Customer Reviews

The Handbook of Celtic Astrology: The 13-Sign Lunar Zodiac of the Ancient Druids (Llewellyn's Celtic Wisdom)

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While this book does not offer a comprehensive system of astrology like most text books. It offers myriad clues as to unexplored possibilities within the given conceptual terrain. Instead of telling you how or why a particular mythic device works in the Celtic, Lunar astrological context set forth, it provides examples from the Druidic spiritual index of folklore and tradition to inspire polyvalent readings. A true do-it-yourself book, admittedly not for everyone (especially those wanting to be force fed knowledge), this book instead offers a magnificent starting point for any celtic-zodiac vision quest!

Mrs. Paterson has described an astrological system for a different solar system entirely, for she reveals that there are thirteen planets that govern fate, and that the ancient Celts knew about this, being able to see Neptune and Pluto without the aid of a telescope. Also, Earth has two moons, the other being Persephone, behind the Moon somewhere. There is, furthermore, a planet before Mercury, called Vulcan, whose existence was forgotten after Atlantis sunk (page 90), but was somehow refound by a guy in Arizona. If this does not kill brain cells yet, in my researches on Celtic astrology I found something quite shocking: she is lying through her teeth. The Vulcan Theory of Mercurial Orbit was discovered by Monsieur Le Verrier in 1859, which explained Mercury's strange orbit. Astonomers tried to find Vulcan without success, and in 1915 Albert Einstein solved the problem by describing how the Sun's mass was affecting Mercury. The Atlanteans could not have known that Vulcan existed, unless they were time travelers. Then Mrs. Paterson read a science fiction novel called "Arachne Rising" by Mr. Vogh, which was about a civilization with a thirteenth zodiac sign. In her books, she has marketed this novel as being a real, factual astrological treatise and has used it to make her fortune-telling system, coupled with 19th century astronomy and Atlantis, then stuck 'celtic' to the cover so that it could be published in the United States (she is a citizen of the United Kingdom).

This book was great reading. I already know a bit about the standard astrology set up, and this book was very interesting. At times a little hard to follow, but keep treading through it and everything falls into place. A unique 13 house system with quite a few additional stars to learn. The Celtic basis is what perked my interest in this book, and I wasn't disappointed. On the whole, whether or not you know about Astrology, this is a must read.

There is little value to this book, if any. As another reviewer mentioned, it is similar to Kisma Stepanich' Feary Wicca, which is also entirely without merit. The author knows little about the subject on which she writes, a common Lewellyn Publications issue. Yet another book that attempts to re-write history in favor of the authors' fantacy. Unfortunate.

The problem with this "lunar zodiac" is that there's nothing lunar about it. Patterson divides up the solar year into 13 pieces rather than 12, but that doesn't make it lunar--in fact, there's closer to 12 lunar months in a year than 13. It's a bit more complicated, but this simplified version doesn't really do anything for you that solar astrology doesn't already do--except with a Celtic gloss.

I am not sure about the accuracy of everything Ms. Paterson states, but I do agree with a system of 13 signs as well as a sign that is ruled by the planet Earth (how is Earth left out of traditional astrological systems??>>) In any case, I have personally found this book to be one of the more accurate books I have ever read on astrology in terms of personality description and think it is worth having. I have an older edition that has gorgeous full color illustrations as well, although it does not go as in depth as this version does.

One of the most disappointing reads of my life. This author's comprehension of astrology is totally lacking. She has cobbled together a mish-mash of Celtic gobbledegook and a bit of the Celtic Tree Calendar, and created - what? The most contorted excuse of a system imaginable.

For my money, this isn't worth buying, and I didn't buy it. Kisma Stepanich's "Faery Wicca" is either based on this purported "Celtic Astrology" or is one of the influences that Paterson used to create this abomination. In either case, the research is faulty, the theory unworkable, and the whole concept in need of major revision.