Post #16. The Astrologer of Lambeth: The Everyday Magic of Simon Forman
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While John Dee was conversing with angels and attempting to build a magical empire, a very different kind of magic was being practised across the river in Lambeth. This was the world of Simon Forman, a man who was not a high-minded philosopher or a courtly magus, but a pragmatic, street-smart, and immensely popular service magician. Forman was the people's sorcerer, a man who brought the power of astrology and practical magic to the everyday lives of Londoners, from serving girls to countesses.
His detailed casebooks, which have miraculously survived, provide an unparalleled glimpse into the hopes, fears, and desires of Elizabethan and Jacobean London. They reveal a city where magic was not a rare or esoteric pursuit, but an integral part of the fabric of daily life —a tool that people used to navigate the challenges of love, health, and fortune.
The Rise of a Self-Made Magician
Forman was not a university-educated scholar like Dee. He was a self-taught man, a provincial boy who came to London to make his fortune. He learned his craft through a combination of practical experience, voracious reading, and, he claimed, direct instruction from the spirits. He was a medical practitioner, an astrologer, and a cunning man, a one-stop shop for all of his clients' physical and spiritual needs.
He was also constantly in trouble with the authorities. The College of Physicians, the official medical body, saw him as a dangerous quack and repeatedly had him fined and imprisoned for practising medicine without a license. But Forman was resilient. His popular support was so strong that he was always able to bounce back, his reputation enhanced by his battles with the establishment.
The Practice of a Service Magician
Forman's magic was, above all, practical. People came to him with real-world problems, and he offered them real-world solutions.
Medical Astrology: Forman's primary practice was a form of medicine that was deeply intertwined with astrology. He believed all illnesses were caused by a planetary imbalance in the body. By casting a horoscope for the moment a person fell ill, he could diagnose the cause of the sickness and prescribe a remedy – often a combination of herbal medicines and magical talismans – designed to restore the body's planetary harmony.
Horary Astrology: Forman was a master of horary astrology, the art of casting a chart for the moment a question is asked. Will I get the job? Does he love me? Where is my stolen property? Forman would cast a chart for the moment the question was put to him and, by interpreting the positions of the planets, provide a surprisingly specific and often accurate answer.
Love Magic: A huge portion of Forman's practice was devoted to matters of the heart. He provided love potions, cast spells to reunite estranged lovers, and used his astrological knowledge to determine the compatibility of potential partners. His casebooks are filled with the romantic entanglements of his clients, a testament to the timeless power of love and desire.
Summoning Spirits: Forman was not just an astrologer; he was also a practising ceremonial magician. He claimed to be in regular contact with a host of spirits and angels, who provided him with guidance and assistance in his work. Unlike Dee, who sought divine wisdom from his angelic conversations, Forman's interactions with the spirit world were more pragmatic. He asked his spirits for help in diagnosing illnesses, finding lost objects, and predicting the future.
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A Window into a Magical World
Simon Forman's casebooks are a national treasure. They are not just a record of one man's magical practice; they are a detailed, intimate, and often scandalous portrait of an entire society. They show us a London where the belief in magic was not a fringe superstition, but a central and accepted part of the popular worldview.
In Forman's world, the planets were not distant balls of rock and gas; they were living, intelligent forces that directly influenced human lives. Spirits were not the stuff of fantasy; they were real, accessible beings who could be contacted and consulted. Magic was not a metaphor; it was a practical and effective technology for changing one's life.
Forman represents a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of London's occult history. He is the link between the high magic of the Renaissance magi and the enduring traditions of folk magic. He democratised magic, taking it out of the exclusive domain of the court and the university and making it accessible to the common man and woman.
His life and work show that the black magic temple of London was not just a grand, abstract structure, a plaything of kings and philosophers. It was a living, breathing entity, its magic woven into the very fabric of the city, into the lives, loves, and struggles of its ordinary inhabitants.
In our next post, we will move into the 17th century, a time of civil war, of plague, and of the Great Fire, and explore how these cataclysmic events would reshape the magical landscape of London and pave the way for a new, more rational, but no less magical, age.
Magic is not just for the elite. It is a tool for the people. Follow the Secret City series.
Join us as we continue to uncover the secrets of the Secret City.
Solomon Jones (Author/Researcher)
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