A Book That Won’t Leave Me Alone
Review by Tim Bost
http://www.FinancialCyclesWeekly.com
The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths by Bill Meridian. New York: Cycles Research Publications, 2010. ISBN 978-0-615-34525-3, 332 pages, 7.44 x 9.69. Available from www.BillMeridian.com; $39.00 for U.S. delivery; $49.00 for overseas delivery.
Okay, I confess.
I have to admit that Bill Meridian’s latest book has created a lot of consternation for me.
It’s truly an important and monumental piece of work, an extraordinary publication that’s quite unlike anything else you’re likely to find, even in the best astrological library. I have no reservations whatsoever about urging you to get a copy if you’re at all serious about astrology, about history, or about understanding the hidden dimensions of current events.
Recommending this book is not a challenge.
My problem is much more personal— The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths just won’t leave me alone. It doesn’t seem to understand that I have other things to do besides live between its covers!
I’ve had a copy of this remarkable book for more than a month now, and every time I pick it up it sucks me into its pages, wraps itself around my brain and saturates my consciousness with ideas and insights so absorbing that they linger for hours or even days, long after I’ve forced myself to put the book down and have ostensibly returned to the other tasks at hand.
Not that the experience is a bad thing, mind you. But it is truly a rare event to encounter a book so compelling, so completely preemptive of time and attention, and so profoundly rewarding in the perceptions and possibilities it provides.
The evocation of such intense engagement is even more remarkable because The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths isn’t a page-flipping, frenzied, can’t-wait-to-get-to-the-next-chapter piece of pulp fiction. You probably aren’t likely to see it on any best-seller list.
Along those lines, a word of warning is perhaps appropriate: if you’re looking for a big dose of entertaining fluff, skip this book. If you’re not already convinced that astrology has substantial value well beyond the fascination of sun sign horoscope columns, don’t bother to pick up a copy. And even if you are passionate about astrology, but are still a newcomer to the serious study of this ancient and ever-evolving craft, then you might want to delay reading this book. By all means go ahead and purchase a copy right away, though. Good astrology books have an irksome way of going out of print prematurely, and if you stick with your astrological interests you will be enormously grateful when you rediscover this book sitting on your shelf at some future date.
On the other hand, if you are ready right now for some rigorous intellectual exercise, if you are in search of fascinating insights that can open up a whole new way of perceiving the world around you, or if you are intent on exploring today’s most refined methodologies and advanced skills for unlocking the full predictive potency of genuine astrology, then don’t wait another minute. Get a copy of The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths, gather up a selection of the astrological charts you’d like to know more about, add a notepad, a refreshing beverage and a comfortable chair, and go to work. There are several reasons you won’t regret it.
In the first place, you’ll find incredibly useful stuff here. In spite of the fact that eclipses themselves are so widely referenced, not only in the astrological literature but in diverse cultural traditions as well, very little useful information has ever been published on the study of eclipse paths and the remarkable role they play.
Bill Meridian’s new book remedies that situation once and for all! You’ll find rules for eclipse interpretation, precise technical facts about how and why eclipses occur, and lots of specific suggestions for applying the special dimensions offered by eclipses and eclipse paths to both natal astrology and mundane astrology. There are dozens and dozens of painstakingly crafted examples, displaying Meridian’s remarkable comprehension of historical trends and cultural developments, as well as the personalities that animate them. Dates, details, and delineations are here in abundance, along with nearly 200 astrological charts and eclipse maps.
It’s an amazing compilation of information, not only because the examples make for such fascinating reading, but also because Bill Meridian is so generous both with his brilliant analysis and with his scintillating sense of humor (fueled, no doubt, by the frozen yogurt dispensed by Adolph Hitler, Jim Morrison, and Elvis Presley).
But The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths is also a noteworthy book because it honors and preserves the work of an astrological genius, Charles Jayne, as well as some of the particular insights that Jayne gleaned from another stellar twentieth-century astrologer, Lorne Edward Johndro. Jayne, who was one of Bill Meridian’s teachers, devoted more than 50 years to the study of eclipses, but most of his writings on the subject were scattered in periodicals and have never been collected or republished prior to the arrival of this important book. In a field that’s all too often debased by professional rivalries and muddled thinking, it’s truly refreshing to see Meridian’s articulate acknowledgement of a colleague and mentor’s ground-breaking work.
Above all, though, The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths is an inspiration. It demonstrates what can happen when creative thinking and solid scholarship are elegantly combined during three decades of dedicated and persistent study and analysis (Bill Meridian began his eclipse work in 1980). It is also a salutary and humbling reminder of the real heights to which astrology can soar, especially when it is skillfully applied to an enriched understanding of geopolitical events and the progress of cultures and nations.
