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BE YOUR OWN ASTROLOGER: Step by step to creating & interpreting your own chart - Paul Wade, $14.95

Contents:

Introduction

Creating your birth chart:
1. Calculate your chart
2. Draw your birth chart

Understanding your birth chart:
3. Interpretation essentials
4. First impressions
5. Interpreting your planets
6. Special features
7. Working with astrology

Glossary
Index
Acknowledgements

Comment:

The book is printed on heavily coated paper & each section has its own unique page color. Ie, all the pages of that section are in pale yellow, or pale blue, or pale pink, etc. As would be expected in a book with four-color printing on every page, along with lots of graphics & illustrations, the result is quite handsome.

Don't get this book for its calculation instructions, which even I found murky. Daily motion - 24 x GMT birth time, from pg. 30. What is that, exactly?

The sections on planets in houses, planets in signs, ascendant/descendant pairs, are brief, and, I think, mainly because of the brevity, relatively good.

Moon in Leo: You have a real need to be noticed & appreciated. Without some kind of recognition you lose interest in what you are doing. You can work hard, but think play is more fun.
And that's moon in Leo, complete. Nicely done. There is a page on house to house aspects (a planet in one house aspecting a planet in another house), which I have never before seen. Critically, it comes before the pages of traditional planet to planet aspects, which will forever leave the impression that house-based aspects are more important than mere planetary aspects - which they are. But aside from examples, aspects are not fully worked out. We have only Sun-Mars aspects & Mercury-Saturn aspects. Which, again, are wonderfully brief & tersely expressed:
Mercury/Saturn Trine: You excel at details & planning. You never promise anything you can't deliver.
And that's it. Pity the author did not write a complete aspectarian. He is one of the more talented writers in this area. He gives us only keywords, which are insufficient.

In sum, a promising start. I would like to see more from this author.

Sterling, 144 pages, almost oversize in format.

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HOW TO READ YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART, Aspects of the Cosmic Puzzle - Donna Cunningham, $16.95
 Have you read book after book but still don't know how to read a chart? Stop learning by rote. Learn to reason astrologically! This is an "anti-cookbook", designed to free you from a simplistic cookbook approach to reading charts. Learn to strip a chart to its basics & start at the beginning with Donna's detailed analysis. Contents: Looking a chart in the face; The sun, moon, and ascendant - working partners or family feud?; Plugging in the individual planets; What planet are you from?; A guided tour of the hard aspects; Soft aspects - when the living is easy; Piecing together the major configurations; Understanding transits - another way to use aspects; An overview of transits - seeing the whole picture; How aspect analysis illuminates chart comparison. 204 pages including bibliography, index and author profile. Weiser, paper.


SECRETS FROM A STARGAZER'S NOTEBOOK, Making Astrology Work for You - Debbi Kempton-Smith, $21.95
 Contents:
Kiss me; Introduction;

I. How to look at a chart: Horoscope houses: dark enchantments at the gazebos' 12 unit motel; Welcome to the zodiac zone; the rising sign: your world view & the world's view of you, too; Those shocking squiggles in your chart: how to read them; Rulers: they make the horoscope hang together; Aspects: what's the angle?; Retrogrades; Fire signs, air signs, jell-o & dirt signs - elements & qualities; How to read a chart in less than five minutes;

II. The Planets & Other Celestial Bodies: Moon- the things you can't live without; Get the moon to work for you everyday; Entering the twilight zone: avoiding trouble on the void of course moon; Born on a void of course moon; Eclipses; The sun - where are you going in life?; How do you speak? Mercury & the yak-yak tables; Don't sign, don't buy - Mercury retrograde; Venus - sleaxy sex & eternal love; Mars - how you drive people crazy; Jupiter - merciful fatso; Saturn - what's stopping you from getting there?; Chiron; The outer planets; Uranus - rude awakener; Neptune - ecstasy express; Pluto - below the boom-boom room;

