Lewi devised a unique approach to astrological
interpretation based upon equating house and sign indications. He also utilized
certain psychological considerations at a time when astrology was more
event-oriented. He used transits exclusively for predictive purposes. This
approach was developed in his Astrology for the Millions and certain of
his magazine articles. Lewi's two major works, Astrology for the Millions
and Heaven Knows What, remain popular to the present day and have
introduced countless numbers of people to astrology.
| Astrology, bar sinister in the escutcheon of astronomy, maintains a unique and lonely position in human thought. It is "believed in" by a lot of people who know practically nothing about it; and it is "disbelieved in" by even more who know absolutely nothing about it. Of no other art or science can this be said. Everything else, however lofty, however universal, is dwarfed by the crusade of the individual seeking for peace on earth. History is the history of this search of man, as he has prowled up and down the earth in war and in peace--of his efforts to relate himself more satisfyingly to the conditions of his existence. These efforts have produced religion, science, art, literature, metaphysics--in a word, what we call civilization and culture. At the center of them all is man himself, who in all ages, on whatever deity he may rely, always finds himself forced, for the ultimate solution of his perplexities, back into the mystery that is himself. As if by inescapable instinct, each individual seems to know that he carries in himself the root and germ of all that he is and may become. He seeks for knowledge and acquires it; he struggles for power and gains possessions; he rants aloud at the unfairness of circumstances or blesses the gods for what he calls luck. Yet deep beneath all this he knows that the final and irreducible sum total of his happiness lies in the secret of himself; and that any means by which he may approach the mystery of self-understanding is the most important thing in the world. Because of this, the human race is lavish in heaping honors on the head of the poet, the philosopher, the psychoanalyst--on those men who are devoted to the study of man himself. They are man's foremost friends and servants, for whatever assists man in the achievement of self-knowledge, and therefore of self-mastery and happiness, belongs in the permanent treasure house of human possessions. The endurance of astrology is one of the surest indexes of the value man places on himself and his destiny. Its roots are planted five thousand years ago, in the lore of Israel; and its branches include every race that has a history. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Chinese, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Indians, all had their astrology. The Greeks acquired it from the East, and the western world inherits it today. First carefully guarded, it was part of the Hermetic doctrine of the priests of Isis, by which they ruled the masses of the Egyptians. Later it became the luxury of kings and captains, a means of determining propitious moments for victory and of guarding against or slaying enemies. From esoteric and private uses, it evolved, till today we have it for what it is: a science dealing with inner, and ultimate, causes behind human conduct. It has escaped from the airs of mystery, the odors of sanctity that surrounded it when priests used it to frighten and subjugate their flocks. There are many poor astrologers. There are many dishonest astrologers. There are many ignorant astrologers. There are many people reading and selling horoscopes who are not astrologers at all, but promoters, hack writers and petty racketeers. Now in pointing out that these arguments--the classics generally used against astrology--are not really arguments at all, I have not, of course, proved the truth of astrology. Far from it. I have merely cleared away the smoke of prejudice and confusion, in order that we may examine the subject on its own merits. It is the fashion today not to believe in astrology, just as long ago it was the fashion to believe in it. Astrology for the Millions, fourth edition, 1969. A Reader's Commentary - Llewellyn Publishing's recent editions of Grant Lewi's classic, Astrology for the Millions, have been extensively edited, sometimes importing paragraphs wholesale, and everywhere changing Lewi's words and sometimes his substantive arguments. At Carlo Ravin's request, this sampling of Lewi's writing, originally drawn from the sixth revised edition, has been corrected using the more accurate fourth edition, and the additions and changes have been expunged. What you see here is, hopefully, Lewi's own words, not those of Llewellyn's editors. Dale Huckeby, May 2007 |
