Customer Reviews

The Astrology Encyclopedia

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you were limited to only one astrological reference, this should be it. It is thorough, interestingly written and concise. You can sit down and actually read this like a text. Wonderfully annotated articles so that you can reference better detailed sources if the thorough but concise treatment of a topic is not enough. The paperback version gives you great "bang for the buck". Some articles are well illustrated or diagramed and the text is pleasantly set with judicious use of bolded text to get critical names or concepts through in a hurry. Wonderful coverage of all asteroids and hypothetical planets. An excellent addition to any astrological or occult library.

I bought this book because I am studying astrology, and I needed to look up some words I didn't know the meanings of because, you can't find them in a regualar dictionary or encyclopedia. But it also lays out a step by step guide to how to begin studying astrology. He writes a list of which things to look up in what order for you to be able to understand it best. It really is a great book and I recommend it to anyone studying astrology. Or anyone even interested in learning more about your horoscope you see every day in the paper, but never knew what the terms meant. It is a really fun subject to explore and I love this book!

This book also has a lot of beautiful illustrations. Makes this book even better I think.

If you have the Larousse Enclopedia of Astrology (ISBN:07-007244-2), you already have the very best (Robert Hand called Larousse's work "far better than any existing work of its kind.").

With such a promising title, sadly Lewis does not deliver a comprehensive astrological dictionary-slash-encyclopedia, at all. Rather, Lewis apparently skimmed rear indexes of some standard astrological cookbooks, selecting only those he had an OPINION about, and then publish his musings in -- Ugh! -- their original alphabetical order. No attempt was made to connect the differing concepts, in any useful order.

Astrology CAN be a complex, highly technical art. Even professional astrologers need backup comprehensive astrological reference works to back them up. But this underwritten, incomplete, and pretentiously titled book is nothing short of a nightmare. Especially when used as intended -- as a reference work!

Apart sharing with us his highly subjective musings, Lewis does NOT touch even make a point of touching upon MOST of the major terms frequently used in astrology. Rather assemble useful, short primers on astrological terminologies, Lewis rambles on with his own pet insights -- like a man with too much time on his hands, who now wants YOURS too.

This book is neither complete in scope, comprehensive in description, nor well organized. So, even if you spot this title in the 75%-off discount bin at your local bookstore (and no doubt you will!), by all means DO pass this one by.

Of course, you are free to give it a try; buy it, put it on your reference shelf, hoping for the best. But, I assure you, in practice, the second or third time you need a complete, succinct, quick clarification upon most any astrological term, in the context of serious astrological study, you will eventually find yourself reaching for another reference.

This book was very informational and it helped me to find the answers to a lot my questions. It brought me more into astrology and made me what to learn more about it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about astrology.

I keep this by my side at all times, even after years of working in astrology, there are times you need a reference made or verified. This encyclopedia is the perfect reference book for beginners or advanced.

I lost my original copy so I got another. You can draw your own conclusions from this! If I had to have one book on astrology, then I would probably choose this one. It contains many, many short and long (several pages) articles. It has an appendix on constructing the natal chart, and articles on other forms of astrology (Hindu and Chinese) which are quite long and detailed. The articles are interesting and informative. For instance, there is an article on the Kolisko Effect, which is long enough to give some information, but not too long to cause of passing interest to wane.
Lewis shows an awareness of modern psychological astrology and of the older effect-based astrology (which is increasing in popularity). It could also be used as a beginner's text (although I imagine it would be awkwark flitting from article to article) or as a reference for more advanced astrologers.
When in astrology mode, I would ensure I keep this book by me for first reference, although I might need to go to more specialised books for more information should I need it.
So highly recommended:-)