III. Astrology in Daily Living From A to X: Astrological birth control; The chart of a.... building???; Critters; Enemies; Food; Gifts; Astrology & health; Horary: burning questions; Horoscopes of nations; How do you make the world a better place?; Maniacs; Marriage; Megabucks, tycoonery & moolah; Old age; Past lives; Rock'n'roll horoscopes; The astrology of sports; Synastry: the sinister art of getting along with human beings; Travel; X-ray relationship charts;

IV. How to use the tables in this book: What time zone do you live in?; How to win at nearly everything, achieve nirvana & screw your enemies with black magic astrology; Red lights, green lights; How to use the red lights, green lights tables; Red lights, green lights tables;

V. Intro to the Outro: Eyeballs & spaceballs; The exoplanets; Checking it out; Outro & exos.

Comment: Supposedly a book for beginners, but far better than that. Both off the wall & full of the most penetrating insights, written with devastating impact. Scads of sneaky tricks & techniques: How to read a chart in 5 minutes, lots on the void of course moon, the astrology of enemies, buildings, critters, gifts, maniacs, marriage & more. Almost all of it excellent & almost all of it unique to this book. The notes on Saturn, while brief, are the best I've read anywhere. A classic in the small Bantam edition that saw a quarter million copies in print, now in a new, bigger, easy to read format.

529 pages. Topquark press, paper.


COMPENDIUM OF ASTROLOGY - Rose Lineman & Jan Popelka, $24.95
 Contents: Fundamentals of astrology; The signs of the Zodiac; Planets in our solar system; Planets and moon's nodes in the signs; The houses of the horoscope; The influence of the signs in the houses; Planets and moon's nodes in the houses; Planetary dispositors; The shaping of the horoscope; The lunation cycle and eclipses; The tools of astrology; Calculation of house cusps; Charting the planets and moon's nodes; Aspects defined; Methodology; each planetary aspect; Aspects of the moon's nodes and Part of Fortune; Astrological guidance in planning for the future; Astrological development - microcosm and macrocosm. Appendices: Planetary nodes and solstice points; Fixed stars; Arabian parts. 304 pages including glossary, bibliography and index. Whitford Press, oversize paper.


PLANETS IN PLAY - Laurence Hillman, $18.95

Contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Staging the play: The planets: acting out; The aspects: inter-acting; The signs: costumes & disguises; The houses: slices of life

2. Getting involved in your play: Pay attention to the (greatest) tension; The invisible actor; The lead character; The curtain opens

3. The solar principle - how to shine light on what you want: Introducing you to your sun sign; Too much sun: the inflated ego - sunburn is painful; To little sun: low self-esteem; Practical tips: let the sun shine in(side); How is your sun clothed? The sun through the signs; Where is your sun acting? The sun through the houses

4. The lunar principle - how to embrace what you need: Introducing you to your moon; Too much moon: The emotional wreck; Too little moon: I feel nothing & I need nothing; Practical tips: Waxing & waning with the moon; How is your moon clothed? The moon through the signs; Where is your moon acting? The moon through the houses

5. The Mercurial principle - how to grasp the way you think: Introducing you to your Mercury; Too much Mercury: The smarty-pants liar; Too little Mercury: Feeling stupid; Practical tips: Thinking clearly; How is your Mercury clothed? Mercury through the signs; Where is your Mercury acting? Mercury through the houses

6. The Venusian principle - how to delight in the way you love: Introducing you to your Venus; Too much Venus: The oversexed come-on; Too little Venus: "I hate everyone," said the spinster; Practical tips: Love a little & you live a lot; How is your Venus clothed? Venus through the signs; Where is your Venus acting? Venus through the houses

7. The Martial principle - how to apply your force: Introducing you to your Mars; Too much Mars: I'm looking for a fight; Too little Mars: Please don't hurt me!; Practical tips: The warrior dance; How is your Mars clothed? Mars through the signs; Where is your Mars acting? Mars through the houses

8. The Jovial principle - how to enjoy yourself: Introducing you to your Jupiter; Too much Jupiter: Fanatics are tiresome; Too little Jupiter: Pessimists are not popular!; Practical tips: Believe in enjoyment! How is your Jupiter clothed? Jupiter through the signs; Where is your Jupiter acting? Jupiter through the houses

