Customer Reviews

History of Western Astrology: The Ancient and Classical Worlds (Volume I)

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

 

 

The first reviewer of this book is perfectly correct in giving this book a five star-rating and calling it a must read. But she doesnt go far enough! This book, and its sequel, Volume Two, are masterpieces of good history and good writing. I review both books under Volume Two but feel compelled to repeat my analysis here as well, and I am not even an astrologer, nor actually believe in it with any certainty. Having completed Volume One, and now, finally, Volume Two after an entire summer of reading, I stand in awe at this man's ability to wade through an ocean of conflicting and confusing history, involving philosophy, religion and social upheavals, and somehow never lose cite of his central thesis--the ebb and flow of astrological beliefs. And all in very readable prose, carefully documented, and largely unbiased. Of course, with such a broad overview, and with so many influences and trends to dissect and analyze, there is no doubt that experts in individual fields may quibble about certain points and generalizations. After all, this is controversial material concerning a movement embraced by some, but reviled by many powerful forces. But that doesn't detract from the value of this encyclopedic work. Whether you believe in Astrology or not, noone can deny that it has played a major role in the intellectual and psychological life of Man since the beginning of time, and a respectful interest in its development is certainly warranted by anyone, whether academic or not. And noone does this with such clarity and insightful prose through the jungle of intellectual ideas than Campion, in two massive volumes of scholarship. I should know...I am a college writing teacher, and can professionally declare that this is great writing, not just great scholarship. I only regret that having read the complete work through once, I will probably have to do it several times over again, before I retain even a tiny portion of the information presented in these dense but fascinating texts.

this is a must read for everyone. you do not have to be an astrologer to appreciate the historical sequence of reglion and the sciences. astrology was the first science and without it we would not have medicine, mathematics, astronomy or any of the knowledge we have today. The Dawn of Astrology clearly outlines the rise and fall of oldest science, astrology.

Campion's history of ancient astrology does what other such histories do not: it places astrology in the context of the societies in which it developed. So Campion's book describes the religious practices and beliefs of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and the British Isles and shows why and how they spawned astrology. This method is far preferable to that used by other histories, which often treat astrology as a subject unto itself without fully explaining its connection to the societies that gave it birth. Campion relies on both primary and secondary sources -- the bibiliography is staggering in its size and scope -- as well as on his own insights. Highly readable for a work of this type (which can easily suffer from dryness), comprehensive and thorough, The Dawn of Astrology is simply the best treatment of its subject I have yet encountered. Highly recommended.

The History of Western Astrology Vol I is a very good book in two respects. The first is just how quick and easy a read it is. Plowing through it was certainly not a laborious task nor a long one. What makes this even more impressive is the anount of information packed within its pages. It is impossible to imagine anyone not learning something from reading it. For this alone, the author deserves kudos.

The problem I had was on the one subject I actually knew something about (Egypt), the author made what are in my opinion some critical mistakes. On page 91, he states the builders of the Giza pyramids were from the 5th Dynasty, not the fourth. The second was calling Imhotep, the designer of the step pyramid of Djoser in the Old Kingdom, a Middle Kingdom priest (page 103).

If these were small detail issues, one might be willing to forgive but these are major mistakes. Further it provides doubts (at least to me) about not just the accuracy of the minite details but the major details on subjects less familiar. Add to this, the section on Plato was a little tough going. Four of the first five paragraphs start off with the word Plato. Later on he uses Plato to start 6 of 9. Okay I'm nitpicking but if my 10th grader passed in a paper like that, she would lose points for lacking originality. It was the only section I felt the author went from explaining to pontificating. Thankfully it didn't last.

All and all, recommended reading!

This book should have stayed buried in an academic journal , it reads like that . Surprisingly another reviewer claims this book is easy to read , none sense .I got to chapter 6 and have abandoned the read.Most of the information in this book is made implicit by foot notes , so if you haven't read the conclusion (option) of another 'scholar' in another book then then you are lest to trust Campion's judgement. The problem is Campion , claims scholarship where it suits him by pointing to an obscure fact of doubtful intention and then makes leaps of faith with platitudes like 'it is clear' or 'obviously' when making other connections .Not only are there many examples of this dubious scholar's practice but his interrogation of religious philosophical premise and outcome creates tortured lawyer text , listen to this! page 61 :

Astrological practice operated through the analysis of all phenomena in terms of dualities or binary opposites, such as up-down , above-below , infront of-behind,left-right,bright-faint,punctual-early/late and so on.Babylonian astrology was scientific in the sense that it relied on a deductive methodology and logical inferences made on the basis of empirical observation but emphatically not because it posited a set of physical relationships between stars and society. However , ... . This continues on for a few pages , I'm not impressed.Campion has injected his own layer of verbosity into a much simpler cause and effect .This allows him to amplify any part of his screed where required.I've seen this guru technique before. By Chapter 6 I got the feeling that Campion has a barrow to push , regarding the MEast.
Chap 5 "The Assyrians and Persians : Revolution and Reformation" he hardly mentions the Persians even though he says that there's is the first mention of a Natal Chart in 475 bce .Where did the Persians come from? Campions fails to mention , (I looked in the index). Campion is deducing not the obvious but the obscure.
He talks of two critical Babylonian texts for a couple of chapters but we only get to see a half handful of examples , and are left to trust the footnotes.And he pulls a swifty at the end of chapter5 by mentioning that the number 12 had actually been in use of 2000 years earlier but thinks he can't make any deductions regarding the 12 housed zodiac! Clearly this is not the case.

His treatment of megalithic monuments is shallow and convoluted I think because it not going to serve the point later in the book.Not even one diagram .He really wants us to believe that people who sit around a camp fire for all of their lives for 10 of thousands of years aren't going to work a few things out! Sorry Campion but that incandescent light bulbs blinded you.

I used a pencil to mark out the significant pieces but after so many BS and PC in the margins it became a joke. If your looking for a book to shed light on the obscured origin's of astrology and its twin astronomy this is not going to get you there. 2 Stars cause I've only got 1/3 of the way in.If I continue at some later date I'll update this review .My search continues.