The Astrology Podcast

Episode 223 is a biographical interview with astrologer Alan Oken, who is the author of a number of highly influential books on modern astrology, such as Alan Oken's Complete Astrology (1980), and Rulers of the Horoscope (2000). During the course of the show we talk about how Alan got into astrology in the late 1960s, the influence of Theosophy on his personal philosophy, and what it was like being a gay man in the astrological community in the late 20th century. This was partially a biographical episode about Alan's life and work, but we also ended up discussing a range of other topics such as astrology and consciousness, the symbolism of the astrological glyphs, and the role of publishing books in establishing your reputation in the astrological community. For more information about Alan see his website: AlanOken.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of my interview with Alan Oken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uEPviUfSTk – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 223 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

In episode 222 astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim lead a discussion about annual profections with a local astrology group, and take example charts from the audience to demonstrate how the timing technique works in practice. This episode is a recording of a meeting of the Denver Astrology Group that took place at the Mercury Cafe in downtown Denver, Colorado on Saturday, September 14, 2019, starting just after 3:00 PM. This is a followup to episode 153 of The Astrology Podcast where Chris gave an introductory lecture on the annual profections timing technique. This episode begins with a brief introduction to annual profections and review of some of the basic principles of the technique, and then we quickly transitioned into asking audience members to look through their own chronology and see if they could find any good examples that demonstrated the technique in their own lives. In the end we had seven different audience members share their birth charts and talk about specific years in their life, explaining how the technique correlated with their lived experience. This style of discussion can be important because sometimes it is only by talking to a person directly about their life and asking them questions that you can get a full sense of exactly how the techniques of astrology work out in practice. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Annual Profections Handouts Here are the printable handouts given to the audience for this episode: Annual Profections Wheel Annual Profections Worksheet Significations of the Houses All three of these are printable PDF files that you can download. Audience Chart Examples For listeners of the audio version, here are the seven chart examples that were shared by audience members in this episode, in the order in which they appeared in the discussion: Joseph Annie Valerie Kathy Drew Ann Lynette Each chart is cast using whole sign houses, the tropical zodiac, and the traditional rulership scheme. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of this episode on annual profections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTDYid1kI28 – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 222 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 221 of the podcast features an interview with Nina Gryphon about the famous 17th century astrologer William Lilly and his book Christian Astrology. Lilly published Christian Astrology in 1647, and it was the first major textbook on astrology that was written in English. Most western astrological texts were written in Latin up until that point in history. The book has had a deep and enduring impact on astrology in the west over the past few centuries since it was published, and Lilly is usually regarded as one of the most influential figures in the western astrological tradition. Nina has been studying Lilly's work for the past two decades, and in this episode we provide a detailed overview of his life and work. For more information about Nina check out her website NinaGryphon.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions. You will find links to each at the bottom of the page, just after the episode outline and gallery. Episode Outline and Show Notes Here is an outline of the main points we touched on in this episode. This is an edited version of our show notes, which Chris and Nina collaborated on before recording the episode. William Lilly (1602-1681). One of the most prominent and influential astrologers of the 17th century. Worked as a practicing and consulting astrologer in London most of his adult life. Doing many consultations per day, for rich and poor, as evidenced by casebooks. Wrote the first major English language textbook on astrology. Christian Astrology was first published in 1647. Important because in England prior to this, astrological literature was in Latin. Inaccessible to all but a small minority with a classical education. Only prior English text was a short treatise on medical astrology. Miscellaneous almanacs or predictive texts. Inspired a number of key astrological writers to write in English: Nicolas Culpeper, John Gadbury, William Ramesey, Joseph Blagrave, etc. Also translated Anima Astrologiae: A Guide for Astrologers (1676). Excerpts from Guido Bonattti and Gerolamo Cardano. Discussed with Nina previously in episode 108 on Bonatti's considerations. Continued to be highly influential after his death, in various forms. Was involved in publishing almanacs; publishing 36 (1647–1682). He was easily the best-selling almanac writer of his time in England. Selling more than 30,000 almanacs each year. Almanacs contained weather predictions, political predictions for England and elsewhere, and some astrological text for instruction. Perhaps his most famous prediction was that of the Great Fire of London of 1666. Was involved in the politics of his day. Strongly pro-parliament/anti-monarchist, though consulted with powerful people in both camps, going as far as advising Jane Whorwood, one of the King’s confidants, in helping the King make his escape from the locations where held by Parliamentary forces (King did not listen). Employed as propagandist via his almanacs, leaflets, and other publications, in an astrological context. Always a question of how much he honestly saw astrologically, and how much was propaganda favoring the Parliament’s cause. Christian Astrology: scope and contents Divided into three books. Book 1: Basics of astrology Book 2: Horary astrology questions Book 3: Natal astrology Teaches horary before natal. Stronger for horary than natal? Brings together a bunch of different sources that were available to him. Extensive bibliography included in Christian Astrology, reflecting his own sizeable astrology library, as well as that of others. Bibliography notable for including virtually all books printed in Europe before 1640. After his death, library, casebooks, portrait were bought by Elias Ashmole for 50 pounds, and was incorporated into the Ashmolean Museum collection at ...

