Winston Churchill stated that history is written by the victors. But reality is more complex. The history we learned in K-12 was written to teach good examples as well as to give us those facts that are deemed the most important. The history we learn from Hollywood was written to tell a good story. In all these histories, we seldom learn about the complexity of the cultures described. And we even more rarely hear dissenting points of view.

Until recently, an academic history of astrology always included a disclaimer by the author assuring the reader of his or her disbelief and the occasional comment about the superstitious and misguided individuals who practiced astrology. Science historians rarely acknowledged any part of astrology’s influence on the development of astronomy, mathematics or meteorology. This picture is changing, in part because of the existence of Kepler College and in part because of programs like those at the University of Lampeter and the Warburg Institute.

But the history of astrology is still considered a fringe discipline. This means astrologers need to take control over our own history. Now a college is not just a place for students to take classes. It also acts as a guardian of histories that would otherwise be lost. Thus Kepler College is beginning an oral history project to capture the history of 20th Century astrology. One of our seniors, Risha Denney, is beginning this task by focusing her senior project on the far-sited individuals who understood that in today’s world, the future of astrology required that it also be taught in higher education.

Another of our seniors is updating a survey done approximately 10 years ago on astrology as a profession. I hope that you will share your time and comments with her as well.

Oral history Senior Project
Greetings from Risha Denney

For my Senior Project I am embarking on quite the journey, a journey through the halls of history, more precisely the halls of Kepler College History. I will be creating an Oral History piece on Kepler College, on her history, and her fight for existence. This video documentary will be complete with interviews and commentary with those who urged Kepler into being, as well as those that have kept Kepler moving forward. I am very excited about the possibilities with this project, and I’m delighted to bring the history and human stories of Kepler together into an archive project to benefit astrologers and the college.