cover image Discovering Your Soul Mission: How to Use Karmic Astrology to Create the Life You Want

Discovering Your Soul Mission: How to Use Karmic Astrology to Create the Life You Want

Linda Brady, L. Brady, Evan St Lifer. Three Rivers Press (CA), $13.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-609-80360-8

The publisher categorizes this notably fresh and potent book as ""astrology/self-improvement,"" but those categories could be reversed. Readers needn't believe in astrology to benefit from the transformative ideas that Brady, a ""karmic astrologer and holistic teacher,"" and St. Lifer, executive editor of Library Journal, explicate. Those who do believe, however, will find their understanding and application of the ideas fortified by the authors' reinterpretation of astrology. Karmic astrology, they explain, differs from everyday astrology in that it is neither deterministic nor predictive; rather, its purpose is to help one understand one's ""soul mission,"" or cosmic destiny and purpose. The authors say that many of our problems arise from conflicts between our soul and personality. Their most radical idea is that our soul creates the events of our life--as it has the events of past lives--as a series of lessons to guide us over many lifetimes toward an alliance of soul and personality, and that we must take responsibility for every aspect of our life, even the apparent catastrophes, to learn these lessons. They draw on Brady's and others' experiences to make these points, and provide numerous questionnaires and exercises to enhance reader comprehension. After laying this groundwork with skill and precision, Brady and St. Lifer present a detailed yet accessible workbook in learning about one's soul mission by studying planetary influences, with an emphasis on the symbolic aspects of astrological interpretation. Within the field of astrology, this book verges on the revolutionary, but its import lies less there than in its potential to change, for the positive, how readers approach their lives. Agent, Liz Ziemska of Nicholas Ellison Inc. (Dec.) FYI: Linda Brady's Web site is at www. creativechoices.com.