And there’s much, much more. From start to finish, this book is packed with helpful insights and wonderful tidbits that can refine the accuracy of astrological forecasts and add depth and nuance to celestial interpretations. You’ll find many things here that you are unlikely to encounter in other sources, including:
That list could go on and on. And therein, quite honestly, lies the biggest potential challenge presented by The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths. This book is so rich, so densely packed with powerful information, that it's a little bit overwhelming. On several occasions I’ve come across a particularly fascinating passage in its pages, walked away completely delighted by the fresh concepts and insights tumbling around in my head for some time afterwards, and then returned to the book in an effort to locate the inspirational section once again—only to get distracted by some even more compelling part that suddenly makes sense in a new and unexpected way.
That’s all part of the fun of reading this book, but it does provoke the hope that a future edition will include a detailed index, and perhaps as well an enhanced design that would allow for a few more pages and a little less density in the presentation of the text.
These are, of course, very petty concerns, and they certainly don't diminish the substantial value of this book. Even so, enhancing this volume’s functionality as a reference resource certainly wouldn't detract from the pleasures it already provides. And maybe then I could pick up The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths to glance at a few pages without such a big risk of spending all my time indulging in the marvels that I keep discovering within its pages!
Book Review: The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths, by Bill
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Let me begin by saying I am not an eclipse novice by any means. Some years ago I did a study of the eclipse charts that fell during the
French and Russian Revolutions, linking them to people and significant events. So I freely admit, I was more than a little sceptical. Question:
What could this book add to the knowledge I already had access to? Answer: stacks. There is an avalanche of material in this book, which
has rejuvenated my thinking where eclipses are concerned.
As you would expect in a book covering eclipse paths, there are lots of great ACG charts, and these are totally fascinating. The eclipse line
for Carl Marx (born on the day of a solar eclipse) – is given. This eclipse line crosses through the USSR, China and through the marxist
states of Africa. Then there is the eclipse line of August 1st, 566, which is the eclipse prior to the birth of Mohammed, and is therfore linked
to Islam. Again its geographical path touches the lands that would later be most influenced by the Moslim faith.
However, I personally feel that the title of the book doesn’t do credit to the content. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean, by first
looking at some of the ideas in the book that engaged me, and that are not directly related to eclipse paths at all.
While it is clearly not rocket science to appreciate the importance of the eclipses that fall during a period of prolonged contact between outer
planets, however it had never occured to me to locate the one eclipse that most embodies the energy. And there will be one for sure. In view
of the upcoming square between Pluto and Uranus, this is a great piece of information to explore. I can use this information, and am glad to
have it.
I was also intrigued by the new perception the book gave me on the birth eclipse. Rose Lineman’s ”The Pre-natal Eclipse” did not explore
the possibility of using an eclipse after birth for your eclipse chart. Which eclipse you will use, will be determined by the link up between
the eclipse charts, when drawn for your birth locality and your birth chart. Which eclipse interacts best with the birth chart, and most
embodies the course of the person’s life? Of course, I immediately began to experiment with my own chart, and with the charts of friends
and family. The book also covers the importance of eclipses when they fall on one’s birthday. The eclipse on Harry Truman’s birthday for
example, on May 8th 1948, took place in the year that he was elected as President. It’s path ran accross the Indian Ocean, through Thailand,
accross China, Korea and Japan, and ended off the coast of Alaska. In June 1950 the Korean War started.
There is some interesting stuff on the Saros Cycle, and on eclipse chains. In fact the book is packed, fully loaded if you like. So before I stop
ranting on about how great this book is, after all you want to explore it yourself, I just want to finally mention the fact that some of Charles
Jayne’s original articles, the ones on the eclipses that fell during the WWII, with maps, are inclued in a separate section of the book. That’s
news. In the Baigent, Campion and Harvey book on Mundane Astrology, Charles Jayne’s work on eclipses is mentioned but never fully
explored. This book offered me the opportunity to make contact with Jayne’s original ideas through the eyes of one of his own pupils, Bill
Meridian.
I want to end this review with something not related to the book at all. This is a link to an (at least 12 year) old newspaper article that
Google came up with, while I was trying to satisfy my curiosity about Bill Meridian. I knew the name, but couldn’t place him. Well, since we
find ourselves in the midst of Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, I find it strangely fascinating, that this article makes mention of this cycle. It’s also
great to read something in which the illustrious Charles Harvey is brought back to life. He sadly died in 2000 and is one of the astrologers
who has influenced me the most. Seriously though, this book, ”The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths” by Bill Meridian….. is the all
time best book on eclipses, you can order it directly from the author’s website!! Give it a go… you will love it.
Elizabeth Hathway, DFAStrolS, QHP
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