This classic book is two decades old, but its still the best available book on the topic of examining birth charts for vocation and potential sources of income. Lois Rodden established the definitive rating system for defining the relative accuracy or inaccuracy of birth data. Her life mission was a quest to collect a massive database of accurate birth data for famous people in all fields of life for study and research purposes. These collections are now available on Astrodatabank.com.
“Money” begins with a short but valuable 41-page overview on how to examine a birth chart. It won't be sufficient for a raw beginner, but it serves adequately for advanced beginners and intermediate astrologers. The material covers the elements, house systems, and aspects; techniques that are used extensively in the rest of the text. She promotes comparisons with two house systems, Koch and Equal House. The summary of aspects is brief but succinct; Rodden has keen insights on the minor aspects: semi-squares (45 degrees); quincunxes (150 degrees); and sesquisquares, aka sesquiquadrates (135 degrees).
Chapter 5, Employment outlines indicators that may be found in the charts of people who work for others with emphasis on Mercury and the sixth house. There's a step-by-step twelve point chart summary that can be followed for creating a mundane (real-life) chart analysis. Some of the non-astrological job-hunting advice is a bit dated, since the job market has changed substantially since the book was written. The astrological techniques remain perfectly relevant. Chapter 6 moves on to indicators for self-employment; Chapter 7 covers unemployment and income from disability insurance, government sources like welfare, and retirement income.
Section 3 begins with a discussion of financial cycles, attitudes about money and possessions, and an overview of the twelve houses and how they relate to jobs and income. Chapter 12 offers tips on spotting vocational indicators in the chart. Chapter 13, Wealth discusses chart connections that show how charts indicate the potential for great wealth, followed by Chapter 14, Business Wealth, money that comes through entrepreneurial efforts. Chapter 15, Performance Wealth, pinpoints money generated by work in entertainment or sports. Chapter 16 covers Inherited Wealth, which may come from family, marriage, or being born into a royal family. Chapter 17, Lottery Winners, offers a set criteria for the charts of winners. Section 4 moves into discussions of specific chart indicators that relate to money and profession. The focus is on the Midheaven, the tenth house, and planets in the tenth house.
Every chapter is packed with illustrations of natal charts. These case studies offer specific examples of how planets and houses intertwine to produce the indicators of different kinds of jobs, vocations, and incomes. Everything presented here is the result of Rodden's decades of intense research and examination of hundreds of charts of clients and famous individuals.
Rodden's writing style is clear and precise. She outlines specific criteria for a wide spectrum of work and money-related indications that might be found in a birth chart. Using examples, Rodden discusses the transits and progressions that trigger changes of fortune, for better or worse. She provides the reader with precise tools to make astrological assessments about an important topic that is a top concern of clients. Her tone is no-nonsense and sometimes pithy, but her expertise is invaluable.
This book is an excellent resource and a must-have text for astrologers that work with client charts. It outlines how to look and what to look for in a chart when questions about career, jobs, money, and income arise during a consultation. Rodden shares what she found to be accurate and effective through her many years of work as a professional astrologer. We're fortunate that the American Federation of Astrologers, the publisher, has kept this wonderful book in print so it remains available. Lois Rodden, the Iron Lady of astrology, has passed on to the stars that she loved. This is one of her many legacies to new generations of astrologers.
There isn't another book that comes close to providing such a comprehensive, focused overview of this topic. Very highly recommended for every astrologer who wants to have a good grasp on this fundamental topic.
~review by Elizabeth Hazel
Author: Lois M. Rodden
AFA, 1994
272 pg, $23.95
