The Earliest Woman Astrologer Discovered? (Heliodora)

Discussing the recent discovery of the earliest and first named astrologer from the Hellenistic astrological tradition who was a woman, and talking about the early history of female practitioners of astrology in general, with astrologers Demetra George and Chris Brennan.

Heliodora was an astrologer who lived in the city of Terenuthis in Egypt around the 2nd or 3rd century CE.

Her tombstone was recently discovered by archeologists, who published a paper in 2021 which noted that she is the earliest known woman in the Greco-Roman tradition that is known by name to have been a practicing astrologer.

During the course of the episode we talk about what is known about Heliodora and the location and time period in which she lived, and we also discuss other historical women that may have had some connection with astrology and astronomy.

For more information about Demetra see her website:

https://demetra-george.com

This is episode 402 of The Astrology Podcast:

https://theastrologypodcast.com/2023/05/22/heliodora-and-the-early-history-of-women-astrologers/

Bibliography

Roger S. Bagnall, Cathy L. Callaway, and Alexander Jones,  “The Funerary Stele of Heliodora, Astrologer,” Muse: Annual of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, 53/54, 2019-2020 (published 2021), pp. 28–45.

https://theastrologypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/heliodora-article.pdf

Nadia Anderson, Drawing Down the Moon & Aglaonice of Thessaly

https://theastrologypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/anderson-aglaonice.pdf

Previous episodes of The Astrology Podcast mentioned in this episode:

Episode 86: Saturn as Feminine, and the Earliest Female Astrologer

https://theastrologypodcast.com/2016/07/31/saturn-feminine-earliest-female-astrologer/

Episode 137: Elsbeth Ebertin and the Rise of Women in Astrology

https://theastrologypodcast.com/2017/12/18/elsbeth-ebertin-and-the-rise-of-women-in-astrology/

Episode 295: Queen Buran, Astrologer in 9th Century Baghdad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ7-8KTblPw

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https://www.patreon.com/astrologypodcast

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00:00:00 Intro
00:02:45 Why there were few ancient female astrologers
00:04:00 Horoscopes for ancient women
00:09:25 Hypatia in the 5th century and Queen Buran in the 9th century
00:10:48 Heliodora article
00:14:05 Heliodora as a "mathematike" or mathematician
00:21:28 Urania, Greek goddess of astrology
00:23:13 Enheduanna, poet and priestess
00:25:44 Egyptian goddess Seshat, scribe and astronomer
00:27:45 Aglaonice, predictor of eclipses
00:34:22 Were women practicing astrology prior to Hellenistic astrology?
00:39:20 Oracle of Delphi and divination
00:44:43 Heliodora's tombstone
00:46:35 Heliodora's time period and location
00:58:04 Blending of Egyptian and Greek cultures with Helidora
01:01:37 Images and inscription on the tombstone
01:03:54 Heliodora remained unmarried to pursue astrology
01:11:40 How Helidora learned astrology
01:18:04 Family lines of astrologers: Balbilla, Thrasyllus, Commagene
01:31:00 Julia Balbilla, poet
01:40:33 Women astronomers in Sumerian-Babylonian history
01:42:04 Death of Ellen Black and her role in starting Project Hindsight
01:46:28 Rise of women astrologers in the 20th century
01:51:04 New discoveries being made of notable Islamic and Indian women astrologers
01:54:40 Lost text of Ptolemy discovered
01:55:55 Demetra's background
01:59:29 Demetra's course on hand-calculating a chart
02:07:14 Asteroid retreat and lectures
02:09:27 Patrons and sponsors

Видео The Earliest Woman Astrologer Discovered? (Heliodora) канала The Astrology Podcast