Mercury Retrograde

In episode 330 astrologer Ray Grasse joins the podcast to reflect on a number of lessons he has learned after a lifetime of practicing astrology. Ray is a longtime editor and columnist for The Mountain Astrologer magazine, and he has published two books of compilations of essays he has written over the years on the practice and philosophy of astrology. The first book is titled Under a Sacred Sky: Essays on the Practice and Philosophy of Astrology (2015), while the second is Star Gates: Essays on Astrology, Symbolism and the Synchronistic Universe (2020). During the course of the interview we talk about a variety of different topics from some of the essays he has written, including synchronicity and the mechanism underlying astrology, symbolism and omenology, the physical properties of the planets reflecting their astrological meaning, the importance of stationary planets, the most elevated planet in the chart, and more. For more information about Ray see his website: RayGrasse.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timstamps Here are some timestamps for when we discuss different topics in this episode: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:50 Ray's books 00:01:24 How astrologers determine the meaning of new planets 00:04:07 The mechanism underlying astrology 00:06:50 Synchronicity 00:10:30 Omens 00:12:33 How astronomical properties of planets echo astrological symbolism 00:16:48 Role of intuition vs. empirical methods 00:24:10 Generational symbolism of outer planets 00:25:54 Huge gash on Mars 00:26:20 Uranus and Pluto and eccentricity 00:27:50 Symbolic techniques vs. mechanistic 00:31:00 Charts still working after a person's death 00:33:50 Van Gogh example 00:36:26 Charts indicate events prior to birth 00:40:10 Impact of cultural background on charts 00:40:49 Retrogrades 00:43:42 Does astrology still work on other planets? 00:49:30 Phenomenology of the Moon 00:50:52 Planetary stations 00:56:20 Tom Cruise's natal chart 00:57:56 JFK moon speech and Jupiter station in Aquarius 01:01:34 Trump's natal chart 01:03:25 Double and triple stations 01:03:56 Amy Winehouse's natal chart 01:04:54 Looking at the most elevated planet in a chart 01:05:29 Stories of tracking down celebrity birth times 01:11:07 Bob Dylan's natal chart 01:14:15 Mick Jagger's natal chart 01:15:10 Chris Brennan's natal chart 01:19:25 More on the most elevated planet 01:21:07 Do planets exert an astrological influence before they are discovered? 01:26:30 Using past transits to anticipate the future 01:32:15 How to start a reading 01:35:06 Mistake of telling clients what to do 01:42:10 Regulating intelligence at work in the universe 01:49:19 Ray's website and upcoming book 01:49:47 Concluding remarks and sponsors Watch the Video Version of This Episode Watch the video version of my interview with Ray Grasse here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBa3c10SxcE - Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 330 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play the audio version of this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your device by using the buttons below: