Evelyn's Guiding Stars: The Life Story of Professional Astrologer Evelyn Hare

J.B. Snelson is a librarian, bibliographer, and (antiquarian) bookstore
owner in Wolfville.

The common view of astrologers is that if they are not mountebanks then they are some form of witch (such as Sybil Leek), Satanists, or worse. Not only is this stereotype rarely true, but astrologers are often solid citizens for whom astrology is but one aspect of a well-rounded life. Nova Scotia’s Evelyn Hare is such an astrologer. In fact, less than a quarter of this rather interesting biography has anything to do with astrology either as it affects Ms. Hare and her family or as she practices it. Given Ms. Hare’s work with young artists, particularly those with physical handicaps, she might have been the subject of a biography even had she never found out that she possesses considerable talent in both astrology and palmistry. Only six of the sixteen chapters deal with astrology at all.

There is much interesting material about growing up in small town Nova Scotia as the daughter of a Mountie during the thirties and forties. Later Evelyn Hare discovered that she possessed considerable artistic ability, which might have developed into an important career had marriage and other circumstances allowed. She taught art and discovered that she worked particularly well with the handicapped. Ms. Hare has a certain amount of psychic ability, but one rather suspects that it is her great sensitivity which has allowed her to become one of eastern Canada’s best astrologers.

In a way, the emphasis given to Ms. Hare’s career and knowledge of astrology may be a disservice. She is a person whose biography should prove of great interest to people who have no interest in astrology. Although she has always lived in Nova Scotia and portions of the book make interesting social commentary, there is also much that any reader of biography would find rewarding.

In short, this is one of those books which deserve a larger readership than one expects it to find. Evelyn Hare is a person well worth knowing, either in person or through this biography. Rosemary Bauchman has found a subject worth writing about and tells her story well. One hopes that readers will not be limited to those interested in astrology. It is a rewarding little volume.