BOOKS

Jyotisha (Vedic astrology)

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Kama Yoga

Kama Yoga is a unique reference book that examines the pursuit of pleasure through relationships. Multiple examples illustrate the horoscopic combinations that will enable an astrologer to answer these many topical questions:

Who is inclined versus reluctant to marry? Who’ll defy tradition to marry against family wishes? Who’ll marry a foreigner or same-sex partner? Who’ll encounter harmony or discord in marriage? Who’ll engage in multiple relationships? Who’ll be driven by sexual passion, and of what nature?

Topics include a cultural review of marriage and sexuality, Vedic philosophy and psychology, plus a detailed primer on Jyotisha, India’s renowned system of astrology. Seven distinct protocols define the prospects for marital life, while various other techniques outline the scope of individual passions. Over 40 case studies with lively biographies guarantee an educational and entertaining read.

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Kala Sarpa

Kala Sarpa, “the serpent of time,” is an astrological pattern wherein all of the planets occupy half of the chart as defined by the axis of the moon’s nodes, Rahu and Ketu. Although one in eight people have Kala Sarpa in their charts, few know whether it constitutes a yoga, a sign of power and fortune, or a dosha, an inherent flaw that may irrevocably spoil a life.

Because it isn’t discussed in any of the classic shastras of Jyotisha, the Kala Sarpa pattern is poorly understood by clients and astrologers alike. But now, for the first time in print, this book reveals many vital elements of interpretation that were previously only part of India’ss rich oral tradition.

Although interpreting a Kala Sarpa formation can be complicated, the principles of analysis are thoroughly illustrated through the delineation of 36 charts of famous people.

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Parivartana Yoga

Parivartana Yogas are said to be among the most powerful of planetary combinations, having the capacity to link the effects of two astrological houses in a chart. However, aside from what we find explicitly in Mantreswara’s Phala Deepika, there’s little in the literature — neither in the many classics of Jyotisha, nor in modern books — to help us understand these yogas.

In this volume, an invaluable reference work for any Vedic astrologer’s library, the author describes the effects for each of the 66 combinations of house lord exchange, also known as mutual receptions. A case study of a famous person accompanies each combination.

In addition to delineations for each of the 66 combinations, the author has also given several general rules for creative analysis, thus providing the practitioner of Jyotisha — whether novice or expert — multiple techniques for further exploration.

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Stellar Astrology, Vols 1-3

Stellar Astrology, Volumes 1-3, are compilations of previously-published articles covering various topics in Jyotish, or Vedic astrology. Key principles and techniques of analysis and prediction are illustrated through a series of profiles featuring celebrities, criminals, and political figures, plus many instructive technical essays.

These are highly entertaining and informative books intended for serious students and practitioners alike, and contain some of the best astrological writing available today.

Volume 4 will be released in approximately a year’s time.

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Western sidereal astrology

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Mutual Reception

Approximately 43% of us have a mutual reception by sign in our birth chart, ie, when two planets simultaneously occupy each other’s sign. It’s a powerful combination linking the effects of two houses in a chart, yet it’s one of the least understood patterns in western astrology. This book, an invaluable reference for any astrologer’s library, describes the effects for each combination of house lord exchange.

The first section of the book defines mutual reception in various forms, and the rules under which they apply. A number of techniques make it clear how to analyze the strength of each mutual reception, identify the control planet and the affected areas of life, and determine the outcome.

There are 66 case studies, one for each combination of house lord exchange. The author provides a general interpretation for each pattern, using the example of a famous person with that same combo, and an analysis of the mutual reception in their chart, showing how to apply the various techniques.

As a concept, mutual reception is almost 2,000 years old, yet there’s been very little written about it. This book is one that astrologers will refer to again and again, not only because 43% of clients have one of these combos, but because it’s also a lesson in how astrology reveals its dignities — as a science with a map, an art with a palette — on each of which the planets leave their tracks.

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The Draconic Bowl

Most astrologers recognize the Bowl — one of seven horoscope patterns popularized by Marc Edmund Jones. Many are also familiar with Pamela Crane’s concept of the Draconic chart, wherein the lunar nodes provide a benchmark for assessing individual karma.

By merging both principles, we can identify a unique shape — the Draconic Bowl — where the nodal axis forms the rim of the bowl, and the seven visible planets are bound to one side of that axis. By applying core principles drawn from traditional astrology — Eastern and Western — the author explores the consequences of this powerful esoteric pattern, illustrated with 36 notable nativities.

When considering only the visible planets, approximately 12.5% of us have a Draconic Bowl in our charts. Among famous people, the Draconic Bowl club includes some of the most outstanding artists, athletes, criminals, intellectuals, musicians, politicians and writers of history.

Independent of charts exhibiting a Draconic Bowl, this book also provides an exhaustive interpretation of what it means to have the nodal axis in any given pair of houses around the chart. As such, it is an invaluable reference work for any astrologer, at whatever level of expertise, who has struggled to understand the consequences of the moon’s nodes, whether they be karmic or mundane.

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All books available from: Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Kobo & Smashwords

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Fiction: the New Age Noir mystery series

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Scorpio Rising

Astrologer Axel Crowe investigates the killing of a New York heiress, and discovers her death is linked to two other murders on the same day: a dot-com millionaire in San Francisco, and the team leader of a counter-terrorist project in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Trained as a criminal profiler, Crowe is summoned to New York by the brother of the murdered woman. Crowe is a man with an obscure past but a brilliant reputation who occasionally consults for the police.

More commonly, he is a finder of wayward people and stolen possessions. Despite initial stonewalling from the NYPD, Crowe profiles the killer in his own unique way — using astrology, palmistry and other unconventional techniques.

Facts are gross, but the truth is subtle, Crowe’s guru used to say. And although the truth behind this three-way conspiracy lies buried in the past, Crowe is relentless until he uncovers it.

Felonious Monk

A reporter is found dead on a Vermont ashram. Summoned by an old friend who runs the retreat, astrologer Axel Crowe barely has time to assess the situation before the police arrest his friend for murder.

Believing him innocent, Crowe suspects instead a mysterious devotee who may be ex-CIA, and the beautiful Thai woman who accompanied him to the retreat. But when Crowe follows them to New York, the woman disappears and the man threatens Crowe.

In exchange for NYPD help, Crowe agrees to take a look at a cold case file — the Riverside Rapist — who killed eight Asian women over 12 years. The timing of the murders intrigues Crowe, who sees in it an astrological signature of the killer.

Coincidence or not, the cold case overlaps some of the stories the reporter was working on — sex trafficking, heroin smuggling and the theft of religious antiquities — all from Southeast Asia. None of it hangs together until Crowe goes to Thailand, and then it all makes perfect, horrible, sense.

Soma County

When a beautiful woman dies at a California vineyard, astrologer Axel Crowe divines this was no accident. Although the police at first assume a tainted pinot noir, Crowe suspects an exotic poison.

With her best friend dead and her vineyard’s reputation in jeopardy, Crowe’s client urges him to ferret out the guilty from among a cast of immigrant workers, competing vintners and old Napa money with criminal connections.

The nexus of intrigue is a developer bent on turning the Napa Valley into a bedroom community for San Francisco. Megawati is a little person who’s surrounded himself with bodyguards, female wrestlers and fighting dogs, all attack-trained and larger than life.

In search of the vineyard’s missing foreman, Crowe teams up with a Bay Area activist who suspects kidney harvesting lies behind a local epidemic of missing persons. But the black market in body parts is international, and when Crowe follows a trail of evidence to an ashram in India, he discovers the fruit of karma is often bittersweet.