Astrology

　　「本書探索人們對意義、目的、以及神聖的永恆追尋」--- 英國藝術創意媒體It’s Nice That

　　全球藝術指標出版社TASCHEN在2020年末推出首部《秘傳圖書館》系列(Library of Esoterica)，以精細、富創意的視覺圖像呈現人類跟神性的連結。繼系列第一冊《Tarot塔羅完整視覺百科》獲得亞馬遜讀者5顆星盛讚，再推出好評第二彈:《占星術》。

　　書中收錄捷克藝術家慕夏(Alphonese Mucha)、抽象藝術先驅克林特(Hilma af Klint)、印度國寶級藝術家辛格(Arpita Singh)、超現實插畫大師波門(Manzel Bowman)等人創作，反映出黃道帶輪及星球的運行。

　　人類自有文明起，就開始從天象尋求意義。幾千年來占星術的核心始終是天體運行，以及天象跟人類生活的關係。人們也透過研究占星術理解自我和世界，並激發出對天體的崇敬。

　　「星座」可能是現代人最熟悉的占星術，但占星術的源頭得追溯到古代的美索不達米亞。正如作者理查茲(Andrea Richards)在本書所言，占星術和天文學曾被重疊運用，好比古夫金字塔國王大殿是配合星座所建造，甚至義大利天文學家伽利略也曾繪製天宮圖。

　　隨著啟蒙運動和科學的誕生，占星術逐漸轉移到文學、藝術和心理學等其他領域，並影響了歌德、拜倫和布雷克等藝術家和思想家。而神智學及新時代運動的興起也改變了占星術的面貌。

　　這本《占星術》全方位視覺百科是目前市面上關於西方占星術內容最完整的著作，特別邀請國際頂尖占星師蘇珊·米勒(Susan Miller)引言，並收錄占星名師漢德(Robert Hand)、蘭雅朵(Jessica Lanyadoo)以及伍茲(Mecca Woods)等人的專訪。

From the beginning of human history, individuals across cultures and belief systems have looked to the sky for meaning. The movement of celestial bodies and their relation to our human lives has been the central tenant of astrology for thousands of years. The practice has both inspired reverence and worship, and deepened our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

While modern-day horoscopes may be the most familiar form of astrological knowledge, their lineage reaches back to ancient Mesopotamia. As author Andrea Richards recounts in Astrology, the second volume in TASCHEN’s Library of Esotericaseries, astronomy and astrology were once sister sciences: the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza was built to align with constellations, Persian scholars oversaw some of the first observatories, and even Galileo cast horoscopes for the Medicis. But with the Enlightenment and the birth of exact science, the practice moved to places where mystery was still permitted, inspiring literature, art, and psychology, and influenced artists and thinkers such as Goethe, Byron, and Blake. Later movements like the Theosophists and the New Agers, would thrust the practice into the mainstream.

Edited by Jessica Hundley, this vibrant visual history of Western astrology is the first ever compendium of its kind, exploring the symbolic meaning behind more than 400 images, from Egyptian temples and illuminated manuscripts to contemporary art from across the globe. Works by artists from Alphonese Mucha and Hilma af Klint to Arpita Singh and Manzel Bowman are sequenced to mirror the spin of the planets and the wheel of the zodiac. With wisdom from new interviews with astrologers like Robert Hand, Jessica Lanyadoo, and Mecca Woods, Astrology celebrates the stars and their mysterious influence on our everyday lives.