A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer - The Complete Guide to Understanding Your Birth Chart | Michael R. Meyer

A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer is one of the most influential and widely read books on serious astrology published during the 20th century. It was an immediate success when first published in 1974, and was for many years regarded as one of the most highly prized and sought after out-of-print astrological classics.

A Handbook introduced astrology to a new generation of educated seekers turning to astrology not to know "what will happen and how it can be avoided if it's unpleasant" but to better understand their essential characteristics and to discover their innate potential and life purpose. Readers first exposed to serious, modern astrology through this volume figure largely among today's leading astrologers and astrological writers.

The volume not only changed the way we view astrology and what we expect from it, A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer forever changed the look and feel of astrological literature and horoscope graphics. Its concise format and presentation style has been emulated by numerous publications, and the central elements of its entirely original horoscope graphics, first developed by the author during the 1960s, have been copied by countless astrological books, horoscope calculation services, and astrology software developers.

Founded upon the repeatedly affirmed premise that anyone can quickly learn the core principles of astrology and put them to use to improve one's life and relationships, A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer intentionally avoids the usual cookbook format in favor of exploring astrology's fundamental concepts and principles. In it and in his other work Michael R. Meyer demonstrates his unmatched ability to make astrology accessible to everyone.

A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer was the first comprehensive guide to natal astrology to expose novices and veterans alike to several key features of contemporary astrology.

The most significant upgrade to the study and practice of astrology the volume promoted was the person-centered, holistic approach introduced by Dane Rudhyar, which went hand-in-hand with restoring cyclicity to astrology. Indeed, A Handbook's mission was to break astrology out of its classical, linear, fatalistic, event-oriented mindset.

It was also the first work of its type to emphasize the importance of the astrological houses over the signs of the zodiac in natal astrology, showing the twelve houses (the space surrounding birth) as the most individual factor of the natal horoscope, while the signs of the zodiac signify generic or human factors.

The volume is also responsible for the introduction of the Porphyry system of house division into modern astrology, it being the first book to employ the system for its numerous sample charts.

The first comprehensive guide to explore planetary midpoints, A Handbook also gives special attention to planetary parts, introducing the Parts of Venus and Mars, the Parts of Mercury and Jupiter, the Parts of Jupiter and Saturn, and the Parts of Saturn and Uranus.

The Handbook was the first complete guide to expose novices to the concept of chart patterns and gestalt, as well as several other little known techniques which figured into the Sabian system of Marc Jones, such as preponderances, focal planets, planetary containments, the meaning of orb degrees, and more.

Additionally, A Handbook was the first comprehensive work to treat planetary formations, such as the T-Square, Grand Trine, and others. In so doing, the work introduced many "lesser formations." Importantly, A Handbook brought neglected aspects, such as quintiles, septiles and noviles, into general practice, displaying these aspects in the many sample charts illustrating the book. It also stressed the importance of waxing and waning aspects, and the Lunation Cycle. Finally, the volume also brought attention to the planet of oriental appearance, as well as the classification of Venus and Mercury according to their relation to the Sun, as "Morning Stars" or "Evening Stars."

The ebook edition includes "Humanistic Astrology Revisited - 1997" and an interview with the author from 1996.