This is a collection of three transcribed seminars on the theme of mental illness and astrology: "The Psychopath" (2001), "Sanity and Madness" (2000), and "The Scapegoat" (1999). Greene doesn't go into actual psychology all that much in any of these seminars, so even though they're about fifteen years old at this point and the psychological understanding of these conditions has changed, the astrology is still usable. I found all three seminars to be easy to understand without having studied psychology. As with other lectures in the CPA Seminar Series, a basic understanding of astrology is assumed; astrological beginners may find a lot of this going over their heads.

I found "The Psychopath" the most interesting to read, although I hope it's the one with the least potential use in my life. Greene looks at the charts of several killers, looking for commonalities in their charts, as well as answers as to why some people are psychopaths and others, with similar charts, are not. "Sanity and Madness" is more practically useful for ideas about how to look at someone's chart. Greene covers a number of explanations for mental illness. I found her point that our mental illnesses fit our charts fascinating. She's not saying that anyone is fated to go mad, but that if they do have a mental illness, it's likely to fit their chart. I didn't find "The Scapegoat" as gripping as the other two seminars, and it didn't take me long to grow bored with the discussion of the scapegoat archetype. Once past that, though, it got more interesting. Greene shows how many people fall into victim or persecutor roles, both as individuals and at the community or national levels.

I had a few problems with the book. Being a set of transcripts, even edited, the organization of the information is looser than in regular textbooks. It's a lot more readable than a standard textbook, but harder to look things up in afterwards. Although I'm not a professional astrologer myself, I would have liked to have seen more discussion on how to work with mentally ill clients, even if that discussion was basically Point them towards mental health professionals and then step away. Also, I got irritated with Greene's disparaging comments on political correctness, even when she gave examples that I agreed with. But even allowing for the possibly outdated psychology, this is an excellent look at the astrology of an uncomfortable subject, and I recommend it. ( )