Robert Cross Smith (1795-1832) was an English

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

, writing under the pseudonym of "Raphael". Smith was born in Bristol on March 19, 1795. He married in 1820 and moved to London, where he became interested in astrology. Together with G. W. Graham, he published a book on geomancy in 1822. Smith began to edit a periodical entitled ''The Straggling Astrologer'' in 1824, but failed to receive enough subscribers and the periodical had to be discontinued after a few issues. He collected the issues of the failed periodical in a volume entitled ''The Astrologer Of The Nineteenth Century'' in the same year. The volume claimed to be the "sixth edition", but it is believed that editions one to five never existed. A substantially enlarged edition appeared in 1825 as the "seventh edition", with additional material attributed to "Merlinus Anglicus Junior" (''Merlinus Anglicus Junior: The English Merlin Revived'' was the title of a 1644 book by

William Lilly William Lilly (9 June 1681) was a seventeenth century English astrologer. He is described as having been a genius at something "that modern mainstream opinion has since decided cannot be done at all" having developed his stature as the most imp ...

). It was printed by Knight & Lacey of London. From 1827 until his death in 1832, he edited an astrological almanac, entitled ''The Prophetic Messenger''. Also published by Smith was ''The Familiar Astrologer'' and ''A Manual of Astrology'', both in 1828. Smith died on 26 February 1832 in London. His almanac continued to be edited as '' Raphael’s Ephemeris'' and would become a standard work in British and US American astrology. ''Raphael's Ephemeris'' popularized the system of

Placidian system Most horoscopic traditions of astrology systems divide the horoscope into a number (usually twelve) of houses whose positions depend on time and location rather than on date. In Hindu astrological tradition these are known as Bhāvas. The hous ...

of astrological houses in the English-speaking world and in modern western astrology in general.

References

*Brau, Jean-Louis, Helean Weaver, and Allan Edwards. Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology. New York: New American Library, 1982.

External links

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has a
online edition
of an 1831 reprint of ''The Familiar Astrologer''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert Cross English astrologers 19th-century astrologers 1795 births 1832 deaths