Ten Astrology Books You Need In Your Library Right Now!
So many wonderful astrology books out there. So many shitty astrology books out there. What's a novice to do?
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
DISCLAIMER: This list is wildly subjective (well, what isn’t it life? Even someone’s supposed objectivity originates within their subjective weltanschauung). Hardcore objectivity only exists in science and maybe some Émile Zola novels (well, at least Zola thought so).
This (the list) will undoubtedly irritate some astrologers. But what’s contemporary astrology without various camps going for each other’s throats?
Still: Apologies.
Let’s go. (Oh, and no particular order here, thus the bullet points).
• Astrology for Lovers | Liz Greene
I lied. This is the first book I recommend to astrological novices, be they curious spectators or someone preparing to commit as a serious student. Even those well-versed in astrology will read this and go, “Goddamn, how does she do it?” Unfortunately, I always have to do a waiver about the book’s title. It’s corny and designed to grab the attention of folks drawn to astrology to maneuver their love lives. But after being born, eating, sleeping, and preparing for death, love forms the bedrock of our time on Earth. So there’s that. But, of course, this being Liz Greene, astrology’s premiere Jungian astro genius, the title is simply the tip of an iceberg that reaches deep into the ocean of Greene’s stellar marriage of psychology, myth, and the astro logos. The first two chapters present an easy-access grasp of astrology that would take less deft authors an entire book to deliver. Order here.
• The History of Western Astrology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 | Nicholas Campion
These two books are the OMG books of astro-history. Books that unwind your modern mind so it can drift like a zephyr back to the origin of astrology. Which, of course, is already floating, slightly obscured, in the mists of time. So like attracts like. These books are the equivalent of sitting in the living room of Campion’s mind while he lays it all out for you with the skills of an anthropological Magu. My mind stands in awe at the beauty of the book’s syntax and mind-bending insights into Western astrology’s long arc of influence. I adore Campion—one of the astro community’s most golden figures. Long live Nicholas Campion. Order here. And here.
• The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino | Thomas Moore
Oh dear, where to begin? And where does it all end? How about within the incessant mystery of what makes astrology ‘work.’ Marsilio Ficino, the astounding brainiac of the 17th-century Florentine Academy, taught that the imagination is humankind’s direct link to the essence of all things. Ficino broadens and deepens our understanding of astrology as a hands-on art. This book belongs under the rubric of ‘the timeless,’ not to say that it stands beyond time, but that its luminosity is ever-fresh, reminding us that astrology is, first and foremost, a study of light. Ficino writes poetry under the guise of empirical magical observation. Wow! Should you ever feel parched and brittle from the dulling effects of popular astrology’s manner of reducing everything into stereotypes and cliches, this is your antidote. Order here.
• The Houses: Temples of the Sky | Deborah Houlding
The astrological houses are the unwanted gift that keeps on giving and confounds just about everyone who attempts to decipher their meaning and history and why they are situated as they are around the horoscopic wheel. Houlding dispels instantly the old Zip Dobyn’s Astro Alphabet approach to the houses, where the sign Aries, the planet Mars and the first house of a chart become an identikit that verges on parody when considering how nonsensical this notion is. (Stephen Arroyo, I’m thinking ‘bout you). But you don’t really see the impropriety of the mish-mashing until Houlding digs in and goes around the wheel of the chart and explains why things are situated the way they are. Houlding, like Campion, has a long, rich history of advocating for comprehending astrology’s roots. Her Skyscript website is one of the handfuls of sites you should bookmark for repeat visits. And that’s saying a lot, given that 99.9 percent of astrological cyber destinations are awful. Order here.