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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780446677394 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Grand Central Publishing |
| Publication date: | 06/01/2001 |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Sales rank: | 443,823 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.88(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Introduction
What makes a gay astrology book different from a straight one?
The question is a good one. After all, an astrological sign is what it is. Should it not be the same for anyone, gay or straight?
The answer is that the basic qualities of a sun sign are the same for everyone. However, these qualities do express themselves differently depending on the specifics of someone's life. A Capricorn in boot camp behaves differently from one working in a hair salon. In each case the behavior will be Capricorn, but the particulars will be different.
And gay lives are different from straight ones in many ways. Straight people do not need to worry about coming out, relationships with competing male egos, parenting without society's support, and a whole pile of issues that every gay man faces every day of his life. A gay astrology book should deal with the particulars of gay life and how each sun sign deals with these concerns.
But gay lives are also different from each other. As are the lives of various people with the same sun sign.
Each sun sign represents an energy that has to be acted out by someone of that sign in order for that person to be happy. A Leo leather daddy and a girly-girl Leo might act out their sun sign's energy in ways that are very far apart- but still unmistakably Leo. A gay astrology book should recognize the diversity of the gay community and show how there are many different ways to be a sun sign. Just like there are many different ways of being gay.
(Quick explanation: If you do not know what a sun sign is, it is the astrological sign that you look up when you check your horoscope. Each person has many signs in his or her astrological chart-one for each celestial body and other indicators in the sky when the person was born. This book will not get technical and will only deal with sun signs. The other signs do affect behavior and the psychological makeup of an individual, but the sun sign is the most important factor in a chart.)
Now, on to a bigger question: Does astrology work? In my experience, yes. Why does astrology work? I have absolutely no idea.
Yet it does work. Most people have noticed that their best friends tend to be of one sign and that persons of another sign will make their skin crawl. Workplaces are usually dominated by one or two signs. The reason is that most people have signdar. It kind of works like gaydar. And, like gaydar, you might be using it without realizing that you are. Here is a good example. I worked for a Libra who hated astrology and purposely avoided looking at applicants' birthdates. She also avoided asking about sexual orientation. She made six to ten hires a year. A full 50 percent were Libras! Nearly half the women hired were lesbians! This boss had fully operational signdar and gaydar.
If you have never done it, it is a good exercise to make a list of all your ex-boyfriends. Even the ones you had the most casual, short-lived relationships with. (For some of you this may take a few hours.)
Next to their names, write their astrological signs. (Come on. You probably know it for most of them.) Chances are that one or two signs will dominate the list. Flip to the part of this book that tells about those signs and you will find a pretty good description of the kind of men that attract you.
When astrology does not work, it is usually because we are looking for the wrong information. The sun sign gives information on a certain part of the personality. It describes the conscious part of the psyche. It expresses who one believes himself to be. It will tell how one thinks and solves problems. It will tell what motivates one to act. It will tell where a person's energy in life comes from.
The sun sign alone cannot tell you whom you will be "compatible" with. It can predict strengths and weaknesses in a relationship. It is very good at predicting what common interests a couple will share, what their arguments will be about, and what patterns they will fall into in daily life.
Astrology can predict whom one might fall in love with. (The moon, Venus, and Saturn are the big indicators for the love bond.) However, for that you need a complete chart for both parties, and an astrologer with top-notch chart analyzing skills.
And is it not more fun to fall in love on your own without any astrological assistance?
Astrology should never become a substitute for your own experience. Rather than using astrology to anticipate and manipulate the future, it can most effectively be used as a tool toward understanding what lies underneath events and relationships in your life-past, present, and future.
This book will not tell you what signs are compatible. Instead it will describe the challenges and joys that await couples with specific combinations of sun signs. This book will discuss what the various bonds between signs feel like.
One thing astrology teaches is that everyone is lovable. No one is unsuitable for having a relationship. It is just a matter of finding the right partner. It is my hope that this book can help you in your search.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Loving Your Man
You already know how to use this part. This part will tell you what to expect from each sun sign when it comes to relationships. It runs from first encounter to breakup. This is a good place to look if you are trying to snare someone of a particular sign. Or if you are trying to figure out why it did not work out with your ex. There is info on how a sign handles safe sex, coming-out, and gay parenting. You will find that each sign has its own way of looking at these issues and at how to be a gay man in this new millennium.
The Five Faces
There are many different kinds of individuals within any sign. There are also many different kinds of gay men. So it can be hard to figure out how a particular guy fits into this whole astrological thing.
