My name is David Wallace-Hare. I’m a celestial philosopher, Sasanian-Hellenistic astrologer (Middle Persian Star-Gowishn), and classicist whose work focuses on how ancient peoples sought guidance, protection, and meaning from the divine, in the uncertainty of their livelihoods, in the risks of their trades, and in the movements of the sky itself.
I hold a PhD in Classics from the University of Toronto, where my dissertation, Mountain Industries and Votive Dedications in Roman Aquitania and Hispania, examined how communities working in Rome’s riskiest and most uncertain trades, mining, quarrying, silvopastoralism, and beekeeping, turned to votive religion for guidance and protection, inscribing vows to gods tied to their specific trades and landscapes.
I have held research and teaching positions in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and the United States, teaching Greek and Roman history, mythology, ancient religion, and classical literature, alongside training in ancient Greek, Latin, and their use in scientific and technical contexts. My academic research spans ancient religion, economy, and technical texts more broadly, published internationally, including and most relevant a study of one of the earliest known artistic depictions of catasterism, the ancient theme of mortals transformed into stars.
My astrological practice builds on this same foundation. I work primarily with the sidereal zodiac and whole sign houses, situating these techniques within the wider philosophical and religious traditions from which they developed. I am especially interested in Hellenistic and Zoroastrian star-lore and the exploration of how the planets and stars were understood as living intelligences. My long-standing interest in how people made religious choices in the face of uncertainty has also shaped my preference for astrological traditions that emphasise free will over more deterministic approaches.