Reviews for Houses: A Contemporary Guide

The average rating for Houses: A Contemporary Guide based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-02-02 00:00:00 Vaibhav Sharma Jaunt through the Stars: Gwyneth Bryan blends astrology, psychology and metaphor in her book 'Houses' By Michael Redmond TIMEOFF/The Princeton Packet August 2006 "I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius, and we're skeptical." ' Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer. Her secret's out. Susan Van Dongen has been living a double life. Monday through Friday, she writes about the arts for TIMEOFF magazine. On her own time, her byline changes to Gwyneth Bryan and she writes about one of her passions, astrology. Astrology may be the oldest of the metaphysical arts, but that doesn't mean that it cannot be brought up to date from time to time. That's what "Gwyneth Bryan" ' a Gemini, incidentally, so a double life seems somehow appropriate ' sets out to do in Houses: A Contemporary Guide (Llewellyn Books, $14.95), and she does so with wit, humor and a hip attitude. Writing for "people who know something about astrology but who may get bogged down by the jargon," Ms. Van Dongen takes advantage of "contemporary psychology and postmodern metaphor" to focus on the role the 12 houses of the zodiac play in a person's birth chart. The houses are distinct from the 12 signs of the zodiac, which everybody seems to know. A person's "sign" is determined by the position of the sun in the birth chart, hence she is a Gemini, he is a Capricorn, and so on. Other significant indicators are the position of the moon and of the sign that is "rising" (ascendant) on the birth chart. The houses, in turn, represent real or symbolic connections to particular areas of a person's life ' temperament, family, romance, relationships, career, money, health, spirituality, that kind of thing. Its proponents hold that "house astrology" goes well beyond a personality profile to place an individual within the complex mesh of domains that constitutes everybody's life experience. This is not about predicting the future, says Ms. Van Dongen, "although that's what many people want to know. I'm not a psychic; I don't do that. Interpreting a chart, I can show people, here are your strengths, here are your weaknesses. The focus is holistic ' it's on the person, not on events." Readers who would like to have Ms. Van Dongen guide them through a little star-gazing are invited to a talk and book-signing at Borders in West Windsor Aug. 16. The author will offer practical tips on how to obtain the information needed to cast a birth chart ' specifically, one's timeof birth. She will also discuss high points of the charts of some audience members, so come with birth date, birth time and birth place, if you know all three. Centuries have passed since some of the great universities of Europe had chairs in astrology, and most leaders, including the popes, employed court astrologers. The ancient art, which historians say originated in Mesopotamia some 5,000 years ago, took quite a pounding from Copernicus and Galileo and the rise of materialistic science. It has never lacked for distinguished defenders, however ' among them, the great astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and the seminal analytical psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), for whom astrology served as a useful symbolic mirror of a personality's background. "The birth chart is just like a blueprint for a building," says Ms. Van Dongen. "It can be redesigned, renovated, by conscious decision. It's not fate, but it is the foundation you build on." Houses is illustrated and enlivened by discussions of the birth charts of quite a few famous people, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Martha Stewart. There are surprises, here and there. Her birth chart would lead one to think initially that Madonna (sun in Leo, moon in Virgo, Virgo rising) "would be a shy person," but a look at the houses tells a different story, Ms. Van Dongen says. The fourth house (home, family, "roots") shows indications of a difficult childhood; the 12th house (life challenges) shows indications of tremendous drive. The drive to overcome that difficult childhood might have led Madonna to develop into the bold, provocative figure we know her as, Ms. Van Dongen speculates. Bruce Springsteen? His sun (Virgo), Neptune and Mercury are all in the fourth house ' a loaded situation, Ms. Van Dongen indicates."The chart says he's all about his roots ' and he has made his career writing songs about hometown roots and hometown values." On a lark, this writer provided Ms. Van Dongen with his birth information, and back she came with ample comments. Nothing she wrote was flat-out wrong, most of what she wrote was spot-on right, and a few results were, well, ambiguous. Wait a minute, some might object: She's a co-worker of yours; surely she knows you, right? Well, no ' not like this, I can only reply. We write for different publications. We work in different buildings. There hasn't been all that much workplace or social fraternization in the time the two of us have worked here. That's the way things are. "I'm a very intuitive person, very sensitive to people and environments," says Ms. Van Dongen, "and a pretty good observer. I love to probe, analyze, ask questions ' why are people the way they are, why do they do the things they do? If my life had been different, perhaps I would have been a psychologist." A resident of Bordentown, Ms. Van Dongen grew up on the South Jersey shore and was educated at Susquehanna University, where she received a bachelor's in music. She studied journalism and creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Richard Stockton College. "In college I really got into astrology, reincarnation, karma, Eastern religion, and Jungian psychology. For me, it was a period of enlightenment," she says. "One course in particular got the ball rolling for me, an elective course, 'Mysticism and the Paranormal.' It was there that I read Gina Cerminara's 'Many Mansions' (1950), which introduced me to Edgar Cayce." Born in Kentucky, Mr. Cayce (1877-1945), known as "the sleeping prophet," has been described as America's most thoroughly documented psychic. More than 300 books have been written about his life and work. In 1931, Mr. Cayce founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Va., where "alternative medicine" found a home before the field was even invented. Ms. Van Dongen is a longtime member of the association. "Cayce was so ahead of his time," she says. "I changed my diet according to his suggestions. I lost 20 pounds I've never regained, and I'm no longer plagued by allergies." Astrology books are a booming and crowded category, the writer is aware, but she's optimistic that there's a lot of room for Houses. "I follow the example of the British astrologer Debbi Kempton-Smith, who is very down-to-earth and writes with a lot of humor. Some astrology books are humorless. They shouldn't be dull or incomprehensible, and they should be practical. With your chart in one hand and 'Houses' in the other, you should be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together for yourself," she says. "The chart can reveal the 'you' you really are. If you need a breakthrough other than traditional therapy or self-help, this can be a keystone to moving forward." For information, see the author's blog at Llewellyn Books on the Web: www.llewellyn.com.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-18 00:00:00 Barbara Brett This is an entertaining way to remember the rules of house placement but the personal anecdotes did not serve to aid the learning for me. I could have done with a tad bit less of that but I do appreciate how the author wanted to offer a personal touch. I will refer to this book often, no doubt. I'm glad I read it.