Episodes

Episode 302 features a discussion with astrologer Demetra George about the meaning of the Sun in astrology, and some astrological techniques associated with it. During the course of the episode we read through some excerpts from different ancient and modern astrologers in order to see how they conceptualized what the Sun signifies in an astrological chart. We also talk about some different techniques that are used in astrology that involve the Sun, such as the solar phase cycle, different heliac...

In episode 301 we look at the astrological forecast for May 20201, with astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan. The major highlights of May are Jupiter moving into Pisces where it will stay for the next two months, plus a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius, and Mercury stationing retrograde in Gemini square Neptune. Saturn also stations retrograde in Aquarius later in the month, and begins closing the distance on a square with Uranus, which will go exact next month. This episode ...

Episode 300 features a montage of highlights of prescient predictions and statements that were made during our monthly astrology forecast episodes in 2020, featuring astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan. This compilation was put together by a listener of the podcast named Alisha Park over the past few months, and after watching it recently I thought it would be a great way to celebrate the 300th episode, by looking back at some memorable moments from the forecasts over th...

Episode 299 features an interview with Alice Sparkly Kat about their new book titled Postcolonial Astrology. Alice's book is primarily a treatment of the seven traditional planets and their historical significations when seen through the lens of issues related to capital, power, and labor. During the course of the interview we touch on what postcolonial theory is and why it is important, as well as its application to astrology in order to better understand both the historical context of astrolog...

Episode 298 features a followup discussion with astrologer Rob Bailey about the considerations before judgement, and the role they play in horary astrology. This is a followup to episode 296 where I talked with Sue Ward about the considerations before judgement in the work of the 17th century astrologer William Lilly. Even though the episode with Sue was really comprehensive, I had done so much research into the considerations in preparation for that interview that I felt like there were still s...

In episode 297 of the podcast astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for April 2021. The astrology of April features a shift of inner planets into the fire sign Aries, where Mars went retrograde in the second half of last year, as well as a New Moon in the same sign. The later part of the month features a shift of planets into the earth sign Taurus where they meet up with Uranus, as well as Mars moving from Gemini into Cancer, and a Full Mo...

Episode 296 features an interview with astrologer Sue Ward about the considerations before judgement in horary astrology. The considerations before judgement are a set of aphorisms that were first outlined in the 17th century by William Lilly in his book Christian Astrology. Lilly introduces them as a set of considerations for answering horary questions and determining whether the question is "radical" or has a strong foundation. The considerations were passed along in later authors, and by the ...

Episode 295 features an interview with Ali A Olomi about the 9th century Queen Buran, who is the first woman we know of by name that practiced astrology. Previously in episode 86 I discussed historical references to women practicing astrology as early as the 1st century CE, and discussed the 5th century philosopher Hypatia as one possible candidate for earliest figure. In this episode we focus on the famous Queen Buran, who lived in Baghdad in the 9th century, and talk about how she is a much mo...

Episode 294 features a discussion with astrologer Israel Ajose about the meaning of the Moon in astrology, and some different techniques that incorporate the Moon in the western astrological tradition. This is the first in a series of new episodes on the significations of each of the planets, and I decided to start with the Moon because it is the closest celestial body to Earth. In order to ground the episode in the astrological tradition we read through several different passages from ancient a...

In episode 293 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrology forecast for March of 2021. March features the end of the sign-based square between Mars and Saturn that began way back in mid-2020, plus a shift of planets into mutable signs, and the beginning of a new Venus synodic cycle. Towards the end of the episode we talk about a few miscellaneous topics that came up on the podcast this month, such as the meanings of the north and south nodes, the different ...

Episode 292 features a discussion between astrologers Yasmin Boland and Chris Brennan about the three different ways of defining what it means for the Moon to be void of course in astrology. This discussion is largely based on definition of void of course that I wrote for The Astrology Dictionary back in 2012, where I noted that there are three different ways that the Moon is defined as being void of course in the western astrological tradition. Yasmin specializes in the astrology of the Moon in...

Episode 291 features an interview with T. Susan Chang about some of the parallels between astrology and tarot cards as forms of divination. Susan is a professional tarot card reader, and the purpose of this discussion was to explore some of the ways that astrology is similar to tarot as a form of divination, versus some of the ways that it is different. We tried to answer some questions like: how can tarot inform our understanding of what astrology is as a phenomenon? What makes divination divin...

In episode 290 astrologer Ronnie Gale Dreyer joins the show to talk about the early history and meanings of the nodes in astrology, both in the western and Indian astrological traditions. As discussed in episode 127, in the late 20th and early 21st century the nodes came to be associated with one's past and future life in modern western astrology, but these associations are absent from the tradition if you look back more than a century or so. The premise of this discussion, then, is what did the...

In episode 289 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for February of 2021. February features the first of three exact Saturn-Uranus squares this year, plus a stellium of planets in Aquarius, and a Mercury retrograde in Aquarius. We spend the first 30-40 minutes giving an overview of some of the major themes that have been occurring since our last forecast in mid-December, and then we get into a more detailed breakdown of the transits for F...

Episode 288 features a discussion where an astrologer tries to explain what astrology is about to two people who are curious about the subject but somewhat skeptical. Last week Ian and Shaye from the comedy podcast Camp ReEducation reached out to me to see if I would be on their show, where they do interviews with people from different fields and try to familiarize themselves with new topics and reexamine their preconceptions. I agreed to do it as long as I could also release the recording as an...

Episode 287 features a lecture by Chris Brennan on the concept of reception in traditional astrology, and how it can be used as a powerful mitigating factor in birth chart interpretation. Broadly speaking, reception occurs when one planet is placed in a sign ruled by another planet, and the ruler of the sign aspects the guest planet. Since the signs of the zodiac were originally conceptualized as the homes or dwelling places of the planets, reception was conceptualized as what happens when a hos...

Episode 286 features an interview with astrologer Banu Guler about the popular astrology app that she founded called Co-Star. Co-Star is an app for iPhone and Android that calculates your birth chart and provides some basic interpretations, as well as daily transit notifications. The app was launched in late 2017, and quickly became one of the most popular astrology apps in the world, with Co-Star estimating that approximately 20% of young people in the US have downloaded the app. Despite its po...

In episode 285 astrologer Chris Brennan presents a set of year ahead horoscope forecasts for 2021 for all twelve signs of the zodiac. The horoscope for each sign is about 15 minutes long, and they are meant to be looked at from the perspective of your Ascendant or rising sign, although you can also listen to the ones for your Sun sign or Moon sign as well. I mainly focus on the movements of the outer planets through the signs and houses, especially Jupiter and Saturn having recently moved into A...

In episode 284 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look ahead at the astrology of 2021, and provide an overview of some of the major planetary themes that will play out over the course of the next twelve months. The astrology of 2021 opens in the wake of the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius, and features three exact squares of Saturn and Uranus, plus a series of eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius. We spend the first 40 minutes talking about some of the...

In episode 283 astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim review some stories that were sent in by listeners about their recent Saturn return in Capricorn, and look at their birth charts to see what lessons can be learned from them. Saturn first moved back into Capricorn in December of 2017, and it is just getting ready to complete its transit through that sign of the zodiac this month, and it will leave Capricorn and move into Aquarius on December 17. In the first 30 minutes of the episode we s...

Episode 282 features an interview with astrologer Robert Weinstein about his work using astrology to study fluctuations in the value of the cryptocurrency called Bitcoin. Robert wrote an article in The Mountain Astrologer magazine last year on the astrology of Bitcoin, and originally approached me last summer about doing an episode on the topic, although I wasn't quite ready at that point. My interest in the topic was renewed recently though when the value of Bitcoin hit a new all time high on N...

In episode 281 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for December of 2020. December features a solar eclipse in Sagittarius, and a great Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius. We spend the first 30 minutes of the episode recapping how some of the astrology of November worked out, and then we dive into the astrology of December. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Honeycomb Collective Calendars Our sponsor thi...

Episode 280 features a lecture by astrologer Chris Brennan where he gives an overview of the history and transmission of western astrology over the past 4,000 years. The talk begins with the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian astrological traditions, and then traces the development of astrology through the Hellenistic, Medieval, Renaissance, and modern periods. This is based on a lecture that Chris has been giving at conferences since 2006 about how Uranus-Neptune conjunctions have historically c...

In episode 279 astrologer Michael J. Morris joins the show to talk about using astrology within the context of the lives of transgender people. We spend the first part of the episode talking about some basic things that astrologers should know in terms of cultural competence in order to work well in consultations with transgender clients In the second half of the episode we get into more of a technical discussion about how different placements in the birth chart can manifest in the lives of tran...