On the Soul's Terms

In this episode we explore the first water sign of the Zodiac: Cancer. Ruled by the moon, Cancer is linked to the archetypal mother and so rules over the lunar side of our consciousness; fluid, emotional, imaginal, creative, nurturing and receptive.

As this 'night world' consciousness responds best to images, sounds and sense impressions, the episode begins with a look at a few Cancerian artists; DJ Shadow and Frida Kahlo. We then settle in to a look at Cancer key words and ideas, followed by a deep dive into the crab itself as it scuttles sideways between land and see, carrying its home on its back.

Mythologically Hestia, goddess of the hearth comes to the table. Tantalus shows us what not to do at a dinner party, especially one where the gods are the guests. We look at the Earth Mother lineage of Gaia, Rhea, Hera. And then go deep into the tensional point between Hera and Herakles as it plays out through the image of the terrifying nine-headed water snake, the Hydra.

Resources for this episode:
Mort Garson - Cancer 1969
DJ Shadow's album Entroducing... especially the song Changeling.
Frida Kahlo - The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth, Myself, Diego and Senor Xolotl, 1949 (cover art)
Brian Clark - Mythic Signs
Crabs Trading Shells - BBC Earth
Nami · Chihei Hatakeyama · Federico Durand

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Welcome to Part Two of my discussion on Gemini with the astrologer, Melanie Reinhart. If you’re just jumping into this episode I suggest going back to the previous one to hear part one of our chat on the mystical experience of the lost twin. 

In this episode we will spend more time in the mythic and the astrological, discussing Gemini’s position in between the earthy Taurus and the watery Cancer and its struggle to keep enough air in the room. We also touch upon the twins of Greek Mythology - Castor and Pollux - who are the bright stars of the constellation of Gemini. 

The Messenger God, Hermes/Mercury, then helps us fill in the gaps as the ruling deity of this sign before we turn our attention to laughter as medicine and how it can help us recharge in times of deep grief, sadness and loss. 

I hope you enjoy this conversation. If you do please feel free to send Melanie a message to let her know, or leave it as a review on your podcast app of choice.

Episode Artwork: Castor and Pollux Rescuing Helen - Jean-Bruno Gassies

References
Swami Beyondananda
Lewis Hyde - Trickster Makes this World

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Today I’m delighted to re-introduce Melanie Reinhart back to the show for our Gemini interview. She was the perfect, and most obvious choice for this one with her own personal treasure trove of Gemini Planets.

Predictably, and like last time she was on the show, we went over the time limit by about the length of an extra episode. And as such I’ve split the one into two; a Gemini theme in itself.

I am in Delphi in Greece recording this episode, just 15 minutes away from the site where Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, wielded extraordinary influence over the Ancient World and brought incredible wealth to this area due to people traveling far and wide to hear her wisdom-soaked responses to querent’s questions. 

It feels fitting then to have had the opportunity to talk to Melanie, perhaps a modern day version of Pythia, from this central place of our cultural inheritance. 

The theme of our discussion is ultimately the sign of Gemini.

For this episode, part one, we talk about the Gemini discussed in Consensus Reality - the smart, witty, bubbly, sometimes fickle, intelligent and rational one. And the lesser discussed Other Twin who is rarely heard about, perhaps because there is no clear formula for how that other one will show up in the Gemini experience. 

We then get a little deeper into the mystical phenomenon of the lost twin, discussing the common experience of somehow knowing an other from the womb that we often find ourselves unconsciously searching for in waking life. 

Be sure also to tune into part two where we get a little more mythic with Castor and Pollux and the ruling deity, Hermes/Mercury, and talk about laughter and its importance in any healing journey. 

Episode Artwork: Castor and Pollux Rescuing Helen - Jean-Bruno Gassies

References
Dane Rudhyar - The Pulse of Life
Richard Wagner
Ian McGilchrist - The Master & His Emissary

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

"Don't be afraid of mistakes. There aren't any."
- Miles Davis

Our expedition into the many-varied sign of Gemini begins with the above Miles Davis quote. It is the permission given to us by this third sign of the Zodiac to experiment and to play and to trust in those off notes as avenues into new ways of expression.

Gemini is a mutable air sign. Its symbol is the roman numeral for Two. And its image is the twins; as represented by Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars of the Gemini constellations. One mortal, one immortal. Who have two twin sisters; Helen and Clytemnestra. One mortal, one immortal.

