Williams in high school. Interesting, if slight, story of a Fortean astrologer—well, an astrologer anyway, the degree of his Forteanism unclear.
DaCosta Emerson Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on 26 January 1904. His father, Richard, was 30, having emigrated from Scotland in 1888. He was working as a doctor. His mother (Cora) Blanche Williams (neé Bond) was thee years his junior and from Pennsylvania. The couple married in 1903. In 1910, they lived in North Dakota; by 1920, they’d moved to Rome, Pennsylvania, where Richard now earned a living as a farmer. DaCosta was eventually joined by three younger sisters, Mary, Ruth, and Edith. He attended Titus high school in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he won the nickname ‘Doc’—perhaps a reference to his dad’s old occupation, almost certainly a play on his own first name. The 1930 census had the Williams parents living only with Edith, Richard still farming. Dacosta was renting a house in Titusville and working at a foundry. He was still living alone—now at 626 Walnut Street—renting, and working as a clerk at the Titusville Iron Foundry in 1940.
Sometime in the early 1940s, he became involved with the Fortean Society and exchanged letters with Thayer. The origins of the correspondence is lost but, judging by Thayer’s response—reprinted in Doubt—Williams had questioned why the Forteans did not carry the banner of astrology so proudly. For by this time, Williams was a committed astrologer, having given a talk on the subject as early as 1937 (Titusville Herald, Monday, January 18, 1937, Page 5).
Williams was drafted into the army on 2 September 1942. According to Thayer, he was unhappy to be in uniform. Thirty-eight years old, he became a private—and a slight one at that. His paperwork had him at five-feet, five-inches tall and only 116 pounds.
At some point, Williams returned to civilian life—exactly when, where, and doing what is not known. But he did continue his work in astrology. He studied the connection between biochemical cells salts—a method of homeopathy—and astrology. He also collected hospital birth records, calculating over 6,000 horoscopes. The American Federation of Scientific Astrologers was founded in 1938 (the term scientific was later dropped) to professionalize the discipline, and Williams was an early member. It may be in his role as a member that he wrote to Thayer—and would indicate that his Forteanism, such as it was, reflected his interest in seeing astrology being taken seriously, and not pointing out the problems with science; indeed, the early name of the Association suggests that the astrologers wanted to be taken seriously as scientists. When Williams died in late 1969, his research was donated to the AFA, which is now headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.
Williams received several credits in Doubt. Better said—there several times the name “Williams” is credited in the magazine. But it is impossible to know if the Williams was DaCosta Williams, or someone else by that name. Thayer referred to a couple of other people with the surname Williams and given the names popularity, there may have been other Williams, too. The credits ran from 1947 to 1957, and were usually only vaguely attributed: someone named Williams sent in material on flying discs that Thayer used in Doubt 19 (October 1947); a Williams, along with several other members, sent in a news story about a red tide that Thayer mentioned in Doubt 20 (March 1948); Doubt 23 (December 1948) included the name Williams in a long list of credits. References in 1954 and 1957 were similarly impossible to tie to any particular story. In short, the references teach us nothing about William’s Forteanism.
The most substantial interaction he had with the Fortean Society—and perhaps the only one—was Williams’s first, in 1942 and 1943. Thayer’s letter opened denying the need for the Fortean Society to take up the astrologer’s cause: “Astrology has too many faithful adherents, is too old, respectable and firmly entrenched to require any special official defense by the Fortean Society.” Instead, he had a task for the astrologers to prove their worth. Thayer noted that—granting, for the sake of argument, the Earth spun through space, revolved around the sun, and the universe itself was expanding, none of which he necessarily accepted, since he was a Fortean—it was likely that space itself might affect the planet, and this may be the origin of astrology: “That is to say that . . . Earth and its attendant atmosphere may encounter and pass through or pick up ‘conditions’ in space (whether these are thought of as cosmic-dust-clouds or ‘rays’ or whatever) at recurrent intervals, perhaps in a known or learnable rhythm which coincides with zodiacal recurrences.”
