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Here are books with unique and original observations, as well as experimental points of view. If any of you were wondering if the "Research" pages might be a general catch-all, well, you'd be right. For more of the same, see the Astrological Essays pages. As I find time I want to set up pages on Sidereal & Heliocentric astrologies, among others.

Indicates a book on our Top Ten list. If you would like to find more books like it, click on the star.

THE BEST OF AL H. MORRISON, selected & edited by Karen Christino, $21.95
Contents: Acknowledgments

1. Introduction; 2. Horoscope interpretation; 3. The void of course moon; 4. Chiron & the minor planets; 5. Declinations; 6. The U.S. & mundane charts

Index

Comment: Al Morrison, 1916 - 1995, was that eccentric guy who livved in the Chelsea Hotel on New York's West 23rd Street for all those years. The guy who never had a telephone, the guy who wrote all his countless letters by hand. (I even have one, somewhere.) For decades, he was the ultimate New York astrologer. Cranky & everything else. You can read more about him at Donna Cunningham's Astrologer's Memorial.

This entire book is composed exclusively of extracts of Al Morrison's letters & lecture tapes. It is Al himself speaking to us, as many have long wished for. One woman, an old friend of Al's, said she laughed & cried as she read this book.

This is partly a memoir, partly a first-rate compendium of techniques, by someone who knew, and more than merely knowing, who tirelessly experimented & innovated. What we know of asteroids, what we know of Chiron, what we know of the void-of-course moon is all due to Morrison's work. This book will handsomely repay close study.

Stella Mira Books, 266 pages.


THE BEST OF CHARLES JAYNE: A Book of His Books - Charles Jayne, $22.95
Contents:

Foreword, by Vivia Jayne

Horoscope Interpretation Outlined:
Preface to the second edition
Preface
Introduction
The chart as a whole
The main components
The lights & angles & their relationships
The pivotal & singular factors
Addendum

Introduction to Locality Astrology:
Preface
Shifting the chart
Locality charts

Parallels: Their Hidden Meanings:
Preface
Parallels: the key
Types of parallels
Orbs of parallels
How parallels modify a chart
Transits in declination
Parallels by progression
Declination arc directions
Parallels in synastry

The Technique of Rectification:
Introduction
The tools
The technique of recfication
Rectification process
Additional examples
Unknown birth times
Horoscope validation

Comment:

The first book, Horoscope Interpretation Outlined is notable for its use of Marc Edmund Jones's chart patterns (locomotive, splay, splash, etc.), along with declination, sun-moon phase, and the importance of angles.

In Introduction to Locality Astrology, Jayne gives directions for calculating relocated angles using Right Ascension, which gives different results than a straight longitude (east-west) shift. This allows for local parallels to planetary parallels. Parallels were a Jayne specialty. He continues with relocation in the Johndro locality chart, based on 0 Aries = 0 longitude. Johndro has faded over the years (he died in 1951), it might be time to bring him back. There is an extensive table in the back, which Jayne says will enable one to find Right Ascension (RA) from celestial longitude & celestial latitude. Longitudes are expressed in degrees & signs. Latitudes are 0 - 6, which puzzle me. Jayne teases us with brief mention of two further Johndro techniques, though does not give them.

In Parallels, Their Hidden Meaning, Jayne presents a pre-K.T. Boehrer view of parallels of declination. (K.T.'s fans have been a bit possessive of her work.) Jayne has four kinds of parallels, orbs of parallels (orbs change according to longitude). Jayne notes that Saturn conjunct MC means one thing if both are parallel, but another if counterparellel, which it helps to know before you rush to judgment. Parallels can also be applied to transits as well as progressions, in arcs & with synastry.

