Esoteric Astrology, page 1

In case you were wondering what the difference was between Karmic astrology & Esoteric astrology, Esoteric astrology is the stuff that requires real study & doesn't relate so much to individuals and their problems. It can be quite abstract, consequently, good books are few & far between:

Esoteric Astrology, page 2

Indicates a book on our Top Ten list. If you would like to find more books like it, click on the star.

	ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY, Volume 3 of A Treatise on the Seven Rays - Alice A. Bailey, $27.00 Contents: 1. The zodiac & the rays: Three basic statements, The creative hierarchies, the great wheel 2. The nature of esoteric astrology: Introduction, Centers & triangles of force, The crosses & the signs, Spiritual effects of the zodiac 3. The science of triangles: Introductory, Triangles of energy, Triangles of force, Triangles & the centres, Conclusions 4. The sacred & non-sacred planets: The centres, rays & signs; The races, rays & signs; Planetary & systemic centres 5. Three major constellations: Leo, Capricorn & Pisces; Major planetary influences 6. The three croses: The cross of the hidden Christ, The cross of the crucified Christ, The cross of the risen Christ 7. The rays, constellations & planets: The nature of the will, Various aspects of the will, The keynotes of the seven rays, Cosmic energies & transformation Appendix; Index. Comment: This is the finest of all the books on esoteric astrology & by far the most demanding. To start, it is one of five books written as A Treatise on the Seven Rays & of those five, this is the most difficult (I've read them all). It is one of 24 books "written" by Alice A. Bailey. Most of the books under her name (though not all) were actually penned by a Tibetan monk & transmitted to AAB through clairvoyant means, from about 1917 to 1947. In their turn, these books are an essential subset to the larger Theosophical outpouring, from 1875 to about 1930. (Alice Bailey herself was a life-long member of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society.) To fully grasp these 742 pages, it helps not only to be well-read in the larger literature, but also in other metaphyiscal doctrines, that of Ouspensky/Gurdjieff among them. Finally, esoteric studies aren't, in general, for the young. It helps to have weathered a stormy life & aquired a bit of seasoning. It also helps to realize that although AAB was an Englishwoman who spent many years in America, the Tibetan who wrote this book was, presumably, reasonably familiar with Indian society. In other words, this may be an advanced treatise on Vedic astrology, not the more familiar western stuff. As befits a very abstract text, this is a book about groups, collectives & associations. There is virtually nothing here about individual natal charts. Also, the book specifically discredits all attempts to reduce signs to rays. The oft cited, "Aquarius is a 7th ray sign" immediately breaks down on analysis. Aquarius, the external side of it at any rate, is quite definitely 6th ray. (You want the 7th ray sign? That's Virgo.) Lucis Trust, 742 pages, paper.

	SOUL-CENTERED ASTROLOGY - Alan Oken, $21.95 Contents: Part 1: Soul-centered astrology: A key to your expanding self: 1. Why a soul-centered astrology?; 2. The soul, the personality, and the rainbow bridge; 3. The evolution of consciousness in the New Age; 4. The laws & principles of the New Age; 5. Ten postulates of the Ancient Wisdom teachings. Part 2: A soul-centered alphabet: The astrological building blocks: 6. The nature & influence of the seven rays; 7. The path of incarnation & the three crosses; 8. An initial view of the chakras; 9. The twelve astrological signs & their soul-centered planetary rulers; 10. The esoteric significance of the planets in the signs; 11. The mansions of the soul - the houses of the natal chart; 12. Soul-centered planetary relationships, the rays & the aspects. Part 3: A guide to soul-centered delineation of the natal chart: 13. Points to ponder; 14. The delineation of the soul-centerd horoscope of Mahatma Gandhi; Bibliography; Index; Index of diagrams; Index of tabulations; Index of horoscope charts; Mantra & invocations. Comment: First published in 1990, and now back in print, the best (almost the only) commentary on Bailey's Esoteric Astrology (above). Alan Oken has worked out some amazing details from Alice Bailey's original framework. I sat next to him one evening at a meeting of the Santa Fe Astrology Forum, back in 1998. Heather, the host, asked him a question about the health of her son, then around 20 years old. I had not recognized him (he doesn't much resemble the pictures on the back of his books). At first I thought he was crazy, but as he continued, (and as I realized who he was) I was astounded. He has done what I thought not possible: Made Alice Bailey's esoteric astrology relevant to individual natal charts, to great effect. I'm not sure that's in this book, but the thinking that eventually got him there is. This book was the result of 20 years study, which, for Oken, is ongoing. Alan! Please write us another book. Crossing Press, 429 pages.

