Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0718139232 ISBN 13: 9780718139230

Casa editrice: Michael Joseph Ltd, 1995

This guide to birthdays decribes in detail the characteristics and quirks of personality associated with being born on each day of the year. It covers all 366 days in the year (leap year included). The author combines astrology, numerology, and his own psychic intuition with his many years of observation of the people he has encountered. The result sets out to illuminate ones' strengths, weaknesses, and major concerns while providing practical advice and spiritual guidance. Each birthday is given a two-page spread which, in addition to text, includes icons and illustrations representative of the personality discussed. A sidebar appears with the names and images of famous people born on that day.

Review:

Sure, it's neat to know which famous people have the same birthday you do, but wouldn't it be fascinating to know what else you have in common with these celebrities? The Secret Language of Birthdays will show you this and much more. Through "personology" (a combination of characteristics influenced by sun sign, season, and day of the year) and an analysis of several thousand character profiles, authors Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elfers have pinned down the traits most common to people born on the same day.

Rather than taking a strictly astrological approach--how the planets, sun, and stars affect a person's behavior--the authors compare the commonalties of people who share birthdays, and piece together a personality for each day of the year, effectively slicing through geographical and cultural differences, while avoiding the one-size-fits-all trap of newspaper sun-sign horoscopes. Some readers may find the authors' strict use of the Gregorian calendar limiting, but conversion to other time-keeping systems is fairly simple (the authors make note of this problem and contend that a day is a day, whether someone names it October 21 or 1 Rajab). Goldschneider and Elfers focus on a model of the year as a wheel spinning in a recurring circle of patterns, an idea that reaches back far beyond the linear calendars we use today. Each birthday discussed includes important numbers, tarot cards, and a dose of psychology, so while you learn a little about the other people with your birthday, you may even discover something new about yourself. --Brian Patterson

About the Author:

Gary Goldschneider began his study of human personality with an interest in biographies and psychoanalytic theory. Before deciding against a career in medicine, for three years he attended Yale Medical School, where he studied psychiatry. During this time he discovered his deep and abiding interest in astrology and its symbolic relationship to personality.

Joost Elffers was born in Amsterdam. He created and produced numerous books over the past twenty years, including Play With Your Food and The 48 Laws of Power. He lives in New York.