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I wish to add my thanks to Todd for his generosity. I've long wanted to read Luke Broughton's Planetary Reader, a mid 19th century periodical edited by the father of American astrology. It is included in Todd's list and it can be downloaded. It is fascinating or at least it is to me.

Naturally enough Broughton highlighted the candidates for the US Presidency in the 1860 election and as astrologers have done ever since, he picked the wrong guy to win. He advised his readers that Abe Lincoln was a nice guy, not of stellar intelligence but adequate and that he would not go far in this election. Instead the next President would be Stephen A. Douglas. If the non Americans are running to their history texts to read about Mr. Douglas' administration, don't bother.

I'll put something together on this and either post it here or in the mundane section depending on how it plays out.

Thanks again Todd.

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Olivia wrote: I haven't heard these yet (I'm broke), but Ben Dykes has yet another series of audio lectures on traditional astrology - this time explaining traditional astrology itself more than the philosophies that it's based on.

http://bendykes.com/audio/astrologylectures.php
I've picked up a few of the lectures, they are very good; only caveat is that they are done at a conference and so he's often pressed for time.
Gabe

Firmicus Maternus

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Matheseos Libri VIII by Firmicus Maternus

As a newcomer to classical astrology, this is the first book that I felt comfortable with after reading some of CA and grasping about a third of it.

At first, the techniques felt foreign to me. I understood sect, but struggled with the way a planet's meaning changed in a house if it was aspected to another planet, or another planet with a waning or waxing Moon, or another planet on one of the angles. It seemed like there were so many things to look for just to understand a single interpretation.

But I stuck with it, and the accuracy is wonderful, even after 1650+ years.

There are eight books. The third book is invaluable. After a while, I got a lot out of the fourth and fifth books as well.

This book is reasonably priced on amazon. Here is the link...

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Astrology ... 578&sr=1-1[/url]
All I know is that if my birth chart was a horary, the answer would be "No".

My Blog: http://slushpileastrology.blogspot.com/

Suggested Books

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An underlying factor around the higher cost of Astrology books is the limited market - mostly sought out by the Astrological community. A print run would be no where the volume set up of a paper back best seller.

I have J. Lee Lehman's two books mentioned here - I can understand her work more easily than others. I believe we often 'need' to grow into our books.

Julie K

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Still about the book list for traditional astrology, I would like to add the following:

- Book on Astronomy, by Guido Bonatti, translated by Benjamin Dykes, The Cazimi Press 2007. A major source for medieval astrology. Ben Dykes? introduction and footnotes are valuable.

- And, I do agree, On the Heavenly Spheres is a ?must-have? book for both the traditional astrology student or researcher and the contemporary practitioner. The book covers all the basic knowledge beneath the Hellenistic and the medieval traditions.

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I think anyone interested in Traditional Astrology should be aware of Astrology's Historical Developments. Nicholas Campion's History of Western Astrology Volume 1&2 are very thorough and in-depth. I have beaten up my copy of Volume One quite a bit.
Western Predictive Astrology by Estebon Duarte Independent Researcher AMA MACAA
Natal Chart & Annual Solar Revolution Reports
www.organic-astrology.com

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I got lots of information from John Frawley's book on Horary Astrology.
Even if you're not doing horary charts, this book gives a lot of info on Traditional Astrology; its accessible, modern, follows Lilly (mostly) and is really amusing and practical. I read it all the time!

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Here's a plug for Ben's new book. The target audience is modern astrologers who have questions or are curious about traditional astrology. Ben answers them by presenting a basic overview of the tradition and comparing it here and there to modern astrology. As simple as this task sounds, if you've ever tried it, you quickly realize that it is more daunting than first believed. Where do you start and when do you stop?

Ben does this admirably by mostly narrowing down "traditional astrology" to medieval astrology," and selecting a few texts and authors to make points while listing the other texts a student could use if he or she wishes to go further.

He can't cover everything, but he gives a nice overview of rulership, dignities, and the use of aspects and introducing less well known techniques like aversion. The charts are easy to follow as are the instructions. He might take a mild swipe at modern astrology here and there, but he doesn't take the knife and twist it like Frawley does sometimes. I enjoy the occasional knife twisting, but that's a personal preference.

The best definition of success for a book is that it sets out what it intended to do. This book succeeds.

Traditional Astrology Books II

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Briefly:

On the Heavenly Spheres is a superb addition to the tradtional astrology bookshelf. Maria Mateus translated it into English from the Portuguese and will be credited in the next edition.

That said, one is advised to contact the AFA for an errata sheet, and if one is not available, to ever so gently request that one be made. The errors, minor as most as them are, have no place in a textbook and are
not the fault of either the translator or the authors but were rather a by product of the torturous process of re-formatting. The minor errors I have mentioned to the translator were indeed caught and brought to the attention of the publisher, prior to publication, but somehow never got fixed. This sort of thing happens more frequently than most of you would think. The last NCGR Journal, on Helios, was painstakingly proofread but somehow the wrong file got sent to the printer! The result? Errors that were caught now live on for eternity!

So an errata sheet for On the Heavenly Spheres, an otherwise exemplary text,[particularly the material of the temperments] is recommended, especially if , for example, one does not know the difference between signs of long and short ascension.

Those of you with a fondness for Henry Coley, heads up. A reformatted edition of The Key to the Whole Art of Astrology, will be unveiled to the world by the AFA sometime this year as well.

Of course, the AFA has served the astrological community well by putting out LUis and Helena's book and also James Holden's stellar translation of Mathesis by Firmicus Maternu,s which I find far more readable than the Bram translation. It's pricey, yes, but a must have for your traditional astrology library. I have not had a chance to dive too deeply into my copy yet but saw a few pre-publication excerpts and do look forward to doing so.

Ben Dykes' Intro to Traditional Astrology, as noted by another poster, is the simplest and most coherent text to buy for a friend wanting to get their feet wet in the ink of traditonal astrological techniques.

In general, if you are treating any book as a text book, yes, even Math and Scinece textbooks, it's never a bad idea to inquire from the publisher if there is an errata sheet, or need for an errata sheet, for any particular tome. These days, sadly, with publishing houses cutting back on editorial, copy editing and proofing staff, its more necessary than ever!