	TURNING THE SOLOMON KEY: George Washington, the Bright Morning Star & the Secrets of Masonic Astrology - Robert Lomas, $18.95 Contents: Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction: In pursuit of a mystery: Washington, DC, by Katherine Neville Prologue: George Washington: A most famous Freemason 1. The secrets of the Solomon Key 2. Ritual keys & Bright Morning Stars 3. The layout of Solomon's Key 4. Washington & the streets of London 5. Achievement & Masonic astrology 6. Following in Newton's footsteps 7. Lies, damned lies, and astrology 8. The journey from single cell to complex genius 9. Powering the enchanted loom 10. Tides, telephones & the phase of the moon 11. A mirror in the sky 12. The predictions of Masonic astrology 13. Further predictions of Masonic astrology 14. Understanding the Solomon Key Appendices: 1. Gravatational pull of the sun & planets on the earth; 2. Effect of height on free electron density; 3. Free electron density above Washington DC, over a day; 4. Relationship between Gauquelin's high-achiever births & changes in ionospheric free electron activity; 5. How the ionosphere splits into layers at different seasons; 6. Density of the electron clouds above the earth; 7. The spectrum of radio noise; 8. Gravitational effects on a free electron; 9. Modeling a planet close to the sun in the sky, appearing as a Bright Morning Star; 10. Economic activity & latitude. Bibliography Footnotes Index Comment: The introduction begins: George Washington, the first president of the United States, was a Freemason. This book is the story of my personal quest to understand George Washington and the Masonic sources of his inspiration. It is a journey through unexpected and seemingly unrelated aspects of superstition, the human condition, and modern science. But tying the whole quest together are the unlikely linkages of Freemasonic ideas. (pg. 13) "Superstition" is a red rag to this bull, but on the other hand, Lomas couples it with "the human condition", which is surely a phrase lacking all meaning. We should say at the outset that while many of America's Revolutionary leaders were Freemasons (Franklin, et al), they were first of all successful men. Washington was an executive & military commander, far more than he was a Freemason. After the war ended, he WENT HOME to resume a life of farming. And would have STAYED THERE, but for the failure of the initial Confederation, which forced him back to public life. There was no diabolical plot to turn the Declaration of Independence into some sort of Masonic country. Since we are reasonably certain Masons did have a hand in laying out what eventually became the United States as we know it, it can only be because they felt the need to rescue a rapidly failing state. These facts need to be kept in mind. Masonic Astrology, the subject of this book, seems to center around the rising of the planet Venus, the Bright Morning Star. Associated with this are supposed "bright conjunctions of Mercury & Venus" in the east every 480 years, when they appear to form a single star. There's a problem with this as an omen, aside from its obvious rarity. Mercury is never more than 30 degrees from the sun, meaning the sun's glare is already apparent behind the planetary occultation as it rises. Another is that Lomas seems to be unaware that he is also describing the Star of Bethlehem, in the east, with three wise men in tow. He gives years, though no specific dates, in which these occultations were said to have taken place. One was 1434 (pg. 107). So I went looking for it. By longitude, there were three Mercury / Venus conjunctions that year, two of them ahead of the sun (ie, as "rising stars"). None of them coincided with a conjunction in declination or latitude. The closest of the three was March 14, 1434 (NS). At sunrise the pair were 26 degrees ahead of the sun. They were 3' apart in longitude, 45' apart in latitude. Saturn rose 11 degrees ahead of them. Lomas's claim that Jupiter & Mars rose with them is false. Any of you with an astrological program can prove this for yourself. Yes, Mercury & Venus were breathtakingly close, but they were not one and the same. Unlike modern scientists, the ancients were not blind. The book gradually descends into a long anti-astrology diatribe. On the one hand, Lomas is impressed with George Washington as an individual, on the other, he is repulsed by Washington having anything to do with astrology, even if as a Freemason. Lomas consults astrologers Robin Heath & Colin Wilson & is sympathetic, but in the end sides with Richard Dawkins. Like most everyone who starts with hostility to the subject, Lomas mangles his research. Among other things, he manages to equate the luminosity of Mars & Saturn as equal to that of Venus (pg. 132) After a lot of huffing & puffing, Lomas gradually decides that Gauquelin's sensitive degree areas must be what George had in mind when he designed Pennsylvania Avenue to align with a mid-August sunrise. Lomas prints Gauquelin's famous diagram on pg. 149, but notably reverses it. On pg. 261, he writes: Nothing I have found about Masonic astrology makes the casting of an individual horoscope plausible. Masonic astrology can predict only when a greater proportion of the children born will grow up to be high-achievers. In this, he is describing Gauquelin, as viewed through a filter of planetary conjunctions with the sun or moon, which are claimed to result in exceptional individuals. As astrologers, we merely note the well-known effect of stelliums. So far as Masons not casting horoscopes, he is presumably unaware of Manly Hall, 1901-1990, a 33rd degree Mason who wrote astrology books. So the Masons are a broad church. (Did Mr. Lomas do any research, I wonder?) To show how far Lomas drifts from the 18th century Washington, on pg. 263, he follows with: I believe there are two possible general questions that Masonic astrology might be able to answer: 1. What proportion of a group of people will be stimulated to act in a certain way by chains of ionospheric radio pulses? 2. In what times & places will these pulses have their greatest effect? On page 256, Lomas declares that "Masonic astrology" (whatever it is) can be used to make two predictions: First, the further you are from the equator, the more economic activity there is. Which, if true, means that Europe, not the US, is the world's economic powerhouse, and that the great civilizations of Central America & India never existed. Also, that dogs in the southern hemisphere bark more at the new moon than they do at full. Any of my Brazilian & South African readers want to comment? Do dogs at the equator never stop barking, or do they bark at all? I was hoping for a book on Masonry & astrology & Washington, DC. This the book fails to deliver. There is no analysis of the city itself. Aside from the Capitol building on the cover, there is only one small map of the city in the book, which is otherwise ignored. Lomas goes on & on about George Washington's habit of taking pages from the Virginia Almanac & pasting them in to his diary but never once realizes that Washington, when he was not at the head of armies, did so because he was a farmer & needed to know when to plant his crops. If I had to guess, I'd say the book came about this way: Lomas had written earlier books on the Masons. George Washington was a Mason. Lomas wanted to write a book about Washington. Washington laid out the city named for him. He insisted on a precise alignment between the Capitol & the President's Palace (eventually to be known as the White House) according to the rising of the sun in mid-August. Washington was an annual subscriber to the local almanac, so therefore his alignment of Pennsylvania Avenue could only be explained by astrology. Astrology, as we all know, is bogus, and so therefore some "scientific" astrology must be found. Michel Gauquelin's work was the only one to fit the bill, and so that, combined with some messing around with contemporary theories about brain function, became Lomas's solution. If I'm right, I expect this book will date rapidly. Guesswork like this always does. As for the famous alignment of Pennsylvania Avenue, my thoughts: In mid-August, the Sun is in late Leo. Leo is the sign of powerful countries, as well as their powerful rulers. When Washington insisted on this alignment, the US was barely a nation at all. It was unknown if it would survive, or dissolve into 13 competing statelets, or be reconquered, all or in part, by one or more powerful European countries (England, France, Spain, perhaps even the Netherlands). Washington did not want the great sacrifice of the Revolution to be lost (by the time of the Constitutional Convention this must have seemed a distinct possibility), hence the alignment of streets, among many other fussy details. But nor did he want to see cheap despotic rule. If we theorize a secret architectural astrology (and why not? there seems to be an astrology for everything) then we also theorize that the date of the alignment relates to a particular degree of the zodiac, and further theorize that early degrees of a sign indicates infancy, youth & inexperience, late degree old age, senility & decrepitude, and that a degree towards the middle of the August would symbolize a wise experienced ruler, a wise & experienced country. In a brand-new city in a brand-new nation, a degree towards the end of Leo would represent an outcome the nation would aspire to. So how are we doing, some 200 years later? I'd say we're still in the process of gaining needed experience. -- I offer this as a sketch of a new, or, up-to-now unknown, branch of astrology. Aligments of various other buildings, European cathedrals among them, may give further clues. The various appendices in the book hint that my own personal theory, that astrology is a form of resonance, not radiation, may actually be correct. Pity that Lomas's hostility did not permit him to reach that conclusion on his own. As for my theory, you can read it here. As I say in my notes, the Greeks knew, which might be the most surprising thing of all. On the back cover, the author is described as, ....a physicist, an expert on computer information systems, and a Freemason who lectures at Bradford University School of Management in West Yorkshire, one of the U.K.'s leading business schools. Fair Winds Press, 336 pages.

