Podcast Summary: "Crystal Balls & Contacting Angels: Predicting the Future in Early Modern England"
History Extra Podcast | Released: November 5, 2025
Host: Ellie Cawthorn
Guest: Martha McGill (Historian, University of Warwick)
Main Theme
This episode explores the rich and vibrant world of fortune telling and divination in 16th and 17th century England. Historian Martha McGill discusses the varied practices—from astrology to animal-based rituals—and the reasons people sought to predict the future during times of uncertainty, famine, and upheaval. The discussion also covers the social standing of fortune tellers, the tension between magic and Christianity, the risks of practicing divination, and the parallels with fortune-telling beliefs today.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Why People Turned to Fortune Tellers
Timestamps: 01:51–03:46
- The 16th and 17th centuries were marked by civil war, plague, famine, and high mortality.
- Divination offered reassurance and guidance in unpredictable times.
- Fortune tellers were sought not just for predictions, but for locating lost goods, finding missing persons, and sometimes for basic healing.
Quote:
"I think faced with all of these challenges and these difficulties of basic subsistence, people look for reassurance. They look for some kind of guidance..."
—Martha McGill (02:22)
2. The Story of Goodwin Wharton & Mary Parish
Timestamps: 04:05–07:39
- Goodwin Wharton (a younger son of a baron) partnered with cunning woman Mary Parish.
- Parish claimed contacts in the fairy world and invoked angels on Wharton's behalf.
- Their escapades reflect the credible role of occult practices—ranging from love charms to fantastical claims like being destined to be king of fairyland.
- The story exemplifies both the hope and absurdity found in the period’s occult world.
Quote:
"She keeps telling him, the fairy queen is really interested in you... You're going to be king of fairyland."
—Martha McGill (05:28)
3. Types and Hierarchies of Diviners
Timestamps: 07:39–08:55
- Astrologers: Often learned men, practiced respectable, complex forms of divination.
- Cunning folk: Served local communities, mixed skills (helping lost goods, healing), usually male but included women like Mary Parish.
- Itinerant fortune tellers: Lowest in hierarchy; performed palmistry and other quick-read fortune telling, often at fairs.
Quote:
"Mary Parish would fall into the middle category. She would be a cunning woman, so she was somewhat unusual in being a woman in that field..."
—Martha McGill (08:35)
4. Divination and Christianity
Timestamps: 08:55–10:03
- Divination often rooted in religious beliefs: seeing God's will revealed in nature, stars, the body, or random chance (e.g., dice, Bible verses).
- The church viewed such practices as impertinent, sometimes prosecuting diviners for fraud, vagrancy, or occasionally witchcraft.
- Benevolent magic (helping, healing) usually differentiated from witchcraft.
Quote:
"At the root of all of this is God. Early modern beliefs in divination are underpinned by beliefs in religion..."
—Martha McGill (09:06)
5. The Risks and the Law
Timestamps: 10:03–13:49
- Diviners walked a fine line; religion warned against prying into God's plan.
- Prosecution for witchcraft was rare; fraud and vagrancy were more common accusations.
- Divination that touched politics, such as predicting the King’s death, risked charges of treason (case of William Neville).
Quote:
"Saying the King's going to die is getting you into pretty dangerous territory."
—Martha McGill (12:33)
6. DIY Fortune-Telling: Objects and Methods
Timestamps: 15:39–20:27
- Methods included: searching snails for prophetic stones, scrying with crystal balls or mirrors, reading patterns in earth, air (clouds, animal behavior), fire, and water.
- Example: using a crystal ball for angelic communication, dropping coins in water for omens, interpreting the shapes of wax or lead in water.
- Animal-based divination: eating a mole's heart for insight, sleeping with a wolf’s tooth under your pillow, ticks from dogs' ears, and elaborate uses of vipers.
Quote:
"You could try getting a mole, cutting it open and eating its heart while it's still palpitating. This gives you insight into the future."
—Martha McGill (19:01)
- Memorable anecdote: Bessie Skebbista in 1633 Orkney drops a sixpence in water to predict if a missing husband is safe. When the answer is unfavorable, she simply repeats the ritual until she gets a positive outcome. (17:18)
7. Astrology’s Social Standing and Techniques
Timestamps: 20:27–22:34
- Popular among both the elite and commoners; involved weather and agricultural predictions (natural astrology—accepted), and fortunes (judicial astrology—suspect).
- Astrologers published widely read almanacs with predictions.
- Criticisms existed: satirical attacks (e.g., Jonathan Swift lampooning John Partridge).
Quote:
"William Lilly ... offers about 2000 consultations per year. So he's seeing a decent amount of clients pretty much every day."
—Martha McGill (21:18)
8. Palmistry and Prejudice
Timestamps: 23:26–25:32
- Palmistry viewed with suspicion; associated with those labeled as "Egyptians," roaming fortune tellers (possibly Roma and/or English/Scottish).
- Laws passed under Henry VIII to expel them, frequently accusing them of fraud.
- Later, palmistry becomes closely linked to Roma communities in the 19th century.
Quote:
"So there's this great prejudice against these traveling palm readers and the arts they employ."
—Martha McGill (25:12)
9. The Case of Mary Smith: Fraud and Punishment
Timestamps: 25:32–27:36
- Story of Mary Smith, mid-18th-century astrologer who duped Samuel Beadwell with faux rituals and absconded with his money.
- She was sentenced to death (later commuted to deportation).
- Illustrates real and lasting consequences for fraudulent divination.
10. The Enlightenment and After: Persistence of Divination
Timestamps: 27:36–29:12
- Many educated people in the Enlightenment began distancing themselves from occult beliefs.
- Divinatory practices persisted among lower social classes, often flourishing in urbanizing towns.
Quote:
"We still all struggle with life’s uncertainties. We still wonder what the future might hold, and there is still a decent market for supposed answers."
—Martha McGill (29:30)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the urge to know the future:
"I think astrology just reflects this quite basic innate human urge to try and grapple with all of the unknowns of the future."
—Martha McGill (30:14) -
On skepticism:
"People did look down upon the practice of astrology, saw it as a means of defrauding foolish maidservants out of their wages..."
—Martha McGill (22:52)
Concluding Thoughts
The episode closes with reflection on the enduring fascination with the occult, astrology, and divination. Despite progress in science and technology, the deep human drive to seek certainty about the future persists: from charm-makers of early modern England to the modern popularity of horoscopes and tarot. Martha McGill’s engaging stories and vivid examples paint a picture of a society where magic, religion, and the unknown were intimately intertwined.
Further Reading:
Martha McGill’s feature is available online at historyextra.com and in the History Extra app.