Jayne starts off The Technique of Rectification with these words:

The best test of astrological competence that I know of is the ability to rectify charts, but I daresay that nearly all astrologers, except a very small handful, would fail if this were made the criterion for their permission to practice professionally. Why should rectification be given such an overall value? To rectifiy a chart one must have a good knowledge of all the main phases of astrology: the meaning of the signs, houses, planets, aspects, the ability to interpret, to see the chart as a whole & to pick out the focal features, the ability to cast the chart correctly, the ability to interpret the chart dynamically (a rare ability) as well as statically. I do not know of any single activity an astrologer can engage in that does more to teach astrology than the endeavor to rectify horoscopes. (pg. 141)
Jayne's technique is two-fold. Start by yanking the chart forward or backwards until you have it in rough shape. Then use secondary progressions to clean it up.

Four excellent books in one volume.

AFA, 172 pages.


ASTRODYNE MANUAL - Elbert Benjamine (aka C.C. Zain), $22.95
Astrodynes, harmodynes & discordynes are measures of astrological power, harmony & discord. Their numerical strength determines the interpretation of the horoscope & the effect of transits, progressions & directions. Complete guide to their calculation & use. See also the two books immediately below for more on Zain's invention. Contents: Finding and using decimal numbers; Power due to house position; Power due to aspects; Calculating the astrodynes of any zodiacal aspect and of any parallel aspect; The total power of a birth chart planet; Calculating the power of a birth chart sign and a birth chart house; Calculating the birth chart harmony and discord; The total harmony or discord of a planet; Calculating the harmony or discord of a birth chart sign and a birth chart house; Calculating the power and harmony of the normal progressed horoscope; Completed astrodyne chart of Elbert Benjamine; Birth chart astrodynes, harmonodynes and discordynes; Calculating peak power, peak harmonodynes or discordynes of a progressed aspect; Calculating un-reinforced power of aspect on a given date; Calculating practical power and harmony of a sign or house on a given date; Calculating the peak power and harmony of a minor and of a transit progressed aspect; Calculating the power and harmony of a minor and of a transit progressed aspect on a given date; Calculating the peak reinforcement power of a minor progressed aspect; Calculating the reinforcement power of a minor progressed aspect on a given date; Calculating the total influence of a progressed aspect. 65 pages. Church of Light, newly reset, oversize paper.


HOW TO READ COSMODYNES - Doris Chase Doane, $12.95
Contents:

Introduction
What are Cosmodynes?
Computer report
Chart classifications
Planetary energy transmutation
Harmonizing house energies
Personal motivation
Significant Cosmodynes
Factor analysis
Examples.

Comment:

One of C.C. Zain's leading students gives her thoughts on his system. On the back of the book it says,
How to Read Cosmodynes fills an important need in the astrological field. Many know of this method of measuring the relative power of the planets, signs & houses, but few know how to use it in their daily astrological practice. Yet it can be the key to seemingly inexplicable factors in the individual horoscope.

Cosmodyne patterns indicate how delays, obstacles & confusion can be avoided. They point to where the energy-expenditure should be directed, how it should be channeled, and the associations which will enhance the demonstration of success. Once you experiment with the use of cosmodynes, you will never give them up. Probably you'll wonder how you managed to do without them for so long.

AFA, 84 pages.


DELINEATION WITH ASTRODYNES - Ken Stone, $12.95
Contents:
1. Planets
2. Signs and houses
3. Aspects
4. Temperament, disposition and health
5. Vocational analysis
6. Compatibility
7. Progressions
8. Temperament
9. Vocational selection
10. Compatibility
11. Delineating the whole chart.

Comment: From the back of the book:

The use of astrodynes takes much of the guesswork out of chart interpretation by mathematically determining the relative power in a horoscope. Simply put, astrodynes allow a greater precision in birth chart interpretation.

Previously, the chart ruler was considered to be the ruler of the Ascendant. Now, the strongest planets, signs & houses can easily be determined, leading to more accurate assessment of vocation, temperament, and compatibility. The level of harmony or discord will indicate the fortune that can be attracted by each factor.

There is a difference between power, which is a potential for action, and harmony, which is the effect of the action. The amount of strength in the chart will show how insistent are the desires, or specific areas of life. Whether they express in harmony or with difficulty has little to do with the amount of power they have. Therefore, the first step in a better understanding of how to use astrodynes in a birth chart is to understand what power is in a chart, and what harmony is, and the difference between the two. The author explains these differences and focuses on the interpretation of astrodynes, including specifics about each planet, house & aspect.

