Speakers

Name: Itziar Azkona

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Abstract:
From the old adage As Above So Above So Below and As Inside So Outside, we could go as far as the Oscar for Best Picture in 2023, passing through the Hegelian theory that describes the thesis-antithesis process as the irremediable path to synthesis, inspired by Heraclitus' theory of enantiodromy. From a critical viewpoint, what role does astrology play in this process and at this current moment in time in Western Culture?

Name: Nick Campion

Confessionalisation and the Great Comet of 1618

Abstract:
The sky came alive in the Autumn and Winter of 1618 when three comets appeared in quick succession. In terms of the relationship between the above and the below comets were troublesome things. They could not be predicted and so represented both potential disturbance in the natural order, and unexpected warning signs from God. The last of the three comets in the sky above, and the brightest, was visible for a month and attracted huge attention in the world below, both in terms of its nature and its significance. For astronomy, it was the first, comet to be observed through a telescope, and is now regarded as a turning point in the scientific revolution. For practitioners of horoscopic astrology, the comet was a sign of trouble to come. For devout Christians, it was a sign of God’s unfolding plan. And what God required was a confession of faith in the true church and doctrine, a movement we call confessionalisation. This talk will look at two texts, John Bainbridge’s An Astronomicall Description of the Late Comet, first published in 1618, and William Lilly’s England’s Propheticall Merlin, Foretelling to all Nations of Europe until 1663 written in 1642-3 and explore responses to the comet, and their context and significance.

The Awe and Wonder of the Sky: Experiencing the Above Below

Abstract:
The origins of modern western astrology lie in direct experience of the sky as a source of divinely inspired information about terrestrial affairs, including correct actions in any given circumstances. There were no horoscopes, no zodiac signs, and neither houses nor aspects. In this talk I will discuss issues and contemporary conversations around the awe and wonder of the sky and the way we encourage direct experience of celestial phenomena in the MA in Cultural Astronomy, complete with some examples from student work.

Name: Wade Caves

Finding Fortuna: a technical mirroring of the mind

Abstract:
The Hellenistic tradition bifurcated early in its codification, one track following Dorotheus and the other his younger contemporary, Ptolemy (Greenbaum, 2016). The key drivers of the split are many, but they converge in a single issue: whether to reverse the Lot of Fortune for nocturnal charts. In a close examination of what is said about lot theory, from Manilius to Dorotheus, from Ptolemy to Valens, we will outline how the choice made regarding Fortune’s calculation trickles downstream to impact any branch of astrology availing itself of the lots.

Name: Dawn Collins, Margaux Crump and Jake Eshelman

Water Moves: Exploring the Sky, Geography, and Deep Ecology of Sacred Springs in Wales

Abstract:
Inspired by the visual and ontological reflections between the stars and spring water, Water Moves is a collective research project exploring the deep ecology of wellsprings in Wales. It explores existing historical, mythological, and artistic studies surrounding these sites, drawing upon their catalog of landscape imagery, poetry, and folklore, and the lived cosmologies of local communities to reveal and engage with the deep ecology of wellsprings.

This presentation will share some of our ongoing research on wellsprings as sites of continued cultural, social, spiritual, and ecological significance. We will contextualize the project within our individual research journeys, beginning with the catalyst for this research: Margaux Crump's photographic diptych "As Above, So Below", in which she juxtaposed an image of the microbiology contained within a single drop of well water with an accompanying image of the night sky taken directly above the well site. Through folklore and the photographic language of portraiture, we will consider the personhood and agency of wellwaters. We will discuss how image-making empowers us to reveal, understand, and participate within an ecology of the unseen. Lastly, we will offer our perspectives on the value of artistic research practices for communities in connecting with and participating in the living culture of wellspring sites through the lens of our contribution to the Laleston Wells Project, discussing the potential value and importance of engagement through the arts for human reflections, connections and dances with (un)seen beings.

