MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology

Cultuaral Astronomy image The MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (CAA) is taught distance-learning, on-line through the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, and is normally completed in one year full-time or up to five years part-time. There is no residency requirement. Students work from home. For further information please see frequently asked questions. Scroll down this page for module descriptions.


The MA is awarded for the completion of 180 credits (6 taught modules of 20 credits each, plus dissertation of 60 credits)

Anatomical man image Students completing 60 credits (two compulsory modules and one optional module) may graduate with the Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert).

Students completing 120 credits (two compulsory modules and four optional modules) may graduate with the Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip).

If you wish to study just one or two individual modules, you may enrol as an Occasional Student. Please inquire. If you are a student at another university you may use credit gained at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David towards your existing course of study.

Below you will find descriptions of the MA modules, reading and advice on module choices.

For further information about applications, fees, length of study and the Sophia Centre’s other activities, such as publishing and conferences, visit the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture website.

The MA is awarded for the completion of 180 credits.

Students completing 60 credits (two compulsory modules and one optional module) may graduate with the Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert).

Students completing 120 credits (two compulsory modules and four optional modules) may graduate with the Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip).

Occasional students may study individual modules. Please inquire.

Please note that in the module descriptions below, books are listed as indications of the material we will be covering. These are not booklists for student purchase.

Compulsory modules (20 credits each)

Optional Modules (20 credits each)

Choose four of the following

Dissertation (60 credits)

MA CAA MODULE SCHEDULE 2010-11

Below is a list of MA CAA modules, and the rules for selection:

1. If you are Full-Time you must choose two modules a term, including the two compulsory modules.

2. If you are part-time you have to take six modules over three years. You can take three modules a year over two years or two a year over three years. Follow this general pattern:

A. If you are a new student in October take the Introduction Module in the Autumn, Research Methods in the Winter (January) and choose an optional module in the Summer.

B. If you are a new student in January take the Introduction Module in the Winter (January), choose an optional module in the Summer and take Research Methods in the Autumn.

Autumn (September/October)

AHAN7002     Introduction to Cultural Astronomy and Astrology 

AHAN7001     Research Methods: Ethnography and Fieldwork 

AHAN7005     Psychological Perspectives

AHAN7006     Sacred Geography 

Winter (January)

AHAN7002     Introduction to Cultural Astronomy and Astrology 

AHAN7001     Research Methods: Ethnography and Fieldwork 

AHAN7004     New Age and Pagan Cosmologies 

AHAN7008     Stellar Religion

AHAN7010     Archaeoastronomy 

Summer (April)

AHAN7003     History of Astrology 

AHAN7009     The Medieval Cosmos 

AHAN7011     Cosmology, Magic and Divination 

Not Running

AHAN7007     Science and Scepticism 

Autumn (September/October)

AHAN7002     Introduction to Cultural Astronomy and Astrology 

AHAN7001     Research Methods: Ethnography and Fieldwork  

AHAN7005     Psychological Perspectives

AHAN7006     Sacred Geography 

Introduction to Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (Compulsory)

Module Code AHAN7002

As Michael Hoskin asked, ‘What astronomy is not an astronomy in culture?’ This module gives a grounding in theoretical and practical methodologies of research in relevant aspects of the subject area. After an initial discussion of the nature of astrology, astronomy and astrology, and of the meaning of ‘culture’, we consider various philosophical frameworks. The systems of thought proposed by Plato in the fourth century BCE provide a foundation for the entire western esoteric tradition, as well as for western astronomy and cosmology up to the seventeenth century, and provide a basis for much of the material studied in the MA. We introduce postmodern philosophy, which is believed by many commentators to provide a framework for astrology’s contemporary popularity, and Max Weber’s theory of enchantment, which is used to explain the appeal of myth, magic and divination; what is myth, and what s the nature of divination?

Required books will include Nicholas Campion, A History of Western Astrology, 2 VolsLondon: Continuum, 2009; Roy Willis and Patrick Curry, Astrology, Science and Culture: Pulling Down the Moon (Oxford: Berg, 2004).

