Today we are going to talk about The Signs: Decode the Stars, Reframe Your Life by Carolyne Faulkner. First, let’s commit a book review crime and judge this book by its cover. Besides its beautiful purple and gold design, this book is inviting the reader to decipher it, to give it meaning, and to brush their fingertips against the embossed letters and runes. On the back cover, you will find the reason why this book has made its way onto my motivational, guru-centred and self-help list – Carolyne Faulkner is not only a renowned astrologer but also a life coach, teaching people to discover their innate qualities and flaws through decoding your birth chart.
What Does the Future Hold for Me?
After cracking the code of the book there is no sound, no fury, still, that is in no way harmful. As the author admits it, The Signs is not an accurate depiction of your life from birth to death, with a couple of stellar epithets thrown in for good measure. The book requires the reader to set the foundations of meaning as the pages go by. You are encouraged to write down only the passages that resonate with you, which turns out to be a great exercise for self-actualization and introspection.
If you have been going through some soul-searching this past couple of months, or you have been meaning to and couldn’t find a way to start, this book might be the thing for you. In short, Carolyne Faulkner’s deciphering manual is a wholesome book. ‘Nobody’s future is written in the stars, it’s ours to create.’ says Carolyne. Sadly, it didn’t quite deliver on the feeling of purpose and direction that I was expecting at the end of this reading.
‘Nobody’s future is written in the stars, it’s ours to create.’
Carolyne Faulkner
This, however, did not deject me. I took Carolyne’s words to heart and delve deeper into her journey to becoming ‘Britain’s coolest’ astrologer and life coach. I discovered that Carolyne is one of the astrologers that have worked towards demystifying, making astrology more accessible and taking it farther away from the image of an old lady culturally appropriating the Romani people and reading your future from your tea or coffee. No more exclusivity in who could look at the stars and draw meaning from them, in this regard, The Signs acts as an initiation into becoming your own astrologer.
Shameless Advertising
Looking at the Dynamic Astrology’s website, you’ll find the same appealing design from the book. What I was expecting was a small web page promoting the book and the author, and I got a whole lot more than I had bargained for. Now I was getting into the life coach part of Carolyne’s bio.
Besides writing a couple of other books, Britain’s coolest astrologer has been busy with developing lots of other products. Personal Coaching, Dynamic Astrology Courses, Bespoke Events, these are some of the services provided under the umbrella of Dynamic Astrology. If you look further into it, D/A Creative is more of a marketing and communications strategy company that deals with branding and rebranding, telling stories how they put it, or making shameless advertising, as I put it.
And of course, this is a common marketing and business practice – you have your pricey products, but not everyone can afford them, so you create a more accessible product, most times a book and you use it as a marketing and branding opportunity. I mean, I was just about to write an, albeit mediocre, but positive review, boosting Carolyne’s success by virtually 0.000…. Nothing.
The Real Price
What is uncommon and a tad irritating is the way the books are promoted to the audience. The Signs is supposed to be a manual into becoming your own astrologer and to help you make sense of your life.
You can see why one would be sceptical of this. If everyone on planet earth would read this inexpensive book and become self-sufficient in terms of their ‘astrological needs’, who would even need Carolyne 475£ Personal Coaching sessions?
I am sorry to let you guys know, but that was the extent of my research. Since the stars have not been kind lately, I couldn’t spare the money to attend one of these Personal Coaching, but my natal chart shows some inheritance in the future, so we’ll pick this up again once some relatives kick the proverbial bucket.
Until then, do whatever you want. Read your horoscope if you will, or deny the existence of stars altogether, just please don’t spend your rent money on astrologers/life coaches. It will only rearrange your life by adding the possibility of homelessness into the mix.
Cover: Josh Rangel