Life itself might be one of the conditions that came from space, Thayer said, admitting the idea was not a novel one. Revealing a profound ignorance about the science of evolution—Thayer rarely let a ignorance stop him from declaiming, whether said ignorance was profound or relative—he continued, “It seems highly probable the insect life, at least, was thus brought to us, since no insect ‘evolution’ of ‘genealogy’ is known. Such an explanation is easily applicable to ‘superstitions’ about comets bringing calamity, and the same is true of ‘plagues’ of every description.” Another plague that might come from space, he suggested, was illness. Perhaps, he suggested, “the so-called ‘common cold’ is not caused by wet feet or draughts, is not a germ or virus disease, but is the result of a condition in space into which Earth and its atmosphere intrude in Winter and cause ‘epidemics’ of head colds etc. . . . That we should look for relief not to the medical profession which has been unable to prevent of cure colds through centuries of pretended research BUT TO THE ASTROLOGERS.” He gave himself as an example: he contracted a cold on 22 February 1942, for no reason that he could see. “Wouldn’t it be delightful to remove ‘colds’ fro, the tenacious grip of the medicine men,” he challenged Williams, “and prevent them forever BY ASTROLOGY? The prospect thrills me.”
Williams’s resulting disquisition argued that Thayer misunderstood the terms of the debate. He noted for one that a recent Gallup Survey, taken in the month of November, found only 1/3 of people suffering from a cold. Why didn’t the cosmic dust or rays or whatever effect more people? Because astrology was different than what Thayer thought.
As the discipline had been reformed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the likes of Alan Leo, astrology less often looked to predict future events and more often focus don the creation of individuals characters, areas of stress and harmony. As Joscelyn Godwin points out in this “Theosophical Enlightenment,” nineteenth century metaphysical currents also put the sun at the center of mystical systems of thought.
DaCosta Williams was a modern astrologer. “Everything in the universe is influenced and controlled in varying degrees by the force of the sun rays. The degree of influence depends upon the affinity of the object affected by the sun,” he wrote to Thayer. “The solar force at that time conditioned the living body to be born. It determined the degree of sensitivity to all forces or conditions which might operate after birth.” And so astrology understood an individual’s strengths and weaknesses by examine the position of the sun at the time of the person’s birth. He used an analogy: “Each individual is a radio receiving set. Birth sets the dial to a certain wave length. This wave length remains constant through the natural life on this earth for the individual. The forces received over this wave length hinder or hasten the individual growth. Thus there will be periods when the reception of forces will be more disturbing, destructive, interfering, and hampering, so that more reserve energies will be utilized even to the point of exhaustion or death.” There would also be periods when life seemed especially easy. At these there would be no illness.
The goal, then, was to balance one’s energy use against one’s particular character, being neither too active nor too indolent. “The wise individual studies his body, takes heed to the warnings of approaching danger and tries to understand its cause and supply logical corrections.” Astrology could help one manage illness, then, but not in the way that Thayer thought—not by tracking the movement of the earth and the comings and goings of diseases. That way of thinking belonged to an older version of astrology, one preoccupied with prediction. Modern astrology, the kind of astrology practiced by Williams (and, indeed, by Thayer’s symbol of Forteanism, Alfred H. Barley) helped individuals make a good life given the contradictory conditions of the universe.
He concluded, “Each individual is born into this world with a problem to be faced with some it is health [sic], others finances, jobs, education and other adjustments. Each body is equipped when it is born to do a certain task and do it well but when the energy is misapplied or over taxed due to inability to understand this point or lack of interest to seek it out then complications result in the health and all other activities. The moment of birth becomes the only safe factor to guide the individual safely on life’s journey.”
DaCosta Williams contributed to astrology, and saw some reason to follow Forteans, at least for a time, but there’s no indication that Fort influenced his astronomy. There’s no indication—aside from his membership in the Society—he was a Fortean at all.
