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Mapping
Your Romantic Relationships:
Discover Your Love Potential
Created by David Pond
Llewellyn, $19.95
Reviewed
by Carol Holaday-Reimer
We
live in a society in search of the perfect love. In American
culture, where the divorce rate is over fifty percent, it is easy
to see why people are so anxious to discover how to make better
choices when it comes to the person they will likely spend the
majority of their time with for many years and possibly even a
lifetime.
When
looking at the current situation with short-lived and broken relationships
some would say that the reason we're experiencing problems is because the
moral systems all around the globe are breaking down, and that
the sanctity of marriage is being destroyed. Others would say
that the reason for the high divorce rate is because people expect
more from a lifetime partnership than they did in the past, and
when they don’t get it they often will look elsewhere. Whatever
the reason, many people are having difficulty maintaining a union
that is designed to be a lifetime commitment.
For
this reason a number of people have returned to the ancient principles
of astrology in their search for the perfect mate as well as the
desire to understand their own personality and behavior. Synastry,
the “overlapping” of two astrological natal charts
in order to see how the planets and alignments of each affect
the other, has become a popular tool for couples seeking understanding
before making that spiritual and legal leap into marriage.
Unfortunately
for most of us, astrology can seem to be an overwhelmingly complicated
art/science that one must study for years in order to understand and fully
employ it to best effect. So we look for programs on the Internet that can give
us some instant feedback, or we seek out an astrologer for this
important information. Recently, there have been many simple guides
that have been written about the basics of astrology and some
have been pretty good at fulfilling the quest of providing beginners
with a clear, basic understanding of astrological principles.
David
Pond’s book, Mapping Your Romantic Relationships,
goes several steps further than the basic astrology primer. It takes
the reader from the most basic of basic principles about planets,
houses, sun signs, etc., to the more complicated aspects of how
the planetary alignments of one person act on or with the planetary
alignments of another person. And, since beginners usually have
no clue as to how to create their own birth chart, much less a chart
integrating the information of two people, the book cleverly comes with
a CD that the reader can use to quickly create natal charts as well as relationship
charts with basic explanations.
Pond's writing is simple and easy to understand,
and the analogies he draws are very helpful. For example, he likens
the planets to a cast of characters, the signs to the roles we
came here to play in this life, the houses as the settings or scenes
of the play, and the aspects to how the characters support and
challenge each other throughout the play. This analogy sets up a
mental imagery that helps the reader to place the principles of
basic astrology into an easily understandable format.
The
scope of the guide moves from astrological basics and personal natal
charts to the intra-aspects created by two charts together. David
Pond breaks the information down into a “step by step”
order of chapters with simple explanations and easy to understand
analogies all along the way. After reading this book and creating
personal natal charts as well as a few relationship charts to
study, almost any reader should have a better grasp on astrological
principles and how they apply to relationship.
While
I am not normally very impressed with “idiot” or “KISS”
guides, and this book does not show how one can actaully create a chart one's self
from scratch, I really liked it and consult it often. If you are
new to astrology or your understanding of this amazing and ancient
science is limited, this book is a great starter
for understanding natal charts as well as relationship charts.
To
purchase this product you may Click
here.
Inner
Child Cards
- A Journey into Fairy Tales, Myth and Nature
Created by Isha Lerner and Mark Lerner
Illustrated by Christopher Guilfoil
Bear & Co. $35.00
Reviewed by Mary Jones
What a wonderful refreshing approach to tarot!
These cards successfully update and demystify the art of Tarot.
When trying to understand traditional Tarot in the past, I often
found it difficult to get past some of the images on the cards,
thereby missing the true meaning of them. By using characters
from fairy tales that embody the same archetypal energies, however,
I was able to relate to them very quickly.
This
is a very profound work that assists one to gain a fresh perspective
through a child’s eyes, connecting us with the ageless wisdom
hidden in Fairy tales. This is the first of two grand endeavors
by Isha Lerner, the second being the Power Of Flowers.
I
have been fortunate to have met this wonderful woman, and each
time I am impressed by her gracious manner, and her extensive
knowledge of Tarot, Astrology, myths, and Metaphysics.
The
book that accompanies these cards is well written and easy to understand, and the cards themselves are
a beautiful work of art, encouraging our imaginations to come
out and play.
While all the layouts provide wonderful insight tools and are
very cleverly designed and named, I personally found the most
interesting and insightful spreads to be those that either involved
pulling just one card after focusing on a particular issue, or drawing three cards,
representing the past, present and future.
Because they are so easy to relate to, I feel that the Inner Child
Cards are one of the best for those who are new to Tarot. Fairy
tales and myths are the bridge language that connects us to the
archetypal tarot energies.
To
purchase these cards from Isha you may click
here.
©
Carol Holaday-Reimer, Mary Jones, 2004
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