Ebenezer Sibly (1751 – 1799) was an English physician, astrologer and writer on the occult. Ebenezer Sibly, the British astrologer

Life

He was the son of Edmund Sibly and Mary Larkholm, born in the parish of Cripplegate ward,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was the brother of Manoah Sibly. Early on he devoted himself to medicine and astrology. He studied surgery in London. In 1785 he was working as an astrologer in Bristol; and by about 1788 had moved to London. In 1789 he became the first master of the Lodge of Joppa #188, one of the founding masonic lodges under the

Ancient Grand Lodge of England The Ancient Grand Lodge of England, as it is known today, or ''The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons (according to the Old Constitutions granted by His Royal Highness Prince Edwin, at York, Anno ...

. In 1790 he was temporarily in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, supporting Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, the Whig member, at the general election. On 20 April 1792 he graduated M.D. from

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

. As a student of medicine, he became interested in the theories on animal magnetism by Anton Mesmer, joining Mesmer's ''Harmonic Philosophical School'', and later also

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

. Sibly died in London around 1799.

Works

Sibly is celebrated for the natal horoscope he cast of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, published in 1787 and is still cited.

Translations

Ebenezer Sibly used an eclectic mixture of early modern esoteric works. His brother Manoah Sibly (1757–1840) was a linguist, as well as a Swedenborgian preacher. Under Manoah's name appeared texts including a revision of John Whalley's translation of the ''

Tetrabiblos ''Tetrabiblos'' () 'four books', also known in Greek as ''Apotelesmatiká'' () "Effects", and in Latin as ''Quadripartitum'' "Four Parts", is a text on the philosophy and practice of astrology, written in the 2nd century AD by the Alexandrian ...

'', and a translation of

Placidus de Titis Placidus de Titis (also ''de Titus'', Latinization of Placido de Titi, pseudonym ''Didacus Prittus Pelusiensis''; 1603–1668) was an Olivetan monk and professor of mathematics, physics and astronomy at the University of Pavia from 1657 until ...

; as an astrologer, Ebenezer is said to have used the Placidian system of houses; as a student of

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

, he translated Bernard of Treviso (the fountain allegory). It has been said that experts of the time would have seen that Sibly was not very discriminating about the sources he chose, and drew on unpublished translations that he had borrowed. He knew the '' Book of Enoch'' via

Charles Rainsford General Charles Rainsford (3 February 1728 – 24 May 1809) was a British Army officer. Career He was the second son of alderman Francis Rainsford (died 1770) and his wife, Isabella and received his first education from a cleric friend of Franc ...

The ''Complete Illustration''

Sibly published the ''New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology'' in four volumes, from 1784. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, ''Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture'' (2012), p. 237
Google Books
He had completed it by the time he moved to London. The work, which had later editions under various titles, gave details of magical procedure, and an account of the spirit world derived from

Reginald Scot Reginald Scot (or Scott) ( – 9 October 1599) was an Englishman and Member of Parliament, the author of '' The Discoverie of Witchcraft'', which was published in 1584. It was written against the belief in witches, to show that witchcraft di ...

, in the 1665 edition of ''

Discoverie of Witchcraft ''The Discoverie of Witchcraft'' is a partially sceptical book published by the English gentleman Reginald Scot in 1584, intended as an exposé of early modern witchcraft. It contains a small section intended to show how the public was fooled b ...

''. Revised editions appeared posthumously as ''Astrology, A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences by Ebenezer Sibly, M.D. F.R.H.S., Embellished with Curious Copper-Plates, London'' (1806), and ''The New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology'' (1817). John Dee und Edward Kelley – Totenbeschwörung

John Dee und Edward Kelley – Totenbeschwörung

Other works

Sibly published ''A Key to Physic, and the Occult Sciences'', in 1792. Sibly wrote a book called ''Universal System of Natural History'' in 1794. In the book, in a form of environmental monogenism, he claimed that the

White Race White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

was the first on earth:

“We must consider white as the stock whence all others have sprung,
Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
and all their posterity, till the time of the deluge were white; in the first age of the world no black nation was to be found on the face of the earth.”

Sibly believed that humans had not reached Africa until after the dispersal from the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

, that the continent's first inhabitants had been white, and that Africans had become dark only as a result of climate. The original version of ''Culpeper's English Physician and Complete Herbal'' was published in 1652 without illustrations. In 1790 an illustrated version of the book was produced with drawings done by Sibly.

Notes

External links

Allen G. Debus Allen George Debus (August 16, 1926 – March 6, 2009) was an American historian of science, known primarily for his work on the history of chemistry and alchemy. In 1991 he was honored at the University of Chicago with an academic conference he ...

, ''Scientific truth and occult tradition: the medical world of Ebenezer Sibly (1751-1799)'', ''Medical History'' 1982 July; 26(3): 259–278.
online text as PDF
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sibly, Ebenezer 1751 births 1799 deaths Botanical illustrators Alumni of the University of Aberdeen English astrologers 18th-century astrologers 18th-century English medical doctors