DaCosta Emerson Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on 26 January 1904. His father, Richard, was 30, having emigrated from Scotland in 1888. He was working as a doctor. His mother (Cora) Blanche Williams (neé Bond) was thee years his junior and from Pennsylvania. The couple married in 1903. In 1910, they lived in North Dakota; by 1920, they’d moved to Rome, Pennsylvania, where Richard now earned a living as a farmer. DaCosta was eventually joined by three younger sisters, Mary, Ruth, and Edith. He attended Titus high school in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he won the nickname ‘Doc’—perhaps a reference to his dad’s old occupation, almost certainly a play on his own first name. The 1930 census had the Williams parents living only with Edith, Richard still farming. Dacosta was renting a house in Titusville and working at a foundry. He was still living alone—now at 626 Walnut Street—renting, and working as a clerk at the Titusville Iron Foundry in 1940.
Sometime in the early 1940s, he became involved with the Fortean Society and exchanged letters with Thayer. The origins of the correspondence is lost but, judging by Thayer’s response—reprinted in Doubt—Williams had questioned why the Forteans did not carry the banner of astrology so proudly. For by this time, Williams was a committed astrologer, having given a talk on the subject as early as 1937 (Titusville Herald, Monday, January 18, 1937, Page 5).
Williams was drafted into the army on 2 September 1942. According to Thayer, he was unhappy to be in uniform. Thirty-eight years old, he became a private—and a slight one at that. His paperwork had him at five-feet, five-inches tall and only 116 pounds.
At some point, Williams returned to civilian life—exactly when, where, and doing what is not known. But he did continue his work in astrology. He studied the connection between biochemical cells salts—a method of homeopathy—and astrology. He also collected hospital birth records, calculating over 6,000 horoscopes. The American Federation of Scientific Astrologers was founded in 1938 (the term scientific was later dropped) to professionalize the discipline, and Williams was an early member. It may be in his role as a member that he wrote to Thayer—and would indicate that his Forteanism, such as it was, reflected his interest in seeing astrology being taken seriously, and not pointing out the problems with science; indeed, the early name of the Association suggests that the astrologers wanted to be taken seriously as scientists. When Williams died in late 1969, his research was donated to the AFA, which is now headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.
Williams received several credits in Doubt. Better said—there several times the name “Williams” is credited in the magazine. But it is impossible to know if the Williams was DaCosta Williams, or someone else by that name. Thayer referred to a couple of other people with the surname Williams and given the names popularity, there may have been other Williams, too. The credits ran from 1947 to 1957, and were usually only vaguely attributed: someone named Williams sent in material on flying discs that Thayer used in Doubt 19 (October 1947); a Williams, along with several other members, sent in a news story about a red tide that Thayer mentioned in Doubt 20 (March 1948); Doubt 23 (December 1948) included the name Williams in a long list of credits. References in 1954 and 1957 were similarly impossible to tie to any particular story. In short, the references teach us nothing about William’s Forteanism.
The most substantial interaction he had with the Fortean Society—and perhaps the only one—was Williams’s first, in 1942 and 1943. Thayer’s letter opened denying the need for the Fortean Society to take up the astrologer’s cause: “Astrology has too many faithful adherents, is too old, respectable and firmly entrenched to require any special official defense by the Fortean Society.” Instead, he had a task for the astrologers to prove their worth. Thayer noted that—granting, for the sake of argument, the Earth spun through space, revolved around the sun, and the universe itself was expanding, none of which he necessarily accepted, since he was a Fortean—it was likely that space itself might affect the planet, and this may be the origin of astrology: “That is to say that . . . Earth and its attendant atmosphere may encounter and pass through or pick up ‘conditions’ in space (whether these are thought of as cosmic-dust-clouds or ‘rays’ or whatever) at recurrent intervals, perhaps in a known or learnable rhythm which coincides with zodiacal recurrences.”