Name: George Coutts

What’s Natural: A Considered Reading of Ptolemy’s On the Diseases of the Soul

Abstract:
In On the Diseases of the Soul, Ptolemy offered his take on how “diseases” might be handled astrologically. Before delving into method, he defined a disease as ‘those extremes of character which either fall short of or exceed the mean.’ (Tetrabiblos, 3.14) Flowing from his point of definition, Ptolemy proceeded to outline astrological methods for managing epilepsy, and offered tips for insight on what he called ‘excesses and deficiencies in matters of sex, male and female, as compared with what is natural.’ (3.14) The rest of his treatise laid out how certain combinations of natal planets may indicate the way in which a person might express their sexuality, and whether or not that manner of expression was appropriate, or ‘natural’ for them based on their sex. This presentation will consider Ptolemy’s notion of a dichotomous “natural” sexuality, and its grounding within broader contemporaneous conversations about masculinity, femininity, and sexual expression.

Name: Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum

‘As thou daily conversest with the heavens, so instruct and form thy minde according to the image of Divinity’: Lilly's Remark and the Divinatory Mode in Astrology

Abstract:
Astrology in western culture arose from the intimate connections between earth and sky. The heavens were seen as places inhabited by gods. Plato, in Timaeus, calls the planets and stars the ‘visible and generated gods’ (40d), and tells us that ‘we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant’ (90a6-7) who are connected to that source of divinity. Astrology is a language of sign and symbol, whereby we interpret the heavenly patterns in relation to life on earth. This interpretation uses metaphor and analogy, and in its highest expression taps into some form of knowing that goes beyond what we think we know. This is what I would characterise as its divinatory capacity, although it does not make itself available every time one interprets a chart. In this talk I shall explore the roots of this divinatory mode, its elusiveness in practice and its role in judgement, proper timing and correct interpretation.

Name: Ulla Koch

The Babylonian Diviner's Manual

Abstract:
The so-called "Babylonian Diviner's Manual" is unique within the Babylonian corpus of astrological texts in that it describes general principles and the sitz-im-leben of the Babylonian astrologer. It was composed in the early first millennium BCE and draws upon traditional texts but offers the diviner a special method to annul sinister signs by means of manipulating or recalibrating the calendar. One of the fundamental principles expressed in the text is that signs from heaven and earth go together, something that happens in the sky - a celestial sign - will have a counterpart on earth - a corresponding event and vice versa.

Name: Alejo Lopez

‘As above, so below’ in movies: exploring the cinematic sunset symbolism in films

Abstract:
Ingmar Bergman, often considered among the greatest film directors of all time, asserted that no artistic medium surpassed film in its ability to transcend ordinary consciousness. With a rich tapestry of visual storytelling, filmmakers often weave symbolism into their narratives by employing elements such as the sky to mirror the psychological landscapes of their characters. This session aims to study the role of the sunset as a potent motif in three different films: Lovers of the Arctic Circle by Julio Medem (released in 1998), Before Sunset by Richard Linklater (released in 2004), and Your Name by Makoto Shinkai (released in 2016).

This exploration aims to uncover how the cinematic portrayal of the sunset may serve as a metaphor or manifestation of the characters' internal journeys. By examining these films, I seek to reflect on the relationship between the natural phenomenon of the setting sun and the psychological processes unfolding within the film narrative. The sky in movies may serve as a reflective mirror, capturing the essence of human emotion.

Name: Nicole Montag-Keller

In what ways does the ceiling in the Goetheanum exhibit the hermetic requirements of ‘As Above, So Below’ and in what ways would it fulfil the second part of the phrase ‘As Below, so Above’?

Abstract:
The second Goetheanum building in Dornach, headquarter of the Anthroposophical Society (AAG) and the ‘School of Spiritual Science’, exhibits a ceiling painting in the theatre hall, which could suggest referencing the hermetic phrase ‘as above, so below’.[1] The presentation would focus on the twelve motives of the ceiling and their embeddedness in the building as an expression of anthroposophical cosmology. It will be argued, that not only the ceiling but other architectural aspects reference the relationships between microcosm and macrocosm and how each individual within the Goetheanum could establish a relationship between earth and cosmos through the building.

