations. The identification and analysis of the secrets and symbols used in the illustrations of this study are the living witnesses to this theory.