Life itself might be one of the conditions that came from space, Thayer said, admitting the idea was not a novel one. Revealing a profound ignorance about the science of evolution—Thayer rarely let a ignorance stop him from declaiming, whether said ignorance was profound or relative—he continued, “It seems highly probable the insect life, at least, was thus brought to us, since no insect ‘evolution’ of ‘genealogy’ is known. Such an explanation is easily applicable to ‘superstitions’ about comets bringing calamity, and the same is true of ‘plagues’ of every description.” Another plague that might come from space, he suggested, was illness. Perhaps, he suggested, “the so-called ‘common cold’ is not caused by wet feet or draughts, is not a germ or virus disease, but is the result of a condition in space into which Earth and its atmosphere intrude in Winter and cause ‘epidemics’ of head colds etc. . . . That we should look for relief not to the medical profession which has been unable to prevent of cure colds through centuries of pretended research BUT TO THE ASTROLOGERS.” He gave himself as an example: he contracted a cold on 22 February 1942, for no reason that he could see. “Wouldn’t it be delightful to remove ‘colds’ fro, the tenacious grip of the medicine men,” he challenged Williams, “and prevent them forever BY ASTROLOGY? The prospect thrills me.”
Williams’s resulting disquisition argued that Thayer misunderstood the terms of the debate. He noted for one that a recent Gallup Survey, taken in the month of November, found only 1/3 of people suffering from a cold. Why didn’t the cosmic dust or rays or whatever effect more people? Because astrology was different than what Thayer thought.
As the discipline had been reformed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the likes of Alan Leo, astrology less often looked to predict future events and more often focus don the creation of individuals characters, areas of stress and harmony. As Joscelyn Godwin points out in this “Theosophical Enlightenment,” nineteenth century metaphysical currents also put the sun at the center of mystical systems of thought.
DaCosta Williams was a modern astrologer. “Everything in the universe is influenced and controlled in varying degrees by the force of the sun rays. The degree of influence depends upon the affinity of the object affected by the sun,” he wrote to Thayer. “The solar force at that time conditioned the living body to be born. It determined the degree of sensitivity to all forces or conditions which might operate after birth.” And so astrology understood an individual’s strengths and weaknesses by examine the position of the sun at the time of the person’s birth. He used an analogy: “Each individual is a radio receiving set. Birth sets the dial to a certain wave length. This wave length remains constant through the natural life on this earth for the individual. The forces received over this wave length hinder or hasten the individual growth. Thus there will be periods when the reception of forces will be more disturbing, destructive, interfering, and hampering, so that more reserve energies will be utilized even to the point of exhaustion or death.” There would also be periods when life seemed especially easy. At these there would be no illness.
The goal, then, was to balance one’s energy use against one’s particular character, being neither too active nor too indolent. “The wise individual studies his body, takes heed to the warnings of approaching danger and tries to understand its cause and supply logical corrections.” Astrology could help one manage illness, then, but not in the way that Thayer thought—not by tracking the movement of the earth and the comings and goings of diseases. That way of thinking belonged to an older version of astrology, one preoccupied with prediction. Modern astrology, the kind of astrology practiced by Williams (and, indeed, by Thayer’s symbol of Forteanism, Alfred H. Barley) helped individuals make a good life given the contradictory conditions of the universe.
He concluded, “Each individual is born into this world with a problem to be faced with some it is health [sic], others finances, jobs, education and other adjustments. Each body is equipped when it is born to do a certain task and do it well but when the energy is misapplied or over taxed due to inability to understand this point or lack of interest to seek it out then complications result in the health and all other activities. The moment of birth becomes the only safe factor to guide the individual safely on life’s journey.”
DaCosta Williams contributed to astrology, and saw some reason to follow Forteans, at least for a time, but there’s no indication that Fort influenced his astronomy. There’s no indication—aside from his membership in the Society—he was a Fortean at all.