Name: John Murray

A Benedictine Science of the Stars – the Cosmology and Astrology of Hildegard of Bingen as Revealed in a Twelfth-Century Manuscript Fragment

Abstract:
In the middle of the 12th- century, the Benedictine polymath and magistra Hildegard of Bingen (ca. 1098 CE - †1179 CE) set herself to writing two medico-scientific treatises. One of these, the Liber Compositæ Medicinæ, or Causae et Curae, is considered part of a larger manuscript now lost. In the year 1222 CE, a miscellany of manuscripts by and about Hildegard was assembled - the Codex Berolinensis. Among these is a manuscript of thirteen folios with a decidedly apocalyptic orientation entitled the Thuringiæ Revelationes, acknowledged by medievalists as an enigmatic, aphoristic-styled collection of miscellany now referred to as the Berlin Fragment. The topics addressed by Hildegard in this manuscript fragment are diverse, comprising medical astrology, cosmography, melosthesia, disease treatments, agriculture, and eschatology. Included is a cosmological treatment of the four elements, the four winds, the planets of antiquity, sixteen stellae maiores (luminous fixed stars) and the how these are embedded in a reciprocal duality of macrocosm-microcosm.

Eight centuries later, a translation to English of the entirety of the Berlin Fragment has been completed and forms the basis of the study presented here. Among the findings from the study is the advancement of a hypothesis that one potential impetus for the astrological orientation in Hildegard’s medico-scientific works is contemporaneous with, and was possibly stimulated by, spectacular celestial phenomena which she witnessed in the period 1145 CE to 1147 CE – inclusive of the Great Conjunction of 1146 CE in Taurus.

Name: Izabela Podlaska-Konkel

The Horoscope as an Image of the Sky in the Practice of the Hellenistic Astrologers

Abstract:
Hellenistic astrologers used a board and the planetary stones (for the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Ascendant) to visualise the elements of the natal chart during the meeting with a client. Evidence of this can be found in the Greek magical papyri (e.g. PGM CX) and in the literary descriptions of astrologers at work in the Alexander Romance and in Nonnus of Panopolis' Dionysiaca. The image of the sky depicted on the ancient astrological board discovered at Grand in France in the second half of the 20th century shows the Sun and the Moon (Helios and Selene) in the centre of the board surrounded by the zodiac together with astrological terms marked by numbers (where which the planetary stones were placed), decanal names and figures of decanal gods placed near the edges of the board. Interestingly, in the early chapters of his Anthology (Anthologiae), Vettius Valens, a second-century Hellenistic astrologer, describes the elements of the chart in almost the same order as he presents the basics of the astrological craft: first the Sun, the Moon and the planets, then twelve zodiacal signs, terms and the Ascendant. Is it a coincidence or did the maker of the board and Vettius Valens share the same astrological pattern for mapping and interpreting the heavens? The purpose of this paper is to examine how the elements of the ancient astrological board reflect the Hellenistic astrologers’ approach to the heavens and how they fit with the rules of the chart interpretation in the context of Vettius Valens' astrological manual.

Name: Luis Ribeiro

A Science of Correlations: connecting the celestial and the earthly

Abstract:
The main key to celestial prognostication is the ability to establish a correspondence between a celestial body or configuration with an analogous earthly event. Developed throughout millennia of practice, observation, and measurement among diverse cultural contexts, the doctrine of astrological interpretation is probably one of the most sophisticated systems of its type. The astrological system offers a library of human experiences in the form of celestial configurations where the simplest mundane task or the most profound religious ritual have a place. This lecture will explore some of the correlations established by the astrological system and their importance to the understanding of its doctrine particularly when engaging historical examples.

