The Majesty of the Starry Sky

editorial by J. S. Kupperman

Astrology, along with its sister astronomy, is one of the oldest arts known to humanity. Virtually every culture known has had some form of astrology, allowing its practitioners to see how the energies of the stars affect the Earth below. From Ptolemy’s ethno-astrology to the numerous practices of the Hermetic Renaissance to today’s Jungian inspired readings, astrology in its predictive form is still practiced today.

Yet this is not the only astrology at large today and there has always been more to astrology than the predictive arts. Whether it is evoking a spirit on the day of Saturn and the hours of Mercury, scrying astrological sigils to encounter the metaphysical realms connected to them or employing Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s complex formulae for creating celestial talismans astrology has provided the occultist of every day a means for knowing when now is the correct NOW.

The articles in this issue of the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition explore a number of different uses of astrology. Alex Sumner’s Against Sidereal Astrology examines both tropical and sidereal astrology and not only extols the advantages of traditional Western astrology but also explores what he has dubbed “post-Modern astrology”. Our second offering considers a grimoire traditionally associated with Dr. John Dee and its relation to Hermetic Astrology. This is followed by the first-ever English translation of the Tuba Veneris by Teresa Burns and Nancy Turner.

Of course, these articles only scratch the surface of how astrology has been employed across the ages. It is our sincerest hope, however, that they spark an interest, or a renewed interest, in the subject of our readers to explore again this ancient art and science.