Author: Jim Lewis with Kenneth Irving
Foreward by Erin Sullivan
(Editor of the Penguin Arkana Series)
Price: UKŁ12 US$13.95 Aus$17.95 Can$17.99

The prodigious talent of the late, great Jim Lewis has finally been bottled. This book is a condensation of the best part of Jim's lifework. How it ever got to print is an achievement in itself - largely down to the persistence and vision of Erin Sullivan and the painstaking and meticulous work of Ken Irving.

For those of you who know nothing of Astro*Carto*Graphy and Jim Lewis - visit our A*C*G pages.

What the book captures is Jim's Plutonian (Pluto rising) powerful message in his Geminian (Gemini Sun) guise of light humour. Early on we come to a key point entitled Shadowed Planets. Forget telling someone about their lines until you know what's going on in the Natal Chart.

Moving on to the "Zen and the Art of (Not) Cookbooking" section - every variation of A*C*G line is delineated with a punchy heading followed by a colourful description of possible experiences. As an astrologer I had the rare experience of finding that many of outlines provided some new insight or turn-of-phrase that added to my conscious perception of the planetary position or combination.

The word games in the headings range from the I-Ching: Mercury/Venus The Taming Power of the Small, to Shakespeare: Mercury/Mars Trippingly over Your Tongue, but the best and most acute are pure Jim Lewis originals. Sun/Uranus Idealists know best - just ask one. Mercury/Saturn The Alchemy of Drudgery, Mars on the Ascendant Your best friends won't tell you, Mars on the Descendant It's all their fault, Uranus on the IC Even Black Sheep have fun.

I'd recommend buying the book for the headings alone. However don't let me leave with the impression that this is a light-weight tome. It's superb, practical astrology in an appealing package.

While the Jim Lewis A*C*G Handbook (that comes with the maps) published 20 years previously, remains an excellent basic manual enabling anyone without any expertise in astrology to read their A*C*G map. The Psychology of Astro*Carto*Graphy more than just fills a critical gap in the library of all astrologers and astrology students, it will become the 'bible' for anyone who wishes to study locational astrology.

Orbs
Since Jim died, there has been some confusion about orbs for A*C*G lines. One reason is that it appears that Jim revised his orbs from 300-400 miles (which equates to 1/4 inch on a standard A*C*G map) either side of an ACG line to anything up to 700 miles (1/2 inch either side). (see Jim's comments on orbs in his A*C*G handbook when compared to his writings in the later Cyclo*Carto*Graphy handbook).

On page 23 of the book, the wider orb of 700 miles (which is about 10.5 degrees) is quoted, though in the appendix the narrow orb of around 4 degrees is used. I discussed this with Ken Irving who confirmed that the standard orb was around 300 miles, though in certain situations a maximum orb of 700 miles should be considered.

Of course, how wide is an orb is very much like how long is a piece of string? Every astrologer has personal views on the subject and orbs must vary according to a number of conditions.

Robert Currey, [Cert. A.C.G. Consultant]