Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is just a few minutes away, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note:  Any question or comment received after then will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 143,916th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.1 of The Magic Monday FAQ here. 

Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.  And further:  I've decided that questions involving the evocation of spirits are permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

The image? I field a lot of questions about my books these days, so I've decided to do little capsule summaries of them here, one per week. The book above was my thirty-sixth published book, and to my mind it's the best of the books that came out of my decade of blogging on peak oil. I decided in 2013 that it was time to tackle belief in progress, the secular religion that dominates the modern Western world, and talk about where that ersatz faith came from, what role it plays in our problems, and why it's collapsing around us. That's what After Progress accomplished, and I think it did so very well, covering ground that extended from ancient mythology to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Inevitably--the books of mine that I consider my best work always sell very poorly--it was the least popular of my peak oil books, and went out of print sooner than any of the others. It's currently available only used or in ebook form, though that should change next year.

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I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed and no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

Astrology Book for casting a chart by hand

[(Anonymous)]

First, a merry monday to all.

Second, I have watched over the years people asking for suggestions for beginner astrology books and would like to finally make a recommendation, particularly after last week's comment about how someone learning should really learn how to cast a chart by hand before depending on programs.

Back in 1992 I came across a book, Alan Oken's Complete Astrology - the 1988 edition with the black starry cover which was putting 3 books he'd written in '72-'74 from memory - and with it I learned how to cast/calculate a chart by hand using nothing more than pencil and paper, the book, an atlas and the emphemeris at the back of the book. Memory is a bit hazy but i think the first astrolog dos programs were out by then so i could compare and the accuracy was dead on.

Even more amazing was the accuracy of what the sections on houses, planets and aspects had to say when delineating the chart. It had things to say about my own chart/life based on the houses/planets/aspects that were uncanny. A friend asked me to do her chart and I ran into the dilema of do I tell her and maybe put ideas into her head or not and hope for the best - it was a thing that indicated an unwanted and unexpected pregnancy at a particular age. I hummed and hawed and eventually spoke to her and before I could say anything she told me she'd falled pregnant, carried to term and had the child adopted... To this day I don't know whether I should have said anything but done is done.

I've had a small look at the more recent red cover edition easily available and from what I was able to preview it appears the book hasn't been messed with although hard to say without getting a copy, which hasn't been possible - other priorities. So I give it a qualified thumbs up and why I mentioned the 1988 edition which is a definite yes.

The style of the book as well, meant that when I got the Mundane Astrology book with raphael, green etc and alan leo's the key to your own nativity, I found their style very congenial/similar and easy to get to grips with.

I would also like to mention the review someone did of Parker's Astrology - I had also got a copy(the DK edition) but I find it more of a coffee table book to be frank and agreed with the less than flattering review.

Just pulled it from the shelf to give it another look - it does have a section on calculating a chart by hand so can be used thus.

From my own view - whilst it may have the basic information - I found it hard to use it as a reference and not nearly as dead on as the Oken book - it just seems a bit all over the place to me with definite diet and lifestyle and wellness vibes in too many spots.

The illustrations in the dk book are gorgeous to be fair but I consider myself spoiled by Oken book which got down to the nitty gritty and pulled no punches about the meaning and delineation. Perhaps it just seems the Parker book is a bit too fluffy although I may be doing it an injustice. If that's all one can get it can certainly get one started in the very basics. The Oken book is what I would call Old Skool and highly recommend.

All Best,

Parion

Re: Astrology Book for casting a chart by hand

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this. I'll have a look at Oken's book at some point. The Parkers' book is indeed a coffee table book, but as an introduction to the utter novice, many people seem to find it very useful.

Me, I'm reading Alan Leo's complete works right now... ;-)

Re: Astrology Book for casting a chart by hand

[milkyway1]

Thanks for this, very helpful.

I agree with your assessment of the Parker book, btw. As I‘m not in the business of recommending suitable kinds of sports or other hobbies to people, the only reason I‘m keeping it is because of the ephemeris (which, in my German version, is printed way too small). Also, other stuff like one double page for all the planets together (a couple of sentences each) - but then another double page for Chiron alone. The priorities are just weird.

Just wanted to chime in about the hand-crafting-a-chart section, though: That, too, was less than helpful. I don‘t think it was a translation problem (there are a ton of those in the book as well, and the difference is clear). Rather, the explanation simply lacks a few small details in certain places, or is confusing about others. (And I‘m not mathematically challenged… ;-) ). So very good to know about Oken‘s book, thanks!

Milkyway