For The Medieval Astrology Lover

Chris Brennan recommends this new book on medieval astrology called: Works of Sahl and Masha’Allah and written by Ben Dykes

The Works of Sahl & Masha’allah is an astrological tour de force composed of 16 separate books on different branches of Medieval astrology, ranging from natal, horary and electional astrology, to mundane astrology and weather prediction. There are 5 works from Sahl ibn Bishr (c. early 9th century) and 11 works from Māshā’allāh bin Atharī (c. 740-c. 815), both Jewish astrologers of Persian descent who worked under the early Islamic Abbisid caliphate during the great flourishing of astrology and science that took place in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. Some of the books translated in Dykes’ volume are rather short, such as Masha’allah’s On the Interpretation of Cognition which is only 8 pages long, while others are rather lengthy, such as Sahl’s On Questions which is about 120 pages long.

The post has a long discussion of the book and its importance and if you love to read about the development of astrology you’ll probably find it is enlightening. Personally I read books on the history of astrology only rarely but this is just me as I have difficulties to find the time to sit with a book that is not too easy to read.