Ad Astra Podcast
This podcast invites researchers on the history of astrology for a series of academic conversations on this field. It brings to a wider audience academic views on the historical role of astrology in culture, science, and society.
While it focuses primarily the historical study of astrological practices, it also addresses other topics such as current topics of research, challenges, new findings, astrological documents, new publications, and conferences
Host
Luís Ribeiro
Latest podcast
Meteorology and Celestial Influence in the Enlightenment
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode, I talk with Simon Dolet about his research on astrometeorology in the early eighteenth century. Simon is a PhD candidate at the Côte d’Azur University (Nice) and has been studying the role of astrology in the history of meteorology. His project is a continuation of his MA "L'astrologie saine…
Episode list:
Second series:
Meteorology and Celestial Influence in the Enlightenment
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode, I talk with Simon Dolet about his research on astrometeorology in the early eighteenth century. Simon is a PhD candidate at the Côte d’Azur University (Nice) and has been studying the role of astrology in the history of meteorology. His project is a continuation of his MA "L'astrologie saine…
Astrologers in 15th-century Cairo with Fien de Block
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode, I talk with Fien de Block about her research on astrologers and astrological practices in the fifteenth-century Sultanate of Cairo. This was the subject of her PhD thesis titled "(Re)drawing the lines: the science of the stars in the late fifteenth century Sultanate of Cairo" (2020). Fien de Block…
Astrology in the Ottoman court with A. Tunç Sen
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode, I talk to Professor Tunç Şen, Assistant Professor at the Department of History of Columbia University. He is a historian of the Ottoman Empire interested in intellectual, cultural, and political history. Is PhD thesis "Astrology in the Service of the Empire: Knowledge, Prognostication, and Politics at the Ottoman Court,…
Exploring Astrology in Early Modern Spain with Tayra Lanuza Navarro
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode I talk with Tayra Lanuza Navarro on her research on Early Modern Astrology in Spain. Tayra has been one of the foremost historians of astrology in Spain and has produced numerous papers on this topic. She is currently a researcher at the ERC project Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and…
Helena Avelar’s ‘An Astrologer at Work’
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode, which is very dear to me, I invite three previous guests of the podcast to discuss Helena Avelar's work, in particular her book: "An Astrologer at Work in Late Medieval France. The Workbooks of S. Belle". Helena was the co-founder of the Astra project and co-host of this podcast.…
Unveiling the Hidden – Anticipating the Future with Josefina Rodriguez Arribas & Dorian G. Greenbaum
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Josefina Rodriguez Arribas and Dorian G. Greenbaum about their new edited volume "Unveiling the Hidden – Anticipating the Future: Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period" (Brill, 2021). Gathering the work of ten scholars, the book explores various Jewish practices of divination (astrology,…
First series:
Collected Works on the History of Astrology with Jean-Patrice Boudet
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we speak with Professor Jean-Patrice Boudet, about his new book containing his collected works on the history of astrology. Professor Boudet is one of the chief researchers in this field has published various books and numerous papers on the medieval practices of astrology in Europe now collected in this…
Astrology, Alchemy and Medieval Culture with Michael A. Ryan
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Michael Ryan, associate professor of medieval and early modern history at the University of New Mexico. Michael research interests include the intersection of magic, science, and religion in the premodern world. In the podcast we discuss his book, A Kingdom of Stargazers: Astrology and Authority in…
Horoscopes and their judgements with David Juste
Ad Astra Podcast This is episode 50 of the main podcast series! In this podcast we talk once more with researcher David Juste on his latest research on medieval astrological charts accompanied by their judgement. We discuss several aspects of the existing corpus of medieval charts. David Just has specialised in the study and cataloguing…
Roger Bacon and Astrology with Yael Kedar
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Yael Kedar a specialist on Roger Bacon about his writings on astrology. Yael Kedar is a faculty member at Tel-Hai College, research fellow at the University of Haifa, and vice-president of the Roger Bacon Society. For more details on Dr. Kedar’s works see: https://telhai.academia.edu/yaelraizmankedar or https://english.telhai.ac.il/faculty-members/single-faculty-member/user/12/…
Johannes Placentinus & Cartesian Astrology with Pietro Omodeo
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Pietro Omodeo, historian of science and philosophy and historical epistemology specialising in the early modern period. He currently the principal investigator on the ERC Consolidator Project Institutions and Metaphysics of Cosmology in the Epistemic Networks of Seventeenth-Century Europe hosted by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. In…
Tables, Computation & Astrological Practice with Richard Lynn Kremer
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we have as our guest Professor Richard Lynn Kremer. He is an emeritus professor of History of Dartmouth College, specialising in the history of science, medicine and technology. He is also the Curator of the Collection of Scientific Instruments at Dartmouth. Our conversation addresses one of Professor Kremer’s main…
History of Astrology and Pseudo-Ptolemy’s “Karpos” with Darin Hayton
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Darin Hayton, associate Professor of History and Chair of History Department at Haverford College. Professor Hayton has published several woks on the history of astrology and the mathematical sciences in the contexts of courtly politics, among which his book The Crown and the Cosmos. Astrology and…
Cosmology, Magic and Spirituality in Al-Razi with Michael Noble
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with researcher Michael Noble about his recent book: Philosophising the Occult. Avicennan Psychology and ‘The Hidden Secret’ of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (De Gruyter, 2021). This work is the result of Michael’s PhD research at The Warburg Institute and touches on many aspects of Arabic cosmology and astral…
Astrology & Instruments: the Armillary Sphere with Samuel Gessner
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Samuel Gessner about the armillary sphere, an interesting astronomic instrument with astrological applications. Samuel explains the role and functions of these spheres, often used as teaching tools in medieval universities. He demonstrates some of its applications in astrology. Samuel is a post doctoral researcher at the…
Printing, Prophecy & Early Modern Astrology with Jonathan Green
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Jonathan Green, professor at the University of North Dakota, and a researcher of German medieval and early modern literature. We discuss his work on prophecy and its dissemination during the early modern period, as well as his current research projects. Jonathan Green has written two important…
Historical Strategies of Defending Astrology with Teri Gee
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Teri Gee, professor of Physics at Brigham Young University. Her PhD dissertation, “Strategies of Defending Astrology: A Continuing Tradition”, addresses the arguments used for defending the practice of astrology from the classical to the late medieval periods in the Greek, Arabic and Latin contexts. In this…
The practice of astrology in East-Central Europe with Márton Veszprémy
Ad Astra Podcast In this podcast we talk with researcher Márton Veszprémy about his research on the practice of astrology in East-Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Márton is currently developing his PhD on this topic at the Eötvös Loránd University, and shares with us some aspects of his research. For more details on…
Prognostication in the Medieval World with Klaus Herbers
Ad Astra Podcast In this podcast we talk with Klaus Herbers, Professor of Medieval History at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität. He is also the First Deputy Director of the IKGF – International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication”, a partner institution of the Astra Project. Our conversation addresses the Professor’s study on the…
Astrology in Cultural & Historical Context with Kocku von Stuckrad
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Professor Kocku von Stuckrad, historian of religion and culture about the role of astrology and the ‘hybrid’ nature of “the science of the stars”, which has always combined rigorous empirical research and hermeneutical layers in its theory and activity. The podcast takes a look at what…
A Book of Knowledge from 13th Century Yemen with Petra Schmidl
Ad Astra Podcast In this podcast we talk once more with researcher Petra Schmidl on her research on a thirteenth-century manuscript from Yemen. We talk on the constellation of practical or useful knowledges contained in this type of work, which range from the religious, to the geographical, and the astronomical and astrological material. For details…
Prophecy & Astrology in the Medieval Period with Laura Ackerman Smoller
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Laura Ackerman Smoller, a reference name in the history of astrology with her book History, Prophecy, and the Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350-1420. She is currently professor of History at the University of Rochester, New York. We address her research into prophecy in…
