Hi. I need help

I've been a fan of old astrology for some time and I have finally decided to start working seriously and reading constantly. But the problem is not many books seem to be available online for free.

Can anyone help me find the writings of these authors for free ?

1- Rhetorius the Egyptian
2- Dorotheus
3- Vettius Valens
4- Tassylus
5- Marcus Manilius
6- Paulus Alexandrinus
7- Firmicus Maternus
8- Ptolemy
9- Guido Bonatti
10- Masha'allah ibn Atharî
11- Abû Ma'shar
12- Alcabitius
13- Sahl bin Bishr
14- Morin
15- Claudius Dariot

I havent found more than a few books for free. If there is an online library or torrent or downloadable collection etc etc online , please let me know

Thanks for your help
 

Oddity

Well-known member
If you have Latin and Greek then some of them are available for free - check skyscript for links. I assume you've found Valens online because you've named yourself after him. Ptolemy is easy enough, try the sacred texts archive.

There's some Dorotheus and Lilly also available over there in English, and some English Dariot, as well as a few other early moderns.

It's expensive to study ancient and medieval astrology.
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
I've been a fan of old astrology for some time and I have finally decided to start working seriously and reading constantly. But the problem is not many books seem to be available online for free.

Can anyone help me find the writings of these authors for free ?

1- Rhetorius the Egyptian
2- Dorotheus
3- Vettius Valens
4- Tassylus
5- Marcus Manilius
6- Paulus Alexandrinus
7- Firmicus Maternus
8- Ptolemy
9- Guido Bonatti
10- Masha'allah ibn Atharî
11- Abû Ma'shar
12- Alcabitius
13- Sahl bin Bishr
14- Morin
15- Claudius Dariot

I havent found more than a few books for free. If there is an online library or torrent or downloadable collection etc etc online , please let me know

Thanks for your help
VETTIUS VALENS THE ANTHOLOGY FREE TRANSLATION by Professor Riley
available online
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/Vettius Valens entire.pdf :smile:

FREE ONLINE traditional astrological texts http://www.skyscript.co.uk/texts.html

There are five collections in this library.
  • The main collection contains links to books and magazines written in English that are directly related to 'traditional astrology' (from classical to modern times).
  • The extended collection refers to texts that are partly astrological or useful for historical research or philosophical principles.
  • The ancient collection contains links to ancient texts, fragments, or secondary sources that cover the ancient period.
  • The scholar's collection contains links to published theses, dissertations, and peer-reviewed papers.
  • The Latin & Greek collection contains links to important works in older languages

Another good list of links to astrological works is available at
http://cura.free.fr/DIAL.html


for friends and family who ask you what you would like for a birthday or Christmas present http://www.bendykes.com/
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
Traditional Resources thread http://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65776 :smile:

I figured it would be useful to compile a running list of web resources for traditional astrology.
This will be an ongoing project, so feel free to comment with your own submissions and I'll add them to the list!

Articles

Blogs

Forums

General Sites

Primary Texts

 
If you have Latin and Greek then some of them are available for free - check skyscript for links. I assume you've found Valens online because you've named yourself after him. Ptolemy is easy enough, try the sacred texts archive.

There's some Dorotheus and Lilly also available over there in English, and some English Dariot, as well as a few other early moderns.

It's expensive to study ancient and medieval astrology.

Yes, I've found a compilation of 9 books written by Vettius

I was wondering, is mordern astrology as good as the old one?
I always thought that the ancient especially the hermetic astrologers were the best. Not sure if there are such good modern astrologers. If there are such, can anyone cite examples? I dont know which authors clearly understand the old hermetists&astrologers and explain them, so I dont know what to read .
 
VETTIUS VALENS THE ANTHOLOGY FREE TRANSLATION by Professor Riley
available online
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/r/rileymt/Vettius Valens entire.pdf :smile:

FREE ONLINE traditional astrological texts http://www.skyscript.co.uk/texts.html

There are five collections in this library.
  • The main collection contains links to books and magazines written in English that are directly related to 'traditional astrology' (from classical to modern times).
  • The extended collection refers to texts that are partly astrological or useful for historical research or philosophical principles.
  • The ancient collection contains links to ancient texts, fragments, or secondary sources that cover the ancient period.
  • The scholar's collection contains links to published theses, dissertations, and peer-reviewed papers.
  • The Latin & Greek collection contains links to important works in older languages

Another good list of links to astrological works is available at
http://cura.free.fr/DIAL.html


for friends and family who ask you what you would like for a birthday or Christmas present http://www.bendykes.com/

Thanks a lot for the links.

