Introduction

It has often been said that the West lacks a sacred language with the subtle and specific spiritual vocabulary of a language such as Sanskrit. We actually do have such a language, a rich symbolic language, and it is Astrology. More often than not, people think of Astrology as a tool for divination or the exploration of one's personality. Astrology is considerably more than that. It is a sacred science, a highly descriptive symbolic language, a technology that can be applied to all aspects of Magick, and much more. Unfortunately, most books on Astrology are written either for the specific needs of astrologers or as entertainment for the masses. Moreover, the vast majority of astrologers are not involved in Magick or Witchcraft and as such have little awareness of our uses for Astrology. I had the good fortune of taking an interest in Astrology in the early 1980s, not long after I had put my feet on the path to become a witch. I am thankful that I had access to teachers of both Astrology and Witchcraft so that my evolution as a practitioner included an organic synthesis of these disciplines. Over the years, I have had many friends and students ask me to write a book about Astrology for magickal practitioners. This book is my response to their request, and an effort to share the gift that I was given so many years ago by my teachers.

People are often daunted at the prospect of learning enough Astrology for it to actually be useful in their magickal practices. It is true that Astrology is a huge field of study and it could take several lifetimes to achieve mastery. The same can be said of Mathematics, but many people are able to learn enough math so they can function in their day-to-day life and manage their finances. My intention with this book is to teach the core concepts of Astrology so that Witches and Pagans would then be able to truly apply Astrology to their practices. The use of jargon cannot be avoided in any technical field, but I have kept the use of jargon to a minimum and have defined the terms that I've used in this book. When I learned Astrology, I was required to learn how to do the calculations to cast a chart by hand, and then take the numbers and transcribe them onto the chart. Because most of the people reading this book want to be able to use Astrology for spiritual purposes, not necessarily become astrologers, there will be very little math in this book.<