If you find other good astrology or esoteric sites, especially sites offering free resources, drop me a line and let me know about them. If you send me a commercial site, please be sure that it is one with a generous amount of free resources. I won't add a commercial site that offers mere "teaser" freebies.
Allen Edwall's Astrology Software--This guy must be some kind of saint. He is giving away astrology programs he has written. If you don't have any astrology software--and even if you do--check his out. It's very good. He also has numerology programs. An excellent resource.
Anthony Louis's Tarot and Astrology--Anthony Louis wrote Horary Astrology Plain And Simple, one of the best--and most enjoyable--astrology books I've read. His site contains free lessons in horary astrology, electional astrology, geomancy, and more.
Astrodienst Online--Online geographic location database. Free.
Astrolog--Another free astrology program. Open source for you programmers who might want to tweak it.
Astrology Matrix--A commercial site, but with oodles of free information, articles, and data.
Abacus Free Astrology Services--Free online chart calculations and simple reports.
Free Astrology Fonts--Well, almost free: They're shareware.
Fixed Stars--A tremendous online resource. Fixed stars are frequently used in horary astrology, so this is one site you'll want to be sure to bookmark.
Kairon--Free astrology software for the Mac.
Noel Tyl's Site--One of the foremost--and most prolific--astrologers of our time. He has a web board, through which he converses with other astrologers.
Rebel Planet--A good place to go for articles on tarot and other esoteric subject.
Mitch's Golden Dawn Site-- Great links, online documents, downloads, links. A great resource.
The American Tarot Association--Tarot certification, courses, newsletter, links.
For each of the reviews below, there is a link to Amazon.com. Should you buy any of these books by clicking through from my website, I will recieve a small payment based on your purchase. Just so you know . . . .
Here are my brief opinions of a selection of books. I will be adding more as time permits.
I rate them thus:
* * * * * Excellent * * * * Very Good * * * Good * * Standard stuff * I admit the possibilty that there might be some redeeming qualities . . . even if I can't see them myself. No Stars Utter Dreck. If you already own it, give it to someone you hate, or use it to line the bird cage.
Rating: * * * * *
Card meanings and discussion of the symbolism are specific to the Rider-Waite Smith deck, but Pollack also draws on the symbolism of other decks as well. Her examination of the cards' meanings, and use in readings are among the best I've read anywhere. Her treatment of the trump cards shows a deep knowledge of symbolism. This book is consistently thoughtful and well-written.
Rating: * * * * *
Excellent book. Mary Greer includes many educational exercises, using a learn-as-you-go technique. Her treatment of court cards (court cards are notoriously problematic for many readers) is particularly enlightening. Also, her reading style emphasize question-asking, which I've found very useful in my own reading. She instructs in the use of mandalas, tarot for self-knowledge, affirmation, and more. Greer's experiential approach to learning and using the tarot absolves the student of the tedious--and arguably stifling--chore of rote memorization. She uses different decks throughout, but seems to favor the godawful Motherpeace deck.
Rating: * * * * *
Another fine book from Mary Greer, Tarot Constellations focuses on the Major Arcana. It is less a book about divination than it is about using the cards to discover one's personal destiny, and path to fulfillment. First, using techniques borrowed from Angeles Arrien (author of the Tarot Handbook, a fine book), she has the reader find her personality cards. These personality cards--and their influences upon the individual--are further expanded upon by looking at the cards' consellations. It's rather more complex that can be explained this brief summary, but suffice it to say that the exercises in this book will give back to anyone willing to invest the time a much deeper understanding of the cards.
Rating: *
I treat this book and the accompanying deck in more depth elsewhere. Inexplicably, this is a very popular deck, especially among woman. It is also a very negative deck--it's celebration of "the Goddess" relies heavily on a demonization of "the God," and men in general. The authors are ideologues, whose ideology draws heavily on the not-unentertaining ravings of radical feminist Mary Daly (who has recently been booted from her long-time position at Boston College, for refusing to allow men into her feminism classes). The authors have clearly put much thought and work into this deck, and for those who enjoy patriarchy bashing, this could be just the deck for you.
Rating: * * * *
As a beginner's textbook, this one is excellent, but one has to ask why we need yet another beginner's textbook when there are already so many good ones out there . . . This book doesn't go into the kind of depth that, say, Mary Greer's books do, but his presentation of card meanings, with their keywords and application within readings, is among the best I've seen. For card illustrations, he chooses the schmaltzy Robin Wood Tarot.
Rating: * * * *
I found this book in a neat metaphysical bookstore in Syracuse, NY, called Seven Rays. The book was used, and when I got it home, I discovered that it was previously owned by a young man who, fresh out of college, had been giving me card readings in the store's back room. Those $15 readings were the best I've had. I was delighted to have his book.