	CYCLES OF OPPORTUNITY - Carole Beckham, $19.95 Contents: Preface; 1. Life in the universe: The law of correspondences; The spiral of evolution; Spirituality, an evolutionary impulse; Unity, omnipresence & telepathy; Thoughtforms & creative work. 2. Levels of consciousness: Streams of energy; Planes of manifestation; The effects of energy upon consciousness; The concept of initiation. 3. Mind and telepathy: Components of mind; The metaphysical basis for telepathy; The scientific basis for telepathy; Types of telepathy & communication; The communication channels; The messages; Developing psychic powers. 4. Astrology, the science of relations: The astrological year; Relationships between astronomy & esoteric astrology; Relationships between traditional & esoteric astrology; Foundations of esoteric astrology. 5. The seven rays: 1. Will & power; 2. Love-wisdom; 3. Active intelligence & adaptability; 4. Harmony, beauty & art; 5. Concrete knowledge & science; 6. Devotion & idealism; 7. Ceremonial order, magic & organization; Ray energies, keywords & relationships; Major ray cycles. 6. The zodiacal constellations. 7. Solar and planetary energy. 8. Earth energy: The mind of the world (Shamballa); The heart of the world (Hierarchy); The creative center of the world (Humanity). 9. Timing, relationships, and karmic opportunity: Timing & cycles; Geometric forms & aspects; Karmic opportunities. 10. What energies are available now? Planetary & zodiacal influences; Sidereal vs: tropical?; What to look for at the full moon; Example configurations; Tables of glyphs. 11. Meditation: Group telepathic alignment; Meditations; Full moon approaches; Spiritual festivals. 12. The living commitment. Appendices: A. Full moon ephemeris, 1998 - 2007 (inclusive); B. Fixed star locations (Sirius, Great Bear, Pleiades); Glossary; Notes & references; Bibliography; Resources; Index. Comment: In the main, this is a fine, Alice Bailey inspired treatise. It is rather abstract. Source Publications, 365 pages.