9. The Saturnine principle - how to find structure in your life: Introducing you to your Saturn; Too much Saturn: depression & sadness; Too little Saturn: no structure; Practical tips: organizing your life & honoring Saturn; How is your Saturn clothed? Saturn through the signs; Where is your Saturn acting? Saturn through the houses

10. The Uranian principle - how to trust your intuition: Introducing you to your Uranus; Too much Uranus: The misfit genius; Too little Uranus: I am so boring!; Practical tips: tuning into divine ideas; How is your Uranus clothed? Uranus through the signs; Where is your Uranus acting? Uranus through the houses

11. The Neptunian principle - how to dream & imagine (again): Introducing you to your Neptune; Too much Neptune: needing to escape; Too little Neptune: lack of imagination; Practical tips: dream on!; How is your Neptune clothed? Neptune through the signs; Where is your Neptune acting? Neptune through the houses

12. The Plutonian principle - how to embrace your rebirth: Introducing you to your Pluto; Too much Pluto: death is everywhere; Too little Pluto: shallowness is bland; Practical tips: change is inevitable - learn to love it; How is your Pluto clothed? Pluto through the signs; Where is your Pluto acting? Pluto through the houses

When planets act up: Transits & such: Planets on the move

Conclusion

Resources: How to get your astrological chart; Your natal chart: the basics; A list of the aspects; the astrological elements; how to get into your play; worksheet; contact information

Select bibliography
Index
About the author

Comment:

This is essentially an introductory astrology book with a primary focus on planets, and a secondary focus on signs & houses. Aspects are pretty much ignored, but then, you can only learn so much. Unlike many books of its type, there is no condensed ephemeris in the back, so to use the book you will need to get your chart done somehow. Under resources, the author lists both Astrolabe & Astrodienst as sources for free on-line charts.

Each planet section starts off with a lengthy Introduction. For Venus, which is typical, the introduction runs 23 pages & includes these sub-heads: Seductive beauty, A reflection of what you love, Projection, Finding Eros, The muse, Artistic tension, Expressing Venus, Changing notions of beauty & fashion, Social intercourse, Advertising, Food, Marriage, Longing, Flirting, Fine things & money, American beauty, Venus with other planets, and Jealousy. With the exception of Venus & other planets, these are subjects which Venus rules, but there is little if any astrology per se.

Hillman teases with his Too Much & Too Little sections, but fails to give any astrological definitions. If, when you read "Smarty Pants Liar", or "Feeling Stupid" you recognize yourself (or someone else), then you have either too much, or too little Mercury. You are left to work out what that might mean in a chart. Which is not a beginner's job.

House/sign delineations are a mixed bag. Some (Venus) are good. Others not so much. For example, Saturn in the signs are twelve old men. I suppose this is a change from Zip Dobyn's collection of one-dozen father figures.

The author's father, the elderly James Hillman, Ph.D., is notable for his somewhat murky past. I know of one other astrologer who got themselves a Ph.D. in one place (Zurich), and then made use of it in another (USA). Sharp readers will know of whom I am referring.

Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin, 335 pages.

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Nicholas Campion
THE NEW ASTROLOGY, The Art & Science of the Stars - Nicholas Campion & Steve Eddy, $35.00
 Contents:

Introduction

The zodiac: Zodaics, Omens & influences, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces

The planets: The Sun, The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

The heavens: In the beginning, In the end, Time, Mapping the heavens, The quantum universe, Celestial sites, Cosmic clocks, Working with the planets, The cosmic state, Cosmos & culture, Science & fiction, Reaching for the stars

The constellations
The discoverers
Glossary
Bibliography & useful addresses
Index

Comment:

A coffee-table book, full of photos, illustrations, art, etc., many in color. The text, like the author, is scholarly. The focus of the book is a combination of mythology & astronomy. There is only a little astrology in the book, and none of it of immediate use. This book will appeal to academics.

Tralfalgar Square Publishing, 288 pages, hardcover.


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The Astrology Center of America

207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272

 Home Author Index Title Index Subject Index Vedic Books Tarot E-Mail: Dave


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