Product Description

How do you face the world? Are you centred? Are you poised? How well do you handle blind dates and job interviews? Your astrological Ascendant, the sign rising in the east at your birth, is the face you wear in the world, your social self, your astrological 'clothing'. It's just as important in your birth chart as your Sun and Moon. How well do you really understand it? Join astrologer and novelist Jodie Forrest as she examines the Ascendant through the lenses of the arts, psychology, relationships, evolutionary astrology and metaphysics. Beginners or professional astrologers will deepen their knowledge of the rising sign. With exercises for further study, topics include: why the Ascendant may be the most overlooked and least understood member of the Primal Triad (Sun, Moon, and Ascendant); what exactly is the Ascendant?; several working metaphors for the Ascendant, and how to apply them when analysing charts; how the Ascendant interacts with the Sun and the Moon; the ruler of the natal Ascendant; aspects to the natal Ascendant; dynamic events involving the Ascendant (transits, progressions and arcs); and, rectification tips for the Ascendant. It includes an extensive Ascendant 'cookbook' for each rising sign.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180767 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780979067709
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

astrology via Svengali?
It is unfortunate that astrology, as represented by this author, is so limited, limiting and incomplete. While offering tidbits that might be helpful if the entire context set forth weren't so hierarchical and pedantic, it may appear that this book might be helpful. If you see your life as an event that is going nowhere, where you have no will, no vision and no inner soul that springs forth to challenge the kinds of assumptions that Ms. Forrest puts out there, well - that is not a good place. DO NOT stay in the boxes so neatly labeled and described. Find your own insights, study symbol, story, philosophy, religion and science and formulate your own wise questions. PLEASE do not take the pronouncements in this work as gospel truth or anywhere close to "ultimate" truth. PLEASE remember these are opinions, period.

Read a variety of authors on the subject of the ascendant. Study astrological and divinatory systems from all over the world. Question the author's intent, no matter how honeyed the words. And remember, only you know your own truth - no oracle, however wise, can replace your own Deep Self.

If you are a woman, be especially mindful of the patriarchal and hierarchical use of language, the method of the author's symbology and the fixed, unalterable way psychological terms are bandied about. Think for yourself. Take the good and leave the rest. There are some nuggets, though one has to dig for them. Hold on to your own integrity and don't follow the merry path to your own disillusionment.

And remember, recycling paper is OKAY!

Embarrassing
The problem with these books is that they appear okay if you do not think about the content. Once you consider many of the implications a lot of astrology reveals itself to be the work of some very ignorant and unsympathetic people. The criticisms of astrology are not wrong, and I say that after studying the subject for many years.

In this book, Ms. Forrest includes a creed written by her husband that astrologers are supposed to accept. She claims that you do not have to accept the platform, but its inclusion is an incentive that you do. Creeds are not astrology. A creed is the foundation of a religion, which astrology is not. You may have your beliefs, and your beliefs may be inspired entirely by astrology, but astrology should not contain a creed. It is divisive and furthers no end other than forming unity of belief, which is unnecessary. Among these beliefs are that people pick their birthcharts, that your chart is a manifestation of your intentions in this lifetime, and that everything that happens to you is your own fault because you didn't learn the lessons of your transits. There is no proof that you pick your birth time or that if an event happens it happened because you did not internalize the energy and do the right thing. Those are beliefs being promoted by astrologers, and they are groundless and questionably moral. Astrology doesn't want any type of self evaluation--some of these people are so arrogant they think that they will snow the judges if only the judges read these books--but astrologers need to look at themselves critically, and they are not doing it. Telling someone who has had a terrible life of suffering that they brought it onto them self is extremely cruel (sorry, but it is) and it is also ignorant (you have no proof for your claims).

I was willing to over look these things as wishful thinking. We like to believe we have souls, ect, and astrology just proves it, but some of her comments are so offensive that I am done seeing roses. She faults Taurus risings for not thinking through actions and writes about the attitudes of a pregnant teenage mother. "'I will have the baby, even though I'm nineteen years old and penniless, and its father doesn't want either the child or me as a partner.' Do you think this woman will give a child good start in life?"

I had my first child at 19. I was married at the time and her father did not want the baby even though we were not penniless; I had an abusive marriage. Having a baby does not depend on whether or not a "male" wants it, and believing that women should give up their children for adoption or get an abortion if there is no father to claim parentage of the child is an extremely patriarchal viewpoint. It is also, arguably, a human rights violation. The father now wants the baby, so it appears Ms. Forrest is the short sighted one as males do mature. [I am not a Taurus rising, but the implication is enough.]

I was raised by a single mother, so was Barak Obama, and Sotomayor. I do not feel like I was deprived because we were poor and that I would have been better off aborted. I don't think that any babies born to single teenage mother's feel that way either. My best friend had her daughter at 16, while she was penniless, and the father did not want the baby. She is an excellent mother. This is reality for a lot of women and they do fine. Shame on Ms. Forrest for picking on what has historically been an easy target for her hate speech. The majority of African-American babies are born to poor single mothers. Her statement also has racist implications if you think about it.

Women don't get relief from her abuse (of course not, this is astrology after all and we bash women) and neither do the over weight. She also writes that a Taurus rising may want a sexual partner even though they are obese and not an appropriate candidate. She calls this the extremes. It doesn't take much to figure out that that isn't the Taurus rising and her hypothetical person is probably suffering from extreme denial being caused by extreme loneliness and suffering. It isn't a fault to be obese, it is a pathology. Throw stones anyone? After all people manifest exactly as they intended.

My point my be delayed, but to state it again, she has no proof for her assertions, which are abusive, and she goes without any type of criticism for her remarks. Astrologers recommend her book even though The Rising Sign by Jeanne Avery is far better for students, and doesn't contain a goofy woman with her cat on the back of it. Yes, she has the nerve to tell a story about the astrology chart of her cat and snuggle with it for her photo on the back of the book and insist that she is not patronizing her readers. If we indulge the subject as the author does, we can quickly diagnose logical failings. 1) It is extremely unlikely that anyone knows the correct birthtime of their pet. I have breed cats, and mothers hide before giving birth. There are no birth certificates and camcorders--typically.2) Astrological data represents psychological processes, and no one knows what is going on in the mind of an animal. People who project human emotions on to animals are subject to the wrong interpretations often. The recent case with the chimp attack in Stamford proves the error in this line of thought. No matter how much anyone wants to (and I don't know why they would want this) you cannot really do astrology on pets. We don't understand the function of their ego (Sun), emotions (Moon), thought process (Mercury), self growth (Jupiter), or fears (Saturn.) Applying astrology in this way is extremely trivializing to the subject and unprofessional.

Ms. Forrest is patronizing her readers and she is doing worse. She represents an embarrassment to people with a better education. Astrologers cannot continuely take the art of Galileo and Kepler and Jung and associate it with cat photos, supersition, and right wing hatred and expect for the art form to be taken seriously. If you know something, it is my belief that you have an obligation to society (Jupiter in Capricorn)to present it in a fashion that will be respected by your listeners, or you should not present your knowledge at all. If all who were able to sell books, sold them regardless of any type of professional standard, astrology would be in even worse shape than it already is. We cannot continue to live off of the creditability being now given by people like the Dali Lama and Andrew Well if we are going to turn around an depreciate the art ourselves. I am glad that I bought this book second hand, so no party received the proceeds that would come from a new copy.

Brilliant
Astrology is my avocation, one day it will be my vocation. This book will help me get there. Check this out for some mind expanding analysis of the rising sign!