Jean-Baptiste Morin (1583–1656)

I wouldn't recommend tackling this book unless you're committed to learning traditional astrology. It's not a horrible book by any means, but I found it difficult to read from cover to cover. Which I'm glad I did anyway, to get a better sense of what topics Morin covers. In our age of bullet-point presentations, Morin's style can seem rambling and oddly organized, but he goes over a lot of material in this one little volume. Despite being Book 21 of the Astrologia Gallica, this is the book you should start with, because this is where Morin explains the basics. Indeed, if you want to jump right in to the heart of this book, I suggest skimming Section I and the first chapter of Section II, mostly to get a feel for Morin's terminology, and settle down with Section II Chapter II: A single planet in a house. I don't normally advocate skipping large chunks of a book, but I figure there's a practical consideration here. None of Morin's explanations will do readers any good if those readers burn out trying to make it through the first section.

So why read this at all? Because Morin has a lot to say about interpreting a chart: one planet in a house, multiple planets in a house, how to balance the influence of a planet in a house with that of the planet that rules the house, and on and on and on. He admits there's a lot to keep track of—with Morin, astrology is truly more of an intuitive art than a science. There are books by modern authors that use Morin's work, and I think they'll be useful in helping me get the most out of this—but I'm glad I've got the original as well.… (plus d'informations)