CHART SHAPES The Code to Interpretation By Wanda Sellar. The Wessex Astrologer PO Box 9307, Swanage, BH19 9BF, England. www.wessexastrologer.com. Trade Paper. 150 pages. 12£. $16.80.

Chart morphology – or the shape of the chart – was pioneered by Marc Edmond Jones in his “Guide to Horoscopic Interpretation”. His basic perception was something skin to the axiom that form follows function. The shape of a thing is not something independent of function but directly related to it. It was a return to simplicity – to looking at the basics – the way a child would look at it. It is akin to the way the ancients looked at the sky. That cluster over there looks like a crab. That one looks like a bear. And that one looks likes a dipper. These shapes were extremely meaningful.

Jones outlined the 7 basic shapes and gave the interpretations. But here in this wonderful book the author takes us further. Its not just about the shape but the many nuances that we see. What is the leading planet? The Trailing planet? Where are they located? What is their condition? This will tell us a lot about the life of the person.

Marc Edmond Jones was a giant in Astrology. A great genius. But his writing was dense and difficult to understand. I feel the reader will get more out of reading this book than Jones. The writing is clearer.

She not only includes the work of Jones, but the additional work of Robert Jansky who elaborated on him.

There are 7 basic shapes. But not every chart fits snugly into one of these shapes. Some morph into another. Some charts can be seen as either a bowl or bucket – containing elements of both. Some charts can be seen as a wide bundle or smaller bowl type. She discusses most of the variations.

Each of the chart shapes are discussed at length – the basics – the positive qualities and the negative ones. Then she takes actual charts – of famous people – and shows us how the life reflected their chart shape.

There is an interesting chapter at the end that discusses chart that don’t fit snugly into any given shape. (This too is a message about the person.) There was another interesting addition here – something I haven’t seen in the literature. She relates every shape to a planet. So, the splash is related to Mercury. The bowl is related to the Moon. The Locomotive to Mars. The bundle (or wedge as she calls it) to Saturn. The see saw to Venus. All of this makes a lot of sense. But the bucket to Jupiter? The splay to the Sun? Hmmmm. Have to think about this.

This book isn’t written for beginners – the reader needs to be familiar with ruler ships, dignities, detriments and midpoints. Yet, a beginner can get a lot out of this. You don’t need to know a lot of astrology to see a chart shape.

Chart shapes can be seen as a “Rorschach test” for astrologers. Every astrologer will look at the shape and see something unique. This shouldn’t be ignored. The chart is communicating to you.

A highly intelligent and readable book. Highly recommended. JP