Other books include Terry Eagleton, The Idea of Culture (Oxford: Blackwell 2000), Stanley Tambiah, Magic, Science, Religion and the Scope of Rationality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), Steven Best and Douglas Kellner, Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations (London: MacMillan 1991), Martin Rees, Before the Beginning (London: The Free Press, 2002), Carmen Blacker and Michael Loewe, Oracles and Divination, Boulder: Shambhala 1981.

Research Methods: Ethnography and Fieldwork (Compulsory)

Module Code AHAN7001      

This module will allow students to develop their own perspective on the nature, role and function of ideas, stories and beliefs about the sky, and practices derived from such beliefs, as conveyed in astrology, astronomy and cosmology, by studying a contemporary aspect of the field. The module will focus on the contemporary nature of ethnoastronomy - or ethnoastrology – the modern culture of the sky. The module will introduce methodologies of qualitative research, chiefly interview and/or questionnaire. Students will experiment with the acquisition and interpretation of data, compiling their own reference material and gaining insights into how primary documentary source material is produced. Approaches such as participant observation will also be introduced, as well as perspectives such as phenomenology, raising the problem of the role of the researcher. The notion of autoethnography will be introduced and Issues raised will include the debate between quantitative and qualitative methodologies and the need to develop reflexive skills, understanding one’s own position, and the insider-outsider debate.

Books will include Nicholas Campion, 'Prophecy, Cosmology and the New Age Movement: the extent and nature of contemporary belief in astrology' (PhD thesis, University of the West of England 2004), Alan Bryman, Alan, Quantity and Quality in Social Research (London: Routledge, 2001), William Braud and Rosemarie Anderson, Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences (London: Sage 1998), Davies, C. Reflexive Ethnography: a Guide to Researching Our Selves and Others (London: Routledge, 1999), Greenwood, Susan, Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld: An Anthropology (Oxford: Berg, 2000), McCutcheon, R., The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader (London: Cassell, 1999).

History of Astrology (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7003

This module examines the history of western astrology from its origin in Mesopotamia through its transmission to Greece, Egypt and classical Rome and its revival in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There will be a focus both on astrology's 'internal' development, that is, the evolution of its symbolism and technique and the information these developments indicate concerning views of time and the cosmos, and its 'external' development, that is, its relationship to technological, social, religious and political events. Particular attention will be paid to the religious and philosophical context, including the survival of classical learning and pagan imagery in medieval and Renaissance Europe, the challenge of the Enlightenment to the medieval world view and questions of modernism, post-modernism and secularism in the twentieth century.

Books will include Nicholas Campion, The Dawn of Astrology (Continuum 2009), and The Golden Age of Astrology (Continuum 2009), Jim Tester, A History of Western Astrology (Boydell 1987) and Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Penguin 1973), Richard Evans, In Defence of History (London: Granta Books 1997), Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science, (8 Vols., New York: Columbia University Press, 1923 – 58).

New Age and Pagan Cosmologies (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7004          

This module explores beliefs about the cosmos which are prevalent in contemporary pagan and New Age thought. After an introduction to New Age’s historical antecedents in Gnosticism and Theosophy, we shall look at leading New Age thinkers, including H.P. Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner and Alice Bailey, and influential pagans from Gerald Gardner to Starhawk. We shall consider whether New Age is a modern form of millennialism, how it can be distinguished from contemporary paganism, and whether astrology is a New Age discipline.

Books will include Nicholas Campion, 'Prophecy, Cosmology and the New Age Movement: the extent and nature of contemporary belief in astrology' (PhD thesis, University of the West of England 2004), Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture (Leiden, New York: E.J. Brill 1996), Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement (Oxford: Blackwell 1996), Michael York, The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995), James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, Perspectives on the New Age, Albany: State University of New York Press 1992), Harvey, G., Contemporary Paganism : Listening People, Speaking Earth (New York, 2000), Joanne Pearson, R.H. Roberts and G. Samuel, G. (eds.), Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, eds. Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), Hutton, Ronald, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1999).