Episode 220 features an overview of the astrology of September 2019, with astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan. The month opens with two conjunctions with the Sun by Mars and Mercury, and also features Saturn stationing direct in Capricorn, and the third and final square between Jupiter and Neptune. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. News and Announcements Just a few pieces of news and announcements this month: Kelly's next course is on Counseling Tools for Challenging Aspects Chris added a new $25 tier on The Astrology Podcast page on Patreon, where you can get a producer credit with your name listed at the end of each new episode of the podcast. Chris did an interview on ancient astrology with the History Channel that aired on their Ancient Aliens series on August 30. See season 14, episode 12, titled The Constellation Code. Planetary Alignments for September Here are some of the major transits this month: Sun conjunct Mars on September 2 Mercury conjunct Sun on September 3 Mercury moves into Libra September 14 Venus moves into Libra September 14 Full Moon in Pisces September 14 Saturn stations direct in Capricorn September 18 Jupiter’s third and final square with Neptune September 21 Sun into Libra September 23 New Moon in Libra September 28 Auspicious Electional Chart for September The auspicious election this month that was chosen by Leisa Schaim is set for: September 29, 2019 at 7:10 AM with 8 Libra rising, just after sunrise There are a four more electional charts that we found for September, which are available in our private subscriber-only podcast on auspicious elections that was released last week. Watch the Video Version of Our September Astrology Forecast Here is the video version of our September astrology forecast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47CRy7lM1P8 – Listen to the Audio Version of Our September Forecast You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 219 features two interviews with astrologers Firicel Ciarnau and Mihaela Dicu about the revival of astrology in Romania over the past 30 years after a period of suppression. I traveled to Romania from June 6–10, 2019, to attend and speak at a conference that was hosted by the Romanian Astrologers Association. On June 9 I conducted several interviews, and I already released the ones I did with some younger astrologers in episode 213 of the podcast. I also had the opportunity to conduct two longer interviews with the founders of the organization, astrologers Firicel Ciarnau and Mihaela Dicu. One of the things I learned about during my trip was the recent revival of astrology in Romania. While there were a few astrology books published in Romanian in the early 20th century, around the time astrology was being revived in other western countries, this came to an abrupt halt when Romania was taken over by the communists after World War II. The Soviet Union promoted atheism, and religion was prohibited. Astrology became outlawed in countries that were under Soviet control or influence, because it was seen as divination, superstition, or pseudoscience. The suppression of astrology in Romania was particularly extreme, and not only the practicing of the subject was outlawed, but astrology books were confiscated and burned. Despite this, some astrologers, such as Firicel and Mihaela began learning the subject in secret. In 1989 the revolution occurred, and the communist regime was overthrown. Suddenly astrology was permissible again, and could be studied and practiced publicly. Mihaela Dicu and Firicel Ciarnau were part of the first generation of astrologers who were able to practice astrology freely, and they helped to promote the revival of astrology in Romania after the revolution. Firicel focused on making astrology a recognized occupation by the government, and both of them helped to found the Romanian Astrologers Association in 2004, which holds two conferences each year. I wanted to interview both of them to help document some of this recent history. Astrology goes through phases of acceptableness in society, and suppression of it happens from time to time, so it is important to remember and recognize those who help it to survive through hard times. Thank you to Carmina-Adelina Amza for helping to translate the interviews live the day they were recorded, on June 9, 2019 in Craiova, Romania, and also for later making the transcripts and captioning. Also thanks to Adrian Tarcan for help recording the audio versions of this episode. Finally, thanks to the Romanian Astrologers Association for hosting me on my trip to Romania.  It was an amazing experience, and I look forward to returning again someday. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. The audio version is a recording of two people reading the translated transcript of the interviews in English, while the video version contains the original Romanian interview in the audio along with translated captions in English. Just click the CC button on YouTube to turn on the captions in the video version. