Speakers

The Buried Moon: a spiritual fairy tale of our prehistoric ancestors?

Abstract:
The Buried Moon is a folk tale first collected by folklorist Marie Clothilde Balfour in the late nineteenth century, and which subsequently appeared in Joseph Jacobs collection of English Fairy Tales. It tells of the moon descending from the sky, in the form of a woman, to illuminate the Lincolnshire Fens, protecting the local people from the supernatural dangers lurking in the darkness. This unusual tale was described by Jacobs as being ‘distinctly mythical in character’, and its apparent uniqueness led Katherine Briggs to suggest it might be interpreted as evidence of pre-Christian moon worship. Others, however, have questioned the origins of the story, going so far as to accuse Balfour of creating it herself, and passing it of as a piece of genuine folklore. This talk will use The Buried Moon to explore whether a children’s fairy tale can genuinely reveal something of the spiritual beliefs of our prehistoric ancestors or says more about Victorian projections of those beliefs.

Name: Nick Campion

The Kumbh Mela: A Meeting of Minds, Rivers and Planets

Abstract:
The Kumbh Mela is the world’s greatest single religious gathering. In February 2025 I attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or great Kumbh Mela, the largest for 140 years, at the city of Prayagraj (formerly Alahabad). The festival is timed according to the cycles of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter and the 2025 gathering was celebrated at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, the latter of which exists only spiritually. The central ritual is to bathe in the Ganges, as an act of atonement and purification. A reputed 400 million people attended the festival, with 40 million present at any one time. I will report on my visit and consider whether and, if so, how, academic theories of religion and ritual can help frame the experience.

Name: Krystyna Cap

‘Arabic Astrology’ in Eleventh-Century Winchester? A Tale of Two Manuscripts

Abstract:
The revival of technical, horoscopic astrology, sometimes termed ‘Arabic astrology’, has its roots in the twelfth-century translation movement. While most scholars have dated its revival to this period, others have proposed that tenth- and eleventh-century manuscripts containing popular prognostic texts and even mathematical procedures for locating planets in the zodiac could point to an earlier dating for the revival of astrology’s more technical form. In this presentation, I intend to examine what two eleventh-century Winchester manuscripts reveal about the state of astrological knowledge, how their contents may have been used within didactic and pastoral contexts, and whether we can indeed consider an earlier dating for the revival of technical astrology.

Name: Jo Edge

'Afflicted in her mind more than her soul': mental disturbance and the distinction between mind and soul in the casebooks of Richard Napier (1558–1634)

Abstract:
This paper will look at mental disturbance in the astrological-medical casebooks of Richard Napier, which survive in a run from 1598–1634 and are partially transcribed and digitised (casebooks.lib.cam.ac.uk). It will examine cases where a distinction is made between 'mind' and 'soul', such as Joan Aborn, about whom Napier was consulted in 1609, said to be tempted by Satan to kill herself or her child. Napier noted that she was 'afflicted in her mind more than her soul', showing a distinction between the two. Napier's A treatise touching the Defence of Astrology will be used to provide further context on his astrological thinking around these concepts.

Name: Miłosława Krogulska

Lost in Translation: Saggitarius and oclopeta. The challenges faced during the translation of ancient astrological texts into contemporary languages, with the example of Cena Trimalchionis by Petronius.

Abstract:
Cena Trimalchionis contains a fascinating list of animals assigned to the signs of the zodiac. Some of these correspondences are relatively straightforward and references to them can be found in Petronius' contemporary astrological tradition. However, others, such as the oclopeta attributed to Sagittarius (Petr., Sat., 35,4) have long posed an interpretative enigma and caused problems for translators. In my lecture, I will discuss the fascinating investigation that historians of astrology, classical philologists and literary translators have undertaken to determine the possible meaning of the word. The oclopeta provides a clear illustration of the challenges encountered in translating astrological material, including variations in manuscripts and textual corruption, the knowledge of the context, and the problem of intertextuality.

Name: Roderick Main

Astrology in Jung and Pauli’s The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche

Abstract:
One of the major components of C. G. Jung’s influence on the development of psychological astrology is his concept of synchronicity, expounded most fully in his essay ‘Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle’. This essay includes both a general discussion of divination and a chapter-length report on ‘An astrological experiment’ aimed at both demonstrating the existence of synchronicity and gaining insight into the psychic factor involved in it. Less often noted is that Jung’s essay was originally published in a joint volume, The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche (1952/trans. 1955), alongside an essay by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli on ‘The Influence of Archetypal Ideas on the Scientific Theories of Kepler’, which also contains extensive discussion of astrology. Specifically, Pauli discusses Kepler’s ‘peculiar conception of astrology’ as the soul’s instinctive response to geometrical proportions among light rays emanating from the planets, in which, Pauli notes, astrology is ‘completely integrated with scientific-causal thinking’.

