Astrology Book Review: The Book of World Horoscopes

July 22, 2008 by Nina Gryphon 

bookpurse Astrology Book Review: The Book of World Horoscopes

This week, we’re reading The Book of World Horoscopes by Nicholas Campion, the second fourth edition (two of which were self-published) of an instant classic. Campion undertook the monumental task of assembling foundation horoscopes of most of the world’s countries, and published his collection in 1988. However, with empires falling and many new countries emerging out of the rubble, the necessity of a new edition soon became apparent.

The Book of World Horoscopes starts out with a substantive Introduction, which lays out the philosophical underpinnings of mundane astrology. In it, among other topics, Campion discusses the U.S. horoscope and its attendant controversies. The author writes: “This modern Gordian knot is crying out for a conceptual sword,” and suggests an interesting approach that might take us away from the barren search for the moment of the U.S. into more fruitful and practical areas of research. Specifically, Campion recommends the approach prevalent in Great Britain, which is to use any of a number of event charts, including the coronations in 973 and 1066, and a few others. Finding the common points between a series of historical charts could be useful in the U.S. horoscope as well.

National Horoscopes Aplenty

Campion then goes through the national horoscopes, often several charts per single country, if doubt exists, or if many event charts are used as in the Great Britain example above. The book is organized in alphabetical order by country name. Each horoscope gets a descriptive paragraph or two identifying the source for the time, date, and place. The horoscope for Afghanistan, for instance, is set for midnight of July 17, 1973, when the King’s brother-in-law struck a coup d’etat. The author acknowledges that there are several possible horoscopes for Afghanistan, which has had a succession of governments over the last 35 years.

Indeed, it is this honesty and dogged focus on not favoring one horoscope over another that helps the book get to the nearly 700-page monster that it is. The readers are given pros and cons of all feasible horoscopes that Campion identified for each country, and quite a smorgasbord it is. For some of the better-documented countries like the United Kingdom, Russia, and the U.S., we get a dozen charts or more. Data fiends, rejoice! However, even many of the less-followed countries merit more than a single chart under Campion’s watchful eye; Zimbabwe has three horoscopes, with a very substantial essay including some of that country’s additional potentially chart-worthy events.

The 12 Appendixes

By the time he reaches Zimbabwe, Campion is truly on a roll, giving the impression he didn’t want to stop just yet. Some of the best materials in this book are the extras in the Appendixes. Campion gives an Appendix of inauguration horoscopes, another on the beginnings of the political parties, Appendix 3 contains city and town horoscopes, Appendix 4 has the inception charts for several key financial events, such as the start of the New York stock exchange, the EU, NAFTA, and OPEC. There are 12 (yes) appendixes total, with several focusing on war and military horoscopes, another on the traditional sign assignments for different regions of the world, and for the continents. A personal favorite is the appendix of World Horoscopes, as proposed by various astrologers through the ages. The chapter also includes other speculative horoscopes, such as that for the birth of Christ.

Finally, we are treated to a 150-page listing of degrees for all the mundane horoscopes listed in the book. For instance, we know the upcoming Solar Eclipse will occur at 9 Leo, so we look up the degree and note that Israel’s chart for de jure independence, May 15, 1948, has the Moon at 9 Leo, and we can then investigate the eclipse’s impact on Israel’s chart further.

The Book of World Horoscopes is very substantial, and would be a fine addition to any astrologer’s library, providing hours (or is it years?) of browsing and experimentation. There are those who will say that it is imperfect, but consider the chaos it replaces. We can certainly critique many of the author’s decisions for inclusion or exclusion of charts, but we now have a starting point from which to do so.

The Book of World Horoscopes

By: Nicholas Campion

Published by the Wessex Astrologer

38.00 GBP (about double that in USD)

671 pages, paperback.

If you have written or published an astrology book you would like reviewed on Gryphon Astrology, please contact me at nina [at] gryphonastrology.com or write to me here (don’t forget to include your contact info).

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