Astrological Grammar

Barleywine

Part of the problem as I see it is that many modern beginners belong to the "Cliff's Notes" generation. They want their knowledge in small bites that they don't have to chew, just swallow. Keywords and cookbook texts (oh, yeah, and internet blogs) cater to that demographic (plus they seem to be a lot easier to write: combine a cup each of Sun and Jupiter, toss in a handful of Mars for leavening, dredge the loaf in a liberal amount of Leo, bake until golden in a preheated 10th House, and voila, out pops a king; double the Mars and add a dollop of Saturn (optional) if you want a tyrant ;)).

I have Arroyo's chart interpretation book; he tries very hard to convince us that he hasn't produced a cookbook, but in the end it still reminds me of the antithesis of that old American "lite" beer commercial: "Less taste, more filling." Tracy Marks reissued her chart interpretation handbook, too, and the first in-depth book I ever read (and - unlike Alan Leo's - actually got something out of) on the "next step" was Roy Alexander's Chart Synthesis from 1984. Both of those assumed the reader was well past the "grammar" phase, though.