Book Review: Agents of Evolution: An Astrological Guide for Transformation

By Marga Chempolil Laube

Published August 2021

209 pages

Part of the reason I love book reviews is because I can be as subjective as I want. Not that I’m going to be all kinds of snarky and I’ll always explain what I dislike in a book. But still, it’s my opinion and I don’t need to apologize for it.

That works for fiction, not so much for non-fiction. With non-fiction, I try to be as objective as possible, and that often means re-evaluating what I expect to learn. That happened with this book, more than once.

First, I was expecting a completely different subject matter – which is on me because the book jacket is pretty clear what this book contains. I went into this expecting a thesis on the generational, outer planets – Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Especially Pluto since it rules transformation. Instead, the author covered the personal and social planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the North and South Lunar Nodes.

This book is not going to teach the reader how to interpret an astrological birth chart. In fact, it skips over the psychological factor in astrology – the signs, which tell us why we do what we do. Instead, the focus is on the archetypal properties of each planet and how they manifest in us, as well as how they can be used to evolve to their higher vibrations. Which makes sense since if the signs are the how and the why, the planets are the players. But still, I see it as only part of the equation.

So, if this isn’t a typical astrology book (and I appreciate not having to dig through another cookbook-type astrology tome), then what is it? The author is unapologetic in that this book is written for activists and progressive thinkers to tap deep into themselves to work for collective, societal change. This slant is obvious from the introduction onward. If this isn’t a reader’s cup of tea, they probably won’t make it through the first few pages. And that would be a shame because there’s a lot of good information here that might make the reader take a closer look at their drivers and triggers, as well as providing some great advice on how to work with them.

The author is obviously knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. Her case studies and examples propped up her premise admirably and I liked the inclusion of personal stories, writing prompts, and meditations. I also enjoyed her view on Vedic astrology, since I practice Western astrology and there are differences between the two systems. For instance, I didn’t agree 100% with her treatment of Rahu and Ketu (the north and south lunar nodes), although I enjoyed learning her view of them. Then again, I’ve yet to meet two astrologers who agree on everything.

Overall, I’m glad I received this ARC as it turned out to be enlightening. That said, I think the author is writing for a somewhat niche market. To be fair, astrology itself is geared toward a niche market, but this book goes for an even narrower focus. Progressive thinkers will most likely love it. More conservative thinkers probably won’t. If the reader is expecting a primer on how to study astrology, they might be disappointed since the planets are only a small part of holistic astrological interpretation. For anyone in the last category, I would recommend checking out the Resources section. It’s packed with suggestions for further study.

I rated this book a solid three stars. ⭐⭐⭐

Until next time, thank you for visiting.

My rating system:

5 stars – Wow, I could not stop thinking about this book and/or I wish I’d writtn it.

4 stars – This was an awesome novel, I’d recommend it to friends.

3 stars – This was a good novel, I will look for more by this author.

2 stars – An okay novel, but I probably won’t look for anything else by the author.