Just read an interesting book….here’s my review

KIDWHEELS Understanding the Child in your Chart, Cornelia Hansen. The Wessex Astrologer, PO Box 9307, Swanage, Dorset BH19 9BF, England. www.wessexastrologer.com. Trade Paper. 114 Pages. £11.00, $17.60.
Astrology was the psychological system of the ancient world. In fact it went even further – right up to the 20 century – until the advent of Freud and his disciples. So modern psychology is a relative “newbie” on the block. Only used in the past 100 or so years – an insignificant time in terms of historical periods.

So merging the ancient system of astrology with modern psychology seems a natural fit. It has good and bad points.

In this work the author applies astrological insights to child psychology. Basically she is translating the language of the Horoscope into the prevailing psychological language.

Many parents wonder how their children can be so different each from the other. I get this all the time in my practice. “After all” they say “they have the same genes, the same DNA, the same parents, the same basic upbringing”. How can this be? The Horoscope is the answer. Each has a different Horoscope and thus a different nature and different destiny. Each has to be handled differently based on this.

A book like this is perfect for such people, especially if they are students of either astrology or psychology.

It is well written, well documented, and suitable even for beginners in astrology.

The work seems especially geared towards younger children – but I think a lot of this would be useful for older children too – even adult children. Using astrology she classifies them by temperament – quality of mood, approach/withdrawal, adaptability, intensity of reaction, threshold
of response, persistence, distractability and many more categories. She even has worksheets where an astrologer (even a beginner) can take a child’s chart and determine the child’s temperament. Then she gives strategies for dealing with each type.

The astrology was very sound. But I’m not sure how or why she arrived at her point system. Every chart is graded by points for every aspect of temperament. But why does she assign one factor x amount and another y amount? This isn’t explained.

I liked the way she brings the parents into the picture too – chapter 7. Through astrology we can see how the child relates to the parents – how the child deals with authority and the kind of nurturance he or she receives. She also likes to look at the Horoscopes of the parents and relates it to the child. This is very important. Many conundrums can be explained by this analysis – and even healed.

We live in a psychological time. This is the modern approach to things. So I can see many people finding this useful. I can see it eventually coming into the psychology mainstream. When it does, this book will be one of the reasons.

Highly recommendable – especially for those with young children.

JP