Skyscript Astrology Forum

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:37 am**

Konrad wrote:

It reads fine when rendered with Google translate, though I don't understand why it matters so much.

I have no excuse for not thinking of this myself. Here is the translation of the first paragraphs from Zagata's linked site:

Rumen Kolev was born on 29.11.1960 in Varna. In the United States he [studied] mathematics, economics and Buddhism at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1992, he went [for a] Ph.D. [in economics] at UCLA (University of California), and spent a year there with the intention of knowing how to predict the chaos of the commodity exchange.

In 1995 he returned to Bulgaria and in 2000 graduated [from the] Medical Academy - Varna. He conducts numerous studies in the field of ancient and modern methods of herbal therapy together with several Bulgarian healers. His unofficial knowledge is in the field of ancient languages-- Greek, Latin, Akkadian and Sumerian.

Rumen Kolev has been involved in astronomy since his school years. At the age of 17, he [was] fortunate to connect with astrologers from the Master's School, Peter Deunov, and since then astrology has become a major [interest?] and an inspiration for his life. He watches the sky in anticipation of the [heliacal] phases of the stars.

His main studies are in the field of heliacal theories, the history of astrology, straight and practical observation of the sky. With many thousands of observations of the [heliacal] phases and evidence of their influence, he [created] the first reliable program with calculations for planets and stars - Babylonia. Rumen Kolev's latest computer program, "Porphyrius Magus," includes studies by the [Neoplatonic] Porphyrius - philosophical-astrological methods of teaching, as well as his "teacher" Antiochus and other Hellenistic astrologers.

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:13 pm**

Thanks for the translation!

Konrad, you probably won't like my explanation of why I ask. However, the reason is because independent scholars who lack serious credentials in their field of study might be geniuses who come up with brilliant insights backed by a Mack Truck of scholarship. Or, they might be off the deep end. (Quacks, for short.) You find the latter across the spectrum of subjects.

Ancient cultural astronomy seems to attract its share of spurious scholarship, unfortunately-- stuff like ancient astronauts, planet Nibiru, and Zechariah Stichin. Or the old theosophists on ancient Egypt. Basically Kolev seems to be self-taught in his field of ancient astrology.

Academics have their flaws, Lord knows, but they do have a system of peer review, so that the rest of us can get some sense of whether a publication is well received by experts in the field. I've come across Kolev's name in the history of astrology, but by page 4 in a Google search on him, I'd not come across any reviews of his work, beyond amazon. I see that his book on the Babylonian astrolabe (2013) was published by an imprint of the Pennsylvania State University Press, so that speaks well of his scholarship. I can look him up on my former university library's data base and see if or how it was reviewed.

Just because we can't believe everything we read.....

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:11 pm**

Good thoughts in your post, Waybread! The edition I have of Kolev's The Babylonian Astrolabe was published by The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki in association with the Foundation for Finnish Assyriological Research (2013). This book is beautifully done with numerous complex illustrations, graphs and diagrams. Worth every cent of the cost. "State Archives of Assyria Studies, Volume XXII" is on the cover.

One of the enjoyable reasons for studying this book are the numerous back-and-forth arguments among academic professionals that Kolev describes. It's a good object lesson for astrologers who are morbidly afraid of discussing theoretical and practical differences in their craft in the interests of avoiding arguments. "Lets just all get along" (or the related "This is the way I see it, we're all good") are death to research and discovery, and the reason genuine astrological knowledge is still in the back woods. Unfortunately this attitude tends to be most prevalent among those with little or no academic training.

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:23 pm**

Wonderful post, Theresa.

Maybe I'll buy this book now.

Posted: **Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:39 am**

The X-th Century Muslim author and bibliographer Ibn al-Nadim mentions in his catalogue of Arabic books known as Kitab al-Fihrist a book of Hermes under the name Kitab Tasyir al-Kawakib or in English translation The Book on the Primary Directions of the Planets. Unfortunately this book is considered lost - I mean the opinion of Fuat Sezgin in Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums, Leiden, 1979, band VII, p.58.

But a chapter (fasl) of this book devoted on the celestial cycles (dur), primary directions (tasyir) and profections (intiha) is preserved ONLY in the National Library of Egypt (Dar al-Kutub).

I suppose that Rumen will find and will obtain a copy of this book of Hermes.

Important remark: Mercury is now in Gemini with Moon and makes an application trine with Jupiter and the most important thing is that Mercury (Hermes) makes a phase today - Evening First .

Skyscript Astrology Forum

Rumen Kolev Has Found Arabic Manuscripts by Hermes in Egypt!