11 Aug 2003

Graelhaven:

Anyone Read Anthony Louis "horary for beginners" and did you think it a good work?
I am thinking aobut getting a book, and want one that is not to low level, but not over my head, I have years of natal astrology in the background, But traditional is new to me.

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Deb:

I reckon it would be perfect for you - buy it!

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Sue:

Yes I have this book and it isn't too bad for beginners. I'd get it.

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Graelhaven:

Great! the price doesn't look bad either at 20 US dollars so I'm glad you guys think its worth it!

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Tom:

I wonder if Horary Astrology for Beginners is the previous version of Horary Astrology Plain and Simple? I think it is but I'm not sure.

Plain and Simple is good for beginners, too. I use it for clarification from time to time, when I find Lilly confusing.

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Graelhaven:

Tom,
I wonder myself because I tried to see if it was on amazon and only the "plain and simple" was available and the table of contents looks similar. I found the listing for the book originally on Wiggins horary site? (I think that was her name, I forget names so now I'm having fun trying to track down the original site, But I think it is on Justus so.....) pretty sad, huh!

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Deb:

The book I have by Anthony Louis is called 'HORARY ASTROLOGY: The History and Practice of Astro-Divination' published by Llewellyn. I suspect these are all variant titles but I'm not sure.
You might also want to try 'Horary Astrology Rediscovered' by Olivia Barclay as being a good explanation and demonstration of technique.

Of course the best book is 'Christian Astrology' by Lilly but you would probably be better reading one of these modern books first.

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Sue:

It's hard to tell whether these are variants of the same book. The copy I have is Plain and Simple and says it is a first edition from 1998. It has nothing of the history of horary, or very little anyway. Still a good book for beginners though.

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Graelhaven:

While I was looking on amazon I noted he also had a tarot book out, so he probably has more than one publication. Llewellyn is probably a good place for me to start looking, since they publish many a good book. I would like to look more at the plain and simple book first and then the history.

I note that you are one of the editors on one edition of Lilly's reprinted works. I will check that out soon, my problem with Lilly is that when I've been reading his works online, I'm often confused as to whether he is speaking about a quesited or querant significators? It seems like he knows what he is talking about so uses shorthand speach on occasion... does that make sense to you?
for instance, If I were talking about natal transits and assumed you would know that I always meant that the planet I was discussing was the transit planet and not the natal, so didn't specify?

so I want something a little more structured to start on. this book sounds very interesting. hope its wrth every penny.

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Tom:

As an FYI, Anthony Louis is a practicing psychologist living in Connecticut. He was working on a translation of Morinus book 18 of Astrologica Gallica. The translation was complete and he sent copies to various people for opinions and suggestions.

That's the last I heard. I hope he finds a publisher and it gets out soon.

John Frawley recommends his Book Horary Astrology Plain and Simple for beginners who want a modern text to read when Lilly gets a little rough.

Stick with CA Beth. I'm studying the natal course and volume 3 and found myself reading every word without getting confused or lost n the long sentences. It took a while, but if I can do it, so can anyone else.

I have Oliva Barclay's book as well. I think hers is a slightly better book, but Louis is a more interesting writer. Be a true astrology bibliophile: buy them both.

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Deb:

Keep this in mind for later.

I think you are right to start off with something easier to digest, but like Tom points out, Lilly?s work isn?t complicated it just requires slow reading and an attitude of being willing to study what he is saying. That?s why horary courses that focus on this book expect the student to take up to 2 years to master the technique. That?s not wasted time, because it is a period of constant revelation and illumination. I was recently asked if I would participate in a Lodge event that asked the question ?if you could only recommend one book to students what would it be??. I thought very hard about it, to try and think of another book rather than saying Christian Astrology, but no matter how much I thought about it I couldn?t think of another book that comes anywhere near it in terms of offering a technique that illuminates modern or classical techniques. So I couldn?t help out because there were already too many of the astrologer?s they?d invited wanting to make the same point.

In terms of the best books we have available on astrology this has got to rank as No 1, no doubt about it. But no one is going to read it in a week and it has to be thought of as a long term guide. Read as widely as you can from modern books that deal with horary ? most of them are trying to explain what Lilly teaches through their own contemporary examples and explanations.

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Graelhaven:

Oh, I fully intend to stick with CA, but I want something else to read. One of the biggest irritations I have is that I can't find ONE bloody book off the shelf. I hate that with a passion, which is why I asked for opinions on this book. it sounds good, but as the old saying goes "you can't judge a book by its cover"
and okay Tom, once I get Anthony Louis, I'll look for the next author...

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Graelhaven:

I did order Horary astrology Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis today from my Favorite Bookslave, he assures me it will arrive in 7-10 days for a mere 20 u.s. dollars.. =) I'm sure we can all breathe easier now. he said they only have 4 in the main warehouse...

hmmmmmm, seems like we all need to buy more books

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Graelhaven:

I dont seem to have posted that I did indeed get and read this book. easy to read, well planned and informative. I thought people might wnat to know. Also, Anthony Louis has an about.com web page that has much of his guide to horary online. just another reference point. Oh, and he splits sex into 8 and 5 which I totally disagree with, but being a Psych I can understand why HE might split it that way.

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Tom:

To confuse the "which house is sex?" issue a little more, I was reading an article by Robert Schmidt, and he said the Hellenistic Greeks used the 7th for sex.

He said that using the 5th for sex is a medieval innovation, and the 8th is a contemporary innovation.

Sex is everywhere.

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Deb:

Albiruni also used the 7th house for signification over 'women and concubines'.
In the classical period the 2nd house was also used for 'intercourse with women'. Does this mean 'intercourse with men' in the 8th? I don't think so personally, the 2nd house was seen as a creative house concerned with profit and gain and everything was viewed from the man's perspective. There are quite a few deviant rulerships used in the classical period that didn't survive into later tradition and although 'sex is everywhere', as I'm sure it is in birth charts, in horary you need to apply a firm principle and not be open to the confusion caused by wondering if something belongs to this house or that. I've used the 5th house for signification of sex since taking up my study of Lilly and have never found it to be anything but reliable.

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