Book Review: Postcolonial Astrology by Alice Sparkly Kat

There are 3 astrologers I always recommend to people, and one of them is Alice Sparkly Kat. Their website is one of my main resources, and their book Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor has fundamentally shaped my relationship with astrology, and how I view my role as an astrologer as a whole.

It's a heavy book, and it took me a long time to read because I kept having to make notes and process things. This book will have you confront and question topics that may make you feel uncomfortable. You may not agree with everything in the book or come to the same conclusions, but your practice will thank you for it.

This book compels us to look into the roots and history of the planets. What does it mean when we talk about how Sun Signs? Why is Venus the "love planet"? Reading this book reminds us to investigate Western astrology and asks us what we're going to do about what we find out.

Below is an overview of the book with notes on accessibility and my own personal views.

Overview

The book dissects the first seven planets/luminaries in Hellenistic astrology, beginning with the ancient Greek/Roman/Sumerian cultures that first influenced the archetype through history until present day. The author looks at how each representation has been used throughout history by one agenda or the other and encourages us to do the same in our own lives and practice.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the topic, certain chapters will deal with violent, potentially triggering material. These chapters are marked by the author.

Accessibility

The book is dense, and did take me a while to get through and let everything settle, it’s accessible regardless. Alice Sparkly Kat uses fanfiction in their introduction to connect how people can take something not made for them (or even made to oppose them) and use it to fit our own context in an effort to reclaim something.
The book also uses several references to media, philosophy, art history, and other works to further illustrate their points. Each one is at least worth taking a moment to look up as they add a lot to what you’re learning. This is also a book I took Lots Of Notes on.

Exercises

This book didn’t have too many hands-on exercises. But tbh I don’t think it’s really necessary given all of the other references and connections in the text. Honestly, taking time to look up what isn’t familiar to you in each chapter will make up more than enough.

Resources

One of the reasons I support this book so much is that Alice Sparkly Kat cites their work. At the end of the book, you not only have a works cited page, but the book is indexed (I cannot tell you how excited that makes me). The book works as a resource for you to learn from and a reference for you to go back to as you continue to learn.

Perspective

This book reminds you about the importance of questioning where our ideas come from and why believe and say what we do. Alice Sparkly Kat writes as a queer person of color with several years experience as a professional astrologer.