91 pages. AFA, paper.


THE PART OF FORTUNE IN ASTROLOGY - Judith Hill, $12.00
Contents:
1. What is the Part of Fortune? Description, calculation.

2. What the Pars Fortuna means: The three interpretative meanings in the chart.

3. Pars Fortuna in the twelve houses.

4. Pars Fortuna in the twelve zodiac signs.

5. Pars Fortuna conjunct natal planets, sun, moon & the north/south lunar nodes.

Summary
Bibliography

Comment: Ptolemy mentions the Part of Fortune in his Tetrabiblos, proving the great ancestry of the Parts generally. Instructions for calculating both by day (preferred by the author herself) and by night.

The three keys to interpretation: 1. The Part of Fortune indicates the place of happiness, ie, the degree of the zodiac that brings you bliss. 2. The Part of Fortune is the place where you may profit financially from planets in or passing through its exact degree, or, by extension, by the planet which rules that sign in your chart. 3. The Part of Fortune can strengthen & otherwise improve any unfortunate planet it may conjunct. There are four categories of "improvement", but not all of them lead to positive results so far as the native may be concerned. Improvements have often been noted when the Part is conjunct the south node.

The book concludes with brief delineations of Fortuna in houses, signs & in conjunction to sun, moon, planets & nodes. For orbs, Judith tells me 3 degrees or less is best, but all planets in the same sign as Fortuna are affected by it to some extent. First published in 1998, second edition in 2010.

Stellium Press, 36 pages.


NEW INSIGHTS INTO ASTROLOGY - Nona Gwynn Press, $26.95
Contents:

Introduction: Sex is a T-square

1. Number symbolism
2. Harmonics
3. Asteroids
4. Lunations
5. Solar returns
6. Research
7. Conclusions

Notes
Bibliography

Appendix 1: Asteroids with glyphs
Appendix 2: Uranian planet key words
Appendix 3: Heliocentric nodes for 1990 alphabetical listing
Appendix 4: Heliocentric nodes for 1990 zodiacal listing

Index

There are also ten tables & twenty-six figures in the book.

Comment:

The Introduction is titled, Sex is a T-Square. It begins:
The T-Square has been libeled, as have all difficult aspects. Without tension there would be no release of tension. A Grand Trine creates a harmonious state which does not seek energy release (unless the configuration is connected to an inharmonious aspect). Therefore, an orgasm, the culmination & release of tension & hopefully the end result of sex, is the product of a T-Square, not a Grand Trine. (My reasoning is purely deductive - no statistical study having been done to this effect.)
This is pretty much how the book goes. Not sexy at all. Rather, inappropriate analogies lacking research to support them. Press might as well have said, A gun is like a T-Square, or A punchline is like a T-Square, or A slapstick pie-in-the-face is like a T-Square. They all release tension. (Gee, the world is full of T-Squares!) She thought sex would get your attention, so she used it, even though she had nothing to say about it.

A good deal of the book is an extensive analysis of the author's own chart, which she gives as May 24, 1933, Manhattan, NY, 1:14 am EDT. She gives the chart in Placidus houses, along with Transneptunians, the four asteroids, Lilith, the East Point, Chiron, Persephone, the Part of Fortune, the "AV" (something I'm not sure about), the Vertex & one or two other details that elude me. The wheel is drawn to show the unequal houses. In the center equal houses are more less marked out.

This is everything & the kitchen sink, thrown on the wall to see what sticks, run up the flagpole to see who will salute. It isn't how you read charts or conduct research, but it was & I fear still is common, that if only we had enough detail we would find meaning in some of it. Martha Lang Wescott is a master of this sort of thing, but then, Martha knows that specific bodies give specific influences & knows how to isolate them.

