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Writer's pictureGuido Bonatti

Book Review of "You were born for this", by Chani Nicholas

Let's just say that this Chani Nicholas' book is very useful and well written, and I have read it in its Italian version ("Sei nato per questo", Giunti, Milano, 2020).

I know we are all used to skip the introduction but this time you really shouldn't: the author explains her first encounter with astrology and, most importantly, how a simple astrological reading can change your life for the better.

Another plus of this book are clarity and conciseness with which Nicholas explains some concepts. Take for example the few pages with which the author puts the reader in a position to self-analyze their natal chart: in this respect, I think this is one of the clearest and most precise manuals I have read so far.

The analysis focuses on three main astrological symbols:

  • The Sun: Purpose of life.

  • The Moon: One's own physical and emotional needs.

  • The Ascendant and its governor: Life's motivation and your boat's helmsman.

The book is enriched by a wide series of "Sentences" and "Food for thought" that do an excellent job of psychological awakening of the involved symbols. Let's take for example the Sun in Aries (pagg. 43-44, translation is mine):

  • I honour my energy and its power by focusing on everything that makes me feel free.

  • Which struggles do you think are important to be undertaken?

Probably the part about aspects is the one that finds myself a little bit more critical towards this Nicholas' work, but only because I think that the author can be sometimes too much optimistic about the chance of the individual of engaging with some disharmonies which are found in their own natal chart. Let's take for example the notes of the author about the Sun-Saturn square (pag. 88, translation is mine):


"(...) You may have too demanding responsibilities, or you may get stuck on the path because you have a too self-critical attitude (...) In any case, if you work on these obstacles, you are going to bring the best out of you. If you develop a sympathetic discipline, and if you commit yourself to build up a content-rich life, then you'll be able to free yourself from the heaviest manifestations of this square".


I don't want to say that a person that has a square aspect between their Sun and Saturn is completely doomed but let's try to think of all those times when the return of Saturn on the Sun or other disharmonious transits of the trans-saturnian planets on the Sun re-activate the originary wound in this individual and how the latter can have the feeling (or worse: can find themselves in the actual position) of having to build everything back up, and once again, and once again... It's clear that in this case a lot more than a "sympathetic discipline" is needed.


In any case this little negative note won't affect seriously the value of a very useful book as an introduction to the discovery of oneself through astrology. Yes, an introduction, because the natal chart is an orchestra composed by many more elements than the basic "Sun, Moon, Ascendant" trio and let's hope that Nicholas help us in further improving our knowledge by writing a sequel to: "You were born for this".



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