From Publishers Weekly:
In Astrology of Intimacy, Sexuality & Relationship: Insight to Wholeness,Noel Tyl (Synthesis & Counseling in Astrology) coaches readers on looking tothe stars to understand relationships. Tyl, an astrologer with 30 years ofexperience, shows readers how to make sense of love troubles by examining dozensof real-life couples' relationships. Not for the uninitiated, this serious bookuses terms like "animus and anima" and "nodal axis." But forthose with an earnest interest in astrology, Tyl's work is insightful andthorough.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author:
NoelTyl is one of the foremost astrologers in the world. His 20 textbooks haveguided astrologers for two generations, and his lecture activities throughout 16countries often draw standing-room-only audiences. Tyl has written theprofessional manual in the field, the 1,000-page Synthesis & Counseling inAstrology; he is consulted regularly by individuals and corporations throughoutthe world; and he directs the Master's Degree Correspondence Course forCertification of professional astrologers from his office in the Phoenix,Arizona, area.

Excerpted from Astrology of Intimacy Sexuality and Relationship : Insightsto Wholeness by Noel Tyl. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rightsreserved.

1 intimacy Elusive Grace, Common Fear There is little doubt that aloneness ishostile to the human condition. In a primal sense, aloneness eliminates ourpotential for reproduction: alone, we cannot fulfill our instinctive humanfunction to create facsimile; we cannot go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. Inshort, when we are alone, we do not have our Selves confirmed. The Yin has noYang. The Ascendant has no Descendant. One half the horoscope is without theother. Relationship is what everyone wants-every astrologer, psychotherapist,social scientist, clergyperson knows that. Relationship ranks with money and jobsuccess as the top targets of life development, as voiced by clients, patients,students . . . by everyone. Indeed, the role of relationship to confirm Self isnot always focused upon another person: there is the relationship to God, to anidea, to a memory that can define identity powerfully. Difficulties ininterpersonal relationships can drive a person to substitute other interaction;there can be alliance with the ephemeral, the revolutionary, the inspirational .. . and even the fixatedly delusional. The point is that it is the essence ofrelating to something that confirms and justifies existence. Intimacy-which wordis derived from roots meaning extremely inward, deeply within-confirms identitydeep inside, provides reflection of the Self from a significant external source;it embodies the Libran, Venusian archetype, the balance of one’ identity.Intimacy invites in the “ignificant other,”the outer part of personalexistence. Intimacy is the other hand that is necessary to create applause, toclap, to make the sound of contact; it is the other hand that is necessary toclasp for strength, to make the bond of togetherness, to leave aloneness behind.Intimacy is our relationship with the nearest representative of the externalenvironment. Astrologically, the Hermetic philosophy: As above so below, iscompleted through intimacy: the Midheaven-Immum Coeli axis is complemented bythe cross-continuum, the Ascendant-Descendant axis, As within so without. Bothaxes together tell us who we are. Yet, while intimacy is so clearly essential,helpful, safe-making, and fulfilling, it is startlingly elusive to attain. Itsgrace is very difficult for many of us to find. Surprisingly, it is common forus actually to fear intimacy, to fear that which we seek so intently. It is sadthat we are taught-and we learn-throughout our lives, from early on especially,all the dangers of being intimate-the fears of getting too close-without ourbeing taught the refining grace within intimacy and how to attract holisticcomplementation with a significant other. In the context of this study, thisbook, our hypothesis is that we do not understand intimacy and why it iselusive; we must find out what it is, within and for each individual. We thinkwe understand sex-the second part of this study. Too often, it is a mistakensubstitute for that which we think promotes or confirms intimacy. We are soeasily victimized by our sexual needs-when intimacy is not there to reassure us,when trust is not there to keep us safe-that we quickly divert or repress thosevital energies. We must find out how to live more confidently with the sexualdrive and help the people we serve as astrologers to do so as well. Even if wedo not understand the make-up of intimacy, even though we fear being intimateand tend to repress sexual energies, it is still the human condition to expectfulfilling relationships with all their benefits! We seek relationshipsconstantly; we assume them as our human right; we pretend about them with allkinds of socially keyed behaviors. And, all too often, in this commondisposition, we become more alone than ever. Early Conditioning and Values
Even before each of us is born, a behavioral role-profile is established for usby society and our family. It prescribes by our gender how we are to behave forour entire life. It is on this role profile that our capacity for intimacy isbuilt. “he doctor told us that we’e going to have a boy!” “ dreamed soclearly the other night-and (what a coincidence!) my mother did too-that we’egoing to have a baby girl!” This knowledge immediately sets into motion acultural avalanche of role prescription, telling us how we will behave with thechild who will be born; an identification process that tells us what is expectedof the child, that defines who the child is for all to know. The baby’ room,clothing, and toys: blue for the boy, pink for the girl, shorts or dresses,trucks or dolls; the parents’dreams for the child: football player orcheerleader, tycoon or beauty queen-all are set in place and symbolized by thevery name that will identify the child for its entire life: Jonathan or Anna,Rocky or Betty Sue, Ivan or Tanya. All in place even before we are born! Thecultural base for a male is a base that rewards aggressive behavior, strengthand endurance, the absence of tears, being in control, fighting and winning (insexuality and crime as well). The cultural base for the female rewardscompliance and supportiveness, recognizes heightened emotionalism (moodiness aswell), and projects family nurturing and much communication. When male andfemale relate to each other, the male is the leader, the female the follower;the male works hard and pays the family bills; the female aggrandizes the male,sexually in the main, and supports his plans for the family. Historically, theboy-child is preferred.1 While these roles have been adjusted somewhat in thelast thirty years or so, the stereotypes still exist in our culture and they areconspicuous among adults today who are over forty, who inherited an even morerigid profile from their parents, and their parents before that. Indeed, theexpectancy for...(Continues)