Astrology Book Review: Astrology for Yourself - How to Understand and to Interpret your own Birth Chart

Astrology Book Review: Astrology for Yourself: How to Understand and to Interpret your own Birth Chart

This book was suggested to me via Facebook, and with such an interesting name and price I couldn't resist. This book is written by Demetra George and Douglas Bloch, both big names in the Astrology scene. Demetra is in particular a wonderful astrologer and a renowned expert in Hellenistic Astrology.

This book is meant to be a sort of journal to complete with keywords while interpreting your natal chart, and although this might sound like a terrible cookbook it is definitely NOT the case. The keywords are so incredibly well thought and they're very easy to remember because they go and make the connection with an sign's polarity, element and mode.

 Filling out this book has been a wonderful and very enjoyable journey to better understand my (and other's people) birth chart. They talk about the importance of the four cardinal points (Asc, IC, Desc, MC) and then they go through each planet in detail.

They also discuss how to analyse aspects. This is a very important point because you can't have cookbook for aspects, simply because there are so many possibilities! For me, being able to properly analyze aspects is key is you want to call yourself an astrologer.

I like that they also discuss the function of the moon phase in the chart, and of course there is something on moon nodes. It is rather little but luckily they have an extensive recommended book appendix if you want more information on any mentioned topic.

 They also have a small section on synastry with enough space to compare charts and they also mention other type of astrological practices which I think is great because not everything has to be focused on birth charts.

 The only thing I don't care too much is the amount of asteroids included. Really, there are so many! Since asteroids are kind of "meh" for me (except Chiron for personal metaphysical reasons) this was uninteresting.

All in all, this is a book to have if you are diving seriously into the (modern, psychological approached) Astrology world. Beginners as well as Intermediate students can all learn something from this book.

If you want to check it out, here is the (affiliated) link:
Astrology for Yourself: How to Understand And Interpret Your Own Birth Chart
#SolitaryAstrologerStudent

Astrology Book Review: The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need

(this post contains affiliated links)

When I started learning Astrology, I started in the most obvious place of all: The Internet

However, I quickly got tired , or better to say, unsatisfied with the short cookbook analysis found in most blogs. (This is not true for all blogs, and there are a few with really good information). Although it is also possible to learn Astrology, or at least the basics (and maybe beyond?) through Youtube, I am a little too impatient for watching hours of non stop rambling and sorting through more hours of low quality content.

I turned my attention onto, of course, Astrology books. I must admit I have a weakness for books and learning from them. (must be my Venus in Capricorn, desiring everything that is structured and from reputable, verifiable sources)
One of the first books recommended to me was The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need from Joanna Martine Woolfolk.

The name was impressive and the price is also not bad so I went for it. The book has a good description of planets in celestial houses, including a tiny section of decanates, houses and a small section of sun sign synastry. It also includes a natal chart interpretation example from Oprah's horoscope.

Personally, I was not impressed by the book. When I started learning astrology, I did not feel like memorizing whole paragraphs of "Moon in Capricorn means this, Mercury in Aries means that". I wanted a holistic approach where I could make sense of positions based on core zodiacal principles by myself for example, using the elements, polarities, cardinality etc. So in this sense, this book was not really what I was looking for.
It is interesting nevertheless if you wish to quickly understand the key aspects of your chart, but almost on an entertainment kind of way. In definitive it is a beginner, very beginner book. Nice to have but not critical for the solitary astrology student.
Overall rating: 6/10 

If you want to check it out, here is the link! The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need