Line #62 Main/Astrologer


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/larmessin2_7732.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:"The stars foretell... a change in wardrobe?" [[note]]''Habit d'Astrologue'' by Nicolas de Larmessin.[[/note]]]]
3
4	->''"Astrologer extraordinary. Seer to princes and emperors. The future foretold, the past explained, the present... apologized for."''
5	-->-- '''Organon''', introducing himself to [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]")
6
7	This character is a pretty old staple in fiction, claiming to have the skill to see past, present and future events based on the position of stars and planets, often using big heaps of {{Symbolism}} to link characters and events with astrological bodies and movements. They're a type of FortuneTeller that uses telescopes, star charts and zodiacs rather than a CrystalBall or [[TarotMotifs Tarot cards]]. Typically they're a PhonyPsychic in modern non-fantasy stories; the astrologer is usually a fake, whether they will admit it or not, and whether they sincerely believe in their own powers or not. If they can ''actually'' divine the future through some form of RitualMagic or PsychicPowers they're effectively {{Seers}}, and they may {{Invoke\|d Trope}} the PhonyPsychic trope as a cover for their real psychic powers.
8
9	Astrologers can be good guys, neutral, self-interested or evil - in fact, a story may have two Astrologers who engage in ScryVsScry to see which can affect their vision of the future. Just like a Tarot-based divination is open to interpretation, the Astrologer may anger clients when they wrongly interpret predictions, or [[PortentOfDoom have unfavorable fortunes]], especially true when they serve a villain who may [[YouHaveFailedMe kill them for the failure]] or as [[KillTheMessenger bearer of bad news.]]
10
11	The astrologer may use the WesternZodiac or EasternZodiac, or instead substitute [[FictionalZodiac a wholly new astrological system of meaning]]. This last one is especially common in fully-original fantasy settings. If they ''do'' use a zodiac of some sort, they may also happily engage [[TheMatchmaker in matchmaking,]] whether they're asked to or not.
12
13	The Astrologer is not to be confused with an Astro'''nomer'''; the latter studies the stars and the former attempts to use them to explain things on earth.
14
15	Compare to HeavenAbove, which describes the connection between the divine and any celestial body that flies across the sky, though originally there was no difference.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
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21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* In ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'', the primary mystical advisors to the Emperor are skygazers and astrology is a part of their divination process.
23	* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Nephrite uses astrology to locate humans nearing their peak energy production in order to acquire large amounts of energy for the Dark Kingdom.
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* ''ComicBook/AsteriosPolyp'': Ursula routinely asks her tenants their birthday so as to Feng Shui their room to best match their energy. In Asterios' case, she did "the best she could" without knowing his ascendant sun sign. This included leaving a chair upside down on a table.
28	* ''ComicBook/RedSonja'': Emperor Samala seeks Plaitius, the greatest stargazer in the world, to use astrology to read his horoscope. Unfortunately Plaitius is actually an indignant astronomer.
29	* ''ComicBook/{{Sleepless}}'': The land of Mribesh is known for producing Star Seers who can divine the future from study of the heavens. Amena and Nnende are both well-respected Star Seers employed by the royal court of Harbeny. When Nnende offers Poppy a reading, she has Poppy ask specific questions about the future. Nnende turns her eyes to the clear night sky and receives a vision of a possible outcome.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* Astrologette of Raven Child's ''Fanfic/TheSmurfetteVillage'' series is the female Smurf version of this, who uses tarot cards to see the future.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Film]]
37	* ''Film/WhenWereYouBorn'': Mei Lei, a Chinese-American woman who is a totally legit astrologer capable of making eerily accurate observations about people. In one scene she expresses irritation at how the fakes have given astrology a bad name. She winds up unofficially helping the police and catching a murderer.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
42	** Centaurs have fairly accurate predictions this way. Firenze in particular is skilled enough to teach a class in it, but even he admits that it requires a certain knack that is hard to grasp. Astro''nomy'' is also part of the Hogwarts curriculum.
43	** Fourth year Divination is devoted entirely to Astrology, specifically on how the cosmos affects day-to-day life. Firenze says this is nonsense, believing such things to be well beneath the notice of the stars and planets.
44	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
45	** As the disc rests on the back of four elephants standing on a giant turtle which constantly flies through space, astrology is "cutting-edge research rather than, as elsewhere, a clever way of avoiding a proper job".
46	** The Unseen University Professor of Astrology briefly appears in ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'', when Trymon asks him to cast Rincewind's horoscope and thereby establish his exact location. Most of it could come straight out of a newspaper astrology column ("Your lucky food is small cucumbers, watch out for druids"), except the end which is pretty direct. ("P.S. We really mean it about the druids.")
47	** Also from the Discworld is Wilf, the mysterious figure who writes the astrology section of the ''Ankh-Morpork Almanack'', and may in fact be the God of Astrology.
48	* ''Literature/TheInfiniteAndTheDivine''’s titular Orikan the Diviner. A famed Chronomancer among the [[Characters/Warhammer40000Necrons Necrons]], he frequently consults the stars to see the future and plan ahead.
