Personology [Hardcover]

I never used to really buy into astrology for the simple reason that I knew the 30,000,000 or so other Libras in the U.S. were not all exactly like me. I also refused to believe that the million or so people who shared my birthday were all like me. Then I picked up this book (which wasn't easy given its weight!) and used it to produce a chart for myself that was based on the day, year, and even TIME of my birth. The result nailed me so perfectly (and not always in a complimentary way) that it was frightening.

What was great about this book was the way it used the positions of the planets, sun, and moon at the time of my birth to create a reading divided into ten different aspects of my personality. This is how it's able to create a profile that is so unique even for people born on the same date but in a different year. After all, George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama were born on the same date -- it's the different years of their birth that make the difference!

What's most astounding, however, are the charts included in the book which provide the planetary positions all the way up to 2025, allowing you to create a reading for any future day. It then shows you how to compare this reading to your own chart in order to see what the possible interactions (positive, negative and neutral) might be for you on that upcoming day. This alone makes it worth its price.

Of course, the only way you're able to do this is because the book provides you all of the charts you need. I don't know what the reviewer from Publisher's Weekly is criticizing up above. The charts are the whole point of this book and the thing that makes it so unbelievably useful. Considering that the review got so many other facts wrong (there's nearly 200 pages of non-chart material, and the 12 traditional Zodiac signs are divided into 48 new periods, not 36) shows that the reviewer was basically clueless and didn't understand the true value of this book at all.

If I have a negative critique, it would be that gathering up the information pertinent to you requires a lot of flipping back and forth. This title practically screams for a CD-Rom version that would assemble the material all by itself and compare it to selected future dates automatically. I hope the publisher will consider this with some future edition.

And finally, I also have to mention how gorgeous this book is. All the other stuff aside, it's just a pleasure to flip through, with it's unique design and stunning full-color artwork. For anyone interested in astrology, I can't imagine a better gift than this.

PS: I did find a mistake on one of the charts, but I went to the book's website listed on the back cover, and the publisher had already caught the mistake and posted the correct information. Later editions of the book should be fine.

I can't tell you how frustrating it has been to get astrology books and chart interpretation books, only to find that no charts are included, and the chart is required to make sense of the book! The bulk of this book IS the charts. I have to completely agree with the first reviewer that this book screams CD ROM. I was able to scan in the "fill in" chart on my computer, and that helped, but the info is all separated and has to be scanned individually, then "cut/pasted" to make a comprehensive "one-stop" page for yourself or a friend.

This book is so much more interesting than standard sun-sign books in that it explores your other aspects from the time of your birth, even your pluto influence! The pages are vividly colored and the pictures are magnificently beautiful.

Bravo again to the authors of this book, their entire series of books have been so revealing of my own personality and friends/family.

Although I agree with the other reviewers to a point, the number of mistakes is an issue. There are enough major mistakes that the publisher should have offered to take the books back and replace them or offered a refund. Given the price of this book, it was the least they could do. It's sad because they tell us to print out the corrections and put them in our books making the book looked like a cut and paste mess.

I wish I had known this was such a major problem before I wasted my money. Too bad the books that had all the mistakes are still are being sold. The original products should have been recalled once the problems were identified. It is a shame because it is pretty to look at but once you realize it has several mistakes in it, you lose interest.

It is a bit hard to believe that many mistakes were missed by the editor but then, sadly, I am seeing this happen way too often these days. Has editing really become a lost art?? Buyer beware, check the web page that lists the mistakes before you purchase this book (I typed in Personology page 672 and this took me to the link that takes you to the correction page).