The night sky in the lives of amateur and professional astronomers


by Jessica Heim This paper explores the nature of amateur and professional astronomers’ attitudes towards and relationship with the night sky.  This research uses a mixed method approach, utilizing both interviews and questionnaire responses.  It examines…

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Moon meets Sun and Sun meets Moon: A sky journal research report


Nicole Montag-Keller This paper reports on what ‘Moon meets Sun and Sun meets Moon’ means to the researcher, noted in a sky journal from end of May till mid July, 2017 at a location in…

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Exploring personal cosmologies: a qualitative investigation into cosmogony, astrology, and perceptions of the universe


by Christopher Layser This qualitative investigation into contemporary cosmology utilized an online questionnaire and semi-structured participant interviews with a targeted group of twenty respondents in the American Northeast as its primary methodology in exploring factors…

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Can theurgy be considered a form of magic?


by Elisabetta Castelli This paper examines the relationship between theurgy and magic in the ancient world. It discusses what theurgy and magic are, despite the former remaining somewhat an enigma to modern scholars and the…

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Sky and Water in Minnesota: A sky journal research report


by Jessica Heim This paper explores the relationship between the sky and bodies of water in my home state of Minnesota, U.S.A.  The aim of this research was to delve into the myriad ways in…

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How important occult texts treat the Moon: a review


by Selina White By comparing and contrasting three astrological primary sources, namely Plutarch’s Concerning the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon (De facie quae in orbe lunae apparet), Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine,…

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Stonehenge


by Mike Parker Pearson Reviewed by Pam Armstrong The crucial thing to know about Mike Parker Pearson’s book ‘Stonehenge’ is that it not only discusses the famous megalithic stone circle; it also explores the history…

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Saturn as a Malefic Planet: A Research Note


Stavroula Konstantopoulou  This research note compares and contrasts the treatment of Saturn as a malefic planet according to three original source documents. The first source is the second-century Tetrabiblos or Quadripartitum,the four-book treatise on astrology composed by Claudius…

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The Turtle, The Peccary, and the Two-Headed Serpent: Comparison of Maya Zodiac Constellations in the Paris Codex and the Murals of Bonampak


This paper presents a brief comparative analysis of two important depictions of the sky from the corpus of Maya art and iconography: the so-called ‘Maya Zodiac’ found within the pages of the Paris Codex and the painted murals of Room 2 at Bonampak in Chiapas, Mexico. This comparison will focus on three iconographical elements relating to the Maya sky: the skyband, the turtle, and the peccary — the latter of which is now effaced in the Paris Codex — in order to establish whether they represent three important sky markers relating to the Maya creation myth.

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Experiencing the Goan Skies


Nomita Khatri This paper explores the relationship between the sky and land in my home state of Goa, India at the onset of the Indian monsoon. Using a phenomenological and reflexive approach I regularly spent time…

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