Sending hugs this week to astrologer and podcaster Daniel Norman in this throwback episode as our hearts are with those affected by the LA wildfires. In this one, Daniel slid up the West Coast from LA to join host Jenn Zahrt for a vibrant and fast-paced conversation about books and more! Join them as they discuss: intercepted signs; the lord of the orb; dwar and Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions; the bound ruler of a degree; the hierarchical weighting of essential dignities (or are they equal?); the fantasteroid way; jumping in the deep end of the astrological pool; and thinking about culturally determined significations. All that, plus: Bruce Springsteen, the juicy astrological house debate, and book genies!

Visit CAELi’s Within Orb pod page!

Learn more about the CAELi Institute.

Visit our bookshop.org page to support CAELi and purchase books mentioned on the show!

Become a CAELi member or renew your membership!

Love the show? Support our work with a financial contribution or book donation.

Follow CAELi on FB, IG, YouTube, and Bluesky.

Transcripts available upon request.

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

*****

Episode timestamps (conversation recorded Jan. 2024):

00:01 – Jenn introduces the show, with a shout-out to those affected by the LA wildfires. (The Theosophical Library burned down, and it calls to mind the irreplaceable documents and books at CAELi. To protect and support our astrological community’s important archives, here's a link to the CAELi Support Drive (awesome mug included for only $35)! And to help with the wildfire relief efforts, please check out this helpful Vanity Fair article, California Wildfires: How to Help Los Angeles From Anywhere in the World, and give what you can.)

02:35 – Daniel is an astrologer, magical practitioner, artist, and lifelong spiritual seeker. They previously pursued careers in music and film while working for 15 years as a bartender in Los Angeles, where they currently reside with their wife and three children. These experiences are an indelible part of Daniel’s approach to divination which seeks to align the inherent mystery of the cosmos with the practical reality of day-to-day life. Check out Daniel’s podcast, What Time Is It?

04:53 – Daniel’s first astrology book was The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest. They read it years before getting into astrology because they were dating an astrologer at the time! (A bonus book worth noting is Understanding Interceptions: A Key to Unlocking the Door by Chris McRae.)

10:33 – If Daniel were stuck on a desert island, which books would they bring? First up: the green book, which has all the stuff you might need in your toolkit, aka Abu Ma'shar Al-Balkhi’s Persian Nativities IV: On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities, translated by Benjamin Dykes. But they’d also take the helpful notes of Dr. Ali Olomi to provide context! (And to hear more on the lord of the orb, visit Episode 5, Camm Cassidy & the Lord of the Orb!)

18:21 – Interlude: Join the CAELi Support Drive and for only $35, you can enjoy your morning beverage out of a gorgeous CAELi mug!

19:08 – Daniel’s second selection is the useful and magical Inside Degrees: Developing Your Soul Biography Using the Chandra Symbols by Ellias Lonsdale. It’s been fun to ask friends about their Ascendant degree and amaze them with the book’s accuracy! (And learn about fantasteroids here!)

27:14 – Daniel’s third choice is Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans, because this hard-to-find text highlights the inherently narrative nature of the significations.

30:20 – Daniel’s recommendations for beginners are: Temperament: Astrology's Forgotten Key by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum; Astrology and the Authentic Self: Integrating Traditional and Modern Astrology to Uncover the Essence of the Birth Chart by Demetra George (also, a bonus rec is Demetra’s Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess which you can find at CAELi AND hear more about on Episode 7 with Aerin Fogel!); and last but not least, Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor by Alice Sparkly Kat.

37:24 – Find Daniel at their website: https://www.everhappening.com/. They are also on most social media @everhappening!

38:13 – 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.