Astrologies: Plurality and Diversity in the History of Astrology

The Sophia Centre Press is pleased to present in this volume a selection of papers from the 'Astrologies' conference, organised by the Sophia Centre, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and held in Bath on 24-25 July 2010. The range of topics explored in these papers is broad, and reflects the striking diversity of techniques and underlying philosophies infusing an enduring human perception of meaningful relationships between the heavenly bodies and life on earth. The papers are grouped into three basic themes: the symbolism of astrologies, the history of astrologies within different cultural contexts, and the practice of various astrologies from both 'insider' and 'outsider' perspectives. Although astrology has been treated in many scholarly works as a monolithic entity, all of the papers in this book demonstrate one of the paradoxes of astrological thought and practice: the existence of a relatively stable tradition of cosmological and astral representations and ideas combined with an adaptability that has enabled astrologies to meld with different spheres of human endeavour in a variety of cultures.