“belief” in astrology. His fieldwork requires in-depth interviews and indicative ques-
tionnaires with professional astrologers themselves—such as those he conducted dur-
ing the Astrological Association gathering in Orlando, Florida, July 18–26, 2002. On
the popular front, by contrast, Campion is relying on distributing questionnaires to
sample groups to determine the extent of belief in astrology. Here again he is conduct-
ing in-depth interviews of people who read horoscope columns and those who are
clients of professional astrologers.
In what may prove to be the most comprehensive study to date into the nature
of astrological belief, Campion’s research is particularly significant. He wishes to
determine what is astrology and whether there is one astrology or several different
astrologies. Specifically, what does astrology offer and what does this offering tell
about astrology itself? Further, does astrology conform to any definitions of religion,
and could it be defined as a vernacular form of religion? Campion also wishes to
explore and determine the broader significances for the study of contemporary reli-
gion: expressly, sociology’s secularization issue, namely, the role of belief in astrology as
a possible factor in the decline of church attendance. Ultimately, the Campion study,
by investigating the nature of “belief” in society as a whole, aims to elucidate what the
study of astrology and its belief might tell about humans and their psychological
propensities at large. Campion describes his work as “the first consistent and compe-
tent attempt to evaluate this area, and quantitative and qualitative measures are being
combined to establish not just how many people believe, but what exactly it is that
they believe in.”
While Campion has joined the teaching staff of the SCSCAA, his colleague
Patrick Curry at the Centre is involved with developing a coherent and rigorous
understanding of the theory and practice of astrology from its beginnings to modern
times. Curry advances to his subject from the perspective of the cultural history of
ideas, but in keeping with his non-reductive approach he incorporates the subject’s
social, political, and material dimensions as well. He is particularly concerned with
the Weberian thesis concerning disenchantment and the dynamics of reenchantment
in which astrology might be playing a role.
Most other research projects into astrology explore particular aspects that may
be seen as attempts to validate the discipline. For instance, British-based Sean Lovatt
is seeking independently to locate correlations of TRS (tropical revolving storms, i.e.,
hurricanes) with the lunation cycle and the declination of both sun and moon. All
the same, these investigations often retain social science dimensions nonetheless—
especially those that are currently underway in consultation with the RGCSA.
Among these there is the work being conducted by Bernadette Brady in Australia.
Brady’s current research project investigates the horoscope correlations between par-
ents and their children. She has had informal discussions with RGCSA’s Chris Bagley
concerning the investigation, her statistics, and the use of Jigsaw, a software applica-
tion design for research into astrology that Brady coauthored in the mid-1990s with
Esoteric Technologies in Adelaide, South Australia. Her work has been inspired by
the hereditary work of Michel Gauquelin and the shortcomings she perceived in that
work by not fully appreciating the traditional horoscopic associations that can link
one chart to another—associations such as a planet’s “rulership” over a sign, its exalta-Contemporary Academic Study of Astrology
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