Chinese Power Animals: Archetypes of Transformation

If Chinese astrology is your cup of tea, there are many excellent books available, mostly written by Asian authors. You are given an in-depth description of the 12 animal signs and thorough explanations of the five elements, the corresponding directions, seasons & colors and times of day.

Powers does that also but she takes her information and expertise one step further. Correction -- two and even three steps. She gives you information that you don't see in other books. After reading it, you'll understand the basis for acupressure and acupuncture. Powers is a holistic health teacher who formed Body-Mind Synergetics relating the emotions to different organs of the body and then applied it to her hypnotherapy sessions.

Are you aware that each of the 12 animals rat, ox, tiger,rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey rooster, dog & boar rules a different meridian of the body and each has its own emotional response?

This adds so much depth to your Chinese astrology reading and gives a better understanding of the signs. Rat, for instance, rules the gall bladder and deals with issues of abandonment.

You know you have an animal for your year of birth. You may also know you have one for your moth and hour of birth. but did you know there's also one for your day and even minute? Powers gives you all of them except the day which would require cumbersome tables.

One area where Powers diverges from the norm is that her Western counterparts differ from the accepted version. Rat is usually assigned to Sagittarius, but Powers equates Rat with Aries, Ox with Taurus and so on, comparing Chinese signs in order with Western signs in their natural order.

Using Powers' system you'll have more than enough information to set up a Chinese chart that reads much like your Western one, Using the animal of your time of birth, say 5:30 p.m. which is the hour of the Rooster, put Rooster on the Ascendant and then follow the signs around in order so that house 2 has Dog on the cusp and house 3 the Boar. The animal on house 4 represents qualities your mother has, house 10 your father's qualities and house 7 your spouse's.

The book is as much a self-help book as it is informational and entertaining. There are suggested antidotes for your physical ailments, guided meditations and music to listen to.

In the back of the book is a treasure trove of flower remedies, herbs, essential oils and even tarot cards and numerology. Yet Powers manages to deftly fit all that information into 312 well-worth reading pages.

~review by Judy Conkel

Author: Pamela Leigh Powers
Red Wheel Weiser, 2000