Psychological Perspectives (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7005      

C. G. Jung stated that 'astrology represents the sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity'. But was he right? This module will examine the relationship between astrology and psychology in its broadest sense: an interiorising of the cosmos and its powers as dimensions of the human psyche. We will consider so-called 'protopsychology' (ancient concepts of temperaments, elements and humours, and the planetary spheres as a seven-staged inner journey); Hellenistic, Jewish and Gnostic astrological systems as inner stages of development; ancient and Renaissance astral theurgy as self-transformation and an antidote to astral determinism; medieval interiorised models of sins and virtues; Alan Leo’s character analysis; Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic models; the humanistic psychology movement and its influence on Dane Rudhyar; and modern personality theories, including recent developments in cognitive and evolutionary psychology. Particular attention will be paid to C.G. Jung's analytical psychology, including his work on psychological types and functions, archetypes, the collective unconscious, and synchronicity ­ all of which were both influenced by and, in turn, greatly influenced astrology. We shall then turn to psychological theories and psychotherapies following in Jung's wake, including Hillman's archetypal psychology and the transpersonal psychology of Assagioli and Maslow. We shall look at the phenomenon of modern psychological astrology in its various forms, as well as the use of astrology to provide mappings of character and support forms of psychological analysis and counselling.

Books include Jung, C. G., The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1968) and Psychological Types (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul 1971), Jensine Andresen, Religion in Mind: Cognitive Perspectives on Religious Belief, Ritual, and Experience (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum, Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key (Bournemouth: Wessex, 2005),  Ioan P. Couliano, Out of This World (Boston: Shambhala 1991), James Hillman, The Soul's Code (New York: Bantam, 1998), Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (Princeton: Van Norstrand 1967), Roderick Main, Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal (London: Routledge 1997), Thomas Leahey, A History of Psychology: Main Currents in Psychological Thought (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1987).

Sacred Geography (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7006      

The identification of landscape as sacred, or the construction of buildings endowed with religious or cosmic symbolism or power is a feature of human attempts to live in harmony with the universe. This module will examine the notion that the numinous power of the heavens is made manifest in the physical environment, interpreted in a broad sense to include sacred geography, space, topography, landscapes and religious cosmologies. The theme implies consideration of features such as the history, character, architecture and design of particular sacred sites and the contested designation of sites and spaces as sacred, tabooed or reserved. The mythical, doctrinal, social and ritual dimensions of sacred geography will be considered and attention paid to the ambiguous character of sacred spaces and sites as loci of both inclusion and exclusion, and hence the role played by sacred space in the development and demarcation of socio-religious identities in global, national and local contexts. We will draw on the work of major theorists in the field, such as Mircea Eliade, Ernst Cassirer and Christopher Tilley, and allowing room for personal fieldwork.

Books will include Barbara Bender, Landscape: Politics and Perspectives, (Oxford: Berg, 1993), Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1959), James A. Swan, The Power of Place: Sacred Ground in Natural and Human Environments (Bath: Gateway, 1993), Christopher Tilley, A Phenomenology of Landscape (Oxford: Berg 1994), Bob Trubshaw, Sacred Places: Prehistory and Popular Imagination (Wymeswold: Heart of Albion Press 2005).

Science and Scepticism (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7007      

Astrology has been subject to sceptical criticisms since the second century BCE, and to scientific investigation only since the last century. Many astrologers claim that astrology is a science, a claim which scientists often reject. This module examines the arguments and evidence with an emphasis on the often irreconcilable theoretical positions taken by the leading protagonists on either side. It will examine the complex relationship between astrology and science, both ancient and modern. We will explore basic themes in the philosophy as well as history of science. Sceptical critiques fostered by rationalism/ realism, from BCE to the present, are also explored, as is contemporary scientific research into astrology; the guiding assumptions of the latter are also critically considered.

Books will include Geoffrey Dean and Arthur Mather, Geoffrey, Recent Advances in Natal Astrology: A Critical Review 1900-1976 (Subiaco: Analogic, 1977), Suitbert Ertel and Kenneth Irving, The Tenacious Mars Effect (London: Urania Trust: 1997), Michel Gauquelin, Cosmic Influences on Human Behaviour (London: Garnerstone Press, 1974).