Stripping Press's chart to the basics, I find she has Saturn rising, a waning Moon conjunct the Sun in Gemini in 3, with Mercury in late Taurus, Venus just ahead of the Sun/Moon in Gemini (now in 4), Uranus in 2, Pluto in 6, Mars/Neptune conjunct in Virgo in 7, with Jupiter also in Virgo, all three intercepted. Mercury/Sun/Moon all in 3 is a busy person with the possibility of intelligence, but the square to Mars/Neptune in Virgo makes a mess of the details. As her book demonstrates. Another example:

Speaking of 3's, an examination of the third house in terms of writing & communication may be in order. When examining a house even the cusp should be considered. My third house cusp is 13 Taurus 03' (13 = 4 = home). The separation between the cusp & Mercury is 13 degrees, again, emphasizing the home. Mercury is at 27 Taurus 01' (27 = 9 = publishing). Mercury is 03 degrees from the Moon (3 = writing). The Moon is at 00 Gemini 21' (00 = the void & usually the desire to fill it). The Moon is 2 degrees from the Sun, which brings in the idea of values & possibly money. The Sun is at 02 Gemini 34' which again equals values and money. The Sun is 05 degrees from the fourth house cusp, equalling creativity. An evaluation that comes out of this numerological analysis of the third house is: creative writing in the home which will be published & which will express values & perhaps make money. (The minutes of the cusps, planets & separations between them reinforce this interpretation. What the principle of the degrees relates to is the minutes.) (from page 11)
The gist of this seems to be that numerology equals house values. If I had to write a definition of Sun-Moon conjunct in Gemini, square Mars-Neptune conjunct in Virgo, I don't think I could have done better.

In the second chapter Press mangles Harmonics in a discussion of her two marriages. In Chapter 3, on Asteroids, we have this nugget:

It is appropriate that the asteroids should be the subject of Chapter 3 (3rd house, Gemini, Mercury, trine). Gemini is the sign of the twins, and the asteroids and planets are two similar but separate entities. . . (pg. 176)
Chapter 6 is the famous NCGR-New York Suicide study. This was an attempt to determine absolute astrological factors for a hard event. And, of course, there is nothing more concrete in all the world than an accurately timed natal chart that ended in a death officially ruled a suicide. All the deaths occurred in New York City, between 1969 and 1973, which more or less controls for cultural factors. Of 2,250 official suicides during this period (gee, New York is a cheerful place!), 311 charts were chosen for study. There was also a control group as well as a secondary data source, in Michigan. Among factors considered were planets, asteroids, transneptunians, house placement, rulerships, interceptions, aspects, midpoints, chi-square probabilities, harmonics 1 through 12, plus the 16th, 24th & 48th, individual degrees of the zodiac, planetary pictures & their interactions (T-Squares connected to trines, etc.), angular separations, weighting, planets conjunct house cusps, hours of labor at birth, Rh factors, eclipses, Charles Carter's work, David Hamblin's work, afflictions involving the ascendant, a Vernon Clark experiment, Uranian pictures, the vertex, the east point, the Gauquelin sectors, on & on & on. Given Press's intellectual abilities, the results were perhaps not surprising:
In none of these investigations did we find a factor which significantly discriminated the suicides from the controls & which was also replicated in all three subgroups of suicide data. (pg. 320)
Which is to say that Press did not know how to draw conclusions from her data. Since suicide can be read in a chart - and it's not all that hard - the problem was therefore fundamental astrological ignorance. That NCGR allowed its name to be associated with this study I have always felt to be a black mark against the NCGR. Which I think is fair. With this around their necks, it's going to be dang hard for them.

The book appears to be an example of hard Gemini to Virgo aspects involving Neptune. Enjoy!