Debating the Stars in the Italian Renaissance with Ovanes Akopyan
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Ovanes Akopyan, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Innsbruck. He has recently published the book with his PhD research: Debating the Stars in the Italian Renaissance. Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola’s Disputationes Adversus Astrologiam Divinatricem and Its Reception (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2020). In the podcast we discuss…
Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola & Astrology with H Darrel Rutkin
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk once more with researcher H Darrel Rutkin on one of the most, if not the most, relevant figures of early modern anti-astrological discourse: Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (24 February 1463–17 November 1494). Published posthumously in 1496 his Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Arguments Against Judicial Astrology) had a…
Celestial Influence and Astrology in Debate with Maria Sorokina
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with researcher Maria Sorokina about her work on the medieval theological debates on astrology. Her PhD, “Les théologiens face à la question de l’influence céleste. Science et foi dans les commentaires des Sentences (v. 1220-v. 1340)”, studies the how astrology is dealt in the commentaries to the…
Researching the work of Abraham ibn Ezra with Shlomo Sela
Ad Astra Podcast In this podcast we have the honour of talking with Professor Shlomo Sela, one of the leading historians of astrology. His research has focused on the works of the Jewish medieval astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra, and in the last decades he published critical editions of Ezra’s known writings. In the podcast we discussed…
Gardens, Agriculture and Cosmology with Ana Duarte Rodrigues
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Ana Duarte Rodrigues, director of CIUHCT (Inter-universitary Centre for the History of Sciences and Technology), and teacher in the Department of History and Philosophy of Sciences, at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Ana’s research centres on Gardens and Landscape Studies, including Ancient…
Book: On both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar by Julio Samsó
Ad Astra Podcast In this brief video we once more talk to Professor Julio Samsó, this time on his new book: On Both Sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. Studies on the History of Medieval Astronomy in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghrib. This work gathers his life research, and although it is focused on…
Astrology in Al-Andalus and the Maghrib with Julio Samsó
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we have the honour of talking with Professor Julio Samsó, a leading figure in the history of astronomy in medieval and Arabic context. He is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Barcelona since 2012, and has a long career of research and a vast list of publications. The…
Book: Conjunction Predictions in the Early Modern Period by Stephan Heilen (Part 2)
Ad Astra Podcast This is the second part of our conversation with historian Stephan Heilen. In this episode we address his latest research and publication: Konjunktionsprognostik in der Frühen Neuzeit. 1. Band: Die Antichrist-Prognose des Johannes von Lübeck (1474) zur Saturn-Jupiter-Konjunktion von 1504 und ihre frühneuzeitliche Rezeption (Valentin Koerner, 2020). This book addresses the use…
Astrological Practices: Hellenistic & Early Modern with Stephan Heilen (Part 1)
Ad Astra Podcast In this two-part edition of the podcast we have the honour of talking to Stephan Heilen, who has authored many studies and books on the history of astrology. In this first episode we address his academic work in the history of astrology, from Antiquity to the Early Modern period. For a list…
Astrology, Neoplatonism & Marsilio Ficino with Angela Voss
Ad Astra Podcast In this podcast we have as our guest Angela Voss, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education of the Canterbury Christ Church University, and Programme Director for the MA in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. Her expertise is on Renaissance and Baroque Music and has focused a great part of her research…
History of Astrology and Cultural Astronomy with Nicholas Campion
Ad Astra Podcast Our guest in this episode is Nicholas Campion, who talks about various aspects of the history of astrology, as well as the associated filed of cultural astronomy. Nick Campion is an associate Professor in Cosmology and Culture at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, where he is also the programme Director…
Sources and Skills for the History of Astrology with David Juste
Ad Astra Podcast * This episode was meant to be part of the launch of the podcast, but it had some sound problems. However, because we did not want to lose such an interesting conversation we decided to enhance the sound and subtitles as much as possible and share it. Enjoy! * In this episode…
