Book Review: Classical Medical Astrology

Warning: Don't try anything in this book at home. The medical establishment (or more accurately, its government representatives) may come to your house and confiscate your astrology books and throw you in jail. If this happens, it's not my fault. Ha, ha, only serious.

Now that the disclaimer's out of the way, I've posted a bit on my other blog about the health care industry in America, it's problems, and the purported attempts to fix it. I say "purported" because I haven't seen anything in the recent health care reform debate to indicate that the root of the problem is even known. Yes, there is waste, and it's also true that prescription drugs and hospital visits are appallingly expensive. But here's the thing: the prescription drugs and hospital visits would be worth every penny if they worked. By "worked," I mean that if you take a prescription or visit the hospital, the problem that induced you to seek help is gone, permanently, at some point in the near future. If you have to keep taking the drugs, the treatment didn't work; the problem is still there, it's just being masked by the drugs. If you have to go back to the hospital because your cancer came back somewhere else, the treatment didn't work.

Now, hospital visits and prescriptions work well for things like a broken arm, or strep throat. For other conditions like high blood pressure and acid reflux, treatment (not a cure) is the best we can hope for. But what if there are alternative methods that would work better and cost less? Should we really refuse to consider them just because they don't conform to our scientific model?

The alternative option I want to talk about today is outlined in Classical Medical Astrology: Healing with the Elements by Oscar Hofman. This book is not for beginners, but astrologers will find the basic concepts of medical astrology here and pointers to other sources. Non-astrologers may want to read the book anyway for a new perspective on what is possible using this method, and what was done in the past. The book starts with some background history, then goes on to explain the classical medical model, including the four humors, which correspond to the four classical elements. After describing how astrology fits in to this model, the book has some case studies that serve to illustrate the different concepts. There is also information about using herbs and crystals to help in treatment.

Now, none of this will ever be FDA-approved. Medical astrology just doesn't fit the model. Double-blind testing doesn't work if different people respond differently to treatments, which for that reason have to be customized. But please remember that the current scientific medical model got us where we are today. For better results, we may have to expand the model.