A review by annagracek
You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas

2.0

One of my favorite things about Chani Nicholas’ work from years of reading her columns and mailing list offerings is her fierce commitment to the work of justice and the way she constantly reminds humans of our responsibility to act upon our personal development and mystical understanding. In a culture full of white, consumer/capitalist/colonial interpretations of ancient art forms, her insistence that astrological literacy can be a tool for personal and collective liberation is inspiring.

As a primer on understating three pieces of the reader’s natal chart, this book is ok: straightforward, clear, conversational and with helpful graphics. The author is clearly in love with her subject, which is a refreshing change from other non-fiction works.

My frustration with this book is that there is no explanation or source material or historical references for the how and why of her astrological understanding. As someone rather literate in this subject, I might understand where (I think) she’s coming from, but I feel strongly (and I understand not everyone feels this way) that to teach these skills without their beautiful, complex, and mystical (and even scientific!) context, astrology reads like just another fluffy how to be happy book. No different, to be fair, than a lot of Christian blog-adjacent books, or Buddhist bathroom wisdom, or dumbed-down Enneagram for Success silliness.

Ok, I know this isn’t another book promising to make the reader successful or happy or peaceful in three lessons, but still, I closed it after the final page feeling like I was mildly inspired but couldn’t remember why.