Learning astrology can be an expensive proposition. With the advent of the Internet, it’s certainly become both cheaper and easier, but then there’s the problem of how to sort through all that information. What’s good, what’s useless – or even worse than useless?
Google Books has made things a lot easier, and there’s even good content to be found on youtube.
This isn’t the be-all, end-all list, of course, and more works are being translated, but I’d consider this a respectable collection. If a book or a preview of the book is online, I’ve added a link to it. A lot of the books, or at least large parts of them, are available online.
For buying, I’d recommend checking Powell’s Books, especially the used and sales sections, as goodies do tend to turn up there fairly often, and you can’t beat the price. Astroamerica is another excellent source of astrology books, and if it’s not in stock, Dave can probably help you find it.
If you’re an absolute beginner, you’re going to have to start with a modern book, as there really isn’t anything traditional that’s written for true beginners. I’d recommend Astrology for Dummies, as it covers the basics in a friendly style, won’t overload you with much that you’ll need to unlearn to do traditional astrology, and gives you some things you will need that are lacking in other modern texts. Find a good preview of it here.
On to traditional astrology proper:
Lee Lehman, Classical Astrology for Modern Living. A bit outdated, but has a lot of good material and the advantage of being written in modern English. No preview is available, but this one really is a must-buy. It costs about $20 US, and can be found at Astroamerica. If you know modern astrology, you’ll be able to start adding many classical techniques to your readings with this, as well as learning some useful history about where those techniques come from and the rationale behind them. There are a few ‘bridge books’ out there to help you learn classical astrology if you come from a modern astrology background; this is the best of the lot by far .
James Holden, A History of Horoscopic Astrology, valuable as it contains not only a good history of astrology, but also many, many astrological techniques, how they came about, and how they were refined. Preview it here. The preview seems to be disabled at the moment.
James Holden, Five Medieval Astrologers. Much of medieval astrology was explained by way of aphorisms; this book is a collection of some of the best. Preview it here.
Sahl Ibn Bishr, The Introduction to the Science of the Judgments of the Stars. Primarily a horary text, but Book I is one of the most lucid explanations of the planets, signs, houses, aspects, dignities and debilities in traditional astrology ever written. Find a generous preview, including all of Book I, here.
Lee Lehman, The Book of Rulerships. What, you thought you only needed to know this for horary?
Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption, essential for the background, as this gives you the ideas and synthesis of what came to be known as the elements in traditional astrology, as well as how one element changes to another. Thankfully this is one of his shorter works. Full text available here.
Aristotle, Physics, has some valuable information if you can slog through it (even I can only tolerate small doses of Aristotle). Full text available here.
Rob Hand, Night & Day: Planetary Sect in Astrology, wonderful writer, modern English. Uses in-depth worked charts to show the difference between how planets behave in day births and night births.
Rob Hand, Whole Sign Houses. The excellent writing continues, making a good case for the use of Whole Sign houses. I don’t use Whole Sign houses exclusively (Rob does), but I’m not the only astrologer who uses them extensively in natal work. There seem to be narratives of the native’s life that you can see in Whole Sign that simply don’t show up in other house systems. You need to be familiar with how these work, as well as the controversies surrounding their use. This book will go a long way towards taking you there.
Deb Houlding, The Houses – Temples of the Sky. Excellent, well-researched, and eminently readable text on the houses, what they mean, and why, including much historical background. Deb does a fantastic job of unlinking the modern concept of the alphabetical zodiac. Even if you’re a modern astrologer and plan to stay that way, you’ll benefit from this one. Don’t miss Rob Hand’s excellent preface, either, especially if Taurus is prominent in your chart, and you can’t figure out why most astrology says that your sign rules money. It doesn’t, and you’ll find out why. Find a very generous preview here, with more PDF extracts to be downloaded here.
Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos. Contrary to what we often hear, Ptolemy did not invent horoscopic astrology, but he did have a huge influence on how medieval astrology would develop. Full text online here.
Dorotheus of Sidon, Carmen Astrologicum. There’s a lot in Dorotheus that’s still useful today, and he’s an interesting contrast to Ptolemy. They were roughly contemporaneous, but Dorotheus was a working astrologer, whilst Ptolemy was a lexicographer. Includes worked chart examples. Preview here.
