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Astrology Reference

• Bills, Rex E. The Rulership Book: A Directory of Astrological Correspondences (Richmond Virginia, McCoy, 1971).
  This is an amazingly complete compendium of thousands of suggested rulerships and correspondences of people, places, and things with the signs of the zodiac, and the planets and houses. It is diminished in value only by being almost completly undocumented, that is we are not sure whether a suggested "rulership" is attested to by centuries of tradition, or only some sun-sign column on a dull rainy thursday in the old Boston Transcript.

• Brau, Jean Louis, Weaver, Helen, and Edmands, Allan eds. Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology Trans. Helen Weaver,(New York, N.Y, McGraw Hill, 1980).
  This is an English version, not quite a translation really, of the french Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology. The french version was heavily french, this is heavily english, with some american input. Like all of the Larousse reference works it sets a high standard for scholarship, is thoroughly contemporary, and is presented in an attractive "encyclopedia" format, short alphebetical articles, many pictures and diagrams etc. You can't do contemporary astrological research without it, and Dean, Recent Advances.

• Bytheriver, Marylee A Short Dictionary of Astrology (New York, N.Y. Harper, 1978).
  A short concise and practical true dictionary with brief clear and reasonably accurate definitions of frequently used astrological terms. There are two of these Dictionaries, this is the best, partly because of the superior graphics, and because a brief bibliography is included.

• Carter, Charles E.O. An Encyclopedia of Psychological Astrology (London, Theosophical Publishing House,1963).
  A basic advanced work on interpretive traditions by a modern master. It is in this book, which is in essence a condensed casebook, that Carter expands the tradition of "signatures" for illnesses, note more illnesses than psychology as the title would seem to suggest. From a condensed casebook to proper statistical methods a la Michel Gauquelin is only a hop, skip and a jump.

• Davis, T.Patrick Pronunciation Guide for Astrologers and Astronomers (Washington, D.C. A.F.A. 1973).
  This is a fairly good guide to the pronunciation of the many words not of English origin in use in Astrology and Astronomy. Very limited in its scope, it is excellent for the purpose of improving public presentation of these terms and for that purpose only. Its definitions are too brief to be particularly useful as a work of substantive reference. It has only 16 pages.

• de Vore, Nicholas Encyclopedia of Astrology (New York, N.Y. Philisophical Library, 1947).
  This is one of the two most valuable nearly contemporary Astrological Reference books. The other is Sepharial's. It would be hard to contemplate serious historical research without it. De Vore is of the generation of Frederic Van Nostrand and Grant Lewi, essentially "between the wars", and had indeed a considerable knowledge of the subject, though he can be a bit uncritical now and then.

• Dean, Geoffrey and Mather, Arthur eds. Recent Advances in Natal Astrology (Bromley, Kent, England, The Astrological Association, 1977).
  This is billed as a "critical review" and it really is. Many many articles on every concievable contemporary application and research project on astrology. It has numerous formulas and algorithms printed nowhere else, for example. Essential for serious research programs, particularly scientific, and statistical. It is already slightly dated, and it is to be hoped that another edition is in the making.

• Dee, John (Dr.) The Private Diary of, and the Catalogue of his Library of MSS, from the orignial MSS. in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford and Trinity College Library, Cambridge. ed. J.O.Halliwell (London, England, 1842).
  This Diary contains much fascinating material on the life, views and methods of Queen Elizabeth the great's leading astrologer, John Dee. The Appendix, which is a list of his Astrological, and other occult MSS is NOT aimed at works in English, for Dee was the master of many languages, but it constitutes the first attempt at a Bibliography of astrological books in the English speaking world. Dee is perhaps most famous for his attempts to contact the spirit world using a crystal, and his recording of the "Enochean" language and alphabet, but he was a serious historian, astrologer and mathamatician in addition to his addiction to a primitive form of seance.

• Fleming-Mitchell, Leslie Running Press Glossary of Astrological Terms (Philadelphia, Penn. 1977).
  This is a brief, conscise, and generally clear dictionary of astrological terms, intended for quick reference only. There are two such, both quite good; this is the longer, with slightly more elaborate entries, and with more entries in "cognate" subjects, such as parapsychology. The Bythriver Dictionary is probably slightly preferable both because it is slightly more concentrated, and because of it's superior graphics. Fleming-Mitchell has no Bibliography.

