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The Combination of Stellar Influences

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The Combination of Stellar Influences, or COSI for short, is a significant astrological reference and research text first published in 1940 by the German astrologer Reinhold Ebertin. While it is the primary text of a modern branch of astrology known as Cosmobiology, it has been described by at least one astrologer as "...one of the single most important works on astrological interpretation ever written."¹, an indication that its place and influence in modern astrology extends far beyond the confines of Cosmobiology.

The German edition of the Combination of Stellar Influences entitled Kombination der Gestirneinflusse was first printed in 1940, and the English edition, originally published in 1960, was revised as late as 1972. It remains a useful resource for learning and practicing astrologers regardless of their astrological school, primarily for Ebertin's concise delineations of planetary pairs.

While COSI introduces the reader to the methods of the the cosmobiological school as well as provides case studies and some historical background, its main body consists of a set of interpretations delineating the core principles of all possible planets and points (ie, Ascendant, Midheaven, and Lunar Node) in pairs. Each pair has a single page devoted to interpreting its possible physiological, psychological, and sociological manifestations, while another single page is devoted to delineating the planetary pair when it is occupied by a planet in 8th Harmonic to its midpoint. Each of these delineations is assigned an index number, in keeping with the highly structured approach of the cosmobiologists and the Hamburg School of Astrology.

The value of COSI to astrologers regardless of school of thought lies in its extensive delineations of the planetary pairs, which can often be used as a base for interpreting all aspects between pairs of planets or points regardless of the aspect formed between them.

Endnotes

Note 1: Michael Harding and Charles Harvey: "Working with Astrology: The Psychology of Harmonics, Midpoints, and Astrocartography", Penguin, 1990. Pg. 13.