In this talk, I shall re-examine the astrological content of Jung’s and Pauli’s essays as it relates both to their individual arguments and to the joint project of their collaborative book, which I take to be to develop a more holistic epistemology, with implications for current debates about the scientific and/or divinatory status of astrology.

Name: AJ Nicol

Countercultural Re-imaginings: The Age of Aquarius on TikTok

Abstract:
Social media platforms such as TikTok have become key sites for astrological discourse and information sharing in the digital age. Drawing from a thematic analysis of TikTok videos about the Age of Aquarius, this presentation will demonstrate how astrological beliefs are intertwined with politics, history and social media.

In addition, the presentation will explore the historical and cultural contexts that are present in discussions about the Age of Aquarius on TikTok, including Theosophy, Christopher Partridge's concept of Occulture, psychological astrology, and the convergence of New Age beliefs with far-right conspiracy theories, also known as 'Conspirituality' (Ward & Voas, 2011). The Age of Aquarius thus continues to be a countercultural phenomenon, acting as a microcosm of today’s political and social climate, shaping users’ mentalities about religion, politics, the economy, institutions and society.

Name: Fabio Silva

Geometrical abstractions and the move to a post-geometric skyscape archaeology

Abstract:
Archaeoastronomy had the potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistory, but it has largely failed and, therefore, needs radical change. Despite being as old as the study of prehistory, archaeoastronomy has not provided the array of robust studies necessary to improve its status as a niche, emerging field, let alone transform our understanding of prehistory. Of the many thousands of megalithic sites across prehistoric Britain and Europe, only for a handful of them (such as Stonehenge and Newgrange) has archaeoastronomy significantly contributed to the archaeological narrative to the point of being accepted and promoted by archaeologists and heritage bodies alike. It can be argued that the current state of affairs is largely due to archaeoastronomy being out of sync with modern archaeological method and theory based, as it is, on assumptions and approaches that are over one hundred years old.

This talk will argue that for over 120 years archaeoastronomy has employed a geometric paradigm that involves the creation of geometrical abstractions (points and lines) that are not patent in the record of prehistoric people. In doing so, it will make suggestions of how emerging insights in skyscape archaeology are steering us toward a post-geometric paradigm — one that foregrounds an embodied, relational, ontologically flat and post-human approach to the field. Using examples from prehistoric Britain and Europe, it will show what a post-geometric skyscape archaeology might look like, what novel insights it may offer, and how it might better weave itself into wider prehistoric narratives.

Name: Anna Simms

‘This moost necessarye and godlye pronostication’: how astrology was made acceptable, accessible, and necessary by the early English print trade (1485-1558)

Abstract:
Reliance on the skies drew astrologers to the English court to act as physicians, tutors, and advisors but it would be through print that astrology’s influence would spill beyond the world of the court, acting as a moulder and mirror of public consciousness. While print was a relatively new experience for the English population, astrology was not and though other aspects of Medieval life and culture may have been dwindling, belief in the ‘science of the stars’ was growing and reaching audiences like never before.

Printed astrological texts are diverse and multi-faceted documents; containing a variety of information which was useful to the contemporary reader; both competent and emerging. However, the perpetuation of an assumption that these works are repetitive, and crude, has caused them to be disregarded as nothing more than ‘repositories of superstition’. Due to modern biases, and an enduring scholarly disregard for pre-1560’s print, astrological printed products have been marginalized; leading to an unbalanced and incomplete depiction of the early modern period and the preoccupations of those who dwelt there.

This paper addresses the ways in which astrology was adapted and presented by early English printers, to make it acceptable, accessible, and necessary to a society in the throes of religious and political change, and considers what this reveals about the relationship between people, the sky, and the stars in the early Tudor period.

Name: Lisa Stockley

Spirit and soul in contemporary psychological astrology; the experience of astrology students

Abstract:
This paper considers the role of soul, spirit and the sacred in contemporary psychological astrology, beginning with Patrick Curry’s observation that twentieth century psychological astrology has been ‘inconsistently secularised’ along with the perception that astrology can be a way of re-enchanting a secularised world. Based on research carried out with students of the Faculty of Astrological Studies, the practices and experiences of research participants will be compared with theoretical discussions around soul and the sacred in written sources on contemporary psychological astrology. Astrology as a psychological tool for self development, as part of a creative or spiritual practice and in the context of a broader spiritual journey will be explored.