Astrologer and podcaster Adam Sommer hops across the pond and sits down with host and literary midwife Jenn Zahrt to chat books, podcasting, and how to trojan horse astrology into your grey matter! Come build a fort with giant astrology books and enjoy some meandering detours: how old-school telephones were once used to record Adam’s podcast in the days of yore (his 13-year-old show was originally called Exploring Astrology, and is now called Astrology & the Hermetic Arts: Holes to Heavens); starting things while Venus is retrograde; living in Liz Greene’s backyard; and footnoting Saturn’s sense of humor.

View full show notes at our Within Orb pod page!

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Transcripts available upon request.

Song “Wake Up” used with permission by The E-Block Band.

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Episode timestamps (conversation recorded July 2023):

00:46 – Let’s dive right in, and hear all about the first astrology book that Adam ever read: Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas. The second one was Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul by Jeff Green.

12:18 – The first two books that Adam would take into apocalyptic exile would be the formerly mentioned Cosmos and Psyche, followed by Mundane Astrology by Michael Baigent, Nicholas Campion, and Charles Harvey.

14:01 – Visit our sponsor: Rod Suskin School of Astrology!

14:49 – What is Adam’s third selection? The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino by Thomas Moore. This book is food for the soul!

27:00 – What book for beginners would Adam recommend? The Planets Within would come first, because it’s chock full of information. But The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest also makes the cut!

28:03 – Adam mentions one final book of historical fiction before we depart: Liz Greene’s The Dreamer of the Vine: A Novel About Nostradamus. Very intriguing!

31:55 – Thanks for listening to Within Orb! If you love the show, please help support it at no cost to you: Follow or subscribe wherever you listen, rate it five stars, or write a happy review! And if you’d like to become a CAELi member or support our work with a contribution of any amount, we’d be delighted – thanks!

Show notes by Jen Braun, JJ Boots Productions LLC.