NOVEMBER 2019 9
astrology that has more depth and breadth
and that requires knowing more about the
subject than just planets, signs, houses, and
aspects. The unexpected twists and turns
of Demetra George’s astrological career
due to Hindsight and Kepler outlined in
her introduction are worth reading as an
example of how astrology was changing
during that time.
Ancient Astrology in Theory and
Practice is, as Chris Brennan explains
in his Foreword, based on the classes
George taught at Kepler, and he makes
a point of her role there in clarifying the
translations emerging from Hindsight.
At the time that Hindsight began issuing
Robert Schmidt’s renderings of Greek
astrologers such as Ptolemy, many
existing translations considered standards
at that time were, to be kind, awful, in part
because the translators involved seemed
ignorant or even contemptuous of the
subject. There was no fair comparison
between a Hindsight translation and
one of those standard texts, and the new
knowledge those translations revealed
required new teaching, which is where
Demetra George, with her academic
qualifications, knowledge of Greek and
Latin, and an M.A. in Classics came
into the picture. Kepler is gone, but
here in 588 pages we have a key part
of its curriculum, from the person who
created it.
It’s important to note just how detailed
this book is. Volume 1 begins with a
historical overview and some instruction
about what someone steeped in standard
modern astrology should leave at the
door before entering the world of
traditional astrology. Examples include
planets beyond Saturn, favorite house
systems, and any notions about how to
gauge a particular planet’s “condition,”
the last of which is the actual subject of
the book as a whole. Simply stated in
terms of traditional benefic and malefic
planets, each type of planet can act
according to its basic nature (i.e., helpful
when benefic, hindering when malefic)
only when it is “good condition,” and
when in poor condition, it will act in
the opposite way. The condition of a
planet in traditional astrology depends
on multiple factors (10 of which are
listed on page 36), many of which are
absent from modern astrology.
Having pointed this out, I can almost
hear people weighing 10 factors in one
hand and 588 pages in the other and
wanting to know the title of that little
text from 1963 I mentioned above, but
the thing to understand is this: the author
knows exactly what she is doing as a
teacher. She is very good at breaking
all the pieces of ancient astrology down
into smaller fragments to make them
understandable and then putting them
back together in a way that makes them
usable. So time devoted to learning what
this book has to teach will be well-spent.
I suspect that even if you go through
it, learn everything, and then decide
you would rather stick with modern
astrology, you will see the astrology
you have been using for all these years
in an entirely different light. In other
words, here in those 588 pages lies
an opportunity that you should take
advantage of.
The first volume of Demetra George’s
Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice
is waiting for you to grab it from the
bookshelf. Buy it, take it home, sit down
in a quiet place, and begin studying.
You’ll be glad you did. P