'Betwixt Astrea and the Scorpion Signe': The Conjunction of Astrology and Apocalyptic in Milton's Psychostasis

John Milton's Paradise Lost is encyclopedic in its scope. Incorporating a vast amount of miscellaneous material, the epic is an ambitious compendium of mythology, theology, cosmology, universal history, moral and political philosophy, and metaphysics, among others. One discipline that Milton absorbs into his masterpiece, and which is today largely regarded as spurious, is astrology. I aim to demonstrate how Milton's poetic accommodation of this arcane art can aid our understanding of how to read his diffuse epic. In the course of the discussion I shall attempt a meticulous unpacking of the nuances within both the epic simile of the ploughman and the corn sheaves, and the psychostasis scene (PL IV. 977–1015), that is, Milton's account of God's weighing of souls in the Heavenly Scales. In making sense of this episode, I shall have recourse to classical epic tradition, early modern biblical commentary, and astrological discourse. While some readers might think that this kind of close analysis detracts from the pleasure of reading Milton's text, I would argue that it enriches the interpretative experience immensely. Detailed episodes such as the psychostasis reward careful exposition, not only because they are important narrative moments in themselves, but because it is necessary that they be rightly understood in relation to the rest of the poem. It is advantageous for Milton's reader to know how Milton reconciles, juxtaposes, and combines diverse materials at many levels of his poem. His psychostasis is an admirable case in point, illustrating the Puritan bard's poetic craftsmanship.

The notion that Milton possessed a more than cursory interest in astrology might seem, at first sight, to be highly improbable. However, in his polemical prose, the anti-prelatical and divorce tracts put astrology to metaphorical and comparative satirical use, revealing his deep familiarity and erudition concerning astrology.¹ Elsewhere, in his ambitious History of Britain (1648?– 1671), Milton elects to chronicle minutely the significance of celestial wonders.² We also have a geniture or natal horoscope of Milton authored by John Gadbury, the eminent Restoration astrologer, which may well have been struck at Milton's personal request.³ It is noteworthy that astrological instances abound in Paradise Lost's prelapsarian cosmos which, as one might expect of an impeccable universe, displays a remarkable coherence and intelligibility (see PL VII. 339–42, VIII. 66–9, 511–14, IX. 103–7; X. 410–14, 656–64).⁴ Furthermore, Milton's epic delineates a counterbalancing negative astrology of comets, omens, and hideous portents that attaches itself to descriptions of God's judgement and to the activities of infernal creatures (see PL I. 710–12, 594–600, II. 706–11, V. 694–6, VI. 310–15, XII. 625– 9, 632–4). Elsewhere, the epic voice likens to a zodiac both the sword-belt encircling the archangel Michael's waist (XI. 246–8) and the circle of lamps burning within Israel's Tabernacle that contains the Shekhinah or Dwelling Presence of God (XII. 254–6). These two potent biblical images further substantiate how seriously Milton took astrology as a legitimate and worthy object of study. The Miltonist Kester Svendsen makes the following assertion:

The true answer to the question 'Did Milton believe in astrology?' rests here, that in Paradise Lost the commitment to the teleological universe was a commitment to astral influence. Not the vulgar casting of horoscopes but rather, the kind of astrology in which the stars and planets are instruments in the Divine plan, in which they influence but do not compel.⁵

Svendsen's conclusion, 'Whatever Milton's private opinion may have been, he saw in astrology the perfectly logical corollary to the order and symmetry of the world made by God for man', is a sound synopsis of astrology's role in Paradise Lost.⁶ Milton's diffuse epic consistently advocates a world view where, for better or for worse, the stars, the planets, and the constellations signify and influence. Rather than marshal a spectrum of examples illustrating astrological influence throughout Milton's poetic corpus, I am proposing instead...