	INITIATIONS OF KRISHNAMURTI: An Astrological Biography - Philip Lindsay, $20.00 Contents: Dedication; Preface; Acknowledgements; Biography; Introduction; Introductiory note. 1. Initiation; 2. Krishnamurti's ray structure & character; Chapters 3, 4 & 5: Guidelines of esoteric interpretation parts 1, 2 & 3; 6. Planets in signs; 7. Guidelines of esoteric interpretation, part 4; 8. Early life & 1st imitation; 9. Second initiation; 10. Between 2nd & 3rd initiation; 11. 3rd initiation; 12. Between 3rd & 4th initiations: Krishnamurti's "process"; 13. 4th initiation & Wesak 1925; 14. Growing discontent & Nitya's death; 15. Severing of ties; 16. Life after the Theosophical Society; 17. Resumption of the "process"; 18: Last years. Appendices: 1. Introduction to esoteric astrology & the seven rays; 2. Superimposition; 3. Decanates; 4. Ray & sign rulerships; 5. Planets in signs; 6. The initiations; Glossary; End notes, Bibliography; Index. Comment: An earnest, fascinating look at K (as he termed himself), especially of interest to those already familiar with his life. The climatic event of his life, his dissolution of the Order of the Star, on August 3, 1929, is as badly misunderstood in this book as in all the other biographies & commentaries, but to be fair, that event is worthy of a book in itself. The ray structure given in chapter 2 (2-4-1-2-7, omitting the proposed Monadic ray of 3) is speculative, the author seems not to have read Benjamin Creme's proposed ray structure in Maitreya's Mission (second edition, 1990) (K's rays, according to Creme: 2-2-4-6-7). This is not to say that one is right & the other wrong, but that I wished these folks read each other's books. The astrological analysis of K's life is based around secondary progressions & transiting planets. A useful example of how these two forecasting methods show life events. Apollo Publishing, 236 pages.

