I received a free ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Have you ever felt like your astrology sign (aka your sun sign) doesn't fully describe you? Or that how you come off to the world seems to differ from who you think you are? Society in general only focuses on your sun sign which is determined by the date you were born on. However that's like the first layer of the onion, while if you pull up your birth chart you'll see a ton of symbols in different places. Those planet signs go deeper into your personality and when putting all of the pieces together you can discover all the different layers of you, which might be similar to your sun sign or the majority of planets are in opposite signs which might be why you don't relate to your horoscope.
Mindful Astrology focuses on your "celestial trilogy", a term I've never heard before but is defined by the authors as the three core parts of your chart which make up your true personality. The book teaches you how to look up your birth chart for free, if you didn't know how, and gives you interpretations of your sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign. It also explains how these three interact with each other to give you a clearer picture of your personality. As a hobbyist astrologer, I personally think a person's Mercury, Venus and Mars signs are also critical pieces to understanding yourself. But it's true that the "celestial trilogy" makes up the foundation of your personality and gives you more insight into who you are. To break it down you sun sign explains your basic nature and motivations, while your moon sign explains how you internally process information and react to it, and finally your rising sign is the personality your reflect outwards and how people see you at first before getting to know you better.
The explanations of all the signs in these three positions are very well done and informative. It's different from a regular astrology book because its theme is mindfulness. So instead of telling you how you are in different aspects the writers have written the descriptions as advice for common issues faced by your sign. When reading the summary for my sun sign the authors hit the nail on the head with my personal struggles and gave relevant advice on how to overcome it. (If you're interested I'm an Aries sun, Aries moon, and Sagittarius rising.) They also give two pieces of practical advice on mindful routines you can adopt into your life to help the issues your sign generally faces.
The book itself is very pretty, and I loved the illustrations they had on almost every page. The only thing I'm disappointed in is the previously mentioned exclusion of the Mercury, Venus, and Mars signs. Mercury explaining how you communicate with others. Venus is how you approach relationships and how you show love and affection. And Mars is how you approach ambition, passion, and conflict. However, I understand what a monster of a book it would be to include everything. I just find the "celestial trilogy" to be part of the puzzle and not the whole puzzle as explained in the book. It is nice however to have these three signs discussed in detail all in one place.
Overall I'd recommend it if you're interested in astrology and your personality. It's also helpful to know the signs of your partner or children so you understand more on what drives them, how they handle emotions, and how you can help them.
I give Mindful Astrology 4 out of 5 stars.
