Bradley, Donald A. (1925-1974)

Early scientific researcher in astrology. Bradley was born in Nebraska on May 16, 1925. He emerged as a professional astrologer in the years immediately after World War II. He is most noted as an advocate of the fixed, or sidereal, zodiac, which had been championed by Irish astrologer Cyril Fagan in a 1950 book, Zodiacs Old and New. The argument over the sidereal zodiac was basically about the adjustment of the horoscope chart to reflect the "procession of the equinoxes." The tropical, or moving, zodiac begins each year at the point where the sun is located at the spring equinox. However, that position changes slightly each year. Thus the divisions of the zodiac no longer reflect the actual position of the constellations in the heavens. The sidereal zodiac retains the actual position of the 12 signs.

Had Bradley merely been a champion of Fagan's unfashionable ideas, he would not be remembered today. However, he became the director of the Llewellyn Foundation for Astrological Research and in the later 1940s conducted statistical studies that anticipated the work of Françoise and Michel Gauquelin. Most notable was the astrological analysis of 2,492 clergymen. His research was published in a series of publications beginning in 1950.

In his later years Bradley wrote several books under the name Garth Allen. He eventually became the editor of American Astrology, a position he held at the time of his death from cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on April 25, 1974.

Sources:

Allen, Garth [Donald Bradley]. Taking the Kid Gloves Off Astrology. Tucson, Ariz.: Clancy Publications, 1975.

Bradley, Donald A. Picking Winners. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 1954.

——. Profession and Birthdate. Los Angeles: Llewellyn Publications, 1950.

——. Stock Market Predictions. Los Angeles: Llewellyn Foundation for Astrological Research, 1950.

Holden, James H., and Robert A. Hughes. Astrological Pioneers of America. Tempe, Ariz.: American Federation of Astrologers, 1988.