Steve Fuller, Science (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1997), Patrick Grim (ed.), Philosophy of Science and the Occult, (2nd ed., SUNY Series in Philosophy, Albany 1990), John Henry, The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modern Science, 2nd edn (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002), James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science (London: Routledge 2002), Mary Midgley, Science as Salvation: A Modern Myth and its Meaning (London: Routledge, 1992)

Stellar Religion (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7008      

Religion has always been linked to the sky, whether through the worship of the sun, notions of the soul's salvation in the stars or heaven’s location above the stars. The starry sky reveals the glory of God and Christian prophets scoured the sky for signs of the End. In India today astrology is one of the pillars of Hindu religion. This module explores the role and impact of Stellar Religion in both history and the contemporary world. It considers some of the ways in which sidereal aspects of religion are expressed today in the light of current debates about the identity and construction of religion in contemporary discourse. The module will include themes such as the relationship between the soul and the stars, the regulation of religious life according to sacred calendars; religious cosmologies, and modern mystical cosmologies. Seminars will examine such topics as ancient Egyptian astral religion, Gnostic cosmology, theosophy, UFO religions and the relationship between Christianity and astrology.

Books will include W. Braun W and R. McCutcheon (eds) Guide to the Study of Religion (London: Cassell, 1999), Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture, Leiden (New York: E.J. Brill 1996), Jeremy Carrette and Richard King, Selling Spirituality: the Silent Takeover of Religion (London: Routledge 2004), Nicholas, Campion, The Dawn of Astrology: A Cultural History of Western Astrology, Vol. 1 (London: Continuum 2008), James Thrower, Religion: The Classical Theories (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), Bowman, Marion and Sutcliffe, Steven Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2000, Plato, Timaeus,  trans. R.G.Bury (Cambridge Mass., London: Harvard University Press 1931), Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity (2nd ed., Boston: Beacon Press 1963), Alan Scott, Origen and the Life of the Stars; A History of an Idea (Oxford University Press), 1994). 

The Medieval Cosmos (Optional)

Module Code AHAN7009      

The western medieval world-view was based on a combination of scripture and classical learning, on the Book of Genesis and Plato and Aristotle. As people looked to the heavens they saw God’s glory, divine messages and planetary influences. This module will examine medieval cosmology, its beliefs about the moral and physical structure of the universe and its practical applications in, for example, cathedral architecture. We will examine the uses of astrology (how did astrologers actually work?), arguments about its legitimacy and the stars’ role in salvation from sin. Classical medieval texts will include Sacrobosco’s ‘Sphere’ and Guido Bonatti’s ‘Liber Astronomiae’, as well as work by Chaucer, Dante and Thomas Aquinas.

Books include Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, 4 Vols., trans. Vernon J. Bourke, (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press 1975), Book 3, part 2, Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 Vols., (New York: Columbia University Press, 1923 – 58), John North, Stars, Minds and Fate: Essays in Ancient and Medieval Cosmology (London, The Hambledon Press 1989) and Chaucer's Universe, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1988, Guido Bonatti, Liber Astronomiae, Parts 1-IV, trans Robert Hand and Robert Zoller, ed. Robert Hand and Robert Schmidt (Berkeley Springs: Golden Hind Press 1994-6).

Archaeoastronomy

Module Code AHAN7010

Archaeoastronomy is the study of the incorporation of celestial orientation, alignments or symbolism in human monuments and architecture. This module investigates the development of the discipline and its technical procedures. It will examine astronomical claims and theories from the early seventeenth century and from the early surveys of Stonehenge by Inigo Jones, John Aubrey and William Stukeley, through the ideas of Alexander Thom and Gerald Hawkins in the late twentieth century, to the present day. It will raise such questions as the evaluation of evidence, the difference between astronomical and archaeological methodologies, and the value of cultural and ethnographic evidence. For their final essay students should have a choice of a literary project, for example, examining the controversies concerning the nature of archaeastronomical claims, or of conducting fieldwork and writing a report on a particular site.

