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Astrology, Astronomy & Mythology

The books on these pages are selections from my personal library and serve as a bibliography for this website. I've picked them for their relevance and readability. I can't promise that these books won't disappoint some readers, but I haven't listed books that disappointed me.  Amazon's descriptions and reader reviews are useful in deciding whether to purchase.

Purchasing books helps to offset the costs of researching and sponsoring this website.

ASTROLOGY

Alan Oken's Complete Guide to Astrology  The most comprehensive book I could find on contemporary astrology. The author also provides historical background including the Bible and ancient mythology.

Astrology: a History by Peter Whitfield. An big picture book that would satisfy most readers. Covers from Babylonian astrology to the 19th century. Has a generous amount of illustrations.

Kabbalistic Astrology by Joel C. Dobin.  A Rabbi finds the Bible a source of astrological truth. It's the only book on this page written from a Jewish perspective.

Stowe's Bible Astrology by Lyman E. Stowe. This was one of my introductory books on the subject. Some of it is outdated, but it presents a good overview with some valuable nuggets of information.

Christian Astrology

I mention these books for reference. They were written by apologists, trying to use astrology to defend Christianity. At minimum they amount to an admission of a connection. When mining for information, these are last on my list.

Gospel in the Stars by Joseph A. Seiss. 

Mazzaroth by Frances Rolleston.

Witness of the Stars by E. W. Bullinger. 

Astronomical Myths

The New Patterns in the Sky by Julius D. W. Staal.  This book is my all time favorite. The author was an astronomer and an authority on myths and legends of the constellations. I found him particularly useful because he explains how the patterns give rise to the legends.

The Starlore Handbook by Geoffrey Cornelius. Not as good as New Patterns by a slight margin, but it adds other insights and has a better overview on how to observe the constellations.

Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans by Theony Condos. The myths don't cover much new territory but the star charts in the appendix provide an invaluable picture of the zodiac with the constellations in life form. The author has a website: Star Myths.

Devil's Pulpit: or Astro-Theological Sermons by Robert Taylor. This book was written around 1825 by a former priest who eventually saw the astrological connections in the Bible. He's wordy, but I found some invaluable nuggets information.

Christianity Before Christ by John G. Jackson. This is one of my favorite references. It covers the ancient myths and the astronomy that relate to Christianity. It has a very readable style.

The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S.  This book has been a best seller and deserves to be. Her book is packed with tidbits on Christianity's pagan legacy, and she does it with outstanding wit.

Sons of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled  by Acharya S. A sequel to The Christ Conspiracy, she proves the non-historicity of popular religious figures such as Krishna, Buddha and Christ.

Jesus Christ, Sun of God by David Fideler. There is a lot of Greek mathematics and philosophy behind John 1:1, "the Word was God." The author explains the esoteric knowledge upon which Christianity is based.

The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries by David Ulansey. Mithraism celebrates the constellations of Perseus and Taurus. The author makes a convincing case that Taurus, the home town of Paul was the center of Mithraism. The two religions have much in common. 

Star Names and Their Meanings by Richard Hinckley Allen. The author collected from scattered sources the origins of star lore as far back as records permit.  I found a lot of good clues in this book.

Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths & Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars & Planets by Dr. E. C. Krupp. Takes a world survey of the astronomical myths around the world. 

astronomy

The Cambridge Guide to the Constellations by Michael E. Bakich.  This is more of a technical guide for star watchers. It has a lot of  useful tables such as their relative visibility, the original constellations and timetables.

The Heavens Map by National Geographic. This is a poster size map which presents the stars and the constellations covering the full scope of the zodiac. 

Your Sky by John Walker. This is astronomy freeware which you can download into you computer. I used it extensively for locating the the time and positions of the stars. 

The Classical Constellations Reproduced from the 1795 edition of The Constellations by Eratosthenes. I've used these maps extensively for decoding the Bible.

The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy by James Evens. It traces ideas from ancient Babylon to sixteenth-century Europe with greatest emphasis on the Greek period. This is a technical book for serious students of the history of astronomy.

Mythology

World Mythology by Roy Willis. A great compendium of ancient myths from around the world, contains lavish illustrations.

The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth & Religion by Simon Price & Emily Kearns. Reads like a Who's Who in the classical world. Very complete but does not go into a lot of depth.

Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Narrative accounts from classical mythology: creation, heroes, Trojan War, love and adventure, families of mythology, less important myths and Norse myths.

Bullfinch's Mythology by Alberto Manguel & Thomas Bullfinch. Written in 1855, this has become a classic on ancient and medieval myths.

Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B. C. by Samuel Noah Kramer. This is a scholarly book. Comes with narration and transliterate copies of the original sources. 

Mesopotamian Myths: The Legendary Past by Henrietta McCall. Covers the earliest myths: Gods and mortals, Gilgamesh and the flood, the epic of creation and shorter myths.

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others by Stephanie Dalley. Reprints actual texts with narrative explaining their background.

Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black & Anthony Green. This is a dictionary style book.

Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends by Lewis Spence. This collection of myths covers a lot of territory

Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology (The World Mythology Series) by Geraldine Harris, David O'Connor, John Sibbick.

Egyptian Myths (The Legendary Past) by George Hart. Covers the major motifs with background to their origins.

Heroes, Gods & Emperors from Roman Mythology (The World Mythology Series) by Kerry Usher, John Sibbick.

The Myths of Greece and Rome by H. A. Guerber. An excellent collection of thirty myths. In narrative form. 

Persian Myths (The Legendary Past) by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis.

Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy & Sister Nivedita.

The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology & Salvation in the Ancient World by David Ulansey. Discusses the evolution of scholarly research that went into understanding what Mithra and the bull symbolized.

Old Testament Parallels: Law and Stories from the Ancient Near East by Victor H. Matthews, Don C. Benjamin. Arranged in biblical order. Shows similarities with other ancient texts.

The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels by Alexander Heidel. Covers the full text of the Gilgamesh epic, death and the afterlife, flood myths and others.

The Origins of Biblical Traditions: Hebrew Legends in Babylonia and Israel by Albert T. Clay. Explains the origins of the Garden of Eden and the Fall, the Sabbath, Antediluvian patriarchs and the flood story. 

Parallel Myths by J. F. Bierlein. A collection of myths from around the world. Arranged by category. 

Fairy tales

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Johnny Gruell & Jack Zipes. 

Complete Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson & Lily Owens. 

Aesop's Fables: Oxford World's Classics by Laura Gibbs

Related Links

Astrology Weekly Astrology articles and information updated weekly.

Starry-Eye.com The stars tell all. They provide guidance indicating time, direction and possibility. They give knowledge describing creation, existence and dissolution.

Christianity condemns astrology Somehow over the centuries, the astrological foundations of the Bible was lost. Church officials condemn astrology in no uncertain terms.

Constellation Myths An anthology of the constellations and their related myths.