Astrology books for newbies

Hi All

I started to learn Astrology recently reading various forums time to time. Then I thought I will order proper textbooks for Astrology. I went to Amazon and ordered following 2 books.

1. Planet in Transit by R. Hand

2. Horoscope Symbols by R. Hand

They will arrive in few days, but just wondering if these books are good for a total newbie like me. They have glorious feedbacks, but not necessarily mean they might be good for beginners, I feel now.

If this is the case, what would be the best books? I will keep those books and keep reading them as I get more familiar with the subject.

Thanks.

I think it depends on what you want to learn. For both the modern and traditional approaches, there are tons of things to learn.

If you are interested in traditional techniques, you should read "On the Heavenly Spheres" by Avelar and Ribeiro. From the reviews I've read, it's a very thorough introduction of the traditional methods.

Thank you for your info Larxene. Indeed I have never known there are that many books on Astrology. It is very confusing for me.

I will have a look at the book "On the Heavenly Spheres". cheers.

I would not disagree with Larxene's suggestion. It's a very good start for the beginner in Traditional Astrology.

However Larxene also mentions 'modern approaches' and these days, the beginner has to make a decision about where to start, in terms of approach.

The dominant modern approach is a psychological one. It's concerned primarily with character analysis and uses a predominantly jungian basis for that. If you are interested in psychology then that is the approach that you would follow, as the whole chart is seen as describing the personality. Traditional techniques tend to be more event oriented. The chart is seen as representing both the native (person who's birth is being discussed) and their relationship with other people, events and topical areas, There's also more emphasis on forecasting in the Tradition than there is in the modern psychological approach (though that is not without a forecasting component).

If you're starting as a complete beginner, the two books you mention will be rather demanding because they assume you know the basics of what a chart shows. Rob Hand, who wrote them, did so when he was following a psychological approach. He has changed his approach over the last twenty years, so he might not agree with all the material in those books today. Nevertheless they are both classics.

Thank you Minderwiz.

I am glad to learn that those 2 books I ordered are good classics to keep and read forever.
For study of Astrology, I was only interested in prediction side of it especially in conjunction with Tarot readings, but now I can feel my interest is growing in Psychological side too, as am more hearing and reading about different schools of Astrology.