author
Astra Cielo
1861–1957
Best known for early 20th-century books on dreams, omens, and fortune-telling, this writer brought folklore and popular belief to a wide audience under the name Astra Cielo. The identity behind that pen name appears to have been Milton Goldsmith, a novelist, playwright, and librettist with a wide-ranging literary career.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Astra Cielo is the name attached to works such as Fortunes and Dreams and Signs, Omens and Superstitions, books that explore divination, dream interpretation, and everyday folklore. Library records confirm those titles under the name Astra Cielo, dated 1861–1957.
Reliable reference sources suggest Astra Cielo was a pseudonym used by Milton Goldsmith. The Posen Library notes that Goldsmith wrote fiction, children’s books, plays, and librettos, and says he used the pseudonym Astra Cielo for a pair of books on divination. Older reference material from the Jewish Encyclopedia describes Goldsmith as an American merchant and author born in Philadelphia in 1861, who studied in Zurich and wrote novels including Rabbi and Priest.
Because information about Astra Cielo is limited and often tied to catalog entries rather than full biographical profiles, some personal details remain hard to verify with confidence. What does come through clearly is the appeal of the work itself: practical, curious, and full of the superstitions and symbolic meanings that fascinated readers in the early 1900s.