Christopher Renstrom’s The Cosmic Calendar:  Using Astrology to Get in Sync with Your Best Life provides a wonderful introduction to astrology, and the author’s writing skill and deep understanding of both history and cycles make this a special book.

Renstrom presents the equinoxes, solstices, elements, modes, day and night horoscopes and more with chart diagrams.  These immediately convey the multi-dimensional nature of astrology and provide an excellent introduction to help beginners look at a chart.  With perceptive and evocative descriptions, the Sun, Moon and planets in signs are addressed at length, with short interpretations of Sun and planet combinations.  Christopher writes with sensitivity, insight and emotional resonance and has created a work that’s refreshing, fun and often funny. 

We learn so much from the fact that Cancer “can’t resist the impulse to pick up things and to hold them; to cuddle, coddle and cradle.”  The Moon in Virgo “treats the body like a temple and not a pup tent.”  Jupiter in Leo should “make a big splash, not a big splat.”  Saturn in Aquarius’ “matter-of-fact way of putting things gives you the bedside manner of a Vulcan.”  Each thought is skillfully crafted to enhance our knowledge and awareness. 

Renstrom introduces essential dignities by connecting these fundamentals with the seasons, magically making a sometimes murky topic crystal clear.  The Moon is dignified in Cancer when the Northern Hemisphere is vibrant with life; it’s exalted in Taurus, the time of spring growth.  Venus rules Taurus’ month, when roses bloom, as well as Libra’s, the time for harvests.  Saturn is connected with two months of seasonal cold and dormancy.  The associations are disarmingly simple but also profound, as they strike at the heart of their meanings. 

A marvelous historical perspective is sprinkled throughout, with enlightening anecdotes about Caesar, Cleopatra and the calendar, Newgrange alignments, Roman myths, the discovery of the outer planets and other intriguing tidbits.  The book itself is beautifully designed, compact and easy to read. 

The Cosmic Calendar is like a raspberry cheesecake with the nutrition of a macrobiotic meal.  Read this book to refresh yourself on astrological basics, or simply for the elegant and entertaining prose.  Buy it for friends and family:  it should make a perfect gift for the budding astrologer on your list!

Buy The Cosmic Calendar on Amazon.com.