An image of a Denderah constellation map, sometimes called the Denderah zodiac. The
original is housed in the Louvre. Reproduced by permission of Fortean Picture Library.
astrology was practiced by such notables as Adelard of Bath, Geoffrey Chaucer, John
Dee and Elias Ashmole. In the 17th century, William Lilly demarcated the ritual cir-
cle used in magical invocation for the confinement of conjured demons with astrolog-
ical symbols, here being regarded in themselves as conveyors of supernatural power. In
Germany, poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, building upon the Faustian legends,
depicted his hero as an astrologer as well as a sorcerer.
The daily horoscope emerged as a journalistic feature in the 1930s. The early
presentations quickly appealed to a receptive public sentiment, and the horoscope
column has become a regular aspect of tabloids and syndicated newspapers ever since.
Vernacular interest in astrology is a complex issue, and several scholars—with the
Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (CAA) Programme funded by the Sophia Project
and beyond—are currently involved with understanding the dynamics of “astrological
belief” and other sociological implications from the popular Western concern with
astrological prediction and character assessment. One notable factor in the standard-
ization of stellar divination and personality types classified according to the constella-
tions of the zodiac has been the influence of the theosophist Alan Leo (William Fred-
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [171]
Contemporary Academic Study of Astrology