Hi James, Tom is quite right in remarking that very little of Cardan is available in English. But for some English language excerpts as well as some detailed commentary from Valerie Livina, you can click on the skyscript home page and the link to "Astrology texts on the web."

thanks ken! i will look into this when i have some time..

further to sworm09's question, i was thinking how ben dykes book 'introductions to traditional astrology' is perhaps a very good book to get a working idea on many of the astrological techniques and concepts used in traditional astrology. if i was to point to one book that covered a lot of ground that would be helpful to cover - it would be this book.

Hi James, Ben is a personal friend and a deep astrological colleague. We have lectured together on the history of astrology at a Project Hindsight conclave. The piece you mention is excellent, and I can also recommend the hundred-page introductions to Guido Bonatti and Sahl + Masha'allah. Whether or not you agree with all of his premises, you will find abundant food for thought.

Say what you will about Lilly, half the books I've seen on Horary were little more than regurgitations of his work. But then you don't learn astrology by reading, but by doing lots and lots of charts, calculating the first hundred or so by hand.

Scorpio asc

I think most schools still teach that calculating by hand is the first step. Certainly I am sure many errors made by beginners have their root in using software without understanding. F'rinstance they might say that Venus applies to Mars when she is about to go retro and conjunction is annulled

[quote="Mjacob"]Scorpio asc

I think most schools still teach that calculating by hand is the first step. Certainly I am sure many errors made by beginners have their root in using software without understanding. F'rinstance they might say that Venus applies to Mars when she is about to go retro and conjunction is annulled
[/quote]
In the recent past I began an association with a very attractive young lady, liking to cut to the chase, I asked a horary: Would this become a physical relationship? Venus was applying to a conjunction with Mars in the horary figure, and I was heartened, until I noticed Venus would turn retrograde before the conjunction was complete. We came that close to doing it, but didn't, though we remained good friends. I was relieved when, months later she confided she'd never had a boyfriend she didn't cheat on.