James Holden

Personal

Vocation

American astrologer, scholar and writer. Research Director of the American Federation of Astrologers since 1982. Trained as a linguist - he has a degree in English Literature with a minor in Foreign Languages (Latin, German, French, and Russian) and as a scientist (he holds a second B.A. in Pure Mathematics with a minor in Physics), Holden has translated numerous astrological books and articles from Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Some of the translations are: Albumasar's 'Book of Flowers', Abu 'Ali's 'The Judgments of Nativities', Masha'allah's short 'Book of Nativities', Sahl ibn Bishr's 'Five Books on Horary and Electional Astrology, Porphyry's 'Introduction to the Tetrabiblos', Paul of Alexandria's 'Introduction', Rhetorius the Egyptian's 'Compendium of Astrology', and Brahy's Autobiography. Through his prodigious translation efforts, he has made available to the English speaking community 9 of the twenty-six books from Jean-Baptiste Morin's magnum opus, Astrologia Gallica. Holden’s choice of translations - Books 13, 14, 15, 17,19, 22, 23, 24, and 25 - gives the student and the professional access to a traditional form of astrology as formulated and practiced by a reformer and apologist of this timeless tradition. Aside of the numerous translations and scientific articles, his main works include Holden died on 13 August 2013, aged 86. (Partly quoted from Robert Corre, http://www.forumonastrology.com/foa/holdenJh.html)