Book Reviews

England's Propheticall Merline by William Lilly, 1644.

This is for the die hard traditional astrologers out there. If you've read Christian Astrology volumes 1, 2 and 3 and want to know how the great William Lilly approached Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions, this is the book to read. If you are curious to learn more about Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions even though you might not plunge into Lilly's 350 year old English, read this review. If you are just getting started in astrology, both the book and review can and certainly should wait. I consider Lilly's more accessible works on Questions and Nativities - both transliterated into modern day English to boot - to be prerequisites to the Propheticall Merline.

I love reading Lilly because he writes like he's talking to a friend over a pint at the pub. It's good that he has this tone, because wading through English of 1644 can get a bit tiresome. In addition, this copy from Ballantrae Reprints (an otherwise wonderful company with many delightful finds) had some pages that were too blurry to read.

These criticisms aside, William Lilly was a master astrologer who had literally hundreds of works on astrology in his library, and he draws on his extensive study and experience in each paragraph. Anything he writes is gold for the traditional astrologer. Since I'd like for more people who are into astrology to become aware of the Jupiter Saturn conjunctions, here are a few notes on interpretation as per William Lilly.

1. The chart of the current conjunction must be understood in the context if the entire series. The series *really* begins with Jupiter conjunct Saturn in Aries; otherwise it begins with conjunctions in fire signs; and then we have important changes whenever there is a conjunction in a new element.

2. If the previous conjunction or two took place in a different element, then the agreement between these one or two charts and the current one in the new element is an important consideration in the qualities of the 20 year period. For example, our current 2000 conjunct at 22 Taurus has little in correspondence with the conjunction at 9 Libra in 1980; hence the rather jarring stall-out and throwback we have experienced in this decade.

3. Leaders and other prominent people of the times will often have connections to the current Jupiter-Saturn conjunction chart. The antiscion (I'm big on these) of GW Bush's Ascendant is at 22 Taurus 23. The conjunction of 2000 was at 22 Taurus 43. Enough said.

4. The conjunction chart can be progressed like a horary to determine effects of timing. For example, Lilly takes a difference of the Moon in aspect to the Sun of 17 degrees as indicating events in 17 years.

5. Comets can completely alter the effects of a conjunction. Seems like all the old authors from Ptolemy on down had something to say about the power of comets.

6. The first thing Lilly does in looking at the conjunction chart - once understanding it in the context of the conjunctions before and after - is to delineate the fixed stars on *all* house cusps. Not just angles! This is a quite interesting technique and one that has born out so far in my own examination of questions and natal charts.

7. Whichever planet is more powerful in the conjunction will dominate the time. If Jupiter has more north latitude when north than Saturn, or less south latitude when south than Saturn, then Jupiter will have more power. The opposite if this is reversed. 

8. When looking to the conjunction chart we check: angles, signs afflicted by Saturn, Mars and the Dragon's Tail, signs opposite and square the conjunction, the new Moon before the conjunction, and the general qualities of rulership of the sign, as well as the standard considerations of planets ruling houses and their dignity or lack of it.

9. Looking to the effects of the conjunction chart over the 20 year period, we look at the Mars-Saturn conjunctions and eclipses as falling within this chart, not as isolated events.

10. There are a variety of ways to determine timing of the effects of the conjunction. Lilly prefers this method: take the Asc and sign of conjunction. The difference between them in number of signs is the number of years when events promised by the conjunction chart will most manifest.

11. Though we pay attention to the unfolding aspects such as Jupiter sextile Saturn, Jupiter square Saturn, etc, we also keep in mind aspects to the original conjunction chart such as Jupiter sextile the conjunction point, Saturn square the conjunction point and so on.

If you've read this far, you might want to get all this and more straight from the master's mouth. Purchase your copy here:

http://tinyurl.com/9pw56