Star Power: A Simple Guide to Astrology for the Modern Mystic

by Vanessa Montgomery

Become a better modern mystic with the help of this invaluable handbook. Through easy-to-follow, step-by-step chapters, you'll find all you need to know in order to read your own astrological birth chart, from the movement and meaning of the Sun signs and planets to understanding astrological elements, houses, aspects and transits. Star Power reveals how your birth chart can all help you learn more about yourself, your life and your future. You'll find out which sign you're compatible with, how the universe impacts your approach to love, wealth, creativity and careers, and ultimately learn to take cosmic control of your universe.

Genres: Astrology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Witchcraft, Self Help, New Age, Reference

253 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2018

Reviews

[Sosanna Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today I'm reviewing Star Power: A Simple Guide to Astrology for the Modern Mystic by Vanessa Montgomery.

Disclaimer: I am going to preface this review with the following statement. I do not practice Wicca. I am not a priestess nor do I claim any religious affiliation. I identify as an atheist witch and my review of any pagan/witchcraft books is presented from this point of view.

As always I'll start with the physical attributes of the book. This book is solid. It is not as tall as some of the books I have reviewed but it is substantial. The front and back cover offer tables with the planets, signs and elements. There is no index in this book but there is a page of suggested reading. The images in the book are limited to clip art and some basic line drawings. If you're looking for a book that will tell your sign what to do with an investment I would recommend you select a different book. If you're looking for instruction on how to fully understand a star chart, this is your book.

This book starts with a brief history of astrology. And when I say brief, I mean brief. Only one - two pages are dedicated to this. The book also includes a section on the language of astrology. This section is very useful. Time after time I see books that are this directed towards a specific topic, that they forget that someone may be picking up this book for the first time. While I appreciate the advanced studies in many of the pieces I have reviewed to this point, I feel a special connection to those authors who take the time to bring their reader up to speed. Be it with an introduction, a preface or including this type of glossary as a chapter as part of the book. As someone who excelled in vocabulary, I believe that understanding the exact definition of the word the author is using helps me insure that I am on the same page and able to learn as much as I can from the text.

I enjoyed the section on unlocking your birth chart (page 12) this section goes into detail about what they are, and how to use them. It contains great images of star charts and offers detailed instructions on learning to read them. The first step however is obtaining your star chart. I have found several websites that offer free star charts and there is a plethora of software out there that you can buy to help you create your own.

Each section of this book builds on the previous, there are no quick references here. I have found that this is something you just need to sit down and read to be able to fully understand your own chart.

Overall I found this book extremely informative and full of the complete details you need to decipher a star chart. I think that this book will benefit the learned reader but does offer some interest for the beginner. The author guides us through the art of learning to read our own charts and will perhaps open up a interest in reading for others. An excellent guide and I highly recommend.

[Noelle Pangilinan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly a great and informative read if you know nothing about astrology. Definitely an easy read if you can look past the “you go girl” vibe (this book was 100% marketed towards teenage girls and your basic pumpkin spice latte sorority sister).

It’s super fun to generate your birth chart /your whole family’s and all of your friends as you read the book to practice applying what you learn and seeing it all manifest and come together.

And!! Now you’ll understand all of the astrology memes. It’s a win win.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a heads-up: This whole book is written in female pronouns so this maybe a bit uncomfy for some people.

I started reading this just for fun and to spend some time... I didn't realize this is NOT just an astrology book. There are a lot of practical self-help tips in here. And it's very well-written. The writing style is mesmerising. I think this is a solid book to introduce you to your birth chart, so if you're interested, give it a try!

[Maz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a great book! The book is clearly targeted towards a younger audience however I had to roll my eyes so much because it seemed very pretentious and the language demnished the topic. I think it’s great that the author tries to make the topic relatable but 🙄 please don’t

[Caro Soleno C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the easiness and rythm of the book, it makes it easier for beginners to understand the basics of astrology.

[Magika · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is indeed a simple guide to astrology. Suitable for beginners :)

[Kanako Okiron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, it's all a bit of fun, isn't it?

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 3 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)

I am not sure I completely understood some of the concepts in this book, but enjoyed the layout and art in this book. I did enjoy the "Sign" section of the book.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accidentally read this in one night. I'll give it, that it's easy to read. This is more of an overview if you have no idea what's going on in your star chart. I knew some basic things, but I did have fun going chapter and chapter and trying to apply it to mine. At the same time, I wish it was more in-depth, but then again, that's not what this book is, or trying to be, and would take away from it's accessibility. I'm not a modern mystic, just someone trying to have fun with this.

