The Worldview of Astrological Magic: Part IV – The Practices of Astrological Magic

In this lesson we jump back from the modern worldview toward the astromagical worldview. Having firmly in mind from the previous lesson some general vision of “the” modern worldview, we can readily begin forming a contrasting image with “the” astromagical worldview—which is not really a single worldview after all, but rather a syncretic blend of various traditions and ideas from several cultures that accreted together over the course of several centuries. Here we examine the specifics of astrological magic, separating out truly astrological magic from astral magic and defining the essential ingredients of astrological magic and its constituent practices. From there we look a little deeper into the nature of astrological talismans to offer a conceptual breakdown that gets us closer to a sketch of the worldview of astrological magic. Providing a general conceptual map of the terrain of astrological magic will set us up to explore the astromagical worldview in greater depth in future lessons.