Talk – https://talk.vonabisw.de/Graves/Graves1.mp4
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuYdCN1M4ck&t=3s
The shorter version without the first hour – edited by Philip – is here: Interview with the Librarian of Astrolearn Philip Graves about Technical & Planetary Developments in Astrology – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDYs_nSM1Go
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To support the Library with Paypal or directly
Donate to or Sponsor the Astrology Library – https://www.astrolearn.com/donate-sponsor-astrology-library
*26. März 1974 – 13:05 local time (British Summer Time) in Oswestry, Shropshire, England.
Homepage – https://www.astrolearn.com
Youtube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@astrologylibrary/videos
adAstra – The Graves Astrology Library with Philip M. Graves – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aYJe6YzDtI&t=7s – https://talk.vonabisw.de/Graves/Graves4.mp4
Astrodienst – https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Graves%2C_Philip?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Compiled by Philip M Graves – https://www.skyscript.co.uk/Leo_legacy.html
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Technical & Planetary Developments in Astrology (Graves’s Studies in the History of Astrology, Band 1) –
-Sue Ward about the Creation of Meanings for the transsaturnian Planets – Das Fundament der Astrologie – Wie die alten Herrscher und die neuen Planeten zu ihrer astrologischen Bedeutung kamen – https://astronova.de/das-fundament-der-astrologie.html
-Lilith in a 4th Meaning – Second Focus of the Moon Ellipse – Lilith in US and UK unknown till 2005? – In Germany 1994 – Lianella Livaldi Laun – Lilith, die Begegnung mit dem Schmerz
and Lilith – Im Lichte des schwarzen Mondes zur Kraft der Göttin – 1997 – Kocku von Stuckrad –
Astronova on Lilith – https://astronova.de/planeten-und-zyklen/lilith
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Astrology Podcast – An Astrological Librarian, with Philip Graves – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOxIVYKVD8M – https://talk.vonabisw.de/Graves/Graves2.mp4
An Astrologer’s Calling…With Philip Graves – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lrMo3iX2xc – https://talk.vonabisw.de/Graves/Graves3.mp4
Astrological Archivists Philip Graves and Michael Erlewine in Conversation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMWjxdUl6A – https://talk.vonabisw.de/Graves/Graves5.mp4
Early Life & Education
- Birth: Philip M. Graves was born on March 26, 1974, in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. His birth time is noted as 1:05 PM (BST, GMT+1).
- Academic Background:
- B.A. (Hons.) in French from the University of Hull in 1997
- Advanced studies in Swedish, basic knowledge of German, Spanish, and Latin
- CELTA qualification (Teaching English to Adults), ITTC Bournemouth, 2003
Literary & Family Background
- He is the great-nephew of the poet and novelist Robert Graves and the son of Richard Perceval Graves, a well-known biographer.
- This literary heritage deeply influenced his academic and intellectual interests.
Introduction to Astrology
- Began studying astrology intensively in 1995 while spending a year abroad.
- Wrote early essays on harmonic aspects and astrology’s technical history, some under pseudonyms, for journals like The Astrological Journal.
Online Community Leadership
- In 2001, Graves joined a major MSN astrology community.
- Quickly became Assistant Manager and later Co-Manager, helping build one of the largest astrology groups online with over 6,000 members.
Creation of Astrolearn & the Library
Living in Sweden
In 2004, Philip M. Graves moved to Sweden / Brevens Bruk – west – 186 km – of Stockholm – with his then-partner, who had her roots and home there and was unwilling to leave – While in Sweden, he systematically expanded his astrological collection. With an inheritance from his grandmother, he acquired hundreds of new books and journals, including original editions from previous centuries and academic works in multiple languages – Over time, his collection became an extensive personal bibliophilic research resource. – In 2016, financial pressures prompted his return to the UK, and by 2018 he had re-established his collection in Newport, South Wales and set up the Astrolearn Astrology Library in Newport, South Wales, opening it to visitors by appointment. – The library now holds books and journal issues, from the 16th century onward, in languages ranging from Latin to French, German, Spanish, and even Arabic and Sanskrit.
Cooperation with the Astrological Association
Since 2020, the library has housed the foreign-language collection of the Astrological Association of Great Britain. – In 2022, it incorporated the association’s English-language holdings, making it one of the most comprehensive astrology archives in the English-speaking world.
Publications & Research Contributions
- Graves has written essays for journals like The Astrological Journal, The Mountain Astrologer, and Infinity Astrological Magazine.
- He wrote the Foreword for William Lilly’s autobiography edition (Rubedo Press, 2015).
- Major Work:
- Technical & Planetary Developments in Astrology (Revelore Press, 2025) – the first of four planned volumes under Studies in the History of Astrology.
- Topics include:
- The evolution of house division systems from antiquity to Kepler
- Aspect doctrine and harmonic aspects up to John Addey
- Sun-sign astrology history and the meaning assigned to Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Lilith
Nicholas Campion (University of Wales Trinity Saint David) praised the book as a foundational work for technical and planetary history in astrology.
The up-to-date figures in August 2025 are 11,000 edition-volumes of books (of which at a rough estimate probably 10,000 properly astrological, the other 1,000 on assorted subjects of tangential academic and historical relevance such as esotericism, magic, tarot, palmistry, the I-Ching, divination, and the works of Jung; and 14,000 issues of periodicals (including magazines, journals and almanacs). – It was not only the foreign-language collection of the AA but also their entire periodicals collection (including English-language) that moved here in 2020. Collectively, these materials are referred to by the AA as the ‚AA Archive‘. What followed in 2022 was therefore the non-periodical English-language books (the ‚AA Library‘).
Professional Services
Through Astrolearn, Graves offers:
- Historical research services on astrology texts (£50/hour)
- Digitization of public domain texts (£50/hour)
- Visitor guidance & lectures on astrology history (£20–50/hour)
He explicitly avoids offering personal horoscope readings or Sun-sign columns—his focus remains academic and historical.
Funding & Future Plans
- The library is privately funded via:
- A second-hand astrology bookshop
- Digital scans of public domain works
- Research & consultation services
- His long-term vision is to transfer the collection to an institution or foundation to ensure permanent preservation and public access.
Copyright
Volker H. Schendel only has the right to publish the respective conversation uncut and unedited on freely accessible video platforms (i.e. no paywalls) and on his homepages. – My guest has the right to shorten, edit or add to the mp4 file as he wishes and to publish it on his websites and video-platforms according to his liking.