Astrology and Divination
From Allegory to Anagoge: the question of symbolic perception in a literal world by Angela Voss
This paper discusses the relevance of the ‘four levels of interpretation’ of medieval theology – literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical – to the teaching of astrology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In an educational system increasingly bound to positivist assumptions a way is required to lead students to a deeper perception, and experience, of the symbolic.
Spirit Possession in Shamanism by Stone Fitzgerald
The phenomena of spirit possession can be viewed and reviewed through the lens of differing fields of study including and most notably religious studies, psychology and anthropology. When reading in this area of research one would expect to encounter discourse giving examples from within the realms of the main world religions such as exorcism, or the more recent practices of the séance within the spiritualist churches. Here we will engage mainly with this phenomenon as presented through shamanic practices and within this conduct a study of the related context including physical space and ritual. Although there will not be a discussion around the use of the term shamanism, engaging in this particular account of spirit possession will undoubtedly highlight some of its core traits.
Divination, Participation and the Cognitive Continuum by Geoffrey Cornelius
This discussion develops anthropological theory with respect to divination, clarifying the concepts of divinatory address and the unique case of interpretation. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl’s pioneering formulations are considered in the light of the well-known studies on Azande divination by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, and in the relatively recent description by Barbara Tedlock of the ‘cognitive continuum’ at work in divinatory interpretations. It is suggested that Tedlock’s description augments Lévy-Bruhl’s analysis and resolves apparent contradictions and inadequacies, rendering it appropriate to the cross-cultural study of divination.
Astrology’s Hidden Light: Reflections on Marsilio Ficino’s De Sole – Geoffrey Cornelius
Astrology's Hidden Light: Reflections on Marsilio Ficino's De Sole In Sphinx: Journal for Archetypal Psychology and the Arts, vol. 6, 1994, 114-122. In this paper Geoffrey discusses Marsilio Ficino’s approach to astrology in terms of the symbolic imagination,...
From Primitive Mentality to haecceity: the Unique Case in astrology and divination by Geoffrey Cornelius
The question before us is the nature of divinatory intelligence,1 which is the mode of thought whereby meaningful interpretations are sustained in divination. This paper supports the view of some anthropologists that divination involves a distinctive mode of consciousness, mental pattern or cognitive faculty.
Chicane: Double-thinking and Divination amongst the Witch-doctors – Geoffrey Cornelius
Most practices of the people we name as shamans, witch-doctors and medicine-men present our modern rational understanding with an impasse. The logic of much that is done defeats us, it is absurd and often disgusting. Treatments are offered that can have no empirical value, yet the simple primitives seem to believe in them.
Is Astrology Divination and Does it Matter? by Geoffrey Cornelius
My subject today is the subtle question of whether astrology is divination. I assume most of you saw Thomas Moore give the keynote address yesterday. Moore surprised many in the audience when he expressed praise for the divinatory aspect of astrology.
Company of Astrologers – Covid 19 with Maggie Hyde
Without doubt, the late André Barbault was on the ball with his prediction of a pandemic outbreak in 2020-21. Discussing in 2011 what he termed the „Cyclical Index‟ and solar imbalance, he wrote…
‘Diligentia et divina sorte’ Oracular Intelligence in Marsilio Ficino’s Astral Magic by Angela Voss
In this chapter I will be focussing in on a specific phrase used by Ficino in his treatise De vita coelitus comparanda (“On harmonising your life with the heavens”, henceforth Dvcc), the third part of his medico/magical work, the Liber de vita of 1489. Here he addresses the improvisation or composition of suitable music for attracting propitious stellar influences.
Ficino and Astrology by Angela Voss
I propose to approach the astrological viewpoint of Marsilio Ficino in the light og this “human music”. Certainly, by a close examination of his own astrological make-up and an understanding of how the planetary energies worked in his own personal experience, Ficino was able to arrive at an understanding of astrology which can only be termed “psychological”.
The Natural Magic of Marsilio Ficino by Angela Voss
Marsilio Ficino of Florence (1433–99) is chiefly remembered for his role as the head of the Platonic Academy, a cultural centre where the foremost artists and humanists of the day gathered to promote a new Renaissance attitude towards philosophy, religion and the arts.
On the Knowledge of Divine Things: Ficino’s concept of notio by Angela Voss
in his Disputatio contra iudicium astrologorum of 1477, Ficino appears to proclaim his firm opposition to astrological practices. It is as if, adopting an Aristotelian model of rational argument and writing in clear, exegetical prose, he wishes to sweep away all the deadwood of fatalism with a common-sense critique of rigid and arbitrary astrological systems.
Divination as Divine Revelation: Some thoughts on Ibn’ Arabi’s understanding of imagination by Angela Voss
In the Platonic and Sufi traditions, self-knowledge is the key to spiritual knowledge, thus self knowledge leads to a mode of being in the world in which practical action stems from a profound understanding of its own underlying principles.
God or the Daemon: Platonic Astrology in a Christian Cosmos
The Renaissance has been described as a time when the sleeping beauty of Platonic philosophy was awakened in the West after her thousand-year slumber; this rebirth of pagan wisdom, particularly in its magical aspects, posed a great intellectual challenge to the prevailing Christian orthodoxy.
Review by Angela Voss: The Real Astrology by John Frawley
John Frawley is a practitioner of what he terms ‘traditional’ astrology. Although never precisely defined in his book, we understand this tradition to be that established more or less definitively by the Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in his Tetrabiblos,
Review by Angela Voss: The Dawn of Astrology by Nicholas Campion
In many ways The Dawn of Astrology is a tour de force, a vast historical overview of the cosmological, philosophical and metaphysical threads which have woven into the colourful tapestry of astrology in all its forms
The Astrology of Marsilio Ficino: Divination or Science? – Angela Voss
In 1477 the Florentine philosopher Marsilio Ficino wrote, but did not publish, a vehement attack on the practices of astrologers;