49	* Creator/TadWilliams's ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' series has astrological motifs, particularly the recurring Conqueror's Star. Also, the court of Nabban has an astrologer who makes very accurate predictions. Unfortunately, they're not very ''precise'' predictions.
50	* Mameha in ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha'', a good guy, consults and follows her forecast very carefully.
51	* Gail Andrews in ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'' is an astrologer who gave advice to President Hudson and is confronted by Tricia Macmillan on the existence of a tenth planet. Her explanation is that astrology has nothing to do with actual stars and planets; they're just the arbitary source of a system of rules that gives you insight into people.
52	* Raymond Smullyan's ''Satan, Cantor, and Infinity'', a book of increasingly fiendish logic puzzles, includes a dig at astrology. One portion of the book is set in the court of a king who has both an astrologer and an astronomer. The astrologer is an idiot who always lies, while the astronomer is a bright, honest person.
53	* In ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'', Becky Vesey is a prominent astrologer who both works for Senator Douglas' wife and is a friend of Jubal's. She ends up using her seeing ability to subtly direct people's actions in what she views as a beneficial way.
54	** Interestingly she's not really using astrology, and even points out herself early on that she just "senses" the truth and then makes up the astrology to fit; she learned her craft from a carnival huckster. Mike later explains that she intuitively groks things. She might be a reference to 1961 celebrity astrologers such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon Jeane Dixon]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carroll_Righter Carroll Righter]].
55	* Mama Sutra in Shea and Wilson's ''Illuminatus!'', a seeress who can also tell the ''past'' -- a lot more accurately than the historians can... she predicts Putney Drake's rise to the top in the criminal world, and she can also look back to a world in which the events of Tolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' actually ''happened''....
56	* In ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', the Dal race studies many supernatural things, such as necromancy (as in summoning and ''speaking'' to the dead, not raising them as undead hordes) and alchemy, but the Seers are in charge of the civilisation. [[BlindSeer Blindfolded]] except when they look at "the Book of the Heavens", one of them takes the reigns of the conflict between the two opposing Prophecies.
57	* The engineer from Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Macroscope'' dabbles in astrology. Harold defends his hobby by pointing out that astrologers spent thousands of years refining their methods, and they were often the most highly educated people of their eras.
58	* Diana Thompson, in ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', is a practitioner that claims the title of Astrologer. Her astrology, however, is highly adapted to the modern age, to the extent that everyone else (who rely on astrological texts at least a century out of date) have very little understanding of how she does what she does. She relies heavily on PostModernMagik, using skywriting equipment to create constellations in the sky over Toronto, allowing her to change the stars locally instead of just read them.
59	* In ''La saga de los Confines'' of Lilianan Bodoc, the people of the Zitzahay are governed by the Supreme Astronomers, who are also astrologers: they study the position of the planets and stars in order to predict the future and find wisdom in the movement of the stars.
60	* In ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeatimeOfTheSoul'', The Great Gazanga is a newspaper astrologist who happens to be an old friend of protagonist Dirk Gently's and writes all predictions for Dirk's sign with the purpose of winding him up. "Virtually everything you decide today will be wrong," is a typical example, and the paper's circulation has declined by about 1/12 since The Great Gazanga took up his post.
61	* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'': The Miller recounts a story of an [[AbsentMindedProfessor absent-minded]] astrologer who walked straight into a cesspit while trying to divine his future in the stars.
62	-->''"He saw not that."''
63	* Astrology plays a minor role in ''Literature/LammasNight'' by Creator/KatherineKurtz, mostly to confirm that Gray and Prince William have a connection that has lasted through many previous lives.
64	* In the Keller series by Creator/LawrenceBlock, the protagonist is told he has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachydactyly_type_D murderer's thumb]] and wonders if he was predestined to be a ProfessionalKiller. Keller consults an astrologer who rubbishes the idea but comes up with a surprisingly accurate reading. [[YouKnowTooMuch It's a bit too accurate unfortunately]], and she's poisoned by [[TheHandler Dot]].
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67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* ''Series/YediYuz'': One of Metin's disastrous dates in "Biyolojik Saat" is a budding astrologer who seems far more interested in assessing his star sign (he's a Cancer) than getting to know him as an individual.
69	* Hieronymous, the villain of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E1TheMasqueOfMandragora The Masque of Mandragora]]", is an astrologer, whose study of the stars brings him into contact with the Mandragora Helix.
70	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Sadoc Burrows is the closest thing to an astrologer the Harfoots have. He's erudite, and always carries an ancient book which contains constellations, and other astronomical objects he interprets.
71	* Martin Trueman, the villain of ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' story "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS2E5E6SecretsOfTheStars Secrets of the Stars]]" is an astrologer, whose study of the stars brings him into contact with the Ancient Lights.
72	* Zirinka is an astrologer from the episode "Syzygy" of ''Series/TheXFiles''. The episode takes place during a rare planetary alignment and the place multiplies its effect on local people. Zirinka is a snarker who outsnarks even Mulder and her scenes are hilarious.