And I see that many members here give high esteem to new astrologers.

Did anyone have much success after reading the new astrological texts? Like making precise and accurate predictions, determining death of someone, his character, future problems, diseases, knowing the astrological planets or signs of minerals and vegetables etc etc. for example.

Sorry for the nooby questions, but I'm new to the whole thingie
 
Last edited:

Oddity

Well-known member
I have a definite bias towards traditional astrology but I'll try to be fair here. And I do believe that some modern techniques, like astrocartography, are genuinely useful. They work. There are also some good psychological astrologers on the board.

But if you are new, and you're able to read the older texts - read them first. Ancient and medieval, even early modern (Lilly, Morin) astrology has a coherent philosophical base that you won't find in modern astrology. And I've found it far superior for predictive work.

I also think it's vital to learn the old rulerships and to be able to read a chart without resorting to the newer-discovered planets and asteroids. One of the biggest mistakes I see in modern astrology is a minor Pluto aspect being seized upon to explain a problem, whilst a Sun-Saturn opposition on the ASC-DSC line goes ignored.

I don't even turn on the outer planets in my astrology programmes, haven't done for decades except when people have asked for chart printouts with them.

Most people who end up in trad astrology do it because of a dissatisfaction with modern - modern was all that was on offer until very recently. But a whole lot of people stay in modern and don't investigate traditional astrology at all. So it's up to you.

Modern texts are easier to read for most people. But modern sacrifices so much technique, it's not even talked about in modern books anymore, and adds extra planets and asteroids to try to fill in the gaps left by dignities, etc. Still, you'll be up and running quicker than you would be with traditional astrology. And modern astrologers don't feel they're missing anything.

Ultimately it's up to you. Look around the board, which is mostly modern (there are fewer than half a dozen trads here). See what you like.

Over at skyscript forum there are some really good archived discussions, and even now an occasional discussion that have more traditional bents.

If you want to go modern, the Dummies intro book isn't half bad just to get up and running with what a chart looks like, Charles EO Carter is definitely worth a read because he was sane and methodical, some of Liz Greene's stuff (the Saturn book) isn't half bad, either.

If you want to go trad, I'd start with Sahl's Introduction to the Science of the Judgement of the Stars (a/k/a The Five Books). It's a horary text and it's so very clear that I love it - it explains planets, signs, and placements in ways that are easy to remember and you see how it applies. It's still a go-to book for me. Ibn Ezra's Beginning of Wisdom/Book of Nativities and Revolutions are very good too, and if you take this up, there is a PDF floating around of his Book of Reasons, which is indispensable once you've been into astrology for a while.

There are arguments for both. And we live in a time when you get to read both, and jyotish (Indian astrology) if you like, before you decide which one or ones you want to devote your time to. That's pretty amazing right there.

Good luck whichever way you go.
 

Oddity

Well-known member
One thing I might add. I studied astrology with a brilliant man by the name of Robert Zoller. He told me that if you don't get into the ancient/medieval mindset, you simply won't be able to see the way ancient and medieval astrology works.

I didn't used to believe that. I do now. I don't know what it says about astrology in general, but it's a true thing.

And that's why when I look at a chart and see Aquarius on the 7th, I'm looking at just how Saturn is affecting that person's relationships. Modern astrologers don't see it.

The corollary is that if you don't really get the modern mindset (and despite studying the system for over 20 years, I never really did), you're not going to 'get' what modern astrologers do.

That's probably why there's so much friction on the forum, and why so many traditional astrolgers have left here.

I think the only thing to do is to be aware of your bias, whichever way it goes, and really try to see the other camp's point of view. We're all astrologers, after all, and when it comes right down to it, we have more in common than not. But that perceptual block - it's there.
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
One thing I might add. I studied astrology with a brilliant man by the name of Robert Zoller.
He told me that if you don't get into the ancient/medieval mindset, you simply won't be able to see the way ancient and medieval astrology works.

I didn't used to believe that. I do now. I don't know what it says about astrology in general, but it's a true thing.

And that's why when I look at a chart and see Aquarius on the 7th, I'm looking at just how Saturn is affecting that person's relationships. Modern astrologers don't see it.