Researching Medieval Anti-astrology Disputes with Philipp Nothaft
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Dr Philipp Nothaft on the topic of anti-astrological texts and disputes. It is an interesting and still under-explored topic which plays a major role in the history of astrological practices. Going beyond the more commonly discussed matter of determinism and religious legitimacy, these criticisms also question…
Studying & Translating Christian Astrology with Patrizia Nava
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with independent researcher Patrizia Nava, who is currently translating into Italian the book Christian Astrology (1647) by William Lilly. Patrizia holds a MA in Arts in Philology and Literature (University of Bologna) and the conversation covers her translation as well as several facets of early modern astrological…
Yearly Predictions in 15th Century Europe with Alexandre Tur
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Alexandre Tür, curator of the department of the manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris. He offers a fascinating glimpse into the practice of astrology in the fifteenth century. He addresses the interesting differences between astrological manuscripts and printed material, the political aspects of…
Astrology, Philosophy & Tetrabiblos in Brazil with Cristina de Amorim Machado & Marcus Reis
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we speak with Brazilian researchers Cristina de Amorim Machado and Marcus Reis Pinheiro about their academic work on astrology from the perspective of the history of and philosophy of science. Cristina has researched the translation of the Tetrabiblos in her PhD and Marcus specialises in Ancient philosophy, cosmology and…
Zoroastrian Cosmology & the Tema Mundi with Enrico Raffaelli
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we have a conversation with Enrico Raffaelli, professor of History of Religions at the University of Toronto, about the role of astrology in pre-Islamic Iran. One of the topics addressed is the Thema Mundi, that is, the horoscope of the beginning of the world, and its placement in Zoroastrian…
Islamicate and Chinese astral iconography with Jeffrey Kotyk
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode researcher Jeffrey Kotyk join us once more to talk about his research on astral iconography. In this video he presents some highlights of his studies on the representations of planets, signs and other astrological elements in Chinese and Japanese art, tracing their origins to Indian and Islamic sources and…
Astrology, Magic and the Islamicate Tradition with Liana Saif
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Liana Saif on the impact of the Islamicate tradition on astrology and magic. She has researched extensively on Esotericism, Ocultism and Magic in the medieval and early modern periods. Liana Saif is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Warburg Institute and Université catholique de Louvain for…
“Astrological Images” & Medieval Science with Nicolas Weill-Parot
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk with Nicolas Weill-Parot about the “scientia imaginum”, that is, the manufacturing of talismans, often considered a part of the astrological elections. Nicolas Weill-Parot is a Historian of Science and professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. He compares the attitudes of Thomas Aquinas and Albert the…
On Astrology, Talismans & Images with Charles Burnett
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode Professor Charles Burnett speaks about his recent research on the construction of astrological talismans. He addresses his in-progress editor of On Talismans by Thābit ibn Qurra. This works is being developed in partnership with colleague and is based on a recently discovered manuscript containing an Arabic version of the…
Astrology in New Spain: manuscripts and art with Vanessa Portugal
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Johann Wilhelm Pfaff’s “Astrologie” (1816) with Günther Oestmann
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
The Graves Astrology Library with Philip M. Graves
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Astrology, The Great Year and The Brethren of Purity with Godefroid de Callataÿ
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Changes in Astrology: from 1250 to 1800 with H Darrel Rutkin
Ad Astra Podcast 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)…
Horoscopic astrology in Eastern traditions with Jeffrey Kotyk
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Researching astrology in Medieval France with Jean-Patrice Boudet
Ad Astra Podcast 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.…
Transmission of texts and example horoscopes with Levente László
Ad Astra Podcast This episode features the research of Levente László, doctoral candidate at the Doctoral School of Philosophy at Eötvös University in Budapest, with a PhD thesis titled “The astrological inceptions of the emperor Zeno’s anonymous astrologer.” The podcast addresses his research on the transmission of Greek, Latin and Arabic astrological texts in Antiquity…
