Astrology and Compassion: The Convenient Truth [Paperback]

Astrology and Compassion - The Convenient Truth
By Roy Gillett

This is a book only an Aquarian could write. It is much, much more than an astrology book; it is a book of thoughts about what astrology can do and how astrology can be used to create a better 21st century. Astrology and Compassion is a book that synthesizes Roy's original theories in a volume full of exciting ideas and excellent astrology.

Astrology and Compassion: The Convenient Truth is a mix of the esoteric and the scientific, of astrology and Buddhism, of old philosophies and new ideas. Roy presents new proposals that demand to be tested. And, he knows of what he speaks. Roy Gillett is a man of the 21st century. He is Utopian, idealistic, an Aquarius' Aquarian. He thinks so far outside the box that you are in a new country. Roy's innate understanding and years of practice allow him to intertwine his Buddhist studies with his explanations and proposals. His experience as an educator in the British school system gives him the background for his innovative ideas on using astrology in education.

The book is organized into four sections. Roy gives thorough answers to the main criticisms of astrology, and then explains how it works using analogies for lay people plus deeper technical examples for all. After showing how this knowledge could enhance many areas of contemporary academia, the book climaxes with ways of implementing astrology in our 21st century society. Each chapter contains a reading list for further study. There is an appendix with a brief but thorough explanation of astrology and astrological terms for the non-astrologer. Roy stops you at the beginning of chapter four and sends you to the appendix if you are new to or unsure of your astrology, and then welcomes you back once you have learned the astrological terms and set your groundwork for understanding the rest of the book. He then erects his thesis, building towards a place where the new and daring ideas start to get hotter and hotter.

Roy is able to permeate the book with his Buddhist knowledge and deliver teachings without being obvious. Buddhism is so much of his thought process that its values saturate the book in a most subtle way. He writes, "it can be argued..." and then presents the concept. His explanations of Buddhism are clear and he explains its ties to astrology.

"...The chaotic condition of our contemporary society is
the calcified product of the absence of a coherent spiritual heart
in our culture. Until that heart is restored, healed and pumping
the spiritual nourishment of kindness and understanding through
the fabric of society, any number of piecemeal mechanical solutions
will lead us out of one set of horrific outcomes into another...With
compassion and the illuminating language of astrology, we understand
so much more and see clearly what needs to be done. This is the
restorative essence we seek-the convenient truth."

The book reads as if you are listening to Roy speak. Roy uses wonderful British phrases, which please an anglophile like me. I had to write and ask him what a "lolly scramble" is (a party game where candy is thrown in the air, like a piñata). Some words translate easily, like "candy floss=cotton candy, while some phrases are fun to read and learn, e.g., "horses for courses". Although written with the British, political, legal, and school systems in mind, the concepts translate easily. It is of benefit to Americans to learn the differences and the similarities between how the two countries hand these social necessities.

Roy states in his conclusion:
"The aim of this book is to encourage consideration of a more appropriate 21st century paradigm with new priorities. Its core is to see the conscious wholeness of the universe and to understand each creature's role within it. By this study we will realize that essential message and meaning of our universe is excellence through co-operation, not efficiency forced by the threat of competition...the central aim of this book has been to transform today's dominant emotions of greed and fear into their higher antidotes-compassion and astrological insight."

Buy this book and read it. It will open your mind. The book gives astrologers pride in our craft and introduces non-astrologers to a new way of thinking. It is a valuable addition to any library.