ACS, 424 pages.


fagan

PRIMER OF SIDEREAL ASTROLOGY, Moray Series No. 1 - Cyril Fagan & Brigadier R.C. Firebrace, $21.95
Contents:

Preface to the third edition
Preface to the first US edition
Abbreviations

1. Our city universe
2. The sidereal zodiac
3. Conversion of a tropical map into the sidereal
4. The Mean Sun (M.S.)
5. The calendar
6. The example horoscope
7. The progressed horoscope
8. Primary directing of the angles
9. The Sidereal Solar Return (S.S.R.)
10. The Solar Quotdian progression
11. Progression of solar planets
12. The Progressed Sidereal Solar Return (P.S.S.R.)
13. Regressions
14. The sidereal lunar return
15. The Anlunar return
16. Kinetic returns
17. Mundane astrology
18. The art of interpretation

Appendices:
Calculation of planets in mundo
Calculating lunar configurations
Paranatellonta
Precessing
Notes on tables

Tables
1. Mean sidereal longitude of the Synthetic Vernal Point (SVP) for the beginning of each century (Julian), 4000 BC - 2100 AD
2. Reduction of minutes & seconds of arc to decimals of a degree & vice-versa
3. The mean sidereal longitude in Pisces of the S.V.P. for January 1, for each year from 1800 to 2000 AD inclusive
4. First correction (precession & solar mutation) to obtain the True Sidereal Longitude of the S.V.P., calculations being based on the M.S. Compiled by Garth Allen
5. Second correction to obtain the True Sidereal Longitude of the S.V.P. due to the effects of lunar nutation

Comment: Interest in western sidereal faded in the years after the passing of these men (Fagan d. 1970; Firebrace, Bradley (aka Garth Allen), Gleadow all d. 1974), but now seems to be increasing. At this time this is the only remaining book by Fagan still in print, but I have hope for the future. It is most valuable for its examination of numerous rare forecasting methods, most of which remain experimental.

In this book, the Mean Sun is used in the calculation of progressed & regressed horoscopes. Fagan's calendar starts on March 1, with Leap Day the very end of every 4th year. Chapter 8, on the "primary" means of directing angles, are a variation on standard secondaries & not "primaries" as we have come to rediscover the last few years. Sidereal solar returns are, in their tropical incarnations, known as precessed solars. The Solar Quotidian & Precessed Sidereal Solar Return are both ways to progress a solar return or ingress chart. "Regressions" are also known as converse progressions. Anlunars are lunar returns based on the moon's position in the year's solar return.

Kinetic returns. You might do better than I: Solar Kinetic Return (S.K.R.) is based on the return of the Sun to its secondary progressed longitude at the time of the ordinary solar return. The Solunar Kinetic, formerly known as the lunar kinetic, is based on the progressed moon of the solar return. The Natal Quotitian Lunar Kinetic (N.L.K. for short) is based on the progressed secondary moon & could be called the secondary lunar kinetic. Other kinetics are possible. These are all based on moving, or dynamic, placements, rather than static (ie, natal) ones.

The chapter on mundane astrology suggests this ranking of seasonal ingress charts: Capricorn, Cancer, Aries & Libra, using the sidereal zodac, which puts the Capricorn ingress on January 14/15. This is one of the areas in which it is most clear that sidereal is based on stellar positions, while tropical is based on the Earth/Sun relationship, two entirely different frameworks. Sidereal ingresses are where tiny differences in ayanamsa make big differences in charts. One minute of one degree of ayanamsa translates into six degrees across the midheaven. Which brings me to Chapter 8, on Interpretation: Aside from a general dislike of houses & rulers, Fagan's ideas of natal interpretation were fairly ordinary for his day. But then, that's not the point of this book, which will repay close study.

AFA, 146 pages.


AN INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN SIDEREAL ASTROLOGY - Kenneth Bowser, $24.95

Contents:

Introduction

1. Nomenclature and categories
2. The planets
3. The Sidereal signs
4. The houses
5. The planetary aspects
6. The equatorial system and the stars
7. The forty-five planet combinations
8. Interpretation, political figures
9. Interpretation, great minds
10. Interpretation, notorious figures

Appendices:
One: Historical records
Two: The tropical/sidereal debate
Three: The origins of exaltations

Endnotes

Note on Local Apparent Time

Comment:

In Fagan and Firebrace's book (above) emphasis is placed on the predictive power of Sidereal astrology, which I do not dispute, and which western siderealism shares with Indian Vedic astrology, which is also sidereally based. Both systems are based on a fixed point in the sky, regrettably they do not agree as to exactly where this point is. Neither system makes any use of the twelve signs. Which is what one would expect, since there cannot be two parallel systems, tropical and sidereal, that differ, at the moment, by 24-ish degrees.

