Danielle Blackwood is an authority in astrology. With over 30 years of practice turning to expertise and sharing her knowledge in columns for Sage Woman magazine and other publications on the subject. After traveling the world and finding her place and cultivating her love for the “star’s, she began formal training under a world renowned astrologist and author, Erin Sullivan. In addition to astrology, Blackwood teaches, counsels and coaches women. She promotes empowering women and allowing them the acceptance to evolve into their authentic selves. With her knowledge of these two subjects combines, Blackwood has gifted us with a brilliant book that helps bring the feminine out of man/woman alike and teaches them how to use astrology to transform their lives.

She begins the book dining the basics of what the reader will be working with. Things like archetype, how it relates to astrology, how it relates to the individual, and how we each of our own unique birth chart. Readers will see how their own chart shows a connection in every sign but some will have a stronger connection and influence.

The Twelve Faces of the Goddess is great for even the novice astrology inquirer. Blackwood takes the reader through the basics of what any reader needs to know to understand a chart in order to read astrology. She describes things like mode, elements, signs, planets and houses. She tells how each of these things affects your moods, interests, relationships, health, communications, etc. Further in the book Blackwood discusses The Wheel of the Year and basics for having rituals to celebrate these sabbats. She discusses how The Wheel of the Year is directly related to the God and the Goddess. The reader will get to see the energy that each sabbat brings forth and then will learn the best way to honor and use that energy in their rituals and when the perfect times are for inner work and reflection.

Blackwood informs the reader that we a combination of all the astrological signs; however, we may be more or less influenced by one more than another. A large portion of The Twelve Faces of the Goddess delves deep into this as we learn what it means to be (strongly influenced by) a specific sign. Things that we may want to look out for or take advantage of, how to work magic with this knowledge and what correspondences to the signs are. All these are things that will help us practice our crafts, create rituals and work on our inner selves with a bit of a guide map.

This book gives the reader the understanding and, sometimes, the ability to see for the first time, things that they are at their core. It shows the reader that they are a unique individual created just that way and then it helps them tread those waters with the help of step by step direction in finding, evaluating and then honoring all that we are. Men and woman will benefit from finding their feminine power sources in The Twelve Faces of the Goddess.

~review by Keri Nichol

Author: Danielle Blackwood
Llewellyn Publications, 2018
p. 283, $$19.99