
In episode 163 of The Astrology Podcast astrologers Jo Gleason and Adam Elenbaas join the show to discuss horoscope columns, the process of writing them, and why they are still an important and useful tool for developing one’s skills as an astrologer.
I had been thinking about doing a set of monthly horoscopes for a while now, thinking that it would be an interesting challenge, and also wanting to broaden my audience a bit in order to bring more people into the astrological community.
Last week I decided to give it a try, and did a series of monthly horoscopes for each zodiac sign through my channel on YouTube, and focused on interpreting them primarily relative to each rising sign using whole sign houses.
The process of actually doing a horoscope column for the first time brought up a lot of interesting thoughts and issues, and so I wanted to talk to Jo and Adam about it, since both of them have developed expertise in this area.
Jo is the Vice President of the Association for Young Astrologers, and she has been a shadow writer for several horoscope columns. She wrote a thread on Twitter in June encouraging more astrologers to try writing horoscopes, and also wrote a post on her blog recently titled Why I Still Read My Horoscope.
Adam teaches and writes regular astrological forecasts each week through the Nightlight Astrology School, and also writes the monthly horoscopes for Astrograph.
During the course of the discussion we talk about how horoscopes can still be legitimate or useful even despite how simple they are compared to advanced astrological techniques and forecasting. We also talk about how horoscopes are written, and some of the unique challenges that are involved.
The recording of this episode is available in both audio and video versions, and you can find links to both below.
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Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 163 transcript
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Why Horoscopes Are Still Valid and Important

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In episode 444 astrologer and historian Richard Tarnas joins the show to talk about conjunctions between the planets Jupiter and Uranus, and discuss major events they have coincided with in history.
Jupiter and Uranus form a conjunction in the sky every 14 years, and since this year the two aligned on April 20, I thought it would be good to look back to see what types of events occurred around the time of these conjunctions in the past.
Richard dedicated several chapters of his 2006 book Cosmos and Psyche to exploring Jupiter-Uranus alignments in history, and he showed that they often coincide with periods sudden advancements in technology, scientific breakthroughs, and political revolutions.
In the first part of the episode we talk about the meanings of Jupiter, Uranus, and their conjunctions, and then in the second half we get into talking about what happened under specific alignments.
Some of the events we cover include the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the American and French revolutions, and the discoveries of Kepler and Galileo.
This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.
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Jupiter-Uranus Conjunctions in History, with Richard Tarnas


In episode 443 historian of ancient astrology and magic Kristin Mathis and astrologer Drew Levanti join me to talk about an ancient Greek mystical tradition known as Orphism, and how it influenced ancient astrology.
Orphism is an ancient Greek mystery cult founded by a legendary figure named Orpheus, who is said to have been a poet, musician, and mystical figure.
It is a mystery religion because members of the Orphic cult had to be initiated, and were sworn to secrecy with oaths.
The Orphics believed the soul was immortal and subject to reincarnation, and part of the goal of becoming initiated into the mysteries was to help ensure a better life in the future.
There was an emphasis on remembering one’s divine origin, and the use of poetry and music as ways of accessing the divine.
The study of this topic is important in terms of ancient astrology because Orpheus is listed as one of the legendary founders of Hellenistic astrology by Firmicus Maternus, and there are traces of Orphic influence in astrological texts by figures like Valens and Critodemus.
Kristin and Drew’s work focuses in particular on the Orphic Hymns, and during the course of the episode we read some excerpts from some of Kristin’s translations of the hymns for the planets and the stars, which invoke the deities associated with those celestial bodies.
Join us for a captivating exploration of Orphism and its enduring influence on the rich tapestry of ancient astrology.
Kristin and Drew’s Websites
https://www.kristinmathis.com
https://archeastrology.com
Timestamps

