Short Course

Fate, Soul and Astrology - a journey from classical philosophy to today

With Bernadette Brady

This five-week course explores the chronological and thematic development of the idea of fate in Western thought. It parallels these ideas with the role and nature of fate in astrology, from the Hellenistic period to the present day.

The principal textbook for the course is Brady, Bernadette. The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice. Lampeter, Wales: Sophia Centre Press, 2025.

Times: Thursday evenings 7 pm – 9 pm UK Time. 16 October – 13 November 2025

All students have access to the course Moodle page, where the lecture recordings and any other supporting material will be placed each week. Recordings are available to students for a month after the last lecture.

Course Overview Video

Course Overview

16 October Week 1: The Ancient Roots of Fate

The course begins by examining contemporary assumptions in general society that fate is something fixed, unchangeable, and predetermined. To explore this position, we turn to the earliest expression of fate in the ancient literature of Ancient Egypt and Assyria. From these early works, we move into Homer's view of fate and the haunting destiny of Oedipus, as portrayed in the enigmatic play of Oedipus Rex from Athens in the fifth century BCE. This play raises issues of destiny and moral responsibility, which seem to be in stark contrast to the current assumptions surrounding fate. The role of this week is to provide a grounding in the earliest understandings of fate and the influence these understandings had on later philosophical speculation.

Reading

Introduction and Chapter 1 of Brady, The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice.

23 October Week 2: The struggle of Soul with Fate

In this second week, we turn to Plato and his development of the immortal soul with its freedom from fate. Other Greek thinkers challenged Plato's view. Aristotle questioned the immortality of the soul, while the Stoics bound fate and soul together to recommend a lifestyle of living in harmony with the planet. Later in the first century BCE, the Roman statesman Marcus Cicero put forward new thinking on the nature of fate, ideas that challenged the very foundations of astrology. Two astrologers from this period, Claudius Ptolemy and Vettius Valens, practised two very different forms of astrology in the light of these debates around fate and the soul.

Reading

Chapters 2 of Brady, The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice.

30 October Week 3: God and Fate

This lecture moves into the medieval and early modern periods. We consider the fourth-century CE work of Saint Augustine, who dismissed fate and placed the soul in the hands of God's providence. In contrast, at the same time, the philosopher Calcidius presented a view where humanity created fate, and the question of one's moral responsibility was not to make a negative fate. In the early modern period, this challenge between the divine plans of God and the human sense of freedom reemerged in the opposed views of René Descartes (1596-1650), who insisted on the reality of free will, and Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), who denied it. This contrast was reflected in the views of fate actually employed in the astrological practice of Galileo Galilei, Jean-Baptiste Morin and William Lilly.

Reading

Chapters 3 and 4 of Brady, The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice.

6 November Week 4: The Free Will Dilemma and Critiques of Astrology

The fourth lecture examines the modern reconfiguration of fate in light of determinism and critiques of astrology. The mechanistic worldview of the scientific revolution, with its image of the cosmos as a "world machine," is introduced as a decisive challenge to older understandings. The philosophical responses: incompatibilist arguments that either deny free will or reject universal determinism, as well as compatibilist attempts to hold both positions together. The discussion highlights the persistent problems with determinism, particularly its inability to account for the human lived experience. Turning to astrology, the lecture considers how astrology has been defined, criticised, and even ridiculed in the modern period, and how astrologers themselves have responded to these challenges.

Reading

Chapters 5 and 6 of Brady, The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice.

13 November Week 5: Fate, Soul and Astrology, Conversations about Fate

The lecture explores, through "conversations about fate," the modern role of fate within astrology. The voices of notable 21st-century astrologers, such as Liz Greene, Alan Oken, Robert Hand, to name just a few, echo the ancient theories of fate with Plato's freedom of the soul, Stoic acceptance and living in divine harmony, as well as Spinoza's rationalism and Calcidius's ideas of fate-casting, all of which support the validity of these ancient views. These views lead to the final question of what fate is. The history of fate from antiquity and the evidence of its role in people's lives today suggest that fate is real. Today, fate appears to be the experience of living in a story, an emerging pattern. A pattern that the practitioners of astrology embrace in different ways in their pursuit of meaning and life purpose.

Reading

Chapters 7 to 10 of Brady, The Shape of Fate: From Classical Philosophy to Astrological Practice.

Certificate of Attendance

Students attending this short course will receive a certificate of attendance, please see the image (click to enlarge).

Registration

The cost which covers all five lectures is £150.

Students and graduates of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David can enrol at the University rate of £120.

By registering I agree to follow the Sophia Project netiquette guide.

To register and pay,

please click the button Make Payment to register by eventbrite.com.

.

The acknowledgement of payment from Eventbrite will be sent to the email address that you have registered with Eventbrite. The day before the course starts, the link to join the seminar will also be sent to this address. If you wish the link to be sent to a different email address, please contact sophiacentre@sophia-project.net.

You should register by Eventbrite if possible but, if you can't, email Dr Nick Campion at n.campion@uwtsd.ac.uk and you can arrange to pay by cheque or bank transfer.

Terms and Conditions

Fees and Refunds – Fees must be paid in full before the commencement of the course. Refunds will be made if students withdraw from the course before it commences. There are no refunds after students log into the Course Moodle page, which is opened up two days before the course begins.

Forum conduct - All students are expected to follow the netiquette guide and be respectful of other students and the tutor in their forum posts. The course tutor will remove any postings they consider to be inappropriate. The course tutor also reserves the right to block a student from posting on the forums if the student disregards a request by the tutor to revise their forum conduct.

Zoom conduct – Students attending the Zoom lectures live are expected to be focused on these lectures and only use the chat box for question directed at the lecture material. Students who misuse the chat box will be removed from the lecture.

Technology – It is the student's responsibility to ensure that they have sufficient broadband and sufficient skills in operating their computer or tablet to enable them to engage with this online course.

Sophia Centre Short Courses are taught as part of our outreach programme from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. If you would like to take your studies further, you may apply for our unique, on-line, fully accredited Master's programme in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, the only academic programme in the world to look explore our relationship with the sky, and the history, philosophy and culture of astrology.