The Astrology Companion: The Portable Guide for Using the Planets to Manifest Your Power and Purpose

Astrologer Chubb (The Ultimate Guide to Astrology) provides a sleek introduction to reading one’s astrological birth chart. Aiming to help readers understand the “vibrations that surround you and what messages they hold,” Chubb covers zodiac signs, astrological houses, and the meaning of the positioning of the planets. She explains that the 12 astrological houses signify such concerns as one’s career, relationships, and self-expression, and notes that the date and time of one’s birth determines which zodiac sign corresponds with which house: for example, if Gemini rules over the 10th house (career), one likely displays characteristic Gemini friendliness at work. Chubb writes that zodiac rising signs represent the “outer” traits one shows in public, and a handy chart suggests that people with a Scorpio rising sign are “highly magnetic,” while those with Capricorn rising can appear “serious” and “closed off.” The encyclopedic layout makes this easy to use, and the detail with which Chubb discusses advanced material on “lunar nodes,” which are “mathematical points calculated between the Sun and Moon,” and the influence of the planets puts this a notch above the superficial treatments found in similar volumes. Novices will enjoy this well-organized and enlightening primer. (Nov.)