Madame Clairevoyant's guide to the stars : astrology, our icons, and our selves

"A fresh, profound, and fun way to look at all things astro while also making spot-on observations about your pop culture faves." —Cosmopolitan A soulful exploration of the twelve astrological signs embodied by our living "stars"—from divas to philosophers, poets to punks—and the ways they can help us better understand ourselves and each other, from the wildly popular astrology columnist for New York magazine's The Cut. Whether you believe in it or not, astrology's job has never been to give us a preordained vision of the future, nor to sort us into twelve neat personality types, but to provide the tools and language for delving into our weirdest, best, most thorny contradictions, and for understanding ourselves and each other in our full complexity. The stars and the planets then are more like mirrors that show us who we are, that give us an understanding of how to be and how to move through the world; how certain people do it differently, and what we can learn by studying them. In Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars, Claire Comstock-Gay brings the sky down to Earth and points to our popular "stars"—from Aretha Franklin to Mr. Rogers, from poets in Cancer to punk singers in Scorpio—to reveal what the sky has to teach us about being human. In this wise, lyrically written guide, she examines the twelve astrological signs, illuminating the ways each one is more complicated, beautiful, and surprising than you might have been told. Claire suggests that actually it's okay, and even important, to be a seeker, to hunger for self-knowledge, and if astrology is the vehicle for that inquiry, so be it. Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars offers a clear introduction to the basics and an innovative new framework for creatively using astrology to illuminate our lives on earth. It's a road map to our internal world, yes, but Claire also reminds us that it's still our job to navigate it. Combining both heavenly insights and the earthly wisdom of writers like Cheryl Strayed and Heather Havrilesky and the poetry of Patricia Lockwood and Mary Oliver, Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars offers a fresh, profound, and fun way to look at ourselves and others, and perhaps see each more clearly. And in that way, this book is not just beautiful, but transformative. Whether you believe it to be true or not is irrelevant; astrology's job has never been to give us a preordained vision of the future or to sort us into twelve neat personality types. Instead, the stars and the planets are more like mirrors that show us who we are and how to be in, and move through, the world; of how certain people do it differently and what we can learn by studying them. In Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars, Claire Comstock-Gay brings the sky down to Earth and examines some popular "stars"--Aretha Franklin to Mr. Rogers; from poets in Cancer to punk singers in Scorpio--to show us what they have to say about being human. In her signature wise and lyrical prose, Claire illuminates the ways each sign is more complicated, beautiful, and surprising than you might have been told. Perhaps, she suggests, it's okay to be a seeker, to hunger for self-knowledge--and if astrology is the vehicle for that inquiry, so be it. Combining heavenly insights with the earthly wisdom of a writer living an examined life, Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars is a fresh and profound invitation to know one's self better, and for us to see one another more clearly. -- Provided by publisher