The corollary is that if you don't really get the modern mindset (and despite studying the system for over 20 years, I never really did), you're not going to 'get' what modern astrologers do.

That's probably why there's so much friction on the forum, and why so many traditional astrolgers have left here.

I think the only thing to do is to be aware of your bias, whichever way it goes, and really try to see the other camp's point of view. We're all astrologers, after all, and when it comes right down to it, we have more in common than not. But that perceptual block - it's there.
Training based on the astrological methods of the17th century Astrologer Morin de Villefranche
as was taught by Zoltan Mason of New York.
http://forumonastrology.com/foa/newmain.html :smile:
 

Oddity

Well-known member
Robert studied with Zoltan Mason, so there's definitely some Morin in there, but the first stuff I was reading from him was Bonatti.

Morin is definitely worth a read, though, especially Books 21 and 23.

Some of it I agree with, some of it I don't, but he's rational (Morin would be considered a traditionalist by us, a reformer by people of his day), and he will make you think about things.

Probably not who I'd recommend to start, though, as Morin despised the Arabs, and by extension, anything he thought that the Perso-Arabic astrologers 'added' to Greek astrology. A couple of those things are Hellenistic lots (originally Greek), and profections (ditto).

He's also got some unusual methods of interpretation, like saying that the primary motivation for a person can be found by their rising sign/planet. I have not found this to work out in my own practice, but some people use it.

Even all traditionalists don't agree with each other about everything, but you can usually see their logic.
 
Just a supplementary information. If one looks at many traditional hermetic writings (Alchemy - astrology - Magic) , he will see that hermetic authors used the Indian correspondences (same as Vedic) between the signs and dates.

The new correspondences dont work, according to a person I knew who practiced astrology for immediate results in magical experiences (hermetic sciences are greatly interlinked if someone does not know). He gets results only by following the Indian correspondences, and magic is dependent on astrology, if the appointed astrological times are false, magical invocations do not work...

And if I'm not wrong, Hermetic sciences were taught by God or angels to human(s) thousands of years BC, so I think that the older the texts are, the less they are manipulated and altered by humans' perception and interpretations, and the closer they are to the truth taught by God/angels.


Thanks for the help/suggestions guys :)
 
Thanks Oddity and Jupiter

And it's funny I have had a question for some time which consisted of the influences of astrology on minerals and herbs etc. and how such influences were determined. But I see the 3rd book of Picatrix has it, and I looked at a similar book of Agrippa which I remember had similarities with that of Picatrix and found a very good answer finally there too.

But I am wondering now, many contradictions seem to be presented in astrological influences towards material beings.
For example, I read a book in which it was stated that the olive tree had solar and jupiterian influences, in Agrippa's it has lunar influences, and in the Picatrix, it has a Saturnian and solar influences. Does it mean that the olive tree has influences of all these 4 planets as it must share commonalities with their influences? (else they wouldnt be attributed to such influences by knowledgeable philosophers)

And if a creature has more than 1 planet's influence, how can one know that?
 

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
Thanks Oddity and Jupiter

And it's funny I have had a question for some time which consisted of the influences of astrology on minerals and herbs etc. and how such influences were determined. But I see the 3rd book of Picatrix has it, and I looked at a similar book of Agrippa which I remember had similarities with that of Picatrix and found a very good answer finally there too.

But I am wondering now, many contradictions seem to be presented in astrological influences towards material beings.
For example, I read a book in which it was stated that the olive tree had solar and jupiterian influences, in Agrippa's it has lunar influences, and in the Picatrix, it has a Saturnian and solar influences. Does it mean that the olive tree has influences of all these 4 planets as it must share commonalities with their influences? (else they wouldnt be attributed to such influences by knowledgeable philosophers)

And if a creature has more than 1 planet's influence, how can one know that?
Nicholas Culpeper ~ Master Herbalist http://www.traditionalmedicine.net.au/culpeper.htm

CULPEPERS COMPLETE HERBAL ONLINE http://www.complete-herbal.com/culpepper/completeherbalindex.htm :smile:

Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick (1655) by Nicholas Culpeper
is one of the most detailed documents we have on the practice of medical astrology in Early Modern Europe.

Culpeper spent the greater part of his life in the English outdoors cataloging hundreds of medicinal herbs.
 
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