* 00:00:00 Intro
* 00:00:47 What is Orphism?
* 00:02:25 Kristin’s background
* 00:05:40 Drew’s background
* 00:08:38 Orphic Hymns overview
* 00:10:25 Who is Orpheus?
* 00:20:34 Parallels between Hermes and Orpheus
* 00:27:14 The cosmos is alive
* 00:33:13 Macrocosm and microcosm
* 00:37:31 Other mystery cults
* 00:46:00 Astral temple traditions
* 00:48:49 Purpose of Hermeticism
* 00:49:25 The unspeakable
* 00:54:27 Ecstatic states
* 00:59:13 Orphic mysteries vs. other mysteries
* 01:10:41 The Sun and the soul
* 01:19:38 Plato’s Myth of Er and reincarnation
* 01:24:21 Milky Way gates
* 01:32:41 Pythagoras
* 01:34:07 Hymn of the Stars
* 01:58:26 Time frame of Orpheus Hymns
* 02:10:33 Hymn to Ares-Mars
* 02:29:15 The hymns influenced astrology
* 02:34:56 Music, numbers, and ratio
* 02:37:26 The magic of the hymns for today
* 02:40:54 Astrology as a language
* 02:42:16 Early astrology texts were written in verse
* 02:49:43 Orphic hymns enliven astrology
* 02:52:10 Kristin and Drew’s websites, Substack, and class
* 02:54:47 Kristin’s future book on Orpheus Hymns
* 02:57:34 Closing credits

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The Orphic Mysteries and Ancient Astrology


In episode 442 astrologers Chris Brennan and Sam Ogden discuss the rulers of the houses in astrology, and what it means for the ruler of one house to be in another house in a birth chart.
The rulers of the houses is an ancient and important element of birth chart delineation, but it is often overlooked in modern times.
It is more of an intermediate level technique, because it involves combining different basic concepts surrounding the fourfold system of planets, signs, aspects, and houses.
Understanding the rulers of the houses is crucial for chart synthesis, because it is through this technique that you start to see how the basic concepts work together, as well as how different parts of the chart are connected.
In the first part of this episode we discuss how to interpret what it means when the ruler of one house is in another, such as for example when the ruler of the 4th house is in the 9th house, and then later we talk about how to time the activation of the rulers of the houses using the annual profections time-lord technique.
This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.
Chris’ Hellenistic Astrology Course
https://courses.theastrologyschool.com
Sam’s Website
http://www.brothermoonhealing.com
Timestamps

* 00:00:00 Introduction
* 00:06:28 Traditional rulership scheme
* 00:08:28 Whole sign houses
* 00:10:45 Planets as rulers of houses
* 00:14:35 Rulers of houses in houses
* 00:20:48 Rhetorius examples of rulers
* 00:29:50 Considerations for studying rulers
* 00:26:05 Significations of the houses
* 00:39:30 Ruler of 2nd in 11th example
* 00:43:00 Ruler of 2nd in 4th example
* 00:47:56 Ruler of 3rd in 8th example
* 00:51:20 Ruler of 4th in 9th example
* 00:54:00 Ruler of 4th in 8th example
* 00:57:00 Ruler of 5th in 9th example
* 01:09:45 Ruler of 6th in 10th example
* 01:12:12 Ruler of 7th in 9th example
* 01:14:23 Ruler of 8th & 9th example
* 01:21:00 Ruler of 10th in 3rd example
* 01:25:33 Ruler of 10th in 6th example
* 01:29:00 Ruler of 10th in 8th example
* 01:33:51 Ruler of 10th in 11th example
* 01:38:50 Ruler of 11th in 5th example
* 01:46:10 Ruler of 12th in 10th example
* 02:00:18 Considerations recap
* 02:01:10 Annual Profections
* 02:04:40 Timing the activation of the rulers
* 02:05:50 Activating the house
* 02:07:00 Ruler of 2nd in 8th activated example
* 02:11:00 Ruler of 3rd afflicted example
* 02:12:30 Ruler of 7th and 8th in 2nd
* 02:16:55 Ruler of 8th and 9th in 7th
* 02:20:25 Ruler of 9th in 10th
* 02:22:15 Activating the sign containing a ruler
* 02:22:38 Ruler of 3rd in 8th activated
* 02:24:15 Ruler of 12th in 4th activated
* 02:26:12 Ruler of 8th in 2nd activated
* 02:27:00 Ruler of 4th in 9th activated
* 02:28:42 Reflecting on the implications
* 02:36:50 The time of birth
* 02:44:55 Concluding remarks
* 02:46:46 Learning more about rulers
* 02:47:30 Sam’s consultations
* 02:49:53 Call for listener examples
* 02:50:57 Credits, sponsors, end cards