• Gardner, F. Leigh Bibliotheca Astrologica, A Catalogue of Astrological Publications of the 15th through the 19th Centuries. with a History of Astrology which serves as an Introduction by William Wynn Westcott (North Hollywood CA, Symbols and Signs, 1977).
  This valuable work, which is the only reasonably full attempt at a Bibliography in the English language on this subject, was first published in 1911 under the title, A Catalogue Raisonne of works on the Occult Sciences, Vol II, Astrological Books. The only other valuable book for this purpose is the Catalogue of Dr. John Dee's Library, for which see the seperate entry. Gardner's Bibliography is not up to date, and it mostly deals with books to be found in England, and within these limits it is excellent.

• George, Llewellyn Perpetual Planetary Hour Book (St. Paul, MINN, 1967).
  Every practicing astrologer needs an hour book, this is a good one.

• Gettings, Fred The Arkana Dictionary of Astrology (London, England, Arkana, 1990).
  Another modern encyclopedic dictionary of astrological lore. Good research, and fairly sound articles. Competitive with the LaRousse Encyclopedia, which is perhaps less individualist in its point of view. The Arkana Dictionary is very much an english school project. The greatest strength of the Gettings book seems to be in its better use of sources like Tester, and other classical/science history sources, in the articles on ancient astrology.

• Hall, Manly Palmer Astrological Keywords (Los Angeles CA, 1958).
  A handy manual or compendium of short phrases as a key to interpretation drawn from traditional sources.

• Lee, Dal Dictionary of Astrology ( New York, N.Y. Coronet, 1968).
  This "Dictionary" fits into the same time space filled more adequately by the de Vore Encyclopedia. Lee's book is basically part autobiography, part astrological textbook, and part dictionary. He is a long time astrological publicist, and editor, who did function as an astrological consultant at one point in his life. The book is very personal,and anecdotal, displaying his own system or synthesis of astrology as it was commonly practiced, basically in the late 30's and 40's of this century in the U.S.A. It is interesting to browse through, occasionally records something rather poorly documented elsewhere, but is actually inferior as a dictionary in every respect to the de Vore volume.

• Leo, Alan ed Vivian E. Robson, Alan Leo's Dictionary of Astrology (London, England, 1929).
  This is also an essential tool in understanding the turn of the century English school. These are those who maintained and restored England's traditional astological teaching, by reinterpreting it in the light of Theosophical teaching. Previous astrologers, such as Pearce and Wilson, were occultists but of a highly individual sort, each with his own set of convictions drawn from this or that occult source, either classical, ie the Taylor translations of Plato and the neo-Platonists, or some Reniassance teacher such as Henry Cornelius Agrippa. With Alan Leo we get into the kind of synthesis of previous occult strands with world mythology which is represented by H.P.Blavatsky and Annie Besant, and indeed Leo was a close associate of Blavatsky's and Sepharial (Walter Gorn-Old) was close to Annie Besant. This dictionary, along with Sepharial's similar work, should be taken as a record of that transition. It has value. Many of the standard formulas for things like House Cusps, and positions and aspects of fixed stars, or the formulas for primary directions are preserved in this book.
  We also see here the beginning of the influence of, and mixture of western astrology with, Indian Astrology, and astrological theories. The Hindu article in this book is identical with Sepharial's writings on that subject and should therefore be attributed to him, as the Editor's note correctly points out. The Editor Robson is perhaps the most sober and serious minded of this generation, and is also a most valuable source of information about traditional classical/reniassance teaching.

• Sepharial, (Walter Gorn-Old) New Dictionary of Astrology, (New York, N.Y. Arco, 1964).
  This valuable book has alas all the flaws of Sepharial's other works, A very great knowledge, but a slap-it-together quality which makes it much less complete than either Wilson's or De Vore's similar publications. However on the other hand, Sepharial's greater knowledge of mathamatics, astronomy, and historical methodology gives his work a special importance, and makes this an essential work. Some important information can be found conveniently only here, ie the periods of the planets as the Ancients knew them, or how to do Primary Directions in other than the Placidian House system.

• Wilson, James A Complete Dictionary of Astrology (New York, Wiser, 1969).
  Originally published in the very earliest years of the 19th century, this is at one time the most complete and essential astrological reference available, and at the same time very much a document of its time. Wilson is opinionated and quirky, but at the same time thorough and encyclopedically aquainted with his subject. Wilson has a high opinion of Placidus, but an even higher one of Ptolemy. He resists the emphasis on "rulerships" to interpret charts, and relies on aspects, which he views as a "scientific" tool. However, even where he disapproves, he reports all, reasonably if not always completly fairly. He does understand the mathamatics of "Spherical" Astrology.