I had the same experience when I read Lilly and Morin. There's a level of analysis and philosophical underpinning that is totally absent from what passes for Astrology in the second half of the twentieth century.
New Age devotees believe in the development of the human soul, despite the clear evidence to the contrary over the last 80 years or so. They therefore dismiss the tradition as being the product of less developed souls and therefore of no use in today's world. As you have realised, the case for the degeneration of Astrology is far stronger.
I could also develop a riposte to the argument that life is more complex now and therefore we need all the additional planet, dwarf planets, asteroids, etc. Technology might be more complex but life is not. The same issues kept cropping up in my horary threads that cropped up for Lilly or Sahl.
Eventually you will want to go back further. When you do, try starting with Vettius Valens. His Anthology can be found free on the internet and you will meet a level of analysis, empirical evidence and philosophical underpinning that matches Morin and dwarfs the modern stuff. You don't have to agree with it but you will find the Hellenistic authors a great basis to take on the medieval authors. Much of their methodology fed into the early medieval Arab and Persian work.