So I read Chapter 3, Sidereal Signs, with interest. There are two ways to write Sidereal sign delineations. One is to write tropical delineations (knowingly or unknowingly) but then put sidereal names on them. So, in other words, one writes Aries, but then labels the result Pisces. You look up your birthday, you read the result, you think, gee, I never knew I was [the sign before the one I thought I was]. And you are happy.

The second method is to write the usual tropical delineations and put the usual names on them. Which is what Bowser has done.

I would like to play along and back up my tropical Gemini rising and make it sweet and nice Taurus, and then shift my ruling planet from Mercury in the 9th, of arid intellectualism, to Venus, now in Sagittarius but still in the 8th, and tell you that my enthusiastic, cheerful!, prophetic life has been about psychic sensitivity, the many dead people I have known, and, oh, by the way, I have such a sweet face, won't you give me all your money? (I have experienced a number of people long, long dead, but you only get that out of me if you have reason to know. Which is to say that Venus is not the chart ruler. Nor do I look pretty, alas.)

Backing up my Sun and Moon, from Aquarius-Leo, to Capricorn-Cancer, will not change their positions in the 9th and 3rd houses, nor will it change the intellectual powerhouse that results, but it will free me from an endless, crippling political stalemate. The reason I am not a university professor, the reason I have written no books of note, is that Aquarius-Leo is political. The houses give the planets work. The signs tell us how they work. I am an intellect who annoys people. They annoy me. Fixity, nothing can be done about it. Shift the full moon to Capricorn-Cancer, and a workaholic results. The Sun in Capricorn works hard, the insecure Moon in Cancer drives him on, both signs cardinal: Books and monographs and dissertations and studies, etc. Capricorn-Cancer accomplishes much. (Isaac Newton had this, only reversed: Sun in 3, Moon in 9.) Aquarius-Leo, by contrast, is immobilized by exerior indifference and sees no reason to do much of anything, since no one wants it. And as long as no one wants it, it will not be done. I have lived this life, you will forgive my impatience. -- The author's conceptual weakness, which I suspect is the underlying flaw of the Fagan-Bradley school.

(So many astrologers settle for a fraction of astrology's power. It is the full moon, the constant struggle between the Sun and Moon, that eventually discovers and exploits everything. The shadows which the Sun cannot see, the Moon can. To a full moon, nothing whatever can be hidden, or denied, at least as far as the houses occupied are concerned. Astrological symbolism is just that stark.)

Astrologers traditionally believe that astrological energies fall out of the sky and land at our feet, the only difference between Tropical and Sidereal is if precession is a factor, or not. Sidereal says yes, tropical says no. I tried to make sense of this and was stymied until I deduced that astrological energies are in fact inherent in the earth, which is in harmonic sympathy with the other planets, the result being astrology as we know it. The result was a theory of dazzling simplicity and power. I mention this, not to brag, but to put my remarks on Mr. Bowser's book in context. The question of Sidereal vs: Tropical Zodiac, to me, is no longer a life-or-death thing. The Sidereal Zodiac is simply a set of technques that work within a limited context. Astrology is a broad church. There are many such useful techniques, enough for everyone.

Sidereal astrology is not based on stars, despite the claims. Sidereal astrology, including Vedic, is based on the Earth's axial wobble. The wobble is the result of the Sun pulling the Earth in one direction, the Moon pulling in another. Take out one or the other and the wobble will cease. Add a third body (a second moon, a double star) and the wobble will increase. Simple physics. Based on traditional Vedic astrology, as well as Fagan-Firebrace-Allen's modern work, Sidereal-based astrology is a powerful predictive tool. I have no problem with that. So far as Sidereal being the "real" system, or Vedic being sanctioned by the gods as superior to Tropical, you can believe that if you want.

