Astrologer and author Nicola Smuts Allsop joins host Jenn Zahrt from Bath, England! Join them in a fascinating chat regarding Nicola’s seminal work on fertility astrology (pun intended!), books, and more, including: fitting astrology into a scientific paradigm; medieval techniques; and the stars as divination. Plus: when false insights heal, the placebo effect, and… the meaningful space where anything can happen!

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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 2025):

00:12 – Nicola Smuts Allsop is a consulting astrologer living in the United Kingdom. Originally from South Africa, she completed her first studies at the Rod Suskin School of Astrology in Cape Town and completed a Diploma in Medieval Astrology with Astro Logos (Bernadette Brady) in the UK. Nicola graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University with a master’s degree in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. Author of Fertility Astrology: A Modern Medieval Textbook, Nicola has specialized in this field and has undergone fertility treatment herself. She is a mother of two adult children and can empathize and understand the pain and the desperation of trying to conceive. Nicola lectures internationally on her fertility work and her research and methods in this field are pioneering and unique. Her success in diagnosing fertility issues in charts and finding potentially fertile times to try in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other reproductive treatments has been published in The Sunday Times (London), The London Times, and the Daily Mail. Her work has also been featured on national television (Free Spirit, Top Billing) in South Africa.

00:35 – Nicola’s very first astrology book was The Moment of Astrology: Origins in Divination by Geoffrey Cornelius.

14:47 – If Nicola could bring only three books to a deserted island, her first pick would be Guido Bonatti’s Book of Astronomy, translated by Benjamin Dykes. (Nicola also mentions the work of Sydney Omarr.)

19:49 – Interlude: Join the CAELi Support Drive and for only $35, you can enjoy your morning beverage out of a gorgeous CAELi mug!

20:36 – Nicola’s second choice would be Hermes Trismegistus’s Liber Hermetis, translated by Robert Zoller and edited by Robert Hand.

21:58 – The third title Nicola would bring is a toss-up between Cornelius’s The Moment of Astrology and Astrology in the Year Zero by Garry Phillipson.

30:02 – For beginners, Nicola recommends Keywords for Astrology by Anna Haebler and Hajo Banzhaf.

31:23 – Find Nicola at her website: https://fertilityastrology.com/. And check out her YouTube channel: @fertilityastrology203.

31:43 – 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 and production by Jen Braun of JJ Boots Productions LLC.