Required Reading

Malville, J.McKim, Guide to  Prehistoric Astronomy in the Southwest, Boulder: Johnson Books, 2008; Ruggles, Clive, Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999.

Additional Reading

Aveni, Anthony (ed), Foundations of New World Cultural Astronomy, Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2008; Blomberg, Mary, Peter E. Blomberg and GöranHenriksson, Calendars, Symbols, and Orientations: Legacies of Astronomy in Culture, Proceedings of the 9th annual meeting of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC), The Old Observatory, Stockholm, 27-30 August 2001, Stockholm: Uppsala Astronomical Observatory Report no 59, 2003; Cunliffe, Barry and Colin Renfrew (eds.) Science and Stonehenge, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997; Heggie, D.C. (ed.) Archaeoastronomy in the Old World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1982; MacKie, Euan, Science and Society in Prehistoric Britain, London, Paul and Elek, 1977; Ruggles, Clive and Nicholas Saunders, Astronomies and Cultures, Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado 1993; Fountain, John W., and Rolf M. Sinclair (eds.), Current Studies in Archaeoastronomy: Conversations Across Time and Space, Durham NC; Carolina Academic Press, 2005.

Cosmology, Magic and Divination in the Classical World

Module Code AHAN7011      

This module examines a major feature of Classical and Hellenistic culture, the use of divination and oracles, and places them in the context of cosmological theories (chiefly Platonic and Hermetic) which emphasised individual interaction with stars and divinities. Particular attention will be paid to the use of magic, the development of astrology and the emergence of notions of individual salvation. The subject matter will include primary texts and scholarly commentary relating to pre-Hellenistic, Near Eastern divination, which provided a context for Greek practice, and, where appropriate, post-Classical legacies, for example, in the Islamic world. Suitable attention will be paid to such questions as definitions of magic and divination, as well as the nature of specific practices. The course will consider discussions concerning the essential nature of magic and divination as well as social and political contexts and historical development.

Essential Reading

Betz, Hans Dieter, The Greek magical papyri in translation, including the Demotic spells, Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992; Campion, Nicholas, A History of Western Astrology, Vol. 1, The Ancient and Classical Worlds, London: Continuum, 2008l; Ogden, D., Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002; Cicero, De Divinatione (On Divination), trans. W.A.Falconer, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press, London, 1929; Iamblichus, De Mysteriis (On the Mysteries), trans. Thomas Taylor.  London: Reeves and sons, 1895

Other Reading includes, Plato, Timaeus, trs: R.G. Bury (1929), Loeb, London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press; Plotinus, Enneads, ed. and trs: A.H. Armstrong (1966-88), 7 vols. Loeb, Cambridge, MA and London: Heinemann and Harvard University Press; Plutarch, The E at Delphi; The Oracles at Delphi no longer given in verse; The Obsolescence of Oracles; Isis and Osiris, in Plutarch’s Moralia, Volume 5, trans. F.C. Babbit, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1936, reprinted: 2003; Iamblichus, Fragments (Iamblichi Chalcidensis In Platonis Dialogos Commentariorum Fragmenta), trans. and ed. John Dillon, Westbury, Wiltshire: The Prometheus Trust, 2009; Blacker, Carmen and Michael Loewe, Oracles and Divination, Boulder: Shambhala, 1981; Burkert, Walter, Ancient Mystery Cults, Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press 1987; Graf, F., Magic in the Ancient World, Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997; Ogden, D., Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford: Oxford University Press: 2002; Jacq, C., Egyptian Magic, Warminster: Aris and Philips, 1985; Lloyd, G.E.R., Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the origins and Development of Greek Science, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1979.

Dissertation

Module Code AHAH7001

Having completed the taught modules, writing a 20,000 word dissertation provides a chance for the student to pursue independent research within the subject area and make a contribution to scholarship. We encourage students to take on a subject which particularly interests them, and which builds on the skills and experience they have acquired in the taught modules.