An Introduction to AstroPsychology: A Synthesis of Modern Astrology & Depth Psychology

Right off the bat I'll say that this is not a beginner-beginner astrology book meaning that if you have just started to get acquainted with the basics this is not the book for you. You already need to have an idea of what signs, planets, houses and aspects are and to have a sense of their basic symbolism if you want to get any benefit from this book.Now, the pros and cons.The PROS:In terms of linking the astrological symbolism to human psychology and behavior, this book is the best out of all astrology books I've read so far. But that should be of no surprise because the author is a Jungian analyst and, as such, he is very well positioned to make those connections.I am a psychotherapist myself and so the author's psychoanalytic approach to astrology resonates with me very strongly and seems most beneficial to me personally. I love the idea of looking at signs and houses from the perspective of human development over a lifespan. just as I love the idea of linking the aspects to the relationships between signs and houses.I like that the book describes the vast possibilities of how the same chart can manifest itself differently because every element of the chart can have different categories of manifestation.I appreciate the effort put into making the book very elaborate...but this is where the cons come as wellThe CONS:While I enjoyed to read about the variety of ways in which each element of the chart can be interpreted, about half way through the book I began to get lost in all the vast possibilities, because all that wealth of information was not organized into any coherent system. Throughout the second half and, especially, the last 1/3 of the book the descriptions became repetitive and the ideas redundant.It seemed as if the author was trying to introduce every nuance he could think of, which, in and of itself, is an honorable effort, but to me, as a reader, it feels like all the information has been just piled up without explaining how to use it. This is the BIGGEST flaw of the book imo. In the end, all those wonderful insights don't explain how to actually approach the chart and what system to follow to interpret it. Every astrology book I have read so far that talks about chart interpretation introduces some kind of a system or guiding principles of interpreting chars. Not this one.The second thing that bothered me personally is the author's attitude towards virtually every school of astrology except his own, which I found quite arrogant and, frankly, ignorant. From what I've read and watched about more traditional and ancient schools of astrology, I don't get an impression of them as dogmatic and rigid, as the authors claims they are. What I've found is that a particular practitioner approach may be dogmatic or not based on the practitioner's personality, but that has nothing to do with what kind of astrology they practice.I also think that the reason why traditional astrology, especially Vedic, may seem rigid and religiously driven is because we know very little about the underlying cultures that produced it and the real meaning of what we perceive as dogmatic teachings. Just like in the Bible, the ancient astrology text might be a code or a metaphor for something else and should not be taken literally.I think, it's ignorant for one to believe that they are somehow intellectually or psychologically superior to the previous generations of scholars only because they have some knowledge that those who lived centuries and millennia before didn't have. It can also be argued that those before us also had a vast body of knowledge we don't have today. There are absolutely no objective scientific facts that prove that Jungian analysis has any validity, and yet the author unquestionably accepts it as the "reality" while denying that other "realities" can be just as "real" as his own.So, I'd agree with one of the reviewers that the "my way is the only way" attitude that the author displays throughout the book is very off putting.Last but not least, the language of the book is dry and academic-like. It is hard to feel into the nature of the planets, signs etc. when reading it. When I read Steven Forrest's books, f.e., astrology comes alive. His language is poetic. In his books the planets and signs are real living beings I can relate to and I get captivated by their beautiful and mystical stories. When I read this book, I feel like I am reading a school textbook and so the understanding becomes more superficial and intellectual, as opposed to soulful.Overall, I would recommend this book to those astrology junkies and students who are particularly interested in the psychological aspect of it. It does have a unique information that's worth looking at.

Ive been practicing astrology for 4 yrs now and this book just brings all the missing pieces together. Im honestly surprised it doesn't have more reviews than this. You have yo buy it. You won't regret it

Glenn Perry is a pioneer in this field. While reading this book I got a very strong sense that his work is going to potentially revolutionize the way modern Western society views astrology. That his work will hugely contribute in healing the damaged effect that adulterated, generic and commercialized ‘newspaper’ horoscope has had on the reputation of astrology. I can see this book being one of the gifts that helps to elevate astrology into the academic and scholastic realms of the accredited education system. I feel hugely inspired by his ability to bridge the mystical to the rational and am left with an undeniable motivation to become a practitioner of this study.

My wife bought this and now she is driving me nuts and telling me everything that’s wrong with me.

Glenn Perry is one of many Astrologers trying to make a name for themself by creating their own Astrological model. Of course, everyone else's understanding of Astrology is wrong unless it aligns to his own way of thinking. He effectively throws out thousands of years of Astrological observation and research. In fairness, the book does offer many brilliant insights on Astrological Archetypes. Dr. Perry's work is serious and logical piece of analysis that does deserve some praise. But if you're a serious student trying to understand the magic of Astrology, look elsewhere. This book is not for you.I was a student of Dr. Perry for a couple of months. What I realized after wasting serious non-refundable dollars is that his system fails to live up to the hype. Dr. Perry can't use his model to determine the psyche of a person without meeting with the client and performing an evaluation. His system fails the... "Does it work" test.

I have never in my 30 years seen just a thorough and serious study of astrology presented to the public. This book belongs on every astrologer's book shelf.

really valuable book!

Excellent!