Customer Reviews

Temperament - Astrology's Forgotten Key

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Dorian Gieseler-Greenbaum is one of the few practising astrologers around who has the classical chops needed to research and (where needed) translate ancient texts. The first part of the book is a good introduction to the history of 'temperament' in astrology. The second part describes Greenbaum's research into the subject, through which she arrived at a workable system for evaluating temperament in the natal chart. Anyone who has tried to implement (e.g.) William Lilly's contradictory suggestions on the subject will appreciate the practical and useable method that is presented here. It helps you to figure out what makes people tick and to get to the beating heart of the horoscope. Greenbaum's approach - take the classical texts seriously but don't treat them as sacrosanct, particularly where they don't make sense - is one I'd like to see more astrologers take. I really think any astrologer who takes the system in this book and works with it, will find that it's an invaluable tool - indeed, the book's sub-title isn't far wrong when it calls it 'astrology's forgotten key'.

In addition to being one of our most lucid astrology teachers, Dorian Greenbaum is one of the most well-educated. A respected scholar and linguist as well as an astrologer, she has a unique point of view to bring to any astrological writing. What she has chosen to do with this book is to re-introduce to Western astrology a major technique that was once the first thing any astrologer did in the Hellenistic and medieval eras--determining the temperament of his client. Because today's astrology has become adulterated with dubious and fanciful concepts, and because we have lost touch with the world-view from which the techniques astrology originated, this crucial step has been obliterated from modern practice. It is an illuminating and authentic technique that needs to be brought back into the work of every serious student of the art. In addition to being one of most accurate astrology books in print, the book is clear, beautifully written and enjoyable to read. A must for the library of any informed practitioner.

This topic is one that is missing from modern psychology and little understood from a classical perspective. This writer is an excellent translator of greek and of classical astrology. I have her other book: "Late Classical Astrology: PAULUS ALEXANDRINUS & OLYMPIODORUS, with the Scholia from later commentators" and it is without equal or compare.

That is why I was so disappointed in this current work. The first part of the book was a first-rate survey of the subject of Temperament, but the later half is formless and she completely abandoned classical technique and commented upon various charts without any basis in astrology. You could easily see personal bias in her work that detracted from the subject. As a classical astrologer, I could make no sense of her work and I found all of her analysis faulty. She seemed to be projecting an outcome in many of her "analyses". I sat on the fence with this book because I thought the first part of her book to be so good, but the latter half was so bad that I returned the book. I do not suggest this book and especially to those who would sincerely wish to study classical astrology -- and that *is* a pity.

After rereading this review, I am angry; this writer is way better than the second half of this book indicates.