Anyway. The Tarot Handbook uses the cards more as a tool for self-examination than for divination. She uses the Crowley/Harris Thoth deck, but "re-invents" the symbolism based on her own studies in anthropology. At first, I didn't like this. Eventually, however, I came to see how truly useful some of her interpretations are, especially regarding the court cards. In fact, I credit this book with opening the court cards up to me.
Arrien shies away from traditionally negative meanings, however, in apparent denial of some of life's unfortunate tendencies.
Rating: * *
I have to admit that at least some of what I dislike about this deck (which I only recently purchased) is purely a matter of taste. For instance, changing the figure on The Star from the traditional female to a male (with the beatific countenance of a 1960's pop idol) seems entirely arbitrary, at best. The creators of this deck have also striven (so the Little White Book informs us) to purge the deck of "unnecessary and negative symbolism." Trump 15 is no longer called The Devil; it is called Materialism, and has a picture of a young man in robes, looking particularly messiah-like, boogying in chains. The meaning, according to the LWB, however, remains essentally (and superficially) the same. Trump 13 is no longer Death, it is Transition. The image on the card is neither intuitive nor compelling. The 9 and 10 of Swords--you would never guess the difficulty that these cards suggest by looking at their images. In other words, the authors have removed some of (necessary, I think) harsher images, but retained the essential meanings.
On the positive side, the use of color is vivid and exciting. Overall, though, this deck is far from an improvement on the traditional symbolism.
Rating: * * * * *
Anthony Louis favors a traditional approach to horary astrology, and spends much time discussing the techniques of William Lilly. He work remains objective, though, and he does not limit his presentation of material to that drawn from traditional sources. This is an excellent introduction to horary astrology.
Rating: * *
I bought the edition I have from the AFA. It's not a bad book, but it doesn't have much to offer in the way of useful advice. It's merely a collection of examples, without a clear explanation of an underlying system. Also, the charts to not have any of the data that would allow the reader to cast them for himself.
Rating: * * *
Undeniably, this is a strong, intelligently written book, with a wealth of useful information. That I've scored it down reflects primarily my own inability to "mix my pleasures," as it were. There is much theory, here, which makes the practical information somewhat more difficult to extract. This is more a book you sit down with in front of a fire, read slowly, and ruminate over, than a convenient reference. Its only true weakness, however, is the paucity of examples and case studies. Still, it's an important work in the canon of horary astrology literature.
Rating: * * *
For the most part, this is an introduction to the horary technique of William Lilly. It contains some errors (particularly in the tables), which I have discovered in my transcription of Christian Astrology to digital format. Also, Ms. Barclay is somewhat unyielding in her view that it's Lilly's way or the highway, but there's still plenty of usable information here. Olivia Barclay wrote and administered the Qualifying Horary Practioner Diploma course, the "industry standard" in horary astrology. She has since turned it over to other tutors, I believe.
Rating: * * * *
I really like this book: It was the first horary astrology book I owned; I found it in a used bookstore in Gainesville, Florida, when I was a student there. This book is apparently out of print, but is worth tracking down if you want a very good, compact introduction to Horary Astrology. She embraces traditional techniques, but proves with many good case studies that the modern planets play an important role in the study of horary astrology.
As and interesting aside, Ms. DeLong lived (and still may, for all I know)in a town called Cassadaga, FL, a little burg in the middle of a forest, not far from Ocala National Forest, if memory serves. If you're in the area, check the town out. It's a metaphysical community with lots of readers and some good bookstores.
Rating: * * * * *
Rune Games is one of the few divination books I've seen that bases its divination on the Anglo-Saxon "Rune Poem" in anything resembling a pure fashion. (In the 1980's, there was a book available by Deon Dolphin, called Rune Magic, but althouth Ms. Dolphin did employ the Old English runes, she somewhat arbitrarily left several out because, to her, they seemed repetitive.) Osborne and Longland do no such thing. They begin with the the "Rune Poem"--both in Old English and in their own contemporary translation--discuss each verse, and then further develop some of the poem's themes. They acknowledge, as do most rune authors, that no one really knows for certain how runes were used in divination. Unlike most other writers, though, they do not present readers with lists of keywords. This allows readers to develop their own, based on their reading of the "Rune Poem."
The "games" or divination routines--for they are routines more than mere spreads--run from the simple (3-rune spreads) to the complex (ornate counting spells). The routines use both round runes, and rune staves, both of which are fairly simple to make. The authors use some new-agey notions (such as imposing runes on the kabbalistic Tree of Life), but for the most part manage to avoid a lot of the quasi-religious mumbo jumbo that is so prominent in books by, say, Thorsson and Tyson. If I could have only one book on runic divination, it would be Rune Games. Sadly, this book appears to be out of print, but if you come across it at a used bookstore, it is certainly worth snatching up.
E-mail: mithras93@yahoo.com