This may help. Look at the Five Faces section of any sign in this book. Each of these sections describes five gay archetypes and how that sign might express itself through those archetypes. Decide which face is closest to the man you are thinking of, then check how that description matches up with the man.
The Relationships
There are seventy-eight different combinations of signs in relationships. (Unless you count ménages à trois.) Each is described here. As mentioned in the introduction, you will find the joys and challenges of each pairing described. It would be a mistake to discourage any of the seventy-eight pairings from giving it a try. Every one of them will work for someone.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Michael Yawney
Table of Contents
| Introduction | xi | |
| How to Use this Book | xv | |
| The Signs: Loving Your Man and the Five Faces | ||
| Aries | 3 | |
| Taurus | 16 | |
| Gemini | 28 | |
| Cancer | 40 | |
| Leo | 53 | |
| Virgo | 65 | |
| Libra | 77 | |
| Scorpio | 89 | |
| Sagittarius | 101 | |
| Capricorn | 113 | |
| Aquarius | 126 | |
| Pisces | 139 | |
| The Relationships | ||
| Aries - Aries | 155 | |
| Aries - Taurus | 157 | |
| Aries - Gemini | 159 | |
| Aries - Cancer | 162 | |
| Aries - Leo | 164 | |
| Aries - Virgo | 166 | |
| Aries - Libra | 168 | |
| Aries - Scorpio | 171 | |
| Aries - Sagittarius | 173 | |
| Aries - Capricorn | 175 | |
| Aries - Aquarius | 177 | |
| Aries - Pisces | 180 | |
| Taurus - Taurus | 182 | |
| Taurus - Gemini | 184 | |
| Taurus - Cancer | 186 | |
| Taurus - Leo | 189 | |
| Taurus - Virgo | 191 | |
| Taurus - Libra | 193 | |
| Taurus - Scorpio | 195 | |
| Taurus - Sagittarius | 198 | |
| Taurus - Capricorn | 200 | |
| Taurus - Aquarius | 202 | |
| Taurus - Pisces | 205 | |
| Gemini - Gemini | 207 | |
| Gemini - Cancer | 209 | |
| Gemini - Leo | 212 | |
| Gemini - Virgo | 214 | |
| Gemini - Libra | 216 | |
| Gemini - Scorpio | 218 | |
| Gemini - Sagittarius | 221 | |
| Gemini - Capricorn | 223 | |
| Gemini - Aquarius | 225 | |
| Gemini - Pisces | 227 | |
| Cancer - Cancer | 230 | |
| Cancer - Leo | 232 | |
| Cancer - Virgo | 234 | |
| Cancer - Libra | 237 | |
| Cancer - Scorpio | 239 | |
| Cancer - Sagittarius | 241 | |
| Cancer - Capricorn | 244 | |
| Cancer - Aquarius | 246 | |
| Cancer - Pisces | 248 | |
| Leo - Leo | 251 | |
| Leo - Virgo | 253 | |
| Leo - Libra | 255 | |
| Leo - Scorpio | 258 | |
| Leo - Sagittarius | 260 | |
| Leo - Capricorn | 262 | |
| Leo - Aquarius | 265 | |
| Leo - Pisces | 267 | |
| Virgo - Virgo | 269 | |
| Virgo - Libra | 271 | |
| Virgo - Scorpio | 274 | |
| Virgo - Sagittarius | 276 | |
| Virgo - Capricorn | 278 | |
| Virgo - Aquarius | 281 | |
| Virgo - Pisces | 283 | |
| Libra - Libra | 285 | |
| Libra - Scorpio | 288 | |
| Libra - Sagittarius | 290 | |
| Libra - Capricorn | 292 | |
| Libra - Aquarius | 295 | |
| Libra - Pisces | 297 | |
| Scorpio - Scorpio | 299 | |
| Scorpio - Sagittarius | 301 | |
| Scorpio - Capricorn | 304 | |
| Scorpio - Aquarius | 306 | |
| Scorpio - Pisces | 309 | |
| Sagittarius - Sagittarius | 311 | |
| Sagittarius - Capricorn | 313 | |
| Sagittarius - Aquarius | 316 | |
| Sagittarius - Pisces | 318 | |
| Capricorn - Capricorn | 320 | |
| Capricorn - Aquarius | 323 | |
| Capricorn - Pisces | 325 | |
| Aquarius - Aquarius | 327 | |
| Aquarius - Pisces | 330 | |
| Pisces - Pisces | 332 |