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The Book "Under one Sky"

1 by junaid
Hello,

I am thinking of getting the book "Under One Sky", editor Jodie Forrest where 12 astrologers from various traditions blind read a chart. Has anyone read this book? Comments please! (before I get it myself - it's not cheap to get books transported to my country!).

Thank you in advance!

2 by Tara
I found the book disappointing, but can't give you any more details than that as it was a few years ago that I tried to read it but wound up just skimming it because I couldn't get into it.

Perhaps just my experience and not necessarily an accurate reflection of the book, but there you have it.

Tara

4 by Tara
Hi Junaid,

Sorry to take a couple of days to get back to you but I was feeling bad about giving the book a negative review based only on a foggy memory of being disappointed rather than an objective analysis. And as it happens, the book resurfaced without any effort on my part, so I had another look at it and I think now the main reason I didn't like the book was that it entailed too much work to read. I feel it would have benefited from a more rigorous edit.

Now if a book is compelling, it's never too long. For me, this book was not compelling and I would've preferred it if it had been laid out in a way which made it easier to connect the astrologers' reasoning with the woman's actual life experiences. As it is, it takes a lot of slogging to get at the germ of things.

I was also struck by the fact that of all the astrologers, only Steven Forrest seemed to really capture the true essence of the woman's life experiences.

Tara

5 by Mark
I was also struck by the fact that of all the astrologers, only Steven Forrest seemed to really capture the true essence of the woman's life experiences.
You dont think the Editor might have favoured any contributors do you? :wink:
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

6 by HOWARD B SAYER
Hello

I read this book many years ago. I recall the 'Archetypal Astrologer', whose name I can't recall, providing a reading which had a similarity to the subjects account of her life (which could concern a sceptic) and the others all struggled, to put it mildly, including Forrest.

I recall all the astrologers explaining their methods usefully. Overall a very interesting read for many reasons.

9 by waybread
I have a copy of this book and read it cover to cover. I found it fascinating, but not in a good way for astrology, sad to say.

The editors assembled a dozen astrologers of different persuasions. Some I hadn't heard of, but others are household names (in astrologers' households.) Each of them was given just the birth place, time, and location of a woman with the pseudonym "Joyce" and asked to do a chapter-length blind chart-reading. Joyce wrote a chapter-length autobiography, but none of the astrologers got to read it until after the book went to press, and then they were not allowed to modify their readings.

I found the astrologers to be really embarrassing. I regret that I felt this way, but I did. Even notables like Hand, Schmidt, and S. Forrest just did not grasp what this woman was about. A number of astrologers stated flatly that they normally do not give blind chart readings, but instead ask their client a lot of questions up front. This casts doubt in my mind about the legitimacy of astrological methods on their own stand-alone merits. Interestingly, the Vedic astrologer and the astrologer who worked extensively with asteroids (D. George) did the best. So much for the traditional vs. modern astrology debate.

No doubt there were flaws in the approach: Joyce gave a chronological account of her life, whereas most of the astrologers attempted to describe her personality.

So I am glad I bought the book. It comes in handy in discussions about which type of astrology works the best, and gives a decent panoramic view of the different schools of horoscope analysis.

10 by Mark
I am tempted to get this book. As much as a lesson in human perception. I have heard such differing views on which astrologers were closest to capturing the essence of the nativity chosen I am genuinely intrigued to have a look for myself. :???:

Although unlike Waybread I seriously doubt a book like this will ever 'prove' the validity of one school of astrology over another. All it really confirms is how well a small select group of astrologers responded to one particular test. To approach any kind of scientific validity this kind of experiment would surely need to be done on a massive scale in terms of natal examples.

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly

12 by Mark
Actually Mark, I just ordered it myself! All the ragging on it has backfired in my case.
Me too! :lala

Mark
As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity William Lilly
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