This is not a dictionary of astrological terms, as may be inferred from the title. Volume I is a dictionary of translations, providing an immediate and complete reference to almost every word in the English language as it converts to its astrological equivalent. Volumes II and III consist of the reverse format with astrological aspects translated into English words and phrases.

With the DICTIONARY of ASTROLOGY the reader is able to extract aspects from the horoscope and obtain a host of meaningful derivations from them in a matter of hours. So comprehensive is this work that it enables those people quite new to astrology to reach a stage of chart interpretation in a matter of days, bringing the novice into line with the current expert, an accomplishment that in the past usually required anything from three to five years or more.

Some of the translations in the dictionary are well-known to traditional astrology but a great many of them are new. They are the product of forty years' research into esoteric astrology and the collective unconscious. The term 'new astrology' has been coined for this work as an indication of the unique and innovative contribution it has made to the sacred science. The techniques introduced, including the production of visual images, 'thinking in categories', and the propositioning of the inner Self, have revolutionised the art of interpretation.

The new astrology uses the symbols that one confronts in dreams, lucigrams, and meditations as well as those in everyday experiences. All of the latter, subjective and objective, can be translated into astrological glyphs. Everything, whether it be a material object, an abstract idea, an emotional affect or an action, is an outward expression of astrological archetypes, existing in the collective unconscious. Everything that can be conceived of or visualised is an image or symbol that can be classified according to its astrological affinities or rulerships. In the words of the English Master: "The new astrology unwraps the sweets of the higher consciousness (spiritual complexes) which the inner Self pushes towards you."

The DICTIONARY of ASTROLOGY is designed to read as simply as any language dictionary, such as English into French. It serves to bridge the gulf which exists between two worlds. The two worlds in this instance are not those of people from radically different backgrounds but those of an individual and his or her own horoscope. The DICTIONARY of ASTROLOGY is the ideal guidebook to the horoscope. The permutations of astrology provide personal meanings that are uniquely related to the individual horoscope. They are rungs on a ladder that climbs to the immortal higher Self and they are guidelines to a practical outward expression that constitutes an existential approach to wholeness and helps us 'live in both worlds more'.

The astrologer should see God in manifestation around him - every action, 'good', 'bad', malefic or benign, is an expression of the Logos - 'The One in Whom we live and move and have our being.' Likewise every object about us, as an expression of the Logos, should have its own image or symbol which connects it with the heavens and the unconscious as these express the same great Being. This is the true and ultimate purpose of Man.
There is an abundance of meaning to be found within the most mundane objects and events. Paracelsus said: "There exists nothing in which there is not a hidden principle of life." Interpretation in the new astrology takes full advantage of this situation, and it is the function of the dictionary to provide a matrix of mundane imagery and symbolism for an astrological aspect, from which deeper meaning may be derived. To all things there are two meanings or more, and the dictionary is written both in the language of the day and in the metaphorical language of the unconscious. This is the same sort of imagery that the inner Self uses to communicate meaning in lucigrams and dreams. Indeed, the vast majority of entries in the dictionary were received this way from the Nirmanakaya who was Plato; this is known as the Claregate Method. They are metaphors and symbols, meant to speak to your higher mind and appeal to your intuition. You read meaning into them.

The DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGY may also be used to interpret the imagery that arises in your dreams, lucigrams and meditations. There is nothing you can dream of that is not located in your own horoscope (unless you are positing someone else's chart). Dreams can give meaning to the various regions of your chart; meaning that comes from your inner Self. Look up the word or image in Volume I and then try to locate the aspects in your horoscope. This way you will be able to relate the dream to everything else you know about that area of your horoscope. You may even 'incubate' dreams by brooding and meditating on an aspect and writing it in your spiritual diary before you go to sleep. This is the Claregate Method.

True meaning comes from beyond the intellect. What flows out of the divine will have layers of meaning; having one interpretation is unsatisfactory. If we wish to enlist the help of the inner Self in astrological interpretation and derive real insight, then we must be prepared to speak His language, to think in terms of category and morphology, and to use visual images.

Another feature of Volume I of the dictionary is that it is a great learning and teaching device. Take any piece of written material in English and go through it, parsing the words. In such an easy manner, the basics of the new astrology will be readily absorbed and understood. If you are in the early stages of learning, you can use Volume I to check another astrologer's interpretation of your horoscope and find additional information. For example, Mars in your horoscope is about many things, including sex, and from it the astrologer will proceed to tell you all about your sexuality. By looking up these sexual factors in the dictionary you can get a 'second opinion'; you can find out for yourself and not just accept what you have been given.

Orthodox astrologers, desperate to express the changing values of mankind more adequately, and severely restricted by the double rulership of some Signs, chase after moon's nodes, angles of declination, fixed stars, abstruse and questionable orbs and aspects, etc., instead of exploring the enormous reservoirs of permutations that are offered by the twelve planets of esoteric rulership and exploring interpretation more effectively.

Astrology should bring a living religion into a way of life. It should hint at, point to, and by sweet innuendoes, embrace that which is ineffable - indescribable, wonderful, sacred- that part of the unconscious which always impinges upon our every thought, word and deed, no matter how lightly. Those who wish to make rapid progress on the path of spiritual unfoldment will find the dictionary an invaluable adjunct to the spiritual diary, enabling them to interpret dream and meditational imagery with a greater depth of perception and to find the counterpart of it in their own horoscopes. By means of positing aspects in the spiritual diary and recording the feedback from the unconscious mind, a dialogue with the soul or inner Self may be established in which a wealth of hidden meaning can be revealed in the chart. BAKER'S DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGY for the TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY is the definitive phrase book and guide to the inner dialogue.

The DICTIONARY of ASTROLOGY also provides a unique and practical text for the professional astrologer. It is not meant to replace already established methods and it does not purport to give the only interpretation of an aspect. It could be regarded in the delineation or even consultation, as a 'second opinion' to the professional's own wise counselling. Sometimes even the best astrologers get stuck in interpretation - from these pages they may learn of a way through.
As it is with life itself, sometimes the truth is not palatable to those who are confronted with it; at such times, truth must be expressed in other ways. The new astrology takes cognisance of this and this dictionary offers alternatives to bald statements and factual utterances, which nevertheless, to the psyche as a whole, are just as valid.

This dictionary is not meant to intrude upon the learning or opinions of other astrologers. It is intended as a contribution to the vast store of knowledge that is evolving into the art and science of astrology. The dictionary represents the findings of the forty years I have used astrology as a psychological and medical tool and includes the contribution of many of my graduate students who, together as a group, have made this work possible. Students of Alice Bailey will be pleased to find a pragmatic use for the esoteric astrology laid out in the Tibetan's work.