Evangeline Adams
Evangeline Smith Adams, (February 8, 1868 at 8:30 am — November 10 or 12, 1932), was a well known late-19th / early 20th century American astrologer, based in New York. She ran a thriving astrological consulting business, gained widespread notability for successfully defending her astrological practice in court, and wrote a number of popular books about astrology including, Astrology: Your Place in the Sun (1927), Astrology: Your Place Among the Stars (1930), and her autobiography, The Bowl of Heaven (1926). While Aleister Crowley ghostwrote her books on astrology,[1] Adams is an acknowledged contributor to Crowley's own astrological text The General Practice of Astrology. She has been described as "America's first astrological superstar".[2]
Biography
Adams was born on 8 February 1859 in Jersey City, New Jersey, to a conservative family.[3] Her father died when she was 15 months old. Before Adams began working as an astrologer full-time, she became engaged to a Mr. Lord, who was believed to be her employer. Although she said that she was initially in love with him, she lost any feelings that she had for him and subsequently broke the engagement.
She was the "companion" of Emma Viola Sheridan Fry (educator, journalist, playwright, suffragist)[4] in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Thousands of subscribers to her astrological newsletter followed her advice to invest in stocks during the run-up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929.[5] Evangeline Adams died in 1932.
Astrological practice and controversies
It was towards the end of her career that Adams took to publishing books and raising her profile within popular media. For most of her working life, she ran a thriving astrological practice based on consultation by person or mail. This grew to employ several assistants and stenographers.[6] For a number of years Adams employed Aleister Crowley as a ghost-writer. Their business relationship eventually turned into an acrimonious one, which brought copyright issues of "who really wrote what", with regards to Crowley's General Principles of Astrology (now settled with the book being attributed to Crowley but with a recognized contribution by Adams).[7]
Adams was arrested three times in New York for fortune telling, in 1911, 1914 and 1923.[8] Although practicing astrology was not legalized at that time, all the cases brought against her were unsuccessful, and the May 1914 trial brought particular notability due to the Judge's acquittal "of all wrong doing" and praise of her skill, after she gave him an astrology reading describing the character of his son from his birth data.[9]
Notes
- ↑ "Aleister Crowley’s writings on astrology". Retrieved 10 December 10012.
- ↑ David G. Bromley, The Future of New Religious Movements, p.50. Mercer University Press, 1987. ISBN 9780865542389.
- ↑ See Crowley, Aleister ed. Hymenaeus Beta "The General Principles of Astrology" page xx Editor's Introduction, footnote 2 for details of the controversies concerning her year of birth. On her arrest in 1923 she reported her age as 50, suggesting she was born c.1873. Public records, however, show that she was born in 1859. "Age adjustments by women were an accepted practice in the period".
- ↑ Ohles, Frederik, Shirley M. Ohles, and John G. Ramsay. 1997. Biographical Dictionary of American Educators. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 119–120. Leonard, John William, Editor-in-Chief. 1914. Woman's Who's Who of America: A biographical dictionary of contemporary women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915. New York: The American Commonwealth Company. p. 311.
- ↑ The Crash of 1929, PBS American Experience
- ↑ Crowley, Aleister ed. Hymenaeus Beta "The General Principles of Astrology" page xxi Editor's Introduction
- ↑ Crowley, Aleister ed. Hymenaeus Beta "The General Principles of Astrology". The Editor's Introduction details the controversy and how it was settled to the consent of both party's estates.
- ↑ Crowley, Aleister ed. Hymenaeus Beta "The General Principles of Astrology" page xxi Editor's Introduction
- ↑ Crowley, Aleister ed. Hymenaeus Beta "The General Principles of Astrology" page xxi Editor's Introduction
References
- A Look at the Famous Astrologer Evangeline Adams Article by Karen Christino.
- Holden, James H. (1996). A History of Horoscopic Astrology. Hoover's. ISBN 0-86690-463-8.
- Fisher, Ken (2009). 100 Minds that made the market. Wiley-India. ISBN 812651955X.
- Parker, Derek (1970). Astrology in the modern world. New York: Taplinger. ISBN 0-8008-0490-2.
External links
- Video footage of Adams with early newsreel coverage of her famous trial, from the TV series 'Secrets in the Stars' (1999) narrated by Leonard Nimoy.
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