A Thirteenth century Yemeni manuscript with Petra G. Schmidl
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Horoscopes and practices of David Fabricius with Günther Oestmann
Ad Astra Podcast 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…
Book: The Jewel of Annual Astrology edited by Martin Gansten
Ad Astra Podcast This episode is a supplement to our previous conversation with Martin Gansten. It discusses his recent translation and edition of The Jewel of Annual Astrology, an encyclopaedic treatise on Tājika or Sanskritized Perso-Arabic astrology, dealing particularly with the casting and interpretation of anniversary horoscopes. Authored in 1649 CE by Balabhadra Daivajña, court…
Astrological traditions in Indic context with Martin Gansten
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode Martin Gansten talks about the reception of Arabic astrology in India which is related to his upcoming translation of The Jewel of Annual Astrology by Daivajña Balabhadra. As an historian of religion, Martin Gansten has focused his research on the role of astrology in Indic context. The conversation address…
History of Science and Astrology with Henrique Leitão
Ad Astra Podcast In this episode we talk to Henrique Leitão about the role of astrology in the history of science and its importance in current historical research. Henrique Leitão is the head of the department of history and philosophy of science at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and is an…
Historical Research on the Lots with Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum
Ad Astra Podcast On this episode we talk with Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum on her academic research on the history of Astrology. The central topic is the astrological mathematical points known as Lots, Parts or Arabic Parts on which she has been researching for many years. Her PhD research is published with the title: The Daimon…
Researching the History of Astrology with Charles Burnett
Ad Astra Podcast In this first episode of the ab Astra podcast we talk with Professor Charles Burnett of The Warburg Institute on the historical study of astrology. The paramount role of astrology in pre-modern cultures and in the very construction of science are some of the topics addressed. To know more about Professor Burnett's…
Welcome to the ad Astra podcast
Ad Astra Podcast Ad Astra presents a series of academic conversations with researchers on the history of astrology. It offers to a wider audience the main academic debates and works on the historical role of astrology in culture, science, and society. While it focuses primarily the historical study of astrological practices and methodologies, it also…
In Memoriam series:
Otto Neugebauer (1899-1990): From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Ad Astra Podcast This episode of In Memoriam addresses another monumental figure of the history of science, who made invaluable contributions to the history of astrology: Otto E. Neugebauer (26 May 1899 –19 February 1990). Together with Professors Alexander Jones and Charles Burnett we discuss his life and work and become aware of the scholar,…
Peter Schiller (1947-2013): Astrology and Art
Ad Astra Podcast This episode of In Memoriam we are joined by Günther Oestmann to remember historian Peter Franz Schiller (29 November 1947 – 23 January 2013). Born in Düsseldorf, Schiller was musically and artistically talented, his vocation was art history and he studied this subject together with archaeology and philosophy as minor subjects. Catholic theology…
David Pingree (1933-2005): Transmission & Transformation
Ad Astra Podcast “Each time there is a transmission there is a transformation.” — David Pingree This episode of In Memoriam addresses a monumental figure in the history of astrology, David Edwin Pingree (2 January 1933 – 11 November 2005). Today, on the anniversary of his departure, we have the honour of talking to four eminent…
John D. North (1934–2008): Between Demonstration and Imagination
Ad Astra Podcast This episode, the first of a new series, commemorates the life and work of historian John D. North. Today, on the anniversary of his departure, Professor Julio Samsó, a close friend of John North, shares with us his experience of the man and of the academic. John David North (19 May 1934…
In Memoriam – Presentation
Ad Astra Podcast This series of podcasts presents the life and work of past historians of astrology. It is an offshoot of the ad Astra conversations which offers today's researchers and students an overview of the contribution of these academics to the development of this field of study. Audio version:
Documenta series:
Commentary on the Sphere of Sacrobosco (1621)
Ad Astra Podcast This experimental series presents some examples of historical documents on astrology and related topics. This first episode discusses a commentary to the famous Treatise on the Sphere by Sacrobosco. Produced by the Jesuit Johann Chrysostomus Gall in 1621, this text updates the traditional Sphere with the celestial novelties discovered with the telescope…
