Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Astrologer: A Simple Guide to Calculating and Interpreting Birth Charts for Effective Application in Daily Life

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"A simple guide to calculating and interpreting birth charts for effective application in daily life", is what is says on the cover of this book. I found that this statement, in my opinion, is true.

Nicholas Campion is a well-respected astrologer who has written several other astrology titles - Mundane Astrology: the astrology of nations and organisations (with Michael Baigent and Charles Harvey), The Book of World Horoscopes, The New Astrology: the art and science of the stars (with Steve Eddy), and Zodiac: enhance your life through astrology. He is also an award winning, internationally authority on astrology as well as past President of the Astrological Association of Great Britain and the Astrological Lodge of London.

The Ultimate Astrologer is divided into 17 Chapters covering everything from the planets to becoming a professional astrologer. Also included are the necessary tables for calculating a birth chart so that you don't need to go and buy extra books if you want to have a go at working out your own birth chart. The tables provided are aimed for the reader in the UK and USA and include the tables of houses, ephemeris (from 1960 - 2010) and daylight savings times.

From the beginner to the more experienced astrologer, this title has something to offer readers with a wide variety of knowledge. The chapters start off with the basics, such as the meaning of the planets, zodiac signs and houses. There is a comprehensive chapter devoted to calculating a birth chart as well.

For the more experienced reader there are several chapters introducing prediction, relationship charts, horary, electional and financial astrology as well as several other branches of specialised topics that come under astrology

Overall, this is a worthwhile investment for the student of astrology that includes nearly everything you need to draw up a birth chart. While you are exploring astrology this is a perfect book because it will save you from having to buy an ephemeris, book of tables and daylight savings book - in a sense The Ultimate Astrologer pays for itself. That in itself is an achievement! I would recommend this title for the beginner/intermediate astrology student.

...and does a very scant job of it! Still, Campion manages to say in a few words what other writers might employ pages (or even books) to explain. Also, some of his cookbook descriptions stray slightly from the norm and might provide a slightly alternate understanding of established principles.

This book is too cursory for the beginner. I'd use it as a summary for intermediate practitioners, i.e., those who want to "brush up" on previously learned material and look into other uses of astrology (mundane, financial, health, chinese, vedic and otherwise). The ephemeris is pretty useless (Sun to Jupiter only, from 1960 to 2010) and the book's emphasis on calculating natal charts manually is so...1990CE. Overall, it might be handy to have in your library, but it should not be considered a referential or comprehensive source.

UPDATE: The author's website mentions "The Ultimate Astrologer" is actually the condensed, paperback version of his "Practical Astrology" book, which is currently out of print. The latter might be the superior book to get for Intermediates. And I found plenty of used copies (of the Practical Astrologer) on Alibris, starting at $.99!

This book did not help me at all. Nick Campion uses all kinds of big extravagant words, which just confused me more. I bought this book thinking I would be getting THE ULTIMATE ASTROLOGER, when all it really does is tells you how to do a whole bunch of math (which I came to find I could get my birth chart off of the internet for free within 10 seconds, without having to do any math). I spend 6 hours adding up and calculating my birth chart before discovering it was free on the net. This book is definitely not for someone who does not like math. Another thing about it that I really dislike is the fact that it contains almost nothing about synastry. NOTHING.