Upcoming Sophia Centre Events
The 22nd Sophia Centre Conference
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Lampeter
12th and 13th July 2025
The programme of speakers for the IXth Sophia Centre Postgraduate Conference, have now been published. View the conference details on our website.
Can’t come to London? Then book to attend online and have access to the recordings for 30 days..
Introducing Anna Simms
‘This moost necessarye and godlye pronostication’: how astrology was made acceptable, accessible, and necessary by the early English print trade (1485-1558)
Abstract:
Reliance on the skies drew astrologers to the English court to act as physicians, tutors, and advisors but it would be through print that astrology’s influence would spill beyond the world of the court, acting as a moulder and mirror of public consciousness. While print was a relatively new experience for the English population, astrology was not and though other aspects of Medieval life and culture may have been dwindling, belief in the ‘science of the stars’ was growing and reaching audiences like never before.
Printed astrological texts are diverse and multi-faceted documents; containing a variety of information which was useful to the contemporary reader; both competent and emerging. However, the perpetuation of an assumption that these works are repetitive, and crude, has caused them to be disregarded as nothing more than ‘repositories of superstition’. Due to modern biases, and an enduring scholarly disregard for pre-1560’s print, astrological printed products have been marginalized; leading to an unbalanced and incomplete depiction of the early modern period and the preoccupations of those who dwelt there.
This paper addresses the ways in which astrology was adapted and presented by early English printers, to make it acceptable, accessible, and necessary to a society in the throes of religious and political change, and considers what this reveals about the relationship between people, the sky, and the stars in the early Tudor period.
Past Events
The IXth Sophia Centre Postgraduate Conference
Canary Wharf, London
Saturday 25th January 2025
http://sophia-project.net/LondonEvents/2025-london-conference/index.php
The programme for the IXth Sophia Centre Postgraduate Conference, has now been published. View the conference on our website: http://sophia-project.net/LondonEvents/2025-london-conference/programme.php Book your place at the conference: http://sophia-project.net/LondonEvents/2025-london-conference/register.php
Can’t come to London? Then book to attend online and have access to the recordings for 30 days: http://sophia-project.net/LondonEvents/2025-london-conference/register.php
See our programme of speakers: http://sophia-project.net/LondonEvents/2025-london-conference/speakers.php
Saturday 25th January at 2:15 pm
Danielle Alexander
Unearthed: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of the Romano-Celtic Temple on Hayling Island
Abstract:
The Romano-Celtic temple on Hayling Island was a key locale in the Roman conquest of Britain. Despite this, little is known about the rites or experiences of the people who used it in the past aside from being a place of pilgrimage and depositional practice. Today, the site is buried beneath active farmland frequently trawled by a small community of licensed metal detectorists. In this talk, I will discuss how their experiences have shed light on the experiences and emotions of those who used the site in the past, such as connecting with cultures and history, engaging in communal and ritualised praxis, interacting with nature and the weather-world, and reminiscing about family and community. Although it is not possible to determine exact equivocations between the past and present due to vast temporal, cultural and socio-political differences, recognising these similarities could enliven the archaeological record and enrich understanding of past experiences. Particularly, I will focus on the emotions that arise during their visits and show that there is justified space for the study of experience and emotion in archaeology.Biography:
Danielle has undertaken an undergraduate degree in Ancient Civilisations and a postgraduate degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, both from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Her research focuses on understanding the lives of prehistoric people through their engagement with their environments and how this is represented in cosmology, architecture, myths and rituals. She hopes to continue her education at PhD level, with a focus on the Anatolian and Cretan Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. She lives with her two cats in rural Somerset and is often buried under a pile of books.
As Above, So Below
Twenty-first Annual Sophia Centre Conference
In Partnership with the Harmony Institute
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Institute of Education and Humanities
Lampeter Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July 2024
http://sophia-project.net/conferences/conference2024/index.php
Join us in Lampeter for the 21st Annual Sophia Centre Conference with a programme of international speakers who are specialists in their field. We have two days of high-quality talks and debate with our conference dinner on Saturday night.
If you cannot attend in person, you can attend online. Talks will be recorded and made available for 30 days after the conference closes.
Conference now open for booking: http://sophia-project.net/conferences/conference2024/booking.php
Conference Theme
The phrase ‘as above, so below’, is paraphrased from the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, probably dating to the 9th century, and has formed a foundation for the theory of astrology ever since. The second part of the phrase, ‘as below, so above’, introduces the notion of a reciprocal relationship between sky and earth, or between people, planets and stars, or between this world and other worlds, in which each part of the universe is in a mutual relationship with all other parts. As some modern commentators, put it, nothing exists except in relationship to everything else. A common contemporary term is ‘relationality’. This conference will focus on the theory and practice of the relationships between earth and sky, or between people, planets, and stars. Papers will focus on any aspect of astronomy, astrology, and cosmology, and approaches may be taken from across the humanities and social sciences.
Wade Caves
Finding Fortuna: a technical mirroring of the mind
Abstract:
The Hellenistic tradition bifurcated early in its codification, one track following Dorotheus and the other his younger contemporary, Ptolemy (Greenbaum, 2016). The key drivers of the split are many, but they converge in a single issue: whether to reverse the Lot of Fortune for nocturnal charts. In a close examination of what is said about lot theory, from Manilius to Dorotheus, from Ptolemy to Valens, we will outline how the choice made regarding Fortune’s calculation trickles downstream to impact any branch of astrology availing itself of the lots.Biography:
Wade Caves, based in Brooklyn, NY, is an astrological consultant and educator specializing in horary, elections, mundane, and classical astrological technique. He now serves as faculty at the STA and as principal of the Astronomy for Astrologers program. Wade publishes his work on world astrology through Skyscript’s In Mundo publishing desk and hosts the World Astrology Summit, a conference dedicated to the advancement of mundane technique for diverse audiences. He is the editor and annotator of the 300th anniversary edition of William Lilly’s History of His Life and Times (Rubedo Press, 2015).
For the MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, email n.campion@uwtsd.ac.uk
For the MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, email me at n.campion@uwtsd.ac.uk
With my best wishes,
Nick Campion
Sunday 14th July at 2:45 pm
Ulla Koch
The Babylonian Diviners’ Manual
Abstract:
The so-called “Babylonian Diviner’s Manual” is unique within the Babylonian corpus of astrological texts in that it describes general principles and the sitz-im-leben of the Babylonian astrologer. It was composed in the early first millennium BCE and draws upon traditional texts but offers the diviner a special method to annul sinister signs by means of manipulating or recalibrating the calendar. One of the fundamental principles expressed in the text is that signs from heaven and earth go together, something that happens in the sky – a celestial sign – will have a counterpart on earth – a corresponding event and vice versa.
Biography: Ulla Koch, Ph.D., is an Assyriologist from the University of Copenhagen. Her research interests are Mesopotamian divination, religion, and literature. She has published extensively on celestial divination and extispicy, inspection of the entrails of a sacrificial animal.
For the MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, email n.campion@uwtsd.ac.uk
