Shorthand of the Soul: The Quotable Horoscope Vol. 1
by David Hayward
Reviewed for The Whole Life Times by Lorrie Kazan

If you’re a lover of quotes and an astrological enthusiast, this is the book for you. The author, David Hayward, has designed what he considers to be his version of a Physicians Desk Reference, in this case, the Astro Desk Reference. So, if you want a quote that illustrates what it means to be, say, a Gemini with mercury in the third house, try this one: ‘Conversation is a contest in which the first person to draw a breath is declared the listener.’

If you’re astrologically savvy, you might be laughing in agreement, and this quote might stay in your mind the next time you encountered someone with that very chart. If you’re not, you can enjoy the quote, but you’ll need to break it down a bit in order to fully apply it. This is where the inclusion of a chart, in which all the symbols were depicted and explained, would have been helpful, and provided the added benefit of cross-referencing, thus making the quotes more meaningful to a wider audience, and the book a greater tool for learning.

“The whole point is to ignite the reader’s interest in symbolism, which for Carl Jung ‘was the connecting point between man and divinity’.” The author has definitely ignited this reader’s interest, and I would hope that in Volume II he expands, not only to include more complete reference charts, but also to explain his ideas more fully so that this becomes a book for the novice as well as the initiated.

As it stands, you can use this as a source of inspiration or test your astrological acumen. It’s short, clever, contains quotes from the likes of Aristotle to Humphrey Bogart. The author even quotes himself.

Flare Publications, 1999