Alan Oken

Oken's explanation of the rulers in the 12 houses was what I was looking for. The book is worth a read for this last section alone. I felt that the rest of it was too precise, almost to the point of tediousness.

The first section deals with planets, their strengths and debilitations in the various signs. There's some theories, like Mercury not performing well in Libra (but it's an air sign!!) which were very curious to me. He doesn't explain his justifications, which I found baffling, but...*shrugs*. Oken uses both the traditional and modern sign rulers. His flexibility may rankle some people.

The second section deals with the chart rulers and their aspects to each other. This I quite enjoyed.

On overall, I could foresee this as a keeper, for any serious astrology student looking to grasp both the intuitive and logical parts of chart interpretation.… (mere)

The focus of this book is house dispositorships: if the planet that rules one house is in this other house, what is the significance of that combination? This is a technique that comes from traditional astrology, and I'm delighted that another book has been written about it, aimed toward students of modern astrology. However, I am too much a traditional astrologer myself to fully enjoy it; Oken's use of the modern rulerships (using Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto as the rulers of Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio respectively—he also flirts with the idea of Pluto as a co-ruler of Aries) resulted in my arguing with the book more than getting anything useful out of it. I recommend this book for modern astrologers, but would warn traditional astrologers that it may be too frustrating to be worth the reading time.… (mere)

If you are an advanced astrologer and a student of the esoteric teachings by Alice Bailey, this book will be most helpful. Oken succeeds in making Bailey's "Esoteric Astrology" more comprehensible. It contains a short study of the Seven Rays and examples of the way a soul-centered horoscope can be delineated. (It must be understood that it is not possible to find your own personal Rays from your personal chart.) It is one of the best books about esoteric astrology, together with the book by Errol Weiner: "Transpersonal Astrology."… (mere)

If you're looking for a playful and light book about astrology, then this book is NOT for you. This book is quite serious and academic with tons of valuable information. It delves quite deep into the history of astrology and this forms the foundation of this book. It's written and reads like a text book. As an amateur astrologer, I found this book very helpful and I have recommended it to anyone who is rather serious about learning astrology. It's a must-have for anyone wanting to approach their interest in the stars and their horoscopes with any degree of seriousness.… (mere)