This accompanies Michelle Pfeffer’s BJHS article The Society of Astrologers (c.1647–1684): sermons, feasts and the resuscitation of astrology in seventeenth-century London

Astrology is once again in vogue. In the last year, astrologers have taken to Zoom, Instagram, and TikTok with phenomenal success. Given astrology’s ability to provide guidance, explanation, and hope during times of crisis, this should come as no surprise. Yet, as an article in Vogue this month noted (yes, astrology is literally in Vogue), at a time when “following the science” is so critical, astrology’s current appeal seems somewhat “paradoxical”. Science, after all, would seem to be astrology’s toughest opponent.

People facing plague and quarantine in early modern Europe also turned to astrologers. But rather than being chastised for supporting a ‘pseudoscience’, these people were more likely to be reprimanded for engaging with paganism. As John Raunce put it in 1650, astrology was “Diabolical” and “Idolatrous”, and its historical origins in pagan religion revealed its methods to be “the Devil’s Instruments”.

For many of astrology’s early modern opponents, the religious status of astrology was more significant than its ‘scientific’ status. The question wasn’t so much whether the stars influenced us, but whether good Christians should study that influence to predict the future. As I show in my article, in the late 1640s a group of English astrologers mounted a response to this dilemma. The group was the Society of Astrologers, and they met for lavish feasts in London pubs for nearly four decades. The Society was convinced astrology was condoned by God. So, in response to the ministers who railed against astrology from their pulpits, the Society decided to commission their own preachers to deliver a set of sermons justifying the practice of astrology.

My article examines the six of these sermons that have survived. One of their major arguments was that the story of the Magi who followed a star to see baby Jesus was evidence that God used astrology to both literally and allegorically bring gentiles to Christ. I also show that, to accompany their public relations campaign, the Society encouraged astrological education through new textbooks, apprenticeships, and the postal service.

Yet the Society of Astrologers was ultimately fighting a losing battle. Their efforts to establish astrology’s religious credentials failed to convince their contemporaries. The group disbanded in the mid-1680s, when much of the educated elite was increasingly dissatisfied with the theory as well as the practice of astrology. Although it’s tempting to point to experimental science as an explanation, it doesn’t provide a full answer. Many scientists of the early Royal Society were also members of the Society of Astrologers. Instead, the fact the Society of Astrologers invested so much into defending astrology’s religious legitimacy suggests they saw this as a primary barrier to its acceptance. A key lesson here is that when seeking to understand why astrology became marginalised in mainstream western culture, we cannot assume the reasons one might reject astrology today are the same reasons astrology was rejected in the past.

Read the full article

Main image: Zodiac clock with Gold Sun in Venice Italy