Despite its popular association today with magic, astrology was once a complex and sophisticated practice, grounded in technical training provided by a university education. The Crown and the Cosmos examines the complex ways that political practice and astrological discourse interacted at the Habsburg court, a key center of political and cultural power in early modern Europe. Like other monarchs, Maximilian I used astrology to help guide political actions, turning to astrologers and their predictions to find the most propitious times to sign treaties or arrange marriage contracts. Perhaps more significantly, the emperor employed astrology as a political tool to gain support for his reforms and to reinforce his own legitimacy as well as that of the Habsburg dynasty. Darin Hayton analyzes the various rhetorical tools astrologers used to argue for the nobility, antiquity, and utility of their discipline, and how they strove to justify their "science" on the grounds that through its rigorous interpretation of the natural world, astrology could offer more reliable predictions. This book draws on extensive printed and manuscript sources from archives across northern and central Europe, including Poland, Germany, France, and England.

This study explores the integral role of astrological concepts and imagery in preparing the ground for the Reformation, and in shaping the distinctive characteristics of German Christian culture through the early seventeenth century.

Queer Cosmos is a contemporary, fresh look into astrology, personal insight, and relationships for the LGBTQ+ community! Astrologer Colin Bedell from Cosmopolitan and QueerCosmos.com has brought together fifteen years of research, client interviews, and astrological mastery to create a spiritual guide for not only resistance and resilience, but also personal insights and relationship compatibility. Unpacking complex issues like shame and worthiness, Queer Cosmos explores Astrology as an antidote to feelings of hopelessness and provides language for authentic practices of self-expression. Leaving behind gender-normative pronouns and assumptions, Queer Cosmos explores more nuanced patterns of the archetypal energies expressed in queer experiences. After all, the only way to forge deep, meaningful relationships is to first forge a relationship with yourself. Drawing on research from experts in the field like Dr. Harville Hendrix, Brene Brown, and Esther Perel, Bedell goes deep to provide practical relational theory that can empower readers to find successful and healthy relationships.

The first volume of Cosmos, his five-volume survey of the universe, appeared in 1845, though Humboldt had labored on the entire work for nearly half a century. He scrupulously sent sections of the work to other experts for suggestions and corrections. The last volume, put together from his notes after his death, appeared in 1861. The volumes were translated almost as rapidly as they appeared. This paperback edition reprints the Harper & Brothers edition, published in New York in 1858-59.