ad Astra

Vanessa Portugal is an historian and art historian and an associate researcher of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her work has focused on the use of astrological images in seventeenth and eighteenth-century New Spain, which was also the topic of her book, Las imágenes astrológicas en la Nueva España (2018). In this episode she shares some highlights of her work.

For more details on her research see: https://unam1.academia.edu/TaniaVanessaAlvarezPortugal

Las imágenes astrológicas en la Nueva España, Córdoba: UCOPress. Editorial Universidad de Córdoba, 2018 – http://www.uco.es/ucopress/index.php/es/2018-07-26-11-32-47/e-books/product/754-ebook-las-imagenes-astrologicas-en-la-nueva-espana

In this podcast Günther Oestmann joins us one more to talk about the life and work of Johann Wilhelm Pfaff astronomer and astrologer. Pfaff published an astrological book in 1816 and engaged in the discussion of astrology at a time when this was considered foolish, particularly for an academic. This makes him a unique case in the history of astrology in the modern period.

Günther Oestmann research on Johann Pfaff :
“J. W. A. Pfaff and the Rediscovery of Astrology in the Age of Romanticism” – https://www.researchgate.net/publicat…
The german version can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/publicat…

To find more about Günther Oestmann’s works see his personal website:
http://www.guenther-oestmann.de

In this episode we talk with independent researcher Philip Graves on his life project: the Graves Astrology Library, the result of many years of collecting books, magazines and other materials dedicated to the topic of astrology. The conversation covers only a small part of the library’s contents, highlighting some of its more valuable books and discussing its importance for research on astrological practices of the modern period. Currently housed in the United Kingdom, the library’s collection can be consulted via appointment.

For more information please visit its website: https://www.astrolearn.com/

In this episode we speak with Godefroid de Callataÿ, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Oriental Institute of the University of Louvain. His PhD research was on the Platonic Great Year and its expression throughout history and culture. He published it in his monograph: Annus Platonicus. A Study of World Cycles in Greek, Latin and Arabic Sources (Peeters, 1996). For some years his research has been focused on the writings of The Brethren of Purity, the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ a group of anonymous philosophers who wrote on a number of topics, among them astrology. He is currently heading the Advanced Grant ERC project, PhilAnd, with the purpose of studying the origin and early development of philosophy in tenth-century al-Andalus: https://sites.uclouvain.be/erc-philand/

For more information on Godefroid de Callataÿ’s work, see: https://uclouvain.academia.edu/GodefroiddeCallatay or https://alfresco.uclouvain.be/share/s/abf8k5kNSYaotxnsbq1FFg

A series of Godefroid’s lectures on the Great Year can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkqlBL5O0QWelhPP7id6rCbZH-q7EBJaI

A 2015 lecture on the astrological views of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bSH6v0A5pc

In this edition of the podcast we welcome as our guest historian of astrology, H Darrel Rutkin. Currently he is a researcher at the ERC funded project Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and Metaphysics at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. His research covers a large period of the Western Latin Tradition (1250-1800) and focuses chiefly on the philosophical, cultural and socio-political facets of astrological knowledge and practice. The conversation addresses some of the topics of his research as well as the first volume of his three volume work, “Sapientia Astrologica: Astrology, Magic and Natural Knowledge, ca. 1250-1800”, which is dedicated to “Medieval Structures (1250-1500): Conceptual, Institutional, Socio-Political, Religious and Cultural”.

For an overview of Darrel Rutink’s work see: https://unive.academia.edu/HDarrelRutkin

See also: 
Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and Metaphysics – https://www.unive.it/pag/35129/

Sapientia Astrologica: Astrology, Magic and Natural Knowledge, ca. 1250-1800, Vol. 1 (Springer, 2019) – https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030107789

In this episode researcher Jeffrey Kotyk joins us to talk about his work on the introduction of Indian and Iranian astrology into China. He addressed this topic on his PhD research titled “Buddhist Astrology and Astral Magic in the Tang Dynasty” (Leiden University, 2017) and in subsequent papers. His has explored many facets of practice of horoscopy in Eastern traditions including astrological iconography. In a recent paper he compares the practice of English astrologer William Lilly (1602–1681) with that of his eastern close contemporary Wan Minying (1521–1603).

For more information of Jeffrey Kotyk’s research see: https://mcmaster.academia.edu/JeffreyKotyk

His paper “Chinese and English Horoscopy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: The Astrological Doctrines of the Twelve Houses and the Lot of Fortune in Xingxue dacheng 星學大成 by Wan Minying 萬民英 (1521–1603) and Christian Astrology by William Lilly (1602–1681)”, International Journal of Divination and Prognostication, vol. 1 (2019), can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1163/25899201-12340002

In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with Professor Jean-Patrice Boudet, who shares with us details on his work and some reflexions on the history of astrology. Professor Boudet is one of the chief researchers in this field and is currently a Professor of Medieval History at the Université d’Orléans. He has published various books and numerous papers on the medieval practices of astrology in Europe, in particular in medieval France. One of his most notable topics of research was the activities of the astrologer Simon de Phares, but he as written on many related topics on astrology, magic and divination.

For a list of his works see https://univ-orleans.academia.edu/JeanPatriceBoudet or https://www.irht.cnrs.fr/?q=fr/annuaire/boudet-jean-patrice.

Historian of science Petra G. Schmidl, researcher at IKGF-International Consortium for Research in the Humanities "Fate, Freedom and Prognostication" at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, talks about her project “The Sultan and the Stars”. The project entails the translation of a 13th century Yemeni manuscript, Kitāb al-Tabṣira fī ˁilm al-nujūm ("Enlightenment in the science of the stars”).

For details on the project and more information about her work, see: https://tabsira.hypotheses.org

In this episode historian of science and technology Günther Oestmann discusses his research on astronomical clocks and the recent publication of his book, The Astronomical Clock of Strasburg Cathedral (Brill, 2020). He also speaks on his ongoing research on collections of horoscopes and shares some details of his current research on the astrological diary of the German astronomer David Fabricius (1564-1617).

To find more about Günther Oestmann’s works see his personal website: http://www.guenther-oestmann.de

The Astronomical Clock of Strasburg Cathedral. Function and Significance: https://brill.com/view/title/56926

Brochure on Fabricius (in German): https://www.ostfriesischelandschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/BIBLIOTHEK/Dokumente/Oll_Mai_2017.pdf