ad Astra

* This episode was meant to be part of the launch of the podcast, but it had some sound problems. However, because we did not want to lose such an interesting conversation we decided to enhance the sound and subtitles as much as possible and share it. Enjoy! *

In this episode we have with us David Just, research leader at the Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus project and a leading historian of astrology. David Just has specialised in the study and cataloguing of astrological manuscripts and has published three volumes of the Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Latinorum.

For more information on his work and publications see: https://ptolemaeus.badw.de/team/4

He has collected a vast list of bibliography on the history of astrology that can be found at: https://ptolemaeus.badw.de/astrobibl/start

In this episode we talk with Dr Philipp Nothaft on the topic of anti-astrological texts and disputes. It is an interesting and still under-explored topic which plays a major role in the history of astrological practices. Going beyond the more commonly discussed matter of determinism and religious legitimacy, these criticisms also question the validity of astrology itself by presenting arguments taken from natural philosophy. Dr. Nothaft is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford and his research has focused on medieval and early modern history of science, history of astronomy and astrology, as well as chronology, calendars, and systems of dating.

For more details on Philipp Nothaft’s work see: https://imtek.academia.edu/PhilippNothaft

Among his large academic production are the recent books:

Robert Grosseteste’s Compotus. Edited and Translated by Alfred Lohr and C. Philipp E. Nothaft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). – https://global.oup.com/academic/product/robert-grosseteste-9780198827757?cc=gb&lang=en&&fbclid=IwAR1Ijw3vbAg9RDFbKkYpEYka-8vgEk0PXH3bIXomxFqUbDSHioHVmV1PwIE

Scandalous Error: Calendar Reform and Calendrical Astronomy in Medieval Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018). – https://global.oup.com/academic/product/scandalous-error-9780198799559?cc=gb&lang=en&

In this episode we talk with independent researcher Patrizia Nava, who is currently translating into Italian the book Christian Astrology (1647) by William Lilly. Patrizia holds a MA in Arts in Philology and Literature (University of Bologna) and the conversation covers her translation as well as several facets of early modern astrological practice. Some of the topics addressed include elections, interrogations, and some of their sources (from antiquity to the early modern period).

For Patrizia's work see https://unibo.academia.edu/PatriziaNava

For Patrizia’s translations see:

Volume 1: https://www.ibs.it/astrologia-cristiana-vol-1-introduzione-libro-william-lilly/e/9788889526071?inventoryId=98715498

Volume 2: https://www.ibs.it/astrologia-cristiana-vol-2-soluzione-libro-william-lilly/e/9788889526187?inventoryId=149096754

In this episode we talk to Alexandre Tür, curator of the department of the manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris. He offers a fascinating glimpse into the practice of astrology in the fifteenth century. He addresses the interesting differences between astrological manuscripts and printed material, the political aspects of annual astrological predictions, the use of astrology as a mark of higher education, and the complex dynamics of patronage. Alexandre’s PhD thesis, intituled ‘Hora introitus solis in Arietem: Les prédictions astrologiques annuelles latines dans l’Europe du XVe siècle (1405–1484)’ was published in 2018.

For more information of his work, see http://sorbonne.academia.edu/AlexandreTur.

In this episode we speak with Brazilian researchers Cristina de Amorim Machado and Marcus Reis Pinheiro about their academic work on astrology from the perspective of the history of and philosophy of science. Cristina has researched the translation of the Tetrabiblos in her PhD and Marcus specialises in Ancient philosophy, cosmology and ethics. They have recently translated the first three chapters of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos from Greek into Portuguese as a part of their ongoing research. They are also part of an academic research group on astrology – Academia Celeste (Celestial Academy) – composed by research of various fields and from academic institutions from all over Brazil.