The ruling planet of the sign is Mercury, whose name in Greece was Hermes. The delight maker, the trickster, the guide of souls.

In this episode we explore the combination of all of these energies and attempt to fill in the picture of this sign that is so often seen in very two dimensional terms. We will also receive visitations from Pan, Iambe and Baubo along the way. 

To help us on our journey today we hear from Gustav Holst again and his composition: Mercury, the Winged Messenger.

To flesh out the feeling of this sign we explore the life of Bob Dylan, a man with the Sun, Venus and Mercury all in Gemini. There are snippets here from the Scorsese documentary, No Direction Home, an interview he had with Time Magazine in the '60s as well as a brief piece about the Crossroads.

Episode Artwork: Sala dei Giganti, Palazzo del Tè, Mantua. Painting by Giulio Romano.

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In this special edition of the show I'm joined again by Persia Juliet (see # 14); a veteran Yoga teacher and trainer with more than 20 years of experience. Persia specialises in Yin and her work is informed by Traditional Chinese Medicine, Astrology, Mythology and more. She's a master at dropping a room into deep states of consciousness.

She is also my partner. 

On the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse two weeks ago Persia and I suffered the loss of a pregnancy. In this poignant episode we go into very personal territory, somewhere that I have not gone so far in the production of this show. 

We go there in order to find medicine in the darker places of the human experience. Our hope in this episode is that it will resonate with your own personal encounters with deep loss and grief. 

For those who are not in the space right now for hearing of the rawness of this experience, I recommend skipping this episode and coming back next time when I explore the Zodiac sign of Gemini. 

But for those wanting to go on a deep dive into underworld themes, this is the right episode for you. Just make sure you are well resourced and have everything you need for taking this particular voyage. 

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

In this episode we re-enter the labyrinth of Crete to take a closer look at that Minotaur in the middle (we first explored this in #13) and see if he can enlighten us about the true nature of the Astrological sign of Taurus. 

The episode begins with ♉︎ the symbol for Taurus and moves into the animal essence of the bull that lies at the heart of this sign. We follow the bull's momentum into the mythic landscape of Ancient Minoan culture with bulls on all sides, and end up deep in the labyrinth but with Ariadne's thread firmly in our grasp. 

Artwork for this episode is a bull-leaping fresco from Knossos, 1450 BCE

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

"There is geometry in the humming of the strings. There is music in the spacing of the spheres." -- Pythagoras
______________________________________________

Fifteen years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the astrologer, Rick Levine, on a course he was running in Bali called Initiation into Astrology. With his stellium in Aries he embodies that initiatory force; the ability to spark creative ways of engaging in reality.

We spoke on 23rd March 2023, the day after the first of two Aries New Moons this year. I release this conversation one lunar month later into the second Aries New Moon, this time a Hybrid Solar Eclipse. Hybrid like the centaur - half horse half man - Chiron who along with Jupiter was lighting up Rick's Sun in Aries on the day we talked.

Listen in and listen again to a journey through the musicality of the spheres that winds and spirals out just like our galaxy and, hopefully, like Hermes, lands us back at home in the heart with stories of a freshly experienced adventure to share.
______________________________________________

[The below excerpt is taken from Omega}

Rick Levine's philosophy is simple: Astrology is a tool for empowerment, understanding, and creativity. His unique approach combines astrology and spirituality, science and religion, and the head and the heart.

A professional astrologer since 1976, Levine is a respected leader in the global Astrology community, past president of the Washington State Astrology Association, a founding Trustee of Kepler College, and past coauthor of Barnes and Noble’s annual Your Astrology Guides.

His horoscopes were read by millions daily for nearly 17 years and his videos now reach tens of thousands of people every month.

Levine is the subject of a DVD, Quantum Astrology: Science, Spirit, and Our Place in the Cycles of History. In 2018, Rick was awarded the prestigious International Astrologer of the Year Award in Kolkata, India. In 2019, Rick was awarded the coveted Fomalhaut Award for Astrological Excellence by the Turkish School of Astrology.

When not traveling around the world teaching astrology, Rick writes, produces videos, and sees clients from his home outside of Seattle, Washington.

______________________________________________

Rick's info:
Patreon
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Aries: The first sign of the Zodiac; the Ram; the Initiating Fire; Ruled by Mars God of War.

