Reading traditional texts; advice?

I feel like this is something that is very rarely talked about in the traditional community and I feel like it's something that newcomers to the field are probably wondering:

How exactly does one read a traditional astrological text?

It sounds simple enough; open up the cover (or the pdf document) and just read. But it's not that simple and anyone who has tried to read through one of these things knows that simply reading through a text will end with one being confused, be it Firmicus, Bonatti, or Lilly.

My question to more seasoned traditional astrologers is: how do you recommend that someone new to traditional astrology read and study traditional texts? They can't be approached like modern texts (due to differences and language) leading to a common trend of confusion.

This is a really interesting question!

You're right it isn't something that's really talked about. I would just encourage people to slow down and keep trying. You definitely cannot speed read though this material. I do remember my first time trying to read Lilly, it didn't work out well. But I kept going with it and now it's a pretty breezy read.

I'd just recommend taking it in small doses and repeating back to yourself what you think they said.

You have to do what you have to do for any difficult college textbook.

You take notes; you use the notes to put it in a frame work you understand. This is what university students have to do. Quite honestly William Lilly has nothing on reading the sociology of Emil Durkheim, for example.

Another think to do is to have a more modern textbook at your side so that you have two sides of the same coin. And then you find a good place like here or Skyscript to ask questions about what you've read.

I'm not a traditionalist in any sense of the word, but I've spent a lot of time over my life time reading difficult writing, and this is how you do it.

Also, have a good astrology dictionary/encyclopedia at hand, such as DeVore's "Encyclopedia" or perhaps Wilson's "Dictionary". And take at most one chapter of your study book at a time, then think about it, then re-read it, before going on to the next chapter, etc etc. Also, having a modern "Traditionalist" manual at hand will be of benefit: eg the Ben Dykes book, or the Avelar/Ribeiro book.

I just put aside everything I have learned about Modern astrology, otherwise it would keep interfering with my effort to learn Traditional Astrology. I try not to read too much too fast. I just read the articles suggested by Moderator (Sue Ward, Deb Houlding, Lilly, Celeste Teal, all articles, not the whole book) and apply what I read by replying to horary questions. I wanted to learn horary so those are the questions I replied to mostly. OP's feedbacks are as helpful as reading material. as long as I mentioned that I am new, not expert, usually they give quite a detailed feedback.
I also bought Ptolemy's tetrabiblos, that's the only book I have on Trad Astrology for now. I read a few pages then post on the forum and then read again, that's how I do it I read other books too and they are nothing to do with Astrology. helps take my mind off it when it gets too much. I mean unless you want to be Astrologer, don't put too much pressure on yourself

Getting useful education from reading traditional texts requires more than you might imagine... you have to unlearn everything you've learned from reading modern material (all material, not just astrology)...

For example, a lot of the ancient delineation material - upon first reading - seems tedious, outlandish and exceedingly negative... but in their own way the ancient writers were the same as us - using the most extreme examples to hammer home points... think about the hysterias (sometimes justified, somtimes not so much) over the current Grand Crosses...

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was to disassociate my culturally ingrained causal scientism - where everything's reduced to a single cause, e.g. transit hits... When I read the ancient material with this attitude I was dismayed by what seemed to be the ancient writers' penchant for hedging their bets - in looking for a particular signification they would look first to a planet and/or configuration; if that didn't produce any information, then a secondary planet and/or configuration would be analyzed, and so on and so on until satisfactory information/material was generated...

What I had to realize was that the ancients - at least at first - seemed to be less interested in causal agents in astrology and more interested in identifying and using astroenergy networking pathways... in other words, the flow of energy - was it boosted by a planet or configuration? Or retarded by a configuration/planet?

Once you reorient your perspective the material becomes somewhat easier to read and absorb... at least in my experience...

Then you realize that much of this material was originally written in Greek - so the English translations you read are not necessarily golden... it's best to read several translations of the same material... and even better on particular concepts to research the original Greek terminology used (using a Greek lexicon...)

I imagine texts written in Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian and Latin might best be approached in somewhat the same manner as well...

Nobody said it would be easy...

I have often wanted to ask this question myself, but I decided to find the answers through my own hard work. This is what I recommend.



1. Determine which tradition and branch of astrology you wish to study.

There are several traditions: Renaissance, Medieaval, Persian, Arabic, Hellenistic, Babylonian, etc. These traditions will have variations in their philosophy and techniques.

Branches: Natal and Timing (i.e. Time Lords), Horary, Electional, Medicinal, etc.

Throughout this step you will often be confused and suffer some head damage while trying to integrate different philosophies and techniques together. I am sure many of you are aware of what I am talking about. A simple example is that of house system.

My approach during this step was to read widely and test the techniques on my chart and that of people close to me. The other benefit of this step is that you will learn most of the basics from free sources already before plunging yourself into specific works.


2. Identify the major proponents of the tradition and branch of astrology that you wish to study.

I like Hellenistic astrology, and I am interested in finding out about people's life as a whole, so I chose to study Natal astrology.

For this purpose, I identified several Hellenistic authors whose works touch on Natal astrology the most: Ptolemy, Valens, Maternus, Hermes Trismegistus (maybe) etc.


3. Choose one author and go through his work thoroughly.

I am currently going through Maternus the first time. I still have about 60 pages to go and my first read-through would be complete. The first time is just preview however.

When I go through it a second time, I will compile some notes and questions on it.

I might go through it a third time if needed.


4. Test the techniques you have learned.

For this step, it is a good idea to go through >10 charts. 30 is ideal. This is the trial and error phase where you should determine which house and sign systems work best, which techniques work and which do not, what the general significations of the planets, signs and houses are, etc.

I recommend doing the experiment blind. That is, you should first write down your delineations, then read the native's biography.


5. Repeat steps 3-4 until you have read all the authors you have identified in step 2.