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The Houses and Fated Sky

Reviewed by Claire Chandler in Astrolgy Quarterly Autumn 2007

As I was putting this issue together I knew I had two book reviews which had been hanging around for a while. Not because they were bad but because they were so very good that I wanted to do them justice. It was while tuning up these two reviews that I realised that I only seem to complete reviews on good books. If it doesn’t grab be straight away then it ends up being delegated or ignored. I should add that Helene is now first point of contact for publishers so don’t read anything into the fact that someone else is doing a review but you can read into the fact that I am. Clear?

There are a list of books which I’ve bought myself and wanted to write about but it just wasn’t practical so here are a few which were great. Just take my word for it: Astrology: A Place in Chaos by Bernadette Brady, Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas, Astrology and the Causes of War by Jamie Macphail and The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook by Sue Tompkins. All fabulous reads. Go see for yourself.

If you want to see more book reviews you can find many excellent and erudite examples on Skycript.co.uk, Deborah Houlding’s website, an amazing resource for any astrologer. And talking of Deborah brings us to the first book I’m going to talk about in detail: The Houses—Temples of the Sky, published by Wessex Astrologer, price £14.50, revised and expanded edition 2006.

Everything you needed to know about houses but were afraid to ask. I’m not exaggerating. There is an enormous amount of information in this book but this doesn’t detract from its readability. Houlding’s style is accessible but authoritative, original but within the tradition. Exploring the drift in house rulerships and symbolism over time, Houlding presents different theories as to why changes may have taken place, putting these changes in a historic context. You can see why changes in the overall balance of techniques brought knock on changes for the houses. For example, Manilius associates Saturn with the fourth house but later authors do not. Houlding points to the development and use of Sect—diurnal and nocturnal planets—with these changes: if Saturn is stronger during the day why give it a nocturnal house?

This is no dry interpretation cookbook although there is a whole chapter, House Rulerships in Practice, which allows you to dip in and find a particular fact. This, together with a comprehensive index, makes it a useful reference work but the gold, in my opinion, is in the opening chapters which explain where everything comes from. It is this material which lifts Houses to potential classic status.

She begins with an overview and then takes in turn the angles, 2nd/8th, 5th/11th, 3rd/9th and 6th/12th, and devotes a chapter to their essential meaning and development, explaining why certain houses have the reputations they do and interlinking with other facets of astrological history. Studying material such as this allows us to place our techniques in a living tradition.

I’ve used the “T” word a couple of times and Houlding is well known as a Traditional Astrologer but I should point out here that this is not an evangelising book. Her presentation of the material is fairly straight and does come up to date to include a psychological approach. She doesn’t hector or rant. Where a jump in symbolism has possibly taken a wrong turn she simply points it out and lets the reader draw their own conclusions. For those amongst us who like a bit of astronomy as a side order part II deals with technical considerations in easily understandable language, paying due consideration to the very real problems inherent in the idea.

This is a book which should be re-read at regular intervals, to “keep your eye in” shall we say. Flicking through it to write this review makes me want to read it again. A must for any astrologer who wants to go the extra mile.

The next book I recommend to you is The Fated Sky—Astrology in History, by Benson Bobrick, published by Simon & Schuster, priced £9.99. This is an amazing book, which is part of the reason it’s taken me so long to get the review finished. This is also one that I had to stop myself re-reading as I’m writing this.

The first impression I had is that for a book which positions itself as a history of astrology there is far more astrology than you would find in most history of astrologies. Then you re-read the title and you see it’s astrology in history. A small but subtle difference.

Fated Sky brings the astrology to life far more than most, striking an excellent balance between the grand narrative, giving an impression of the time, with the specifics of the lives of relevant astrologers. There is an almost gossip-like focus on the life and times of specific astrologers while not loosing track of where we are in the history of mankind. Bobrick uses substantial extracts from astrological texts to illustrate his work and I do wonder what a reader who was not familiar with these ideas would make of it. For the astrologer who is familiar with these ideas, these inclusions are a boon.

Spanning the whole gamut of astrological history, this book spends considerable time on the Romans and Hellenistic ideas. This section is very interesting as he brings together Roman philosophical positions with astrological ones. From here we proceed through history, following astrology through its Arabic encounters, back to the Middle Ages, through the Scientific Revolution and up to date. We see the characters we would expect: Kepler, Dee, Lilly, Leo, Adams, Carter, Jones and feel how they interact with their world. His treatment of modern history and astrology is excellent bringing us right up to date with the Iraq war and Bush vs Kerry.

There are a couple of issues I have but they don’t detract from the book as a whole. If you follow the general guideline of using at least three sources to confirm something you should get a well rounded view. The same could be said for any book.

First, you can tell which astrologers he’s been talking to. When he gets up to date—Iraq war, Bush/Kerry—he gets very traditional. This may get up a few noses.

Second, he’s got some of the early history of the Lodge wrong. Well I would notice that. He says “under Annie Bessant … the Theosophical Society issued a quarterly, Astrology, and gave courses with diplomas or degrees.” I suppose that could be strictly true as we were the Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society at the time but I’m sure Carter would have something to say if he were here.

Third, when talking about astrology in modern universities he lists Bath Spa, Southampton and Kent but starts his list with Brasenose, Oxford. Now I’m sure the Faculty are overjoyed to know their summer school is rated at the top of this list but... A great book but cross check those facts.

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