Astraea

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In classical mythology Astraea, the goddess of justice, chastity, and truth, was the last of the immortals to leave Earth with the decline of the ages. Her return was to signal the dawn of a new Golden Age. This myth not only survived the Christian Middle Ages but also became a commonplace in the Renaissance when courtly poets praised their patrons and princes by claiming that Astraea guided them. The literary cult of Astraea persisted in the sixteenth century as writers saw in Elizabeth I of England the imperial Astraea who would lead mankind to peace through universal rule. This and other late flowerings of the Astraea myth should not be taken as the final phases of her history. Frederick A. de Armas documents in this book what may well be the last great rebirth of Astraea, one that is probably of greater political, religious, and literary significance than others previously described by historians and literary critics. The Return of Astraea focuses on the seventeenth-century Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and analyzes the deity's presence in thirteen of his plays, including his masterpiece, La Vida es Sueho. Her popularity in this period is partially attributed to political motives, reflecting the aspirations and fears of the Spanish monarch Philip IV. In this broad study, grounded on such diverse fields as astrology, iconography, history, mythology, and philosophy, de Armas explains that Astraea adopts many guises in Calderón's dramas. Ranging from the Kabbalah to Platonic thought and from satires on Olivares to cosmogonic myths, he analyzes and reinterprets Calderón's theater from a wide range of perspectives centered on the playwright's utilization of the myth of Astraea. The book thus represents a new view of Calderón's dramaturgy and also documents the popularity and significance of this astral-imperial myth during the Spanish Golden Age.

This is Volume V of selected works of Frances A. Yates. Astraea looks at the Imperial theme in the sixteenth century and includes Charles V and the idea of Empire to the Tudor Imperial Reform and the French Monarchy.

Written to introduce readers to the complexity and elegance of astrology as a tool for discovering your identity, appreciating your values, improving communication, understanding family dynamics, expressing your creativity, maximizing your skills, connecting successfully with others, finding and sustaining love and intimacy, pursuing your area of expertise, charting your career path, recognizing and participating in your community, and growing into and evolving your spiritual life purpose, this book sets out to accomplish three tasks: 1) take readers deeper into the interpretation process than most beginner books by providing a formula for and examples of over 1,700 specific energy combinations, 2) treating the subject matter as significant and important as medicine, engineering, business, physics, law, or any other profession that requires years and years of dedicated study and practice, and 3) offering a reading strategy that will allow readers of this book and any other books on astrology to quickly enjoy their first foray into the subject. Purposeful repetition of ideas, personal stories from the author, and a worksheet process all work together to show you the remarkable power and usefulness of astrology and what it takes to start down the path to unlocking its secrets for your benefit and the benefit of those people who are important in your life.

Describes and depicts eight hundred species of shells.

Combining an understanding of astrological symbolism and the psychological processes involved in the pursuit of individuality, the author shares insights about how the concept of fate evolves. Through myths, fairy tales, and zodiacal signs, she shows usthis mythological journey.