Astrological Association of Great Britain
Astrological Association of Great Britain
(religion, spiritualism, and occult)The Astrological Association of Great Britain (AA) was founded at the deliberately elected moment of 7:22 p.m. on June 21, 1958, in London. Its founding members, notably John Addey and Roy Firebrace, were members of the Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society who felt their ambitions for astrology were restricted by the lodge’s image and constitution, specifically its links to the Theosophical Society. Their aims were essentially twofold: to demonstrate astrology’s objective validity and to enhance its public reputation, especially within the scientific community and caring professions. The founding assumption for the association was that astrological claims are both demonstrable and helpful.
The association also established itself as an umbrella organization for all astrologers, whether they adhered its objectives or not. It encouraged debate and the free exchange of information. Hence, the AA has never had a corporate view concerning the nature of astrology and has published material hostile to astrology and critical of its claims. The unfettered exchange of ideas is considered a central part of the AA’s work. Its activities have centered on the organization of weekly meetings (in London from the late 1950s to the late 1980s) and an annual conference (from 1968 to the present). It has also held other events in the United Kingdom, mainly in London (though not exclusively), chiefly an annual research conference.
The AA’s major publication, the Journal, was first published in 1959. This was followed in the 1960s by the launch of Transit, the newsletter. Correlation, its peer-reviewed journal of research into astrology, was launched in 1968 and then relaunched in 1981 after a break in publication in the 1970s. It remains the only academic journal of its kind. The Astrology and Medicine Newsletter is a specialist magazine containing articles on medical astrology.