	THE LABOURS OF HERCULES - Alice A. Bailey, $12.00 Contents: The zodiac; Foreword: The purpose of this study; Hercules the disciple - the myth. Labour 1: The capture of the man-eating mares. Labour 2: The capture of the Cretan bull. Labour 3: The Golden Apples of the Hesperides, parts 1 & 2. Labour 4: The capture of the Doe or Hind, parts 1 & 2. Labour 5: The slaying of the Nemean Lion. Labour 6: Seizing the Girdle of Hippolyte. Labour 7. The capture of the Erymanthian Boar. Labour 8. Destroying the Lernaean Hydra. Labour 9: Killing the Stymphalian Birds. Labour 10: The slaying of Cerberus, Guardian of Hades. Labour 11: Cleansing the Augean Stables. Labour 12: The capture of the Red Cattle of Geryon. The purpose of the study of the Hercules myth; Summary of lessons learned in each zodiacal sign; The path of the soul through the zodiac; Journey through the signs. Comment: From the back cover: The story of the dramatic experiences of the great and ancient Son of God, Hercules or Herakles, will give us a synthetic picture of the progress of the soul from ignorance to wisdom, from material desire to spiritual achievement....We shall trace the story of Hercules as he passed through the twelve signs of the zodiac....In each of the signs we shall find him surmounting his natural tendencies, controlling and governing his destiny, and demonstrating the fact that the stars incline, but do not control. The underlying idea is that each sign of the zodiac presents its own unique challenges en route to enlightenment. To use Bailey's own terminology, the labours of Hercules represent the twelve "dwellers on the threshold", each of whom must be surmounted. This is a reprint of articles that first appeared in Beacon magazine between February 1957 & August 1957. (The magazine of Lucis Trust.) 229 pages. Lucis Trust, paper.