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCvGwcdtkHQ - Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 219 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 218 features an interview with Dr. Benjamin Dykes about his new translation of a highly influential book on solar returns by the 9th century astrologer Abu Ma'shar. The title of the book is Persian Nativities IV: On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities. Abu Ma'shar (d. 886 CE) was one of the most prolific and influential early Medieval astrologers who wrote in Arabic, living in Baghdad in the middle of the 9th century. He wrote one of the most famous and comprehensive works on solar returns, titled On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities. Portions of this book were translated from Arabic into Latin in the 12th century, which then influenced many subsequent generations of astrologers in the west. In 2010 Ben translated the Latin version of Abu Ma'shar's book on solar returns and published it as Persian Nativities III. Now he has gone back and translated the entirety of the original Arabic text, which not only contains a lot of material that was missing in the Latin version, but the meaning of the text is much richer and more nuanced because the translation is from the original language. The book was just released today, on August 9, 2019, to coincide with the release of this interview, and you can buy it on Amazon: Abu Ma'shar, On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities During the course of the interview we talk about who Abu Ma'shar was, why he thought that calculating solar return charts was important, and some of the specific things that he recommended looking at when trying to interpret a solar return. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU9TF7zeQUo – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 218 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 217 features an interview with astrologer Ray Merriman about what is involved in organizing a major astrology conference. Ray specializes in financial astrology, and is the former President of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR). He has organized more than 20 astrology conferences over the course of his career, and is in the process of helping to organize his final conference now, which is the ISAR astrology conference that will be held in Denver in September of 2020: https://isarastrology.org/conference/ Ray was passing through Denver last month to finalize some things with the conference hotel, and I thought that this would be a good opportunity to interview him, to talk about all of the different things that go into putting together a conference. We ended up talking about a range of topics, including speaker selection, how to apply to speak at a conference, and how astrology conferences have changed over the past few decades. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oGHavjifUc - Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 217 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 216 features the astrological forecast for August of 2019, with astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan. In the first part of the episode we catch up on Kelly and Austin's recent moves, and reflect on coming out of the other side of the difficult transits in June and July, and then in the second part of the show we get into the forecast for August. The first half of August features a bunch of inner planets moving into Leo and trining Jupiter in Sagittarius, while the second part of the month has many of the same planets forming a stellium in Virgo. Later in the episode we also present one auspicious electional chart for starting different types of ventures and undertakings this month. There is a section for timestamps below, if you want to jump straight to the forecast portion of the episode. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Support the Podcast + Get Benefits If you listen to the podcast regularly and want to show your support, plus get access to benefits and bonus content, then become a patron through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/astrologypodcast Benefits that patrons get include: Access to a private discussion forum Early access to new episodes The ability to attend the live recording of the next forecast Exclusive podcast episodes for patrons We recently set a new funding goal on Patreon to be able to travel more to record in-person interviews with notable astrologers from around the world. News and Announcements Just a few pieces of news and announcements this month: The price of Chris' online course on ancient astrology is going up on August 1. Chris and Leisa’s 2019 electional astrology report is now on sale for half off. Our 2019 Astrology Calendar Poster Bundle is now on sale for $12.95. Kelly's August 10 webinar: Power Points – Activate Your Ascendant and Midheaven. Austin is teaching a Tarot and Astrology Class that starts August 8. The NCGR conference is happening in Baltimore August 30–September 3, 2019. Shakirah Tabourn's thread on twitter for drawing astrological glyphs. Other examples by Diana Rose, Bear Ryver, and others. Tem Tarriktar, the founder of The Mountain Astrologer magazine, passed away on July 8. He was interviewed on episode 149 of the podcast last year: Tem Tarriktar on the Mountain Astrologer Magazine. Thanks to listeners Sousa Jefferson and Sheila Roher who recently made a transcript of the interview with Tem Tarriktar. The Astrology of August Here are some of the highlights of August: Venus square Uranus August 2 Sun trine Jupiter August 7 Venus trine Jupiter August 8 Jupiter station direct at 14 Sagittarius August 11 Mercury into Leo August 11 