Watch the Video Version of This Episode
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Transcript
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The Rulers of the Houses in Astrology

Astrologers Chris Brennan and Diana Rose Harper look ahead at the astrology forecast for April, and discuss the major astrological alignments that will occur in one of the most important months of 2024.

News in the first hour, then forecast begins at 00:57:50. 

The astrology of April features a solar eclipse in Aries that will cross the United States, a tense Mars-Saturn conjunction in Pisces, a positive Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus, a chaotic Mercury retrograde in Aries, and finally a comet that will cross the zodiac in Taurus.

Northwest Astrological Conference

https://norwac.net

Diana's Website

https://ddamascenaa.com

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/astrologypodcast


Astrology Forecast April 2024


In episode 440 astrologers Chris Brennan and Sam Ogden discuss the Antikythera Mechanism, which is a complex mechanical device that was recovered from an ancient shipwreck, and how it may have been used for astrology.
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in the year 1901 by a group of sponge divers who found an ancient shipwreck near a Greek island named Antikythera.
They had found a Greek merchant ship that sank around the year 60 BCE, and divers were able to recover a number of ancient statues, pottery, as well as a corroded mechanical device with lots of gears.
Over the past century a series of researchers have slowly reconstructed the device, and recently advanced X-ray scans have allowed scholars to look inside to see how it worked.
We now know that it was a complex astronomical device that depicted the movements of the cosmos, and it was also a sort of mechanical calculator or computer that could compute positions of the planets in the past or future, predict when eclipses would occur, and more.
The discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism is important because it is far more advanced than what was previously thought possible in terms of technology around the 1st century BCE, and similar devices were not reinvented in Europe until after 13th century.
For our purposes as astrologers the most interesting piece is how the Antikythera Mechanism ties in with the history of ancient astrology, and that there is in fact some evidence the device was used for astrological purposes, as well as that there was at least one astrologer who is said to have owned a similar device.
In this episode we situate the device within the context of the history of astrology, talk about its possible astrological uses, and also discuss how the mechanism may helps us to reconstruct the origins of Hellenistic astrology as a result of the planetary order depicted on the device.
This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.
Sam’s Website
http://www.brothermoonhealing.com
Sources and Further Reading

* Alexander Jones, A Portable Cosmos: Revealing the Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Wonder of the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, 2017.
* Tony Freeth and Alexander Jones, “The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism,” ISAW Papers 4 (February, 2012).
* Tony Freeth, D. Huggon, A. Decanalis, et al, “A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism,” in Scientific Reports, 11, 5821 (2021).
* Tony Freeth, “Wonder of the Ancient World,” in Scientific American Magazine, Vol. 326, No. 1 (January 2022), p. 24.

Timestamps

* 00:00:00 Introduction
* 00:00:17 Antikythera Mechanism overview
* 00:06:39 Alexander Jones’ book on the device
* 00:10:59 Discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism
* 00:19:54 Chart for the discovery
* 00:27:54 Reconstructing the device
* 00:30:40 Dating the shipwreck and Mechanism
* 00:34:00 Geography: Antikythera, Rhodes, and Epirus
* 00:40:00 Transmission of Mesopotamian astrology
* 00:44:58 Archimedes
* 00:50:45 Planetary order dating
* 00:54:53 Order of the Seven Zoned Sphere
* 01:04:53 Planets and other dials on the device
* 01:15:15 How astrologers may have used the device
* 01:31:25 Astrologer’s boards
* 01:48:42 Dimensionality in the cosmos

Why Horoscopes Are Still Valid and Important

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