Fate and Fortune with Allen Drake

Magician, fortune teller, and notorious swamp wizard Allen Drake joins me in this episode. We open with a discussion of various forms of divination and fortune telling, focusing primarily on Tarot and astrology. It doesn’t take long for us to dive into the Hellenistic astrology of Dorotheus of Sidon. Allen takes us on a wild exploration of really early approaches to astrological symbols, images, and meanings before we dive into the meanings of fate and fortune and why those words scare the heck out of people. Dorotheus of Sidon was a 1st century CE astrologer, who probably lived in Alexandria and may have been from what is today Lebanon. His works are our oldest, best source for Hellenistic astrology and provide a fascinating window into the ancient practices that evolved into today’s astrology. By exploring the works of Dorotheus, Allen has developed a rich and rewarding approach to the stars that I think you will find fascinating and enlightening. A note on audio quality: The COVID-19 shelter-in-place situation has forced me to make a lot of changes in how I record lately, so Allen’s conversation happened over the phone. I’m working hard to make sure audio quality is better in future episodes. Links Carmen Astrologicum by Dorotheus of Sidon, translated by Benjamin N. Dykes Lunar Cry invitation Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arnemancy Listen on Podcrypt