My Top Three Astrology Books for Absolute Beginners
There is a part of me who just wants to read and recommend books all day long. Am I the type of person who while in the process of reading a book is already writing a post in my head on how I would review and/or recommend said book? Yes, yes I am. It’s one of the ways that I synthesize information, trying to understand out where things fit in my web of knowing and learning, and figuring our whether or not a resource feels useful. I also just like imaging that I am a librarian.*
So, while I do recommend books occasionally in my newsletter and increasingly over at my patreon, I realized that recommendations for beginner-level astrology books on the blog was long overdue. So here is a list of three books that I love to help get you started on your astrology studies!
You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas
I love Chani Nicholas. I love the ways that she has played a pivotal role in expanding and re-membering the world of western astrology into the vast and inclusive space that it is. If you don't already follow her and support her work please do (in fact, I think Chani might've been the first person I supported in a monthly, patron-style basis). In addition to her amazing horoscopes, she offers online courses (they are beautiful and beginner-friendly), some of my favorite playlists, and now you can watch her read charts of the likes of Janet Mock and more. (Also, her wife runs the incredible Freefrom - heck yeah to lesbian power-with couples).
So as you can imagine, I ordered her book the moment it came out earlier this year and it was a very good investment. The focus of Chani's book is tight which is super useful to some one brand new to astrology. She walks us through the three foundational keys of your birth chart - your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant. The Sun and Moon in western astrology are traditionally known as the Luminaries and along with the Ascendant can tell you a lot about a chart. Through exploring these three keys, Chani also introduces the reader to a number of other important parts of a birth chart including the elements, houses, aspects and more, all delivered in Chani's approachable and inclusive style. What shines through with all of Chani's work is that she loves the art of astrology and loves teaching it in a way that will help folks experience the power of homecoming and radical self-acceptance that knowing our stars offers us. Chani also brings the best of feminist and queer creative thinking to her work - yes, the language is built to invite us in and make astrology feel like a friendly tool as opposed to some obscure and fatalistic art, but she always makes space for the sacred mystery inherent in the practice and learning how to move within such places.
I hope that this is one of many books and other such projects from Chani. As a tool to accompany You Were Born For This she created her own birth chart generator which is my favorite online tool for beginners just getting to know their chart (and, well, anyone really). She's already been updating it and expanding its capabilities since premiering it since last year because she is a generous star queen. So if you're looking for an easy-to-use book that will help you understand how to read the basics of the birth chart and leave you feeling empowered and starry-hearted, check out Chani's work.
You Were Born For This is for those folks who are brand new to astrology but know that there is more to their birth chart than their Sun sign and are excited to learn more.
Edit: A few months after posting this, Chani released her membership-based astrology app. It is an excellent and inspiring resource - I highly recommend it!
Astrology for Yourself: A Workbook for Personal Transformation by Douglas Bloch and Demetra George
I was first exposed to the work of Demetra George not as an astrologer but as a feminist spirituality scholar with her book Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. She is the type of author that writes with depth and reverence and research (i.e. my love language) and is well-respected as an elder within western astrology. Her expertise is in Hellenic astrology, which forms the foundation for much of western astrology, and she's revived aspects of chart reading such as bringing Goddesses (as embodied in asteroids) back into readings. Even though she's an expert able to speak fluently on a number of complex astological traditions both ancient and modern, she's co-written with Douglas Bloch one of the best astrological guides for beginners, which takes a profound level of skill as a teacher.
What I love about Astrology for Yourself is that it really is a workbook that not only helps you to understand components of your chart, but to learn to speak the story of your birth chart. It's why the book is not only helpful for teachers like myself seeking out resources to help students begin to navigate their own birth charts, but for absolute beginners who want to gaze into their birth chart and see themselves reflected back in it. Astrology for Yourself is the book for folks who like workbook style learning (i.e. where you go along filling in information about your own chart as you learn) as well as a full overview of nearly everything a beginner needs to know about their chart. And, fun fact, Demetra George is one of Chani Nicholas' teacher and it's really beautiful to see the ways that Demetra's work has informed Chani's.
Astrology for Yourself is for those folks who want to be enrolled in their first year at astrology school - this is the first year in book form.
Chart Interpretation Handbook by Stephen Arroyo
Astrological “cookbooks” seem to be the most easily found in any metaphysical section of a book store. These are the books that list out (often short) descriptions of each sign and aspect of a birth chart. It’s where a lot of some of the worst tendencies of astrology can come out such as the harmful stereotyping of signs (Leos are drama queens! Scorpios sleep around and are sooo kinky!) and oversimplication of chart dynamics.
Side note: Look, modern western astrology is associated with womxn and when anything is seen as a “woman’s thing” there is plenty of misogyny and harmful enforcement of binary boundaries to be found. Popular, mass-produced, and, I would argue, unethical astrology is ripe with it. If the art of astrology is reduced down to a new age personality test for womxn, then of course signs that are powerful and confident (hello, Leos!) or ones associated with healthy, self-expressive sexuality (hello, Scorpios!) are going to be denigrated. The examples of this are plentiful and one of the reasons I avoided studying astrology for so long. This sort of reductionism in astrology is tiresome, un-creative, and I recommend avoiding it. Astrology should be empowering so be sure to seek out the sources which help you fall in love with all that you are.
So what makes this astrology cookbook different? Stephen has used the cookbook model while maintaining a commitment to presenting astrology as a system of holistic flexibility. He’s conscious of the dynamic of cookbook style books to lead to reductionism and harm, so he’s purposeful in his choice of words and also takes time to simply and effectively communicate some key themes to chart interpretation without overwhelming the new student. It is one of those books that is easily passed around a group of friends as each of you dive into what different parts of your birth chart mean - and that’s great! Astrology should be something which brings us together rather than create these harsh divisions between different signs.
The Chart Interpretation Handbook is for those folks who want something as accessible as Chani’s book but a bit more in-depth but not a whole introductory course to astrology that you’ll find in Astrology for Yourself.
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What are some of your favorite astrology books for beginners?
We are currently going through a publishing boom when it comes to astrology and I’m excited to see what other books I’ll be learning from in the years to come. My overall guideline is that if you’re reading through an astrology book and the interpretations that the author is offering makes you feel bad about yourself, uninspired or confused, pass it on and find something else. It took me years to find astrological resources that spoke to me and made me feel seen and empowered - you deserve to feel that way, too.
If you’re looking for a my recommendations for medical astrology, I’m working on an expanded list from what you’ll already find here. Keep updated on when a more extensive resource list on medical astrology is released by signing up for my newsletter.
May your stars speak to you, whispering the secret and most true names you keep etched on your heart, reflecting back the ways that you have been shaped and the wisdom that you carry.
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*Hello, librarian friends, who read the sentence above about my fantasy of being a librarian and perhaps thought, “Ha! Recommending books? That’s like number 384 on the list of things I do as a protector of public access to information, safe spaces for folks to learn about themselves and the world, managing all sorts of human rights and mental health issues, organizing rooms for dogs so that kids can read to them, cleaning books (why is this so sticky?!), feeding and educating kids, dealing with the endless wave of beauracracy trying to strip the libraries of resources all the friggin’ time. Need I go on!?” Friends, you’re the absolute, underpaid, and overworked best. May we grow a world where you have to carry less of the burden of protecting public freedoms and more of just recommending the latest and greatest queer romance novel.