Tibet brings to my mind mystery. This immediately gets my interest because I love to delve into just about anything that explores the unknown.
Combine mystery with astrology and I couldn't wait to set time aside to explore this detailed book on Tibetan Astrology. According to the back cover, this is the first detailed book on this subject. It was originally written in French, but was translated into English by Hamish Gregor.
Philippe Cornu has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism with Dudjom Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, and other teachers of the Nyingma tradition. He is the author or translator (into French) of several books on the Nyingma school and Dzogchen.
Tibetan Astrology is quite complex and needs an understanding of the cultural and spiritual history of this mysterious country. This is covered in Part One--General Considerations where a concise look as these topics has been prepared. Part Two--Practical Astrology goes into the technical information needed to use this system of astrology--get ready for your brain to be boggled!
I have to be honest and say that I was a bit naive in starting my review on this book, I had no idea that this topic would be so complicated! I enjoyed reading most of the background in Part One but when I got into the technical side of "Tibetan Astrology" I found it hard to take all of the information in. Basically, this is a totally different way of using astrology to our Western version and, I feel, needs more than a book to learn. "Tibetan Astrology" is certainly a book for the more confident and experienced astrologer.
This is why I would recommend this book to be used as a reference in conjunction with some type of educational course. This is simply because of the complex nature of the topic.
The author has done exceptionally well in presenting the complicated Eastern theories to the Western mindset and should be congratulated on this achievement. But again, I think it is too complicated to learn from a book (or maybe I should just have another coffee to get my brain moving along!).
In summary, if you are looking for a challenge in your quest for astrological knowledge you've hit the jackpot!
