Twelfth House: The Hidden Power in the Horoscope

My Mercury is in Aries in the 9th house. My Moon is the ruler of the 12th in the 12th. I like the book. Hamaker-Zindag gives a very thoughtful approach to the twelfth house. She considers the implication of her statements about people's charts. She never accuses anyone and is extremely respectful towards aspects. She fuses her arguments with major psychological theories. The book is rewritten in a professional manner and I have not come across a single silly statement or prejudiced remark. Her understanding of family relationships is dead on. She understand the complications of gender in the birth chart. She doesn't attempt to encapsulate people in a gender specific model. She also understands how parents influence their children without repeating stereotypes and playing into people's preconceived notions.She makes sure that you understand that the topic of gender is complicated. Her approach is very open-minded. She does not direct you to the answers. She gives possibilities rather than condemnations. The book is not written with absolutes in mind so do not look for anything with a strict outline. I look at this mainly as thoughtful suggestion, which in truth, is what astrology ought to be. This book does not handle karmic astrology. Her approach is very practical. She views the 12th house as being influenced by unconscious factors that the child is inheriting from the parents or some other early experience. She does not reject karmic astrology, but she takes a different approach and provides a different interpretation. I like the idea of reincarnation myself, but I am also open to other interpretations. A final note here is that she does not preach. She just looks at the possibilities without providing a moral framework. I think that that is ideal. I am skeptical with some of her claims about children, however. She claims that newborns do not distinguish their mother at birth. This is not true. Studies prove that babies do distinguish between people at birth and they are able to identify their mother as soon as they are born. Just know that it is based on old psychology that isn't entirely true. The response seems to depend on the child. When my daughter was born, she was unresponsive to who held her; she was also the result of an extremely traumatic birth. My son recognized me from birth. He would not look at others in the room at his birth, and immediately afterward would cry when nurses and attendants picked him up. He is a 12th house Moon and 8th house Sun. I think it really depends on the infant. [...]