To know more about the work of Cristina de Amorim Machado, see https://gpsciencestudiesuem.wordpress.com/ and https://maringa.academia.edu/CristinadeAmorimMachado

For Marcus Reis Pinheiro, see http://www.pgfi.uff.br/index.php/marcus-reis-pinheiro/ and https://uff.academia.edu/MarcusPinheiro

The book can be found here: http://old.periodicos.uem.br/~eduem/novapagina/?q=node/704

Their translation of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos (Portuguese) is available here: https://www.cle.unicamp.br/eprints/index.php/cadernos/issue/view/111

For more information on the research group Academia Celeste, visit their website (mainly in Portuguese) at https://academiaceleste.blogspot.com/ and their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4-q3QWYCrQjXS55a9IDFg

In this episode we have a conversation with Enrico Raffaelli, professor of History of Religions at the University of Toronto, about the role of astrology in pre-Islamic Iran. One of the topics addressed is the Thema Mundi, that is, the horoscope of the beginning of the world, and its placement in Zoroastrian cosmology. Another interesting topic addressed is the role of the planets in Zoroastrian religion and its possible implication in the practice of astrology.

For more details on Enrico Raffaelli’s research, see: https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/historical-studies/people/raffaelli-enrico, and https://utoronto.academia.edu/EnricoGRaffaelli.

In this episode researcher Jeffrey Kotyk join us once more to talk about his research on astral iconography. In this video he presents some highlights of his studies on the representations of planets, signs and other astrological elements in Chinese and Japanese art, tracing their origins to Indian and Islamic sources and discussing their cultural adaptation.

Papers on iconography by Jeffrey Kotyk:

“Astrological Iconography of Planetary Deities inTang China: Near Eastern and Indian Icons in Chinese Buddhism”, Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies (2017, 30: 33–88) – http://chinesebuddhiststudies.org/previous_issues/jcbs3002_Kotyk(33-88)_e.pdf

“Research Note on Brahmanical Deities in Mikkyō Astrological Art!”, 出版情報：Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University. 4, pp.101-108, 2019 – https://catalog.lib.kyushu-u.ac.jp/opac_download_md/2231635/p101.pdf

In this episode we talk with Liana Saif on the impact of the Islamicate tradition on astrology and magic. She has researched extensively on Esotericism, Ocultism and Magic in the medieval and early modern periods. Liana Saif is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Warburg Institute and Université catholique de Louvain for the ERC project PhilAnd.

For a list of her published papers see: https://sas.academia.edu/LianaSaif

Her monograph, The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) can be found at: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137399465

In this episode we talk with Nicolas Weill-Parot about the “scientia imaginum”, that is, the manufacturing of talismans, often considered a part of the astrological elections. Nicolas Weill-Parot is a Historian of Science and professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. He compares the attitudes of Thomas Aquinas and Albert the great on this matter and stresses the distinction between addressative and non-addressative talismans, that is, those created by a ritual containing “magic words” and those created by strictly “natural” means. The former were forbidden, because they were considered to represent a pact with the spiritual/demonic realm, while the latter were tolerated, even encouraged, as they represented a safe form of magic. The boundaries between these two concepts began to blur by the end of the fifteenth-century, and were eventually subverted by Marsilio Ficino’s Neoplatonistic philosophy.

For details on Nicolas Weill-Parot work see https://ephe.academia.edu/NicolasWeillParot and https://www.ephe.psl.eu/ecole/nos-enseignants-chercheurs/nicolas-weill-parot.

He is the author of one of the foundational books on the history of talismans: Weill-Parot, Nicolas, Les “Images astrologiques” au moyen âge et à la Renaissance (XIIe-XIVe siècle), Paris 2002.

In this episode Professor Charles Burnett speaks about his recent research on the construction of astrological talismans. He addresses his in-progress editor of On Talismans by Thābit ibn Qurra. This works is being developed in partnership with colleague and is based on a recently discovered manuscript containing an Arabic version of the text.

Works mentioned:
Astral High Magic: De ymaginibus of Thabit Ibn Qurra, translated by John Michael Greer with a commentary by Christopher Warnock, n.p., 2011.

Burnett, Charles, ‘Tābit ibn Qurra the Ḥarrānian on Talismans and the Spirits of the Planets’, La Corónica, 36 (2007), 13–40.

Weill-Parot, Nicolas, Les “Images astrologiques” au moyen âge et à la Renaissance (XIIe-XIVe siècle), Paris 2002.

Cover talisman by Tony Mack – https://tonymackgoldsmith.com