Hello

It's always tough when there are these "limiting" questions, such as what books would you want on a deserted island, which CDs would you want if you could only have 5 out of your collection, etc.

Still, I think it is a useful/interesting question...so I'll take a stab at it.
By the way, the 5 books question is much easier than the 5 CD question!


Peace

Atlantean

Jeez I took this literally. I looked over to my left and have a big stack of books. I just wrote down the one on the top.

Hello,

on the top of the stack:

"On Solar Revolutions" translated by Benjamin Dykes


Birgit

Hello Atlantean,

I know Jane Ridder-Patrick as she is an Edinburgh based astrologer. I must tell her ,her book on Medical astrology made someones shortlist for the five most useful astrology books!

Mark

What a very interesting range of selections!

Mithra, you were right to take the question literally! I had a lot more than five books on my desk too and selected only those closest or at the top of the pile! I thought it was better to restrict the terms of the question to five books because not everyone would have enough to hand to answer it otherwise, and I wanted to encourage as broad a participation as possible.

I was interested in what people currently had on standby closest to their workplace and why, and was hoping everyone would say a little about these books rather than just listing them, so as to give a clearer understanding of what they are or why they are on people's desks right now! In some cases these would be favourite books that are always kept there, I imagine; in other cases, not, just whatever is currently under study.

The Desert Island Astrology Books question, as raised by Atlantean, is a different one, but certainly interesting in itself (and probably worthy of its own strand)! I'm not sure if I'd have more trouble with the selection of music CDs or that of books myself. Both would be a big challenge here!

Quite a few of you have mentioned books I'm not familiar with to date or at least lack copies of, such as:

1. Makransky's 'Primary Directions', selected by Patti (pjef) - I looked it up and saw it is out of print and there are no copies second-hand. I don't think I'd ever heard of this one before.

2. Rudolf Steiner 'Astronomy and Astrology' (selected by Astraea). I think I had come across this book in search listings but have yet to get round to purchasing a copy! Would be interested to know more about the lectures included!

3. Pliny 'Natural History' (selected by Deb). Sounds interesting and relevant as background!

4. Ibn Abi al-Rijal 'The Book of the Skilled' (selected by Levente Laszlo). Would love to know more about this. Is there a modern edition available?

5. The Book of the Nine Judges (also selected by Levente Laszlo). Do you have an actual edition of this to hand? Or a printout of the Warburg online scan perhaps? As far as I know the only printed editions are from the 16th century and earlier, and very rare, so if you have one, I'm impressed!

6. N?laka??ha Daivaj?a's T?jikan?laka??h?, with Vi?van?tha's commentary (selected by Martin). Is this one of those Sanskrit manuscripts you have been looking into, Martin? Is an edition available?

7. Balabhadra?s H?yanaratna - as above. Not familiar with either of these! Sounds as though you have some very interesting works at hand, Martin!

8. D. Pingree: 'Classical and Byzantine Astrology in Sassanian Persia' - also selected by Martin (who wins the prize of the most obscure selections in my book, in having picked three works I was unfamiliar with, but very interesting ones I think): I looked this up and it appears to be an essay included in a longer publication. Somebody should publish a collection of Pingree's essays on astrology that have not made it into whole books by him one day - presuming this is one of many, that is!

9. James Hillman 'The Soul's Code', selected by Dr. H: in common with Pliny, sounds like good background reading to me!

10. Margaret Gammon 'Edgar Cayce's readings and astrology', selected by Richard Vetter - I have heard of Cayce's channeled readings, including those on astrology, but have yet to encounter them directly. Would be interested to learn more, Richard, and what you think of the actual astrology in them would be especially interesting to know.

11. Encyclopedie Zapadni Astrologie by Milan Spurek (selected by Paul Paral) - sounds like a useful reference book if you can speak Czech, Paul!

12. Der Geburtsherscher im Horoscop, by Bernhard Bergbauer, selected by Hervaro. This sounds really interesting coming from the pen of the editor of 'Astrologia Restaurata' magazine!

13. Ove Sehedsted's 'great course', selected by Patti (pjef): I have come across the listings for a three-volume work by this astrologer but have yet to get hold of copies. I presume this is what you are referring to, Patti. Since you have recommended it, I'm more curious now!

This spot poll alone I feel serves as a strong reminder of the sheer breadth and depth of astrological literature out there. I'm glad it has brought so many contributions, which just go to show what an impressively wide range of specialised interests within astrology Skyscript members have.

Philip Graves wrote:1. Makransky's 'Primary Directions', selected by Patti (pjef) - I looked it up and saw it is out of print and there are no copies second-hand. I don't think I'd ever heard of this one before.

If I may chip in on this, it is available for free download here. It is not for non-mathematicians, though.

