Book reviews
The Astro-Logic of Winning Football and
how giant-killings and Cup upsets happen
By Alan Ayre
The Solopreneur Publishing Ltd, £11.99
(pb); £6.60 Kindle
Reviewed by Victor Olliver
Imagine
the
day
that
a
BBC
football
commentator
–
let’s
say
Alan
Shearer
– assesses a
triumphant
team’s
Cup
performance in
the
following
terms: “Well, the
source of their
seamless inter-passing and synchronistic
movement was the inter-connections
between the Sun and Mars positions of the
team nucleus, Gary”. Doesn’t seem likely
anytime soon, does it? Yet Alan Ayre makes
a great case for football astrology – just as
he did with his last title, Football Aims for
the Stars. As he says: “Optimum form and
peak fitness have been shown to coincide
with particular planetary alignments. High
performing teams have been shown to
have on-form players playing in telepathic
combinations. Winning teams have players
that gel together and – depending on the
quality and astro-profile of the opposition –
are well-balanced astrologically. Managers
and players should, therefore, be aware
of the ebb and flow of cosmic waves and
their effects on individual form, fitness and
group dynamics”.
How astrology can be applied to the socalled beautiful game proves remarkably
persuasive because in this particular world,
outcomes are clear-cut (teams simply win
or lose or draw), unlike general life, too
often. Ayre’s modus operandi is to identify
the “geo-cosmic building blocks of winning
teams”, associating game method and
style with certain planetary-elemental
combinations in the players. A ‘team’ is
characterised as a complex organism that
functions best when its component parts
work together in concert, discernible
by horoscopic harmony. Of Juventus, he
attributes its first European trophy in 1984
to a “skilful and inventive air/air (LibraGemini) blend” under Piscean Giovanni
Trapattoni. He also uses astrocartography
to show how local space maps point to the
winning and losing areas of the world for
players and teams – David Beckham’s is
particularly illustrative.
60
Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
The book lives up to its title by explaining
how the impossible happens, such as the
Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley result, and many
other jaw-droppers. Matches and teams
are examined astrologically, making the
implied case that football commentary (and
the game) is missing a trick by not putting
Alan Ayre on a lucrative pundit’s wage. The
inclusion of burgeoning women’s soccer is
a lesson to newspapers and other media
that continue to ignore or patronise it.
Ayre does a great service to astrology, just
as do financial and business stargazers:
emphasising the practical value of our
art and craft and not getting lost in highminded metaphysical abstraction above
the fray of actual life. An excellent and a
mind-blowing read.
An extract from this book is on p.39 of this
issue
Astrological
Psychology,
Western
Esotericism
and
the Transpersonal
By Sue Lewis
Hopewell, £18 (pb)
Reviewed by Ghislaine Adams
This
is
a
wonderful gem
of a book that
delves
into
the
historical,
philosophical
and
spiritual
roots
of
Astrological
Psychology.
It
casts light on
the
esoteric
meaning
that
underpins the conceptual approach of the
discipline of this methodology – or, as it is
widely known, ‘Huber astrology’.
As a senior tutor with the Astrological
Psychology Association, and with a master’s
degree in Western Esotericism, the author
effectively demonstrates the rightful place
of astrological psychology within the
esoteric field.
Whilst I feel that the book qualifies
as an academic book, its structure is
straightforward and easy to follow. This, in
itself, is an accomplishment considering the
complexity of the material explored and
the extent of the research into the various
esoteric threads that make up Western
Esotericism.
Book reviews
In Chapter 1, we are given the opportunity
to look back on the birth of Astrological
Psychology through the lives of Louise
and Bruno Huber and their personal
connection to Roberto Assagioli, father
of Psychosynthesis, together with the
influence of Dane Rudhyar, Carl Jung and
Alice Bailey amongst others. Of particular
interest is the excellent exposition of the
‘genetic’ differences between the Hubers’
Astrological Psychology and Liz Greene’s
Psychological Astrology that some of us
may not have been fully aware of.
In Chapters 2 and 3 we uncover the place
that Astrological Psychology occupies in
the Western Esotericism tradition as we
are led to identify the AP thread within the
esoteric tapestry: the five levels of the chart
as representative of our spiritual makeup expressing itself through our human
incarnation, imagery and the specific use
of colour, the importance of geometric
(aspect) patterns, the dynamic house curve
as symbolic of natural rhythms as well as
the use of the three charts to facilitate our
process of self-growth.
Chapter 4 focuses on the use of the three
charts and how the nodal chart acts as a
backbone to the natal chart; and the house
chart offers us resources for the refinement
and manifestation of our present potential
in line with our soul’s purpose. In particular,
the author presents us with a very personal
and courageous account of her journey to
health through the interpretation of her
three charts that gives us a strong flavour
of the healing potential of Astrological
Psychology alongside therapy.
In the final chapter, Sue considers
contemporary trends in science and
spirituality towards a more holistic approach
to understanding the interconnectedness
of all life. Her closing words remind us of
the credentials of Astrological Psychology
with its roots in the wisdom of ancient
civilisations and its applications firmly
bedded in the current practices of depth
psychology that combine healing and
spiritual development.
This is a very brief synopsis of the book’s
contents. It is a must-read for all Astrological
Psychology graduates and students and
anyone who is truly interested in the deeper
meaning of astrology as a resource towards
spiritual development and knowledge of
the higher worlds. It will also appeal to all
astrologers who ar