In this installment of "Where the Southern Cross the Yellow Dog," we take a look at Edward H. Lowe, an African-American astrologer, numerologist, and herb dealer in Chicago, Illinois.• Patreon Release Date: August 7th, 2025.
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Texas-born Edward H. Lowe (September 19, 1908 - December 17, 1987) was a spiritualistic roootworker, numerologist, and professional astrologer. During the 1920s, he migrated to Chicago’s South Side Bronzeville district, where, as "Chicago's Noted Astrologist," he utilized "the science of the Zodiac" to cast natal, progressed, and transiting horoscopes for his African-American clientele.Lowe called himself an "Astro-Numerologist," and in 1937 he published the "Spiritualistic Dream Book: New Scientific Specification of Numbers; Invaluable to Number Speculators" -- namely, lottery bettors. The text combined dream interpretations with numerology for those who wanted to find luck in gambling. This narrow booklet went through at least two editions, with identical contents, varying cover colours, and differing advertisements for Lowe's products.
The back cover of the "Spiritualistic Dream Book" contained an advertisement for Lowe's 12 Month Astrological Forecast: "YOU CAN NOT BEAT THEM - When you're in hard luck - MAKE A HIT - KNOW THY SELF - Says Chicago's Noted Astrologist. - His Astrological forecast will guide you through 12 months of ASTROLOGY - Brief Guide 50¢ - Daily Guide $1.00 - SEND BIRTH DATE - Send all orders to EDWARD H. LOWE 329 E. 58th STREET CHICAGO 37. ILL."
Inside was an ad for Prof. A. F. Seward's popular hand-held mechanical planetary hour calculator. Seward, "America's Foremost Astrologer," was the first great popularizer of the Sun-Sign system of zodiacal character analysis. He was also located in Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s, and the two men became friends and collaborators. Not only did Lowe promote the classical planetary hour system of spell-casting through Seward's handy calculators, but Seward, an excellent pen-and-ink artist, provided cover art for Lowe's "Spiritualistic Dream Book," depicting an exotic Turkish "harem girl" similar to those he drew for his own books on clairvoyance and crystal gazing.
This interview with Edward H. Lowe was conducted on July 10th, 1941 by Matilde L. Bunton for the Federal Writers Project, a department of the Works Progress Administration of the U.S. government that sought to keep authors employed during the Great Depression. Inteiews for "The Negro in Illinois,' were begun, but this book, like a number of others, was abandoned as World War Two absorbed the nation's resources and provided jobs of a different sort for writers. Work stopped on "The Negro in Illinois" in 1943, but the collected typescripts, many of them faded carbon copies, were saved and eventually donated to the Chicago Public Library, where they remain to this day. My thanks to the CPL for digitizing these fragile images, and to my husband, nagasiva yronwode, for transcribing them. It must be noted that this was a first draft of the article, with pencilled markings and quite a few typing errors. In the text that follows i have made some basic corrections to spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and have broken a few overlong paragraphs into shorter blocks.
Name of Periodical_______________________________
Title of Article____INCENSE BOOK STORE____
Day___________Month________________Year__________
Author's name if any: Interview With____Mr. Edward H. Lowe____
Where consulted___329 E. 58th St.___When consulted___7-10-41____
Interviewer found Mr. Lowe a very good looking man around 37 years old; the only oddity associated with him the goatee that he was wearing. Occupying the same location since '31, Mr. Lowe claims that he is only an adviser, not a medium, nor a spiritualist, "I do no 'spookus' work" he advised interviewer. "I am not a healer; whenever people come to me for medical advice, or legal counsel, I always recommend a good physician or a lawyer, as the case may be," he further stated.
"Do you sell policy numbers?" asked interviewer.
"Yes, I have guaranteed numbers that i sell for three dollars, and I require that the player also give me one-third of the amount that he catches on this number," said Mr. Lowe.
Mr. Lowe's novelty shop consists of the following:
Incense Herbs
Dream Books Roots
Candles Lucky Oils
One may carry John the Conqueror Roots about with him for success.
Mr. Lowe sells the following oils:
Magnet Oil Black Arts Oil
Lover's Oil Spirit Oil
Attraction Oil Power Oil
Crucifixion Oil Success Oil
Holy Bath Oil 7th Heaven Oil
Concentration Oil Compelling Oil
Altar Oil
The following sachet powders are sold:
Crossing Powder Success Powder
Uncrossing Powder Protection Powder
Attraction Powder Dressing Powder
Commanding Powder Fast Luck Powder
Black Arts Powder Confusion Powder
Lodestone Powder Lover's Powder
Hi-John Conqueror Powder Holy Powder
If you have heretofore been unfortunate or unlucky in spite of every effort, you can, if you wish, burn genuine Frank-Incense Compound while citing in a prayerful manner Psalms 4, before Sunrise or in the morning with humility and devotion.
If anyone believes they are plagued with an unknown or evil spirit, they may burn Genuine Frank-Incense Compound and pronounce, while burning, Psalms 10, keeping constantly in mind the Adorable Name of God.