6. N?laka??ha Daivaj?a's T?jikan?laka??h?, with Vi?van?tha's commentary (selected by Martin). Is this one of those Sanskrit manuscripts you have been looking into, Martin? Is an edition available?

Oh, dozens! (Mostly Sanskrit/Hindi, though -- I wouldn't recommend the one English translation I have seen.) Pingree was right in calling it 'wildly popular'. It is a compendium of Indianized Perso-Arabic astrology, particularly annual revolutions (and some horary material), written in 1587. The copy I mentioned is an edition, too, with a commentary from 1629.

7. Balabhadra?s H?yanaratna - as above. Not familiar with either of these! Sounds as though you have some very interesting works at hand, Martin!

This is an encyclopedic volume all in Sanskrit (also, as it happens, from 1629) on the same sort of techniques as above. Balabhadra makes a point of quoting as many earlier authors as he can, from the 13th century onwards, and discussing any differences of opinion between them. This Indian material is very useful in filling out our understanding of Persian and Arabic techniques.

8. D. Pingree: 'Classical and Byzantine Astrology in Sassanian Persia' - also selected by Martin (who wins the prize of the most obscure selections in my book, in having picked three works I was unfamiliar with, but very interesting ones I think)

I truly did pick the ones nearest to me, on and around my desk. (I noticed later that the topic line said 'books', but your initial post just mentioned 'publications'. I had a printout of Pingree's article before me.)

Hi Philip. Astronomy and Astology: Finding a Relationship to the Cosmos is a series of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, compiled and edited by Margaret Jonas (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009), with section headings including "The Subtle Impact of the Stars," "The Human Being as Expression of the Constellations and the Planets," "The Human Being's Inner Cosmic System," "The Revelation of the Stars at Death," and many more (20 in all).

Steiner considered most astrologers insufficiently aware of the subtle forces underlying the visible phenomena of the universe; this situation, he aimed to address through lectures given at various times throughout his career. His work is specifically directed toward reorienting humanity toward a broader vision of its place in, and relationship to, the world of the stars. Steiner was not himself an astrologer, but a practitioner of spiritual science (as he called it), which field includes astrology.

Steiner was particularly interested in the journey of the soul through planes of consciousness identified with the seven classical planets before and after death, and his ideas were taken up by astrologers Willi Sucher (1902-1985) and Robert Powell (today's major exponent of astrosophy, a branch of Steiner's anthroposophy named and developed by Sucher).

Steiner assumed a sidereal approach to astrology and investigated the seven classical planets within a Hellenistic framework. I study Steiner because (among other reasons) his body of work gives me a deeper perspective on the spiritual aspects of astrology, without losing the rigor and philosophical undergirding of classical studies.

This has been a most interesting thread - many wonderful works represented here!

Astraea wrote:Steiner was particularly interested in the journey of the soul through planes of consciousness identified with the seven classical planets before and after death

This "journey" also is Cayce's main message - an old, medieval (or even Neo-Platonic or Platonic?) concept.
For our astrological theorizing the readings aren't very interesting (telling not much, and no news). Except for Saturn: He is seen as the plane(t) of the soul's change and transformation!

Richard

Richard Vetter wrote: This "journey" also is Cayce's main message - an old, medieval (or even Neo-Platonic or Platonic?) concept.

Hi Richard. Yes, I'm familiar with the Cayce material on planetary sojourns and it is indeed theoretically compatible with Steiner's Platonic or neoplatonic view of the spheres - though the Cayce material approaches the subject in a less hierarchical manner and includes the outer planets in its scope.

In addition to Gammon's book, there is an interesting volume by the late John Willner (who wrote the Incarn software program) entitled Astrological Revelations: Changing your Life and Recharting your Destiny, an Edgar Cayce Guide. In my view, Willner's book contains more useful information for consultation purposes than Gammon's, and is fascinating on a number of levels.

Philip Graves wrote: 9. James Hillman 'The Soul's Code', selected by Dr. H: in common with Pliny, sounds like good background reading to me!

This book is not on my desktop or between the tons of files of my computer, but it's the only psychological book I did not give away, I found it very deep and true.
It's about how to fulfill the fate we have chosen. It's the Er myth with modern examples,
margherita

Hello Philip and All,

The course by Ove Sehested is one I completed back in the 1990s, I believe it was. It was first created as a correspondence course, then he
published it as self-directed lessons. It was very, very good. He started at the beginning, with how to erect a chart, find planetary positions, etc. His course went up through predictive methods. It's the best full course I've been familiar with.
I corresponded with Ove a few times, and found him a very nice gentleman. I believe he was very closely affiliated with the AFA, and I think his course prepared you for their cert testing.
I think this was one of the things I lost last year.... Perhaps if you contact the AFA they can help you locate Ove or a copy of this course.

Good luck !!

I think this is it (Ove's course) !! Good luck !

http://www.astrologers.com/learn/

Patti