Sun Shines: The Astrology of Being Happy
By Michael Lutin
© 2007 NY: Simon & Schuster, A Fireside Book
480 pages
In this book, Michael Lutin poses the question: What is happiness?
In answering, helooks at the Sun signs of the zodiac. He focuses on the power of the Sun, the star that is the center of our planetary system. He looks at where true happiness lies for a person born under each Sun sign, what throws him/her off, and what gets him/her back on track. While initially appearing like a number of other books on astrology, with a cookbook format through the zodiac, its deeper focus promises more: to bring each reader to a greater ability to fulfill destiny, thus to be happy at last.
There are some basic assumptions in this theory, specifically that the most of us are not happy, not living our destiny, not living to our fullest potential. If you know Michael Lutin's work at all, you know he is completely irreverent, challenging all basic assumptions from a depth that gets at the soul. He even promises that when you're done with his book, you'll be freer than when you began. But fear not! He includes instructions on how to read the book. After describing details on your Sun sign, he directs you to another section, one of 12 subdivisions of that Sun sign. He explains that this subdivision is based on where the South Node is located in the solar chart, during the year of birth. Here, he provides key words that describe two areas of concern that can become basic obsessions.
Obsessions suggest a darker side, a deeper level of operating. They are related to the Lunar Node axis, where the paths of both the Sun and Moon's intersect. Lutin describes coping strategies for the obsessive desires that tend to serve as undoing. If lasting happiness is the ability to make the most of gifts, reduce negative traits, and increase positive ones, the Sun, as the heart and soul of everything, serves to center the psyche. As such, it is the container for the energy stimulated by the interrelationship with the Moon. The two become a dancing pair. At the deeper level, the Sun radiates the nodal authenticity, creating inner peace.
Lutin guides the reader to face the self honestly, then he offers a way to deepen understanding and find "true north". He structures this section according to what gives great pleasure; what one might tell oneself; where one goes south; what major relationship struggle needs resolution, as well as other struggles that need attention, and he offers a possible past life scenario. He suggests ways to find true north and how to restore power. He offers some suggested paths to healing, as well as a final word of sage advice.
Through his humor, Lutin reassures us that we're all struggling as humans together, but clearly, the process Lutin suggests is one of personal growth. It requires a letting go, a detachment, and movement towards things, relationships, ideas, and beliefs that bring lasting satisfaction. This is the work of astrology, applied positively.
