Astrology and Virginia Slave Plantations

My first introduction to astrology was through my Nana. She was a Libra and I was born a day before her. She proudly had a few Libra motifs with the scales around the house. Over the years I would hear from people after asking their Zodiac sign, I don’t believe in all of that. Even these days I’m a little put off to hear someone thinks of astrology as negative or evil. I don’t feel that way especially looking at the positions of the planets and stars through astronomy.

When the Harriet Tubman park opened in Maryland, one of the panelists shared insights about how she Harriet used astronomy to guide her on the Underground Railroad to safely take enslaved people to freedom in the north. This news was definitely intriguing and I wanted to learn more.

​Another time sparking my interest in astrology was more personal. While researching my maternal grandmother’s family history in Westmoreland County, I came across slave plantations named after astrological signs. The plantations were part of the Robert Carter estate at Nomini Hall. Since then I’ve been working to uncover more about Carter’s interest in astrology and how that relates to the enslaved people that he owned.