Uranus station retrograde at 6 Taurus August 11 Venus conjunct the Sun August 14 Full Moon at 22 Aquarius August 15 Mercury square Uranus August 16 Mars into Virgo August 18 Venus into Virgo August 21 Mercury trine Jupiter August 21 Sun into Virgo August 23 Venus conjunct Mars August 24 Venus trine Uranus August 26 Mars trine Uranus August 28 Sun trine Uranus August 29 Mercury into Virgo August 29 New Moon at 6 Virgo August 30 Auspicious Electional Charts for August The auspicious election this month that was chosen by Leisa Schaim is set for: August 9, 2019 at approximately 3:40 PM with Sagittarius rising There are a four more electional charts that we found for August, which are available in our private subscriber-only podcast on auspicious elections that was released yesterday. Timestamps Some approximate timestamps if you want to jump to specific parts of the episode: 00:00 – Pre-forecast chat. 00:42 – Forecast for August. 59:50 – Auspicious electional astrology chart for August. Watch the Video Version of Our July Astrology Forecast Here is the video version of our July astrology forecast episode:

Episode 215 features a recording of a live workshop where astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim demonstrate how to interpret the astrological significance of eclipses, based on the houses in which they fall in your birth chart. This is a recording of a meeting of the Denver Astrology Group that was held on Saturday, July 13, 2019, starting just after 3:00 PM, at the Mercury Cafe in downtown Denver. For the first 30 minutes or so of the meeting we talked in general about the astrological significance of solar and lunar eclipses, and what they mean symbolically in astrology. Eventually we transitioned into talking about how to determine what specific eclipses will mean for individuals based on which of the 12 houses they fall in in your birth chart. During the course of the meeting we took examples from the audience, and audience members shared stories about how past eclipses have worked out in their lives, which helped to clarify how eclipses work in a very practical way. We focused in particular on how eclipses come in pairs, and highlight a specific axis of houses for about two years. For example, the 1st house/7th house axis, or the 2nd house/8th house axis and so on. This meeting was timely because it fell in between a solar eclipse in Cancer and a lunar eclipse in Capricorn. We made a special handout which lists all of the eclipse dates from 1950 through 2030: Solar and Lunar Eclipse Dates List (PDF) If you have a good story that you want to share about how an eclipse has worked out for you in the past, please post it in the comments section below! To support the production of future episodes of the podcast like this one, and get access to some great benefits such as early access to new episodes, consider becoming a patron of The Astrology Podcast on Patreon. To learn more about the approach to astrology demonstrated in this workshop, sign up for Chris's online course on ancient astrology. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timestamps Here are some timestamps for topics covered at different points in the episode: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:35 Beginning local astrology group meeting 00:05:51 Introducing eclipses and interpretation principles 00:25:56 1st & 7th House 00:44:47 2nd & 8th House 00:58:34 3rd & 9th House 01:11:20 4th & 10th House 01:25:34 5th & 11th House 01:42:02 6th & 12th House 2:00:13 Post-workshop reflections and additional comments Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of our episode on eclipses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpBazdo1D7E – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 215 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:

Episode 214 features an interview with astrologer Wendy Stacey about the increasing frequency of caesarean births, and the implications this has for natal astrology. Wendy is the Chair of the Astrological Association of Great Britain, and Principal of the Mayo School of Astrology. She did an MA degree at Bath Spa University College in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, with a thesis that focused on the medicalisation of childbirth and changing birth time patterns. The crux of the issue is that it is becoming more and more common for doctors to recommend that births are induced, especially using c-sections, and these are usually scheduled ahead of time during normal business hours. This is having the unintended side-effect of leading to greater conformity in when people are born, so that it is happening Monday through Friday, during daytime hours. This has some potentially startling implications for astrology, in term of having certain placements show up much more frequently, and other placements less frequently. You can read more about Wendy's research in an article that she wrote for the Astrological Association's Astrological Journal in 2010 titled Pearls of Tomorrow: Birth Intervention and the Astrological Face of the New Generation. For more information about Wendy visit: WendyStacey.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of my interview with Wendy Stacey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bE-eHGo5_M - Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 214 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below: