Astrology for

Vocation and Virtue

Stoic

Astrologer

Purpose

About Me

Historical Stoicism was particularly interested in astrology for what it would tell us about our lot and place in both the wider universe and the lived world. Indeed, Epictetus (c. 50–135 CE), the Stoic philosopher, reminds us that in this life we are actors in a play, the character of which and our role in it are determined by the playwright (Enchiridion 17).

Yet we inhabit and play many different roles throughout our lives that complicate how we might understand this idea easily. How do we know when and whether these are the right roles for us? How do we know whether we are performing them well, or whether other opportunities or roles might better express our nature and abilities?

Stoicism is an ancient school of philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BCE). It teaches that the cosmos is an organic ordered whole, governed by reason (logos) which runs throughout is, and that human beings are participants in this order.

The Stoics understood this ordering in terms of providence (pronoia) and fate/allotment (heimarmenē). For human beings, living well involves understanding our nature (physis), recognising our relationships and circumstances, and considering how best to respond to them.

Divination also had a significant place in Stoic thought. Many Stoic philosophers regarded the interpretation of signs as a means of understanding the providential order of the cosmos.

They did not, however, agree on every form of divination: Panaetius (c. 185–109 BCE), for example, was sceptical of astrologers' predictions (Cicero, De Divinatione II.88). Nevertheless, Cicero (106–43 BCE) reports that Diogenes of Babylon (c. 230–140 BCE), another prominent Stoic philosopher, allowed that astrologers might be able to discern a person's natural disposition and identify the activities for which they were particularly suited (De Divinatione II.90).

For Stoics, then, astrology might have offered a technical means of exploring our natural aptitudes, circumstances and potential roles in life in a structured way. Astrology might help us recognise possibilities worth cultivating and consider how best to perform the parts available to us.

My name is Dr. David Wallace-Hare. I'm a Devon-based Stoic Astrologer and Classicist (PhD Classics, University of Toronto).

I focus on providing philosophical readings using Hellenistic astrology that offers Stoic methods and follow up sources to further live and explore the chart via a Stoic worldview.

What is Stoic Hellenistic Astrology?

Stoic Astrologer takes a Stoic philosophical approach to Hellenistic Astrology, reading techniques and chart interpretation via a Stoic worldview based on Classical Stoic sources such as Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius among others.

I use an array of Hellenistic astrological techniques but in particular the methods of the 2nd Century CE astrologer Vettius Valens (like natal chart analysis, annual profections, and zodiacal releasing), whose philosophy, practices, and approaches are informed by Stoicism.

Stoicism & Vocation