I wish there were more examples, maybe having the 12 signs and all the planets would have been a bit much, but it would have been nice. I guess it also would have gone against the intuition thing she was talking about.

The celeb bit with their sign fell a little short for me. I don't necessarily see the celebs as they were described, but everyone's take might be a little different.

[Aja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book with all my heart. I'm in love with astrology so this was right up my alley.

This book provided information that was relevant and taught you how to red different birth charts instead of just telling you what yours was. The book was less of a documentary and more like a friend telling you about astrology because of the humor. The book provided acurate information for modern times instead of it being very past-time oriented.

Overall this was very easy to follow given that there was a vocabulary for words that may be unfamiliar to certain people. I would defenitly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in astrology or want to learn more.

[Eri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good beginners guide for the more advanced bits of astrology.
They book is beautifully presented with sleek illustrations and organized so everything feels a good deal less overwhelming and daunting than it can be. 4.5 stars, I think it could stand to go into just a bit more detail and more less talked about aspects like Houses, but altogether a fantastic way to dip an ankle into the pond.

[Astrologyqueenb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many astrology tomes are written for those who want to make a career of being an astrologer. This book is a great introductory guide to astrology for people who are interested to uncover how to use this esoteric science into their life. It has a fresh and modern approach that makes complex ideas easy to understand.

[Machteld Bosmans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astrologie is voor veel mensen een gevoelig onderwerp. Sommige geloven erin, anderen vinden het bullshit. Ik ben er een beetje sceptisch over. Dit boek heeft geholpen om het beter te begrijpen. Ik denk dat er een beetje waarheid in zit. Het boek is vrij droog geschreven. De illustraties zijn wel mooi gedaan.

[amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting dip into astrology for beginners. I think this book did a good job in some areas and fell flat in others. I found I had a lot of questions by the end that weren’t answered.

Some of the analogies used were so over simplified that it was hard to choke down sometimes. The tone of most of the teachings felt like they got boiled down to ‘you go girl!’

[Julie Shuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like astrology, you’ll like this book. Picked it up as something fun to get back into reading so it definitely fit the bill. Even though it says “simple” guide, parts toward the end went way over my level of understanding, but I’ll keep it as a handy reference/ coffee table book.

[Angrbrenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generally good book for getting to grips with the very basics of astrology. It was a bit more New Age than I tend to like, but generally I enjoyed it and found it very useful, and it's improved my understanding of astrology massively.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully-designed book that was the perfect introduction to astrology. Everything was well-explained and broken up into sections that were easy to follow. I was so impressed with the book and author that I paid for a birth-chart reading - amazing!

[Heather Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only just started looking into astrology and I would recommend this book for beginners like me. Very easy to follow and broken down to understand how to read your birth chart. Looking forward to continuing on with my astrology journey :)

[Lex Baumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative book, but I wish there was information for ALL signs in in each section, not just a few the author thought was important. Although, all it takes is some quick googling to understand what your sign/planet alignment meant in terms of each section of the book.

[lexi mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

i dont think ive ever paid so much attention to a book, and yet still did not understand a single thing. The vocabulary was so confusing, but thats mainly my fault because i had no previous experience before reading it.

[Hope Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda feel more confused about my chart then I did going into this book honestly.. It was a fairly good read though.. Wish it went a lot deeper into the topic though. Most of it you could just find online though.

[Chaase · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love astrology and ill keep learning till i never have to check books like this. but this was awesome, learnt so much.

[verónica · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is difficult to understand. Also, it doesn’t have all the information that you need to understand your birth
Chart.

[Tameeka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good if you want a quick reference on planets, houses, signs, etc. Not so good if you're wanting to understand your birth chart.

[Nyomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

very empowering and digestible info for a newbie to astrology!

[Vicky Hebbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview. Would appreciate more examples sometimes

[Jamie O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5 stars]

[Claire]

a simple guide to astrology for the modern girlboss

(unnecessarily gendered, otherwise a decent overview)

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a solid resource for learning more about astrology. I liked the format - very easy to read and flip between sections.

[Emily K]

Good for those new to astrology. Very organized and to the point.
But woof...the writing is cringe. It's basically that "how do you do fellow kids?" meme