Name: Fabio Silva

Heaven and Earth are not Two, or how to make a case for celestial alignments

Abstract:
For most of the last forty years, research into the alignment of architectural structures to celestial events was split along two distinct methodologies: the so-called brown archaeoastronomy, common in the New World, focused on ethnographic and historic sources to support, and make sense of, claims of alignments; whereas green archaeoastronomy, predominant among those who studied prehistoric Europe, relied on the measurement of large numbers of similar structures in the search for patterns that may betray intentionality. Recently, the line that separates these two has blurred significantly, leading several authorities to claim that the divide no longer exists (Henty 2022).

With recourse to recently published work it will be argued that, despite blurring, the field is still stuck in a dichromatic rut, seeking either ethno-historic confirmation of intentionality or alignment-hunting to support those already identified. To break free from this it is necessary to re-evaluate the very assumptions underlying this type of work – assumptions about how a society’s skyscape relates to their material remains, i.e. how that which is above relates to that which is below.

The ethnographic and historical record indicate that most societies conceive reality as fundamentally relational. The skyscape, in particular, finds itself embedded in relational webs with all aspects of the natural and social world(s). Drawing inspiration from such ethnographic examples (e.g. Fabian 1992, Lévi-Strauss 1979) as well as from the most theoretically developed relational ontology in the world – Far Eastern thought (e.g. Han 2023, Jullien 2004)– it will be argued that archaeoastronomy needs not to blur, but to break out of the brown/green divide by embracing relationality. Using Stonehenge as a case study (Ruggles and Chadburn 2024), this talk will discuss how the entire breadth of the archaeological record must be considered, thereby proposing a novel, entirely relational, way of constructing arguments in favour of celestial alignments.

Name: Anupam Suman

"Fate (Daiva) from above, Freewill (Puruṣakāra) from below" : Decoding the Philosophical Compatibilism of Indian Jyotiḥśāstra with Varāhamihirian Texts

Abstract:
This paper aims to present an original translation and analysis of two rare Sanskrit texts of Varāhamihira, the 6th century Indian astronomer and astrologer. The first chapter of both these texts (known as Bṛhadyātrā and Yogayātrā) is named as daivapuruṣkārādhyāya which literally means ‘the chapter on daiva (fate) and puruṣakāra (human effort)’. Taking benefit from the Greek and Roman astrological traditions, Varāhamihira tried to amalgamate the foreign knowledge with Vedic Jyotiḥśāstra. However, to legitimise the new divinatory system with a concrete philosophy, Varāhamihira had to combine the two theories of human destiny co-existed in the Indian knowledge-system – the exact-science of Jyotiḥśāstra and the metaphysics of karman. The above-mentioned chapter is the product of that combining approach where Varāhamihira propagates the compatibilism theory of human destiny. While accepting the decree of fate (daiva), he also brought the philosophy of karman into Jyotiḥśāstra and thus underlined the importance of moral conduct and responsible actions. In the texts under consideration, he argued that the current life actions are important in determining human destiny. In this way, he becomes probably the only mainstream astrologer of the ancient world who discusses the dichotomy of fate and freewill in very clear words. Elaborating on the verses of the said texts with an explanatory commentary, this paper will try to present the views of Indian Jyotiḥśāstra on the Hermetic idea of ‘as above, so below’.

Name: Graeme Tobyn

Culpeper our English Paracelsus?

Abstract:
Historians of early modern medicine style Nicholas Culpeper, the seventeenth-century herbalist and astrologer, a Paracelsian. In what sense did they mean this? Did Culpeper know anything about alchemy? Was his astrological herbalism not more Hermetic, “as above, so below”? And what bearing does the translator of the Hermetic texts, Marsilio Ficino, philosopher, priest and astrologer have on Culpeper’s star healing? Drawing on his doctoral thesis, Graeme unpicks and differentiates the influences in play in mid-seventeenth century London, when a king was publicly executed and censorship suspended.