Books by Alan Leo

This book first appeared in 1911. Alan Leo himself described it as the most remarkable book ever published. In his previous books Leo told us how to calculate and interpret charts, with a distinctly Theosophical slant. In this book, Leo (1860-1917), gives the prize secrets of the astrologer's craft. Among them, delineations for the Ruler of the Ascendant (aka chart ruler), including by sign and house. More broadly, he delineates each of the planets through the twelve houses in order to turn it about and delineate the rulers of those houses, based on the nature of the houses themselves: Finance (2), Travel (3), Environment (5), Enterprise (5), Sickness (6), Marriage and marriage prospects (7), Legacies (8), Philosophy (9), Profession (10), Friends (11), and the Occult (12). What do these houses in your chart say about you? Peek inside and find out! Based on his lifetime's study, Leo gives succinct chart summaries. What life will be like if the majority of planets in your chart were in the East or West, above or below the horizon, or the majority in fire, or air, or water, or earth signs, as well as cardinal, fixed or mutable. He gives special emphasis to the luminaries (Sun and Moon), delineating the pair of them both by element, as well as in all 144 possible combinations of signs (polarities). In every chart there is a rising planet. Leo delineates it. The Moon's sign at birth gives a distinct color to the aura. Leo will tell you what yours is. What will the future bring? Leo gives delineations for progressed planets, including the progressed Moon by both sign and house. He concludes the book with a delineation for the King of England, George V. In his life, Alan Leo reintroduced astrology to the western world, a phenomenal achievement.

In 1917 at the height of his fame, Alan Leo was charged with fortune-telling, which was illegal, and taken to court. He had been tried on similar charges in 1914, which had been dismissed. But the charges brought in 1917 stuck. Leo was given a hefty fine. As winning on appeal seemed unlikely, Leo paid the fine and went to Cornwall for a rest, where on 30 August, 1917, he unexpectedly died of a cerebral hemorrhage, aged 57. His friends blamed it on the strain of the court proceedings.At the time of his death, this Dictionary was one of Leo''s unfinished projects. Installments of the Dictionary had appeared in Leo''s monthly magazine, Modern Astrology, up to the end of the article "Horoscope" (pgs. 130-136). That the project was long-standing is hinted by the article on Hindu Astrology (pgs. 76-101), written by Sepharial some years before and which Leo had presumably purloined. More material was in preparation, but Leo''s untimely death brought matters to a halt.By the early 1920''s, Vivian Robson had succeeded Leo as editor of Modern Astrology, a post he shared with Bessie Leo, the widow. An intense, scholarly type, Robson stumbled across bound copies of Leo''s incomplete book while he was compiling his own astrological dictionary. At the suggestion of Bessie, Robson abandoned his dictionary and set about to complete Leo''s, using the many notes and fragments that Leo had left.Which was published in 1929 as Alan Leo''s final book. Shortly thereafter Bessie and Vivian had a falling out, whereupon Vivian left. This book was to be an orphan.Like its precursor, James Wilson''s Dictionary of Astrology of 1819, Leo''s book contains several full-blown monographs. Both books have lengthy entries on Horary Astrology, for example. These articles tend to break the flow of the book. For this reason the current publishers, Astro-America, have added headings to each page, that the reader may know whereabouts in the book he may be. The publishers have also added a list of principal articles to the front, as well as a complete list of entries (forming an index) in the back.Alan Leo''s Dictionary of Astrology is again in print. Profit from the wealth of knowledge it contains!