Ebenezer Sibly

Ebenezer Sibly (1751-1799 [The "Concise Dictionary of National Biography" gives his date of death as 1800.] ) was an English physician [He had the M. D. degree (Debus), though Roy Porter [http://www.historytoday.com/dt_main_allatonce.asp?gid=13008&aid=&tgid=&amid=13008&g13008=x&g9141=x&g30026=x&g20991=x&g21010=x&g19965=x&g19963=x] labels him a typical 'quac'’.] , astrologer and prolific writer on the occult. He is celebrated for the natal horoscope he cast of the United States of America, published in 1787 and still cited.

He joined the Freemasons in 1784. [Debus p.261; Sibly was also a follower of Anton Mesmer.] He published the "New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences" in four volumes, from 1784. [Volume 4 is available [http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/sibly4.htm online] .] As an astrologer he is said to have used the Placidian system. [http://www.forumonastrology.com/jbm-hdiii.html] As a student of alchemy, he translated Bernard of Treviso (the fountain allegory). [Debus p.263.]

His brother Manoah Sibly (1757–1840) was a linguist, Swedenborgian preacher and Bank of England employee.

Notes

External links

*Allen G. Debus, "Scientific truth and occult tradition: the medical world of Ebenezer Sibly (1751-1799)", "Medical History" 1982 July; 26(3): 259–278. ( [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1139186 online text as PDF] )