Aspects in Astrology: A Guide to Understanding Planetary Relationships in the Horoscope

I'm well over the 100 book mark for astrological studies. I'm not entirely easy to please in this day of cookie cutter interpretations. This book won me over and never lost favor. The respect for the craft and the many different forms of expression that two aspected planets can deliver are aptly honored in this book. It is a great reference for those of us who practise astrology and a terrific guide to understanding the layered complication of each chart's aspects. If you are a student, this book is a must have. If you have just begun the study of astrology, it might be a little intimidating, but even then I would encourage you to own it.

I own close to a hundred astrology books which are sitting in my apartment in New Orleans. Hopefully the second story didn't flood. I've not been able to get in to see yet. I went to a local bookstore hoping to replace what may be lost. I started to purchase PARKER's ASTROLOGY again but then I saw this and decided to buy it. After looking up my aspects I have to say I have NEVER seen such a good description of what these aspects have meant in my life, both past and present. At 54 I have lived some but they adequately describe not only current issues but my childhood ones as well. This is an incredibly insightful book that goes well beyond the normal cookbook interps that err on the side of generalities. If you get one book on aspects get this one. My only criticism is that she has chosen not to include CHIRON which experience has taught me is a must. I'm a professional astrologer by the way. Very good effort. I hope to see more from this author.

The most important part of the horoscope is probably the aspects between the planets and/or the ascendant. The more the aspects and the greater their strength, the more the horoscope seems to be saying. But to understand just what it is saying, many of us rely on other astrologers who are better than we are, and that is why owning a few good books about the planetary aspects is so important for most students of astrology. A little technique I use when checking out a book in the store is to skip to the section about an aspect I have in my own natal chart and am more familiar with-- Venus-Saturn, for example --and test the author in that manner. You can't necessarily expect he or she to know every little thing you know about how this aspect seems to play out in your life, but their interpretation should at least tell you something you don't already know. But even if it doesn't, as long as it sounds accurate, I'll give the book a second chance and look at its treatment of some of the other aspects. You usually can tell when what the author says seems to have the kind of authenticity and convincing detail that is grounded in personal experience, rather than being derived from guess-work or deductive reasoning about what a combination of Venus-Saturn or Jupiter-Pluto *should* mean. Horoscope interpretation is hard enough as it is, because I think that everyone who studies astrology quickly learns that the textbooks are just a guide, and even though they are usually referred to as "cookbooks", relying on the separate ingredients to reach an overall understanding of a real person's complex personality is not even as useful as a recipe. Not that I'm much of a cook myself, and not that I don't admire astrologers who can write these books, because it must be quite difficult. Given these facts, Sue Tompkins's book passes all the tests and I've returned many times for guidance to the worn, underlined passages in my 1990 copy of her book. And the fact that it keeps getting reissued by different publishers and still can be found in the ridiculously small astrology section of Borders or Barnes & Noble--while so many others are excluded or have gone out of print-- speaks for itself. I whole-heartedly recommend it.

This is the best aspect book I have come across. Although it is written in a "cookbook" style, the descriptions are uniquely insightful. The book starts off laying down the basics of what each planet signifies (some of the best descriptions I have seen), then the meaning of each of the aspect types (clear-cut and insightful with interesting info. on the quintile series and the semi-squares and sesquiquadrates), then the weighting of the aspects, their obs, applying and separating aspects. Qualities, elements and signs in the aspects are then covered. All of this Part I information is so well-presented that the interpretations in the "cookbook" section are a pleasant added bonus. The author presents the information in part I well enough to give the reader a good start on interpreting the placements on their own. The way in which Part I is presented, leading into Part II's "cookbook" section, gives the reader a better grasp as to how it's done--how to begin synthesizing the information beyond the Part II descriptions. And if that isn't enough, there's a Part III on the MC-IC and AC-DC axes as well as each of the planets at the angles. Most astrology books are either of the "cookbook" variety without information on synthesis or of the type that goes in-depth, but without instruction on application and synthesis. This book takes a unique approach in effectively combining the two. This book is not only great for beginning and intermediate students, but can also be useful for the professional.It's too bad this author doesn't have any other titles to her name. I would buy everything else she wrote. She is a gifted writer, and through this book, a gifted teacher. At the very least, I hope she puts out a second edition of this book that includes Chiron.

The book is used as the main text book at the Faculty of Astrological Studies here in London and for good reason! Although presented in cookbook style it is anything but! It is deep, comprehensive, well researched and more. And for who has had the pleasure to be a student of this amazing woman, it is no surprise. She is definitely one of the great astrologers of this day. A true classic.