GOLDSCHNEIDER, Gary 1939-

PERSONAL:

Born May 22, 1939, in Philadelphia, PA; immigrated to Netherlands; married Berthe Meijer; children: seven. Education: University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 1960, M.A., 1965. Attended Yale Medical School, 1960-63; studied piano with Agi Jambor, 1965-67.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Amstelveen, Netherlands. Office—Sunshower Productions, S. Robertsonlaan 21, 1187 PK Amstelveen, Netherlands. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Atria Press, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Astrologer, writer, musician. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, teacher, 1964-70; Philadelphia City College, Philadelphia, PA, 1964-70, assistant professor and head of music department, 1968-70; Golden Chain Chorale, CA, conductor, 1978-85; formed and conducted the Sierra Philharmonic Orchestra; radio broadcaster, KVMR, CA; guest lecturer; astrologer for Mirabella, New York, NY, 1998-2000, and AvantGarde, Netherlands, 1989—.

WRITINGS:

(With Joost Elffers) The Secret Language of Birthdays: Personology Profiles for Each Day of the Year, edited by Aron Goldschneider, Viking Studio Books (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Joost Elffers) The Secret Language of Relationships: Your Complete Personology Guide to Any Relationship with Anyone, Penguin Studio (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Joost Elffers) The Secret Language of Birthdays: Relationship Workbook and Birthday Keeper, Penguin Studio (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Joost Elffers) The Secret Language of Destiny: A Personology Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose, Viking Studio Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Astrology of Time, Atria (New York, NY), 2002.

Composer of chamber music and the operas Call Me Ishmael and The Tempest.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gary Goldschneider was a student of astrology for four decades before making it the main focus of his life. An accomplished musician and educator, Goldschneider moved to the Netherlands, from where he writes astrology columns and books that encompass his "personology," theory, which relies on the cycles of the earth and energies of the seasons. Many of his books are written with Joost Elffers.

In The Secret Language of Birthdays: Personology Profiles for Each Day of the Year, Goldschneider uses personology to determine an individual's personality based on their birth date. He writes that "the theory of personology posits that astrology, history, and psychology are related to the congruence of three cycles: the astrological zodiac, the earth's rotation around the sun as represented by the seasons of the year, and the typical path of human life," which result in "the Grand Cycle of Life." Personology replaces the traditional twelve astrological signs with forty-eight periods: twelve cusps, and the thirty-six weeks in between. Library Journal's Ilene Cooper found after doing a "smallish survey" that Goldschneider's conclusions were "fairly accurate.… Even total nonbelievers will find this big, attractive book fun to read."

Carolyn R. Guss reviewed The Secret Language of Relationships: Your Complete Personology Guide to Any Relationship with Anyone for the Pennsylvania Gazette online. She noted that Goldschneider uses the system to analyze all types of relationships between two people, including the five most common of love, marriage, friendship, family, and work. He includes his evaluations of famous pairs like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and Lewis and Clark. Guss said Goldschneider "does an admirable job of analyzing the relationships of each combination. He also skillfully illuminates the book's premise that a relationship can have its own identity separate from the two persons who comprise it. It is ultimately more rewarding, however, to consider the text with regard to our own personal relationships, in order to determine the success of his endeavor. I did and found significant insights into my connections with family members and my spouse, with regard to a close friend and some former romantic attachments. I felt as if Goldschneider had laid claim to my diaries." Two thousand illustrations accompany the 1,176 relationship possibilities.

The purpose of The Secret Language of Destiny: A Personology Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose is exactly that, to help the reader understand why he or she exists, what he or she should learn and achieve, and how he or she is to pursue these goals. Destiny is divided into forty-eight karmic paths, and each one has its own set of guidelines. The book contains 1,500 black-and-white photographs and 2,000 pieces of line art.

In The Astrology of Time, Goldschneider contends that the time of year we are born determines our comfort level at other times. He assigns energies to weekly segments, and names holidays, historical events, and people born in them. He also assigns personality traits to every day of the year, which Library Journal's Marija Sanderling called "the most useful information."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 15, 1995, Ilene Cooper, review of The Secret Language of Birthdays: Personology Profiles for Each Day of the Year, p. 871.

Library Journal, November 1, 2002, Marija Sanderling, review of The Astrology of Time, p. 109.

ONLINE

Gary Goldschneider (author Web site), http://www.goldschneider.com (May 20, 2002).

Pennsylvania Gazette,http://www.upenn.edu/ (December, 1997), Carolyn R. Guss, review of The Secret Language of Relationships: Your Complete Personology Guide to Any Relationship with Anyone.*