5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book though I am confused a little, March 4, 2010
This review is from: Sudoku Astrology: Creating Happiness and Succeeding in Love, Sex, and Relationships (Paperback)
I liked the book very much but I am a bit confused as this book and its calculations which is based on planetary energies that dominate at any point in time, placed me in the metal gua. In some of my Feng Shui books I am ruled by the earth element - gua. That is my confusion. This book is great and goes into a bit more detail than my other books but I am trying now to understand why in the chinese divination processes that I come up with two different guas. Since using chinese philosophical practices in the need to understand myself though, you come to realise that the western philosophical practices are pretty much useless. But never the one to give up, now I am on to the Chinese birthday book, maybe that can fill in the hole I find myself in. Possibly I am right in the middle of earth and metal since they do lie next to each other. In western astrology I am right on a cusp which makes it rather difficult to pinpoint anything. Onward.....
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3.0 out of 5 stars
First Impression, July 7, 2009
This review is from: Sudoku Astrology: Creating Happiness and Succeeding in Love, Sex, and Relationships (Paperback)
Book well formatted. Clearly described. Big, clear graphics supporting the somewhat fascinating/sometimes intuitive procedure. There are two issues I have with the book and the whole idea of Chinese Numerology:
1) Don't attempt to fit chinese astrological/numerological thought into the western/new age mold. Lord, I tried, but to no obvious success. Don't try to find English-looking/meaning words in Mandarin. If you're gonna read this and any other books on tne subject, do so with at least an open mind (i.e., discarding any understanding of western divination systems), or at best an open mind accompanied by a working knowledge of oriental culture and medicine.
2) As a book, the title bothers me a bit: it doesn't use any celestial data or astronomical references in its theory or application. This book falls much more in the field in numerology, ala Richard Webster's books of the same subject. The author(s)should have called this book "Sudoku Divination" or again, "Chinese Astrology," like Webster has.
The Chinese Birthday Book (Takashi Yoshikawa) essentially covers the basics (the numbers, the elements, yin and yang nature), but this book goes further into a positing an oriental approach to synastry and transits. Overall a good beginner's book--but I can't integrate this into my western practice.
My two cents. 3 and a half stars.
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