Chapter 7 are aspect delineations. These are reasonably okay. Aspects are neither tropical nor sidereal, except when signs are mentioned. Sun-Pluto with Sun in Aquarius: Birth was illegitimate. I was going to get huffy about this, but then remembered that to Bowser, my Sun is in Capricorn, so my daddy was my daddy. At 82 pages, this is the longest chapter in the book.

The chapters that follow give chart delineations. They start with Barack Obama. And immediately we see the results of a generally shaky grasp of astrology:

Many liberal presidents and candidates have had Neptune high in the sky in their horoscopes. That placement is compassionate and symbolic of a politican who tries to implement policy that benefits people at large rather than policy biased openly in favor of business. The criticism leveled at people with Neptune so placed is that they are not "tough enough." (pg. 135)
No, Mr. Bowser. Neptune in a politician's chart is not there to help humanity. This is not a case of "good cop - bad cop." By the time a man reaches top office, he's not "good". He's mean and even if his heart is in it, you don't dare cross him. Oken on the square of Sun to Neptune in Obama's chart: More often it represents a deceptive individual. . . hiding his true nature and motivations.

The discussion of Newton (pgs. 143-146) is similarly muddled. Bowser wants to hang his entire genius on the degree ascending, which he hopes is late late late Virgo, with Spica conjunct. Virgo rising . . . Spica rising as well . . . and the Node in Virgo would all combine to produce a hyper-intellectual of such prodigious power as to be commensurate with his achievements. (pg. 145) Because the author does not understand houses, because his grasp of Sun and Moon is weak, because he does not understand the full moon, he looks straight past the intensely powerful Sun in 3 opposite Moon in 9 polarity. I have the reverse, as did Goethe (Suns in 9, Moons in 3). Sun vs: Moon in eternal combat, spayed across the two most intellectual houses. I know this awesome power. I've lived it. I've seen it in others. Sun, Moon and chart ruler are your essential triad. If the essence of the natus cannot be found in these three, then you have a bogus chart or an ineffective technique. And you start with your own chart. If you cannot sense the power of your own Sun and Moon, by house, then you have an erroneous birth time.

Tesla, pgs. 149-152, is another muddle. His official date of birth is July 9-10, 1856, to Serbian parents. Many years ago I looked at the chart, found I could not read it, and nearly threw it away. I then had an inspired thought. I remembered that Ehrich Weiss, better known as Houdini, claimed two birth dates, wildly far apart. I had deduced that one was in Gregorian and the other Julian. What if Tesla was the same?

So I shifted Tesla's birth date into Gregorian: I changed it from July 10 to July 22nd. And instantly the chart fell into place: Moon-Neptune conjunct in the 9th. After discovering this, for many years I was confused. Was the Austro-Hungarian Empire running two parallel calendars? That seemed an incredible bureaucratic nightmare. Many years later I was riding in an Amtrak train and met a recent Russian immigrant. I put this to him precisely. His answer was a revelation, and one which I believe is still unknown to western astrologers: In the Soviet Union, he said, only Party members gave their birth dates in Gregorian. Everyone else gave their birth dates in Julian. It was a matter of Tzarist/Orthodox pride which to this day has presumably not died out. By extension this can be applied to those Balkan lands in which Russia or its Church hold sway. Such as with Mother Teresa, another Serbian.

But enough of this.

I was eager to see a book on Sidereal that went beyond Fagan's forecasting methods, but I am coming to understand that Sidereal astrology is based on muddles. It is brilliant for predictive work, by which I mean the precessed solar and lunar charts that Fagan (et al) invented. In most other respects Sidereal is not of great interest. It is not an independent astrology, so much as a limited set of techniques. Learn to use those forecasting techniques, they're worth it. Can you be both Tropical and Sidereal? Do you see any astro cops around? Who says you can't?!

AFA, 212 pages.


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