Astrology. The Library of Esoterica

The vibrant visual history of Western astrology

Astronomy and astrology were once sister sciences: the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza was built to align with constellations, Persian scholars oversaw some of the first observatories, and even Galileo cast horoscopes for the Medicis. but with the Enlightenment and the birth of exact science, the practice moved to places where mystery was still permitted, inspiring literature, art, and psychology, and influenced artists and thinkers such as Goethe, Byron, and Blake. Later movements like the Theosophists and the New Agers, would thrust the practice into the mainstream.

From its birth as astronomy’s sister science, to our current Age of Aquarius, the story of this ancient practice is told through more than 400 images—from Egyptian temples to contemporary art—sequenced to mirror the spin of the planets and the wheel of the zodiac.