[Note: The above two paragraphs are direct quotes from the catalogue advertisement for Genuine Frank-Incense Compound manufactured and sold by Morton Neumann of the hoodoo and cosmetics supply houses Famous Products Distribution, King Novelty, and Valmor Beauty Supply. They are two of the four so-called "Chicago Psalms" which Neumann popularized for use with Frankincense. The other two are Psalms 8 for "people who desire the Love and Good-Will of all Men and Women in their Business, Financial, and Social Transactions or any other Matters," and Psalms 26 for "people who have been followed by Bad Luck or Misfortune and have been Unsuccessful in their Undertakings or have not been able to save Money." The entire text of the Chicago Psalms ad can be found on pages 45 and 46 of the book "Hoodoo Bible Magic" by Miss Michaele and Professor Charles Porterfield.
Lowe's shop, at 329 E. 58th St., was only a few blocks from Neumann's large cosmetics and spiritual supply manufactory and herb packaging plant. Neumann operated no retail shops and sold his goods wholesale to a nationwide network of hoodoo drugstores, door-to-door agents, and beauty shop operators. All of the items listed above are spiritual supplies and curios that can be found in contemporaneous Famous Products or King Novelty catalogues.]
In passing, the interviewer was especially attracted by an advertisement tacked on the wall:
SPECIAL to Number Players:"Are your dreams unlucky to you?
Do the Gigs you get from your dreams split out?
Do others CATCH on your dreams when you fail to play them?
Do you have trouble remembering your dreams?
If so, you should read the 70th Psalm and use
MYSTIC DREAM INCENSE 15¢ - 25¢"
Worker's Item No.___1. - 4.____ Worker's Name:__Mathilde Bunton_
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION (Illinois)
Illinois Writers' Project 4901 Ellis Avenue
c/o Julius Rosenwald Fund
Chicago, Illinois
Lowe enlisted in the United States Army during World War Two, and served from August 1943 to September 1944. After his military duties concluded, he returned to his spiritual supply shop.
In the 1945 book “Black Metropolis: a Study of Negro Life in a Northern City” by St. Clair Drake and Horace Roscoe Cayton described him as "Professor Edward Lowe, Astro-Numerologist":
The Professor, Texas born and bred, sells gigs ranging in price from ten cents to $3, the latter guaranteed or money back. Professor Lowe asserts that his "gift" came from his mother, that he has studied "the science of the Zodiac," and that "some of the most intelligent people in the city of Chicago are in sympathy with the work that I engage in."
In a bookstall outside of his store, the Professor displays his own magnum opus, "The Key to Numerology," side by side with [Egyptian Secrets of ] Albertus Magnus," "The Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses," "White and Black Art for Man and Beast," "The Book of Forbidden Knowledge," and others of the same general type. Displayed too are Adam and Eve Roots, Policy Player's Oil for 50 cents, Genuine Live Lodestone, and the Lucky Oil of Mystery.
The "Key to Numerology" is a brief saddle-stitched pamphlet by Robert Allan Nelson of Columbus, Ohio, who regularly wrote and broadcast on the radio as "Dr. Korda RaMayne." First published in 1931, it is a product of his prolific Nelson Enterprises company, in Columbus, Ohio, which supplied pitch books and tick sheets for professional psychics working in the fields of Astrology, Palmistry, and Numerology. It was continually rerinted well into the 1960s, and, as with all of the Nelson Enterprises pitch books, this pamphlet was also available with the buyer's surprinted name as the author. Thus the collector may find copies surprinted "Korda RaMayne’s Mystic Key to Numerology: Science of Numbers," as well as variant copies with a variety of different author names, including that of Edward Lowe -- or with no author name at all. It is a basic pitch book and tick sheet for the numerologist's clients, and it is notable for the extensive space that Nelson devotes to the Vocation Number, that is, the sum of the birth date (Life Path) and the full name (Destiny Number). See the Numerology Bibliography at Yronwode.org for more information.
From the 1920s through the 1960s, Lowe sold policy tickets for illegal betting, sold King Novelty curios and spiritual supplies, compounded and marketed his own brand of lucky Algiers Oil , and spread astrological knowledge into the African-American community. Because of his influence, Chicago became a major center for the promulgation of astrological conjure, as Neumann's competitor, the Standard O & B Company of Chicago, distributed Zodiac-themed coin talismans, perfumes, anointing oils, and candles to hoodoo rootworkers nationwide via mail order and through ads in the Chicago Defender, the largest Black-owned newspaper in America.
Edward Lowe filed an application for Social Security retirement benefits in September 1969 and died in Chicago at the age of 79. He and Dr. E.P. Read, the hoodoo herbalist of Philadelphia, were the two men most responsible for helping astrology expand into Black neighbourhoods during the 20th century.
These typewritten pages were prepared for the Illinois Writers Project and were donated to the Chicago Public Library as part of The Negro in Illinois Collection, Box 35, No. 21. The pages were digitized by the CPL and then transcribed by nagasiva yronwode and edited by cat yronwode in 2025.
Matilde Louise Bunton was a prolific contributor to the unpublished book "The Negro in Illinois." She interviewed people in many trades and wrote articles on the history and development of Black-owned businesses in Chicago. I have as yet been unable to find any biographical data on her life, but the search is ongoing. At present i believe she may have been listed in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census in Chicago as Louise Bunton, Negro, born in Mississippi, a Writer, "Wage or salary worker in Government work" [i.e. the WPA], age 26, born circa 1914, who had completed 3 years of college, and was a lodger in a house on Oakwood Blvd.