Vettius Valens, Anthologies (Books 1-8, usually found in a two-volume set). This is out of print, so you’ll have to look around. Another working astrologer roughly contemporaneous to Ptolemy. Valens did astrology like nobody else did it – but it still worked. Highly recommended if you can find it.
Firmicus Maternus, Matheseos, Libri VIII. Firmicus was a member of the Roman senatorial class, and an astrologer. While he may seem to differ from nearly everyone, if you’ve read Lilly, you’ll definitely see that he was influential. Read between the lines for some insights into how the politics of the Roman Empire worked. There are some interesting things you’ll find here that you won’t find elsewhere. Preview available here.
Paulus Alexandrinus & Olympiodorus, with the Scholia from later commentators. Paulus did things differently to Dorotheus, including lots and other techniques. A bit dry but it’s definitely worth a read – his system has quite a lot of merit. Excellent description of lots and why we use them.
Ibn Ezra, The Beginning of Wisdom. Constellations and the stars within them. Introductory work on signs, planets, nativities, a little bit of interrogatory astrology, as well as one of the greatest sets of astrological aphorisms of all time. Ibn Ezra’s work on faces may well be a forerunner of Sabian symbols and contains many descriptions of how the astrological faces apply to people, both looks and character-wise. A remarkable compendium, and one you shouldn’t be without.
Ibn Ezra, The Book of Reasons. A fuller explication of The Beginning of Wisdom. Preview available here.
Ibn Ezra, The Book of Nativities and Revolutions. And here we start doing nativities proper, including how the social class and country into which a person is born figure into interpreting the natal chart (this is important stuff, and many writers don’t even mention it). Much on the houses, house and triplicity rulers, and how to use them to delineate a chart that you simply won’t find anywhere else. Ibn Ezra is a remarkably clear and concise writer, one of my favourites.
Al Biruni, The Book of Instructions In the Elements of the Art of Astrology. Medieval middle eastern meets Jyotish in this book, written by Al Biruni to teach a young lady how to do astrology. Lots of lots, too. Preview available here.
Abu Ma’shar, On Solar Revolutions, Book II. A dense text, and the only one extant on solar returns in the Persian tradition.
Abu Ma’shar, The Abbreviation of the Introduction to Astrology. By the most influential Persian astrologer of all time.
Abu ‘Ali al-Khayyat, The Judgement of Nativities. Concise, sensible, and likely to always be on your desk. Preview available here.
Rhetorius the Egyptian, Astrological Compendium. One of the last Greek astrology books we have, includes citations of many authors whose work is lost, and gives a good overview of late Hellenistic astrology. The extensive section on the delineation of careers is still remarkably useful today. Preview available here.
Johannes Schoener, On the Judgement of Nativities, Book I.. The quintessential medieval astrology text. Nearly 300 pages devoted to the delineation of Maximilian I’s chart, as well as aphorisms from Schoener and other authors, and in-depth explanations of technique.
Vivian Robson, Astrology and Sex. Draws from the classics. Preview available here.
William Lilly, Volume 1 of Christian Astrology. Lilly is best known for his horary work, but he was a good natal astrologer, too. Book I is an overview of astrological principles and how-to’s. Preview available here.
William Lilly, Volume 3 of Christian Astrology. Lilly’s volume on natal astrology. Preview available here.
William Lilly, Aphorisms, and Observations. Available from The Tradition Library.
Guido Bonatti & Jerome Cardan, trans. Henry Coley, Anima Astrolgiae. Broken into two parts on the Internet:
Full text of Bonatti’s aphorisms is available
here. (Link opens as a PDF file.)
Full text of Cardan’s aphorisms is available
here. (Link opens as a PDF file.)
Vivian Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology, preview available here.
Elsbeth Ebertin-Hoffman, Fixed Stars.
Robert Zoller, Tools and Techniques of Medieval Astrology, Vols 1, 2, and 3. Available from New Library.
Video:
Rob Hand, Presentation on Reception at the BLAST Conference. Great and very clear explanation of single, mutual, and mixed receptions in natal astrology. This is a video, find it in full here.
Rob Hand, Astrology, Morality, and Ethics, also on youtube. Find it here.
Websites:
Astro.com is a great – and free! – chart calculation service. You can now use a drop-down menu to calculate charts in any number of house systems, including Regiomontanus and Whole Sign.
Skyscript is one of the best informational resource sites around for traditional astrology. Many, many thoughtful articles, and some short tutorials.
Sites for Fixed Stars








