As many of you know, Llewellyn had its birth as a publisher of astrology books more than a century ago. Our heritage is astrological, even though we are today probably better known for our pioneering publication of Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism titles starting in the late 1960s.

Modern astrology comes in two varieties: popular Sun-sign horoscopes that readily provide quick guidance and understanding based on the zodiacal sign for the Sun at your birth and “real” astrology, which revolves around detailed and professionally interpreted charts calculated for the exact moment and location of your birth.

Sun-sign horoscopes are popular because they are easy to calculate— just know what sign you are born under—and easy to interpret because we all do strongly manifest along the lines indicated by that “sun sign.” But sun-sign horoscopes are only broadly meaningful. While this is often not enough, it’s a start and no journey can begin without that first step.

Nevertheless, the power of astrology can only be unleashed when a birth chart is correctly calculated and the resultant information is applied to your specific needs and your own understanding. To get the full benefit of astrology has, in the past, required that you study it for years or consult a professional astrologer who has studied and specialized in the particular applications that may interest you in the same way that you would consult a medical or other professional specialist. But there is another way! You can get the benefit of professional astrological calculation and experience and combine it with your own personal knowledge of your needs and intuitive responses.

It has long been my dream to bring the power of sophisticated, expert astrology to the average person, who may have little knowledge of astrology. And now we are doing just that in a new series titled “Astrology Made Easy.” Simply put, the product consists of a book that shows you the benefit of astrology in a particular application—with a minimum of astrological jargon—and a CD-ROM that does all the astrological work of calculating the birth chart (for as many people as you want!) and then gives you an interpretation you can read and print out for continued study. Each title in the series provides you with a particular application of astrology to meet your specific needs and interests, and each book is written by an astrologer with particular experience and expertise.

The first in this new series is titled Mapping Your Birthchart, by Stephanie Jean Clement, who is also the general editor for the series. This book and computer program gives you the foundation of self-knowledge and selfunderstanding. Stephanie has been teaching astrology for twenty-five years and has her Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology.

The next title in the series will not be available until March 2004, but I want to tell you about it and the next one after that so that you can appreciate the scope of what “Astrology Made Easy” will accomplish for you. The second book and CD-ROM in the series is Mapping Your Future by Brandt-Riske and the next following that is Mapping Your Relationships by David Pond. Others in the series deal with important issues, such as career, health, money, marriage, child guidance, and business. Each title is a specific application of astrology intended to meet the important needs we all have at one time or another and to provide this using all the power of the computer and all the skill of the most expert and experienced astrologers.

There is no limit to the number of these expert charts and reports that can be created by each of these programs. You can produce them for yourself, your family, and for others. But the real “plus” to all this is the self-empowerment these programs provide so that your own experience and intuition is synergized with that of the experts and specialists who have written the books and programs.

Astrology can be made easy, and we’ve done it. Power to the people—the special characteristic of the Aquarian Age to restore self-responsibility and the power to handle it. Yes, of course, with greater knowledge comes greater opportunity, and sometimes there is still the need to consult with other professionals, but now you are able to do so from a new level of knowledge and personal recognition of your own needs and awareness of your own talents.

Welcome to the New Age!
—Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, Publisher