Astronomy
Thesan Wain says: “Astronomy is, among other things, the art of figuring out what you’re looking at by what you can’t see. Rather a lot of the time. So I can look at what I know, and what things I can’t know, and the space in between them. I don’t exactly have answers, but I do have an increasingly narrow range of theories, the more I work on it.”
Astronomy, magically speaking, is the core of chronological and locational magics, a key component of a number of aspects of more advanced or complex Ritual, Alchemy, and Magical plants and materials work as well as ocean navigation and the Portals . It is, however, not taken as seriously as it should be by many people.
(Astronomy and astrology were interchangeable for much of human history: astronomy in Albion maintains some of those connections related to magical timing, but does not include the personality-focused aspects that are largely a later development in astrology.)
Education
Astronomy is taught at Schola and Dunwich in particular, but all Five Schools include it to some degree, with varying areas of focus. It involves an extended apprenticeship to specialise, and those who complete their apprenticeship are eligible for full membership in the Astronomer's Guild.Applications
- Orientation and navigation (usually started by finding north)
- Alignments for ritual magic that take precession into account.
- A key part of the Portals magic and function.
- Anchoring magical effects to particular times or places.
- Enchanting Materia.
- Determining the optimal timing for Ritual or Alchemy work.