This episode thrusts forward into the journey of the Zodiac, penetrating into the Zodiac sign of Aries. It begins with the ram itself, play-fighting when young then locking horns as an adult. We then move into a short meditation to feel that fire within ourselves and how it might be present or missing.

Along the way we meet the Aries-dominant figures of James Hillman reflecting on his book The Terrible Love of War and Joseph Campbell who brought the world the template for the Hero's Journey and the concept of the 'mono-myth' (an oxymoron as myth, in essence, is poly).

We hear about the Golden Fleeced Ram who became the constellation of Aries. And then join the head-strong, club-heavy, brute-strength force of Hercules, getting a taste of his adventures: his birth, the beginning of his 12 Labours, and his eventual death by his own armour.

Artwork for this series is from Johfra which you can find on Melanie Reinhart's website here.

Extra Audio (YouTube):
Hillman: A Terrible Love of War
Rams Battle for Right to Mate
Holst: The Planets

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

A few weeks ago Saturn moved into Pisces and I felt a subtle nudge to change the structure of the show. You see, Pisces is the waters of the soul, the big oceanic world where two fish swim in opposite directions connected by an umbilical cord. In the ocean there are so many stories, endlessly swirling around taking us from one place to another, but never washing us up on the islands of certainty.

Pisces points to the sirens, singing their sweet lullabies so that the weary sailor might follow their sounds and be pulled into the deep waters. Odysseus had his men tie him to the mast so that he wouldn’t follow their call. Jason and the Argonauts had a better idea - they brought the demi-god of music, Orpheus along. As they sailed through the waters where the sirens sang, Orpheus played his own sweet music to keep the attention of the crew. Stay with his music and you won’t be drawn into those murky places. 

It’s been a great adventure, to swim with the mermaids and leave the safety of the vessel behind. Makes me wonder what the Greeks were so worried about! But at the same time, with Saturn now in Pisces for the next few years, I feel it’s time to create a new container for the magic, much as Parcival, in his journey, realises he needs to find the holy grail if he’s going to heal the wounded Fisher King. 

So here is my new container:

Over the course of the next year the podcast will be exploring each sign of the Zodiac, beginning with Aries this month. In the exploration I’ll be pulling from the world of Astrology as well as colouring each sign in with the wisdom of the old myths. To add to this, I’ll be playing around a little more with sound - bringing in music to help us further attune to each sign as we go. 

Each month I’ll still be bringing you one interview with a unique thinker in their field. The subject matter will be wide and varied, but the guest of choice will have strong signatures of the sign we are working with that month. As an example, this month I’ll be talking with the Astrologer Rick Levine. Our conversation covers a mind-bending amount of space and time including Pythagoras, Kepler, Metaphysics, musical theory and astrological shirts and sweaters. In the background we will get a feel of what life as an Aries might be like from Rick himself, who has a stellium of personal planets in that sign. 

At the end of the wheel, as we approach the March equinox next year, the project and the podcast will draw to a close. Saturn asks us to set limits, and that’s the limit that feels good to me. Another 24 episodes of this labour of love. And then leaving them out here in the ether for people to enjoy when they wish. 

For those wanting to go deeper into this mythic, poetic style of exploring Astrology, I’m working on a foundation course in the background and will launch that later this year, as well as short courses designed to help us deepen and widen our love of the beauty of this sacred craft. 

And so away we go, into the final chapter of the podcast. Thank you to all the Patrons who have supported me on the journey. If you’d like to join in the Patron Party go to Patreon.

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

Natalia Rachel joins the podcast today to discuss her new book, her work in the healing arts, and her personal journey of surviving and thriving following many years of a severe and debilitating disease that left her unable to walk or function in the world.

After finding her way to her own health and sovereignty, Natalia dedicated herself to helping others find their way through the labyrinthine path of healing by setting up the Soma Clinic in Singapore. Today she spends her time writing and speaking around the world, sharing her wisdom and personal, felt, lived experience.

We discuss the main themes of her book, delving into what she eloquently calls the path of peace and power. Natalia's ability to articulate difficult subject matter shines through in our discussion. I'm left, personally, with a revived sense of hope and clarity of purpose from her generous gifting of her time and expertise.

Natalia's book: Why Am I Like This?: Illuminating the Traumatised Self
Her website: nataliarachel.com

Cover Art: John William Waterhouse - Psyche Opening the Golden Box c. 1903

Join the Newsletter!

Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur
Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show!
Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.