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75	[[folder:Music]]
76	* "[[http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_astrologer.htm An Astrologer's Song]]" from ''Literature/RewardsAndFairies'' by Creator/RudyardKipling.
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79	[[folder:Pinballs]]
80	* ''Pinball/StarGazer'' is centered around a HotGypsyWoman astrologer.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Radio]]
84	* ''Radio/ThatGoshDarnHippieShow'': The Oracle segments feature strange horoscopes being given by, well, the Oracle.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
88	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
89	** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle'': While they also use direct magical means to peer into the future, Celestial Wizards often specialize in divining future events from the motions of the stars and planets, studying the heavens through telescopes and astrolabes in order to know how to guide the Empire through impending events and calamities.
90	** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' has Astronomy as an academic {{skill\|ScoresAndPerks}} that can be used to read hints about the future. "Astrologer" is a [[CharacterClassSystem career]] available to [=PCs=] and [=NPCs=], but the most respected are the astromancers of the Celestial [[WizardingSchool College of Magic]], who augment their studies with [[{{Seers}} real precognitive magic]].
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93	[[folder:Theater]]
94	* The main character of Friedrich Schiller's play ''Theatre/{{Wallenstein}}'' employs one. Based on RealLife - at this time, many famous persons had their horoscope made. And even famous astronomers of this time like Kepler[[note]]who actually worked for Wallenstein in RealLife[[/note]] side-worked as astrologers, if only [[MoneyDearBoy to pay the bills.]]
95	* The protagonist of the 16th century Latin comedy "Morosophus", which was an extended TakeThat against the playwright's contemporary Nicholas Copernicus, is a [[TVGenius reclusive]], [[KnowNothingKnowItAll foolish]] astrologer who predicts that a rain will fall that will make everyone mad. He thus resolves to [[TheShutIn stay indoors all the time]] so he can become the ruler of the madmen, and is rumoured to have a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium large book]] that's just sitting around collecting dust. Of course, he's regarded as being a complete lunatic by everyone else. [[ShallowParody Note that there is no evidence that Copernicus ever practiced astrology beyond the mandatory requirements he had to learn as part of contemporary astronomy courses.]]
96	* Giuseppe Verdi's {{Opera}} ''Un Ballo in Maschera'' (Masked Ball) has Ulrica, who uses astrology, herbal witchcraft and PsychicPowers. She's depicted as completely sincere and a true seer.
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99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': This is the name of one of the starting classes for players. Within the setting, destiny really ''is'' encoded in the heavens, and ancient astrologers studying the stars would eventually discover the secrets of [[PowerCrystal Glintstone Sorcery]]. Glintstones, being fragments of stars fallen to earth. Due to events in the past, Starscourge Radan "arrested the movements of the heavens" after winning a victory against the stars. Details are a bit vague as to what he defeated and how, but he ''stopped the stars from moving'', which consequently stopped everyone's fate from coming true. This lead to astrologers becoming a rare thing, but with his defeat in the game and the renewed movement of the stars, the world comes full circle with Glintstone Sorcerers now rediscovering astrology.
101	* ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce'': Part of the repertoire of the wizards of Ispalace, who make use of astrology among other divination methods. In the climax of the game, it is in reading the stars that leads them to travel to the Galaxys HQ in New York City en masse just in time to consult on the Dark Force mothership assault planning and provide their combined magics. They cannot, however, use their astrology to divine how many pizzas Galaxy Boss has eaten in his life.
102	* ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'' has the astrologer Abu al-Njun.
103	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' features the side character Orran Durai, who is an Astrologer who bears the overpowered ability [[TimeStandsStill Celestial Stasis]].
104	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the Astrologian job, a healing mage that uses StarPower and CardsOfPower to cast spells.
105	* ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' has Rani VIII, who provides valuable information to [[HelloInsertNameHere the protagonist]] by reading the stars in Week 2.
106	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' has Princess Lisa.
107	* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' has the self-proclaimed greatest Astrologer Mona, who uses [[WhateverMancy hydromancy]] to scry the future.
108	* ''VideoGame/LiveAHero'' features a Astrologist themed hero named ''Roiker'' who carries around both a [[MixAndMatchWeapon Telescope that doubles as a Sniper Rifle]] and a Celestial Globe.
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111	[[folder:Web Comics]]
112	* ''Webcomic/ChildrenOfEldair'' has Koe the Sorcerer, who is able to read someone's past, and presumably future, by reading the stars in his gazing pool.
113	[[/folder]]
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115	[[folder:Western Animation]]
116	* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': in Metru Nui, Ko-Matoran scholars partly work as these. Nixie is a Ga-Matoran astrologer.
117	* The ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' episode "Child of the Stargazer" doesn't feature an astrologer, but does feature the son of one, who is the titular child of the stargazer. On that note, the episode doesn't feature an astronomer, but it does reveal that Diana is one. She is also the titular child of the stargazer.
118	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', a Treehouse of Horror segment follows Homer after his horoscope claims "Today you will die, and you will be complimented by an attractive co-worker." Both ultimately come true.
119	[[/folder]]

Context Main / Astrologer