	CABALAH OF ASTROLOGY, The Language of Number - William Eisen, $23.95 Contents: Introduction; Part 1: Basic Principles: 1. The essence of the Cabalah: A brief review: The Hebrew Cabalah, The book of tarot, The English Cabalah, How to read a number, The three disciplines, The two fundamental glyphs of Cabalah 2. The magical Alphabets: A brief journey through the digits, The major arcana of the tarot, Picture symbols of the Hebrew alphabet, Tarot symbols of the English alphabet, Basic English: The key to god consciousness, The divine proportion, The English pi/phi wheel, The Hebrew pi/phi wheel, The tarot pi/phi wheel, A lesson from the Romans, The complete tarot/Hebrew/English wheel of the One Life. Part 2: Sacred Geometry: The canon of universal law: 3. Sacred Geometry: The basic geometrical shapes, Stone circles & astro-archaeology, The pyramids at Giza, Stonehenge & Glastonbury, The New Jerusalem: The City of Revelation, The mysteries of light 4. The Great Pyramid Tree of Life: The apex of the series & the phi mean, The golden right triangle, The Lucas & Fibonacci numbers, The pyramid of yin-yang, Positive & negative existence 5. The Sephirothic tree of the knowledge of good & evil: The traditional Sephirothic tree, The numerical pattern of the Sephiroth, The three spheres of Ain, Ain Soph & Ain Soph Aur, The Sephirothic tree of the tarot, The head of the serpent of wisdom 6. A Walk Through Time & Space: Largeness & smallness, Travel in consciousness, The four dimensions of space-time, footsteps on the path of life, Your stairway to the stars, Alternate methods of analysis 7. The Four Fundamental Constants: A Pi(e) Phi"i": Pi, the complete cycle from the beginning to the end, The mysterious constant "e" (the base of natural logarithms), Phi, the universal principle of the life-force, The negatively existent "i" (the square root of -1), The amazing mathematical proof of the unity of the four constants, The great pyramid at Giza: A true Pi(e) Phi"i" 8. The Pulse of the Vibration: The golden apex, The first revolution of the searchlight as it sweeps across the four faces of the pyramid, Other revolutions of the searchlight, The mathematical principles of the laws of vibration, The oneness of the soul consciousness Part 3: The Cabalah of Astrology: 9. The Earth on Which We Live: Its vital statistics, The celestial sphere of the earth, The fundamental principle, The four seasons, Circles of latitude & meridians of time 10. The Zodiac: The Circle of Holy Animals: The twelve signs of the zodiac, The zodiacal pole of the ecliptic, English symbols of the zodiac of space, Tarot symbols for the clock of time, The precession of the equinoxes & the Platonic year 11. The Solar System & Its Planets: Kepler's laws of planetary motion, The orbits of the planets around the sun, That strange strong string of gravity, A geocentric view of the celestial sphere, The great saga of the Titans, A heliocentric view of the open spiral, An egocentric view of the closed circle, The twelve planetary systems 12. The Houses of the Earth: Geographic vs: zodiacal directions, The equal house system, The square horoscope of triangular houses, The houses of the northern & southern hemispheres, Local mean time (LMT), Solar houses of time, The grand horoscope of space & time 13. The Vibration Pattern of the Name & the Date: Your names be our names, The end effect of the name & date, The great pyramid of the name & the date, The area method of analysis, The linear method of analysis, The rectified chart for any vibration of the name & date, The grand method of the name, date, time & place Comment: From the back cover: The fundamental relationships of the planets, the houses of the Earth & the twelve signs of the zodiac have remained rather constant down through the centuries. A horoscope was constructed according to the positions of the planets at the date of birth & then progressed through the lifetime of the entity, thus reflecting the help or hindrances of the planets, as the case may be. But how about the name of the individual? Have you ever wondered why some non-identical twins, born within only a minute or so of each other, and not only on the same day but also at the same place on the planet, can sometimes have such completely different destinies? The answer may well be because the names are different, thus setting up an entirely different vibrational pattern on the Tree of Life.... The English Cabalah is used to prove that the one specific vibration that is tailor-made to fit each and every living person is not only based on his date of birth, but also on the name that appears on his birth certificate. Thus by following the simple instructions contained herein, you will be able to erect your own individual Triangle of Light & by so doing greatly enhance the rather limited information about yourself that can be obtained from a study of the natal horoscope alone. DeVorss, 429 pages, paper.

	REFLECTIONS & MEDITATIONS ON THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC - Louise Huber, $14.00 Coming soon Contents: Symbols; Preface; The earth & the zodiac Signs - meditation Aries, meditation Taurus, meditation Gemini, meditation Cancer, meditation Leo, meditation Virgo, meditation Libra, meditation Scorpio, meditation Sagittarius, meditation Capricorn, meditation Aquarius, meditation Pisces, meditation The seed thoughts & the ascendant signs The Great Invocation Bibliography Comment: This is a book of twelve meditations, based on Alice Bailey's idea of monthy group meditations on the full moon. For each sign there are several pages introductory material designed to be read (perhaps aloud) before the meditation. There follows the guided meditation for the month. It is all very, very abstract. I was deeply into this stuff back in the 1980's. It is good stuff. Much of the book seems like it was taken directly from Bailey, or from Lucis Trust materials. If you've not seen that stuff (and I suppose few have), this book will be of interest. I would have hoped to have sensed Louise Huber herself in this book. AFA, 235 pages.

Esoteric Astrology, page 2

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