In the second episode of The Astrology Podcast I interview Dr. Benjamin Dykes about his new book on electional astrology, titled Choices and Inceptions: Traditional Electional Astrology.

Ben is one of the leading authorities in the world today on the subject of Medieval astrology.

His new book is a compilation of translations of several Medieval texts on electional astrology, with material from authors such as Masha’allah, Sahl bin Bishr, al-Kindi, al-‘Imrani, al-Rijal, and Bethen.

During the course of the show we talk about the book, and discuss some technical, conceptual, and philosophical issues related to the practice of elections.

Choices and Inceptions is available on Amazon.

Show Notes

Here is an outline of some of the topics that we discuss during the course of the show, in roughly the order in which we discussed them:

What is the definition of “electional astrology”? An election is a choice. An inception is a beginning.

What is the nature and scope of the book?

Which authors and texts are translated in the book?

The need to relate the election back to a nativity or a horary question, which act as a radix – a “root” or “foundation”.

Should you elect charts for people whose nativity or question promises harm or failure at that time or in that area?

Some general rules for electional astrology. Matching the electional chart with the nature of the event. The emphasis on the condition of the ruler of the ascendant and the Moon.

Briefly touch upon some controversy surrounding the definition of “void of course”.

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 2 transcript

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