A Fading Flame
A Fading Flame
This chapter describes occult philosophy's state of decline, which translated to fewer works on alchemy, less respect for astrology, and the virtual disappearance of ritual magic among the educated. From 1710 onwards, years passed without any new book or alchemical work coming onto the market at all. Astrology, on the other hand, suffered a somewhat different fate. As with alchemy, it suffered a loss of prestige, but its popularity remained. Public thirst for predictions remained constant, and so did the number of almanacs published in England at the time. A select few bothered to examine whether astrology worked through natural magic or angelic influence, and as a result, serious studies of astrology became rare and hard to come by. John Partridge dominated the field, with his empirical approach that was anti-Copernican, firmly opposed to magic, and fixated on the “Hileg” or predictor of death.
Keywords: occult philosophy, state of decline, alchemy, astrology, ritual magic, natural magic, angelic influence, John Partridge, Hileg, predictor of death
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