Episodes

In episode 278 astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim look back at the astrology of the 2020 US presidential election, and reflect on what we learned as astrologers, now that the outcome is known. In the first part of the episode we discuss the much-anticipated Mercury retrograde period, which stationed direct on election day, and coincided with delays in determining the outcome of the election. Then we review some technical factors in the birth charts of the candidates that worked in showin...

In episode 277 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for November of 2020. The astrology of November features Mercury stationing direct on November 3, which happens to be election day in the US, plus Mars stationing direct in Aries mid-month, the final Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, and a lunar eclipse in Gemini. We spend a bit of time reviewing some of the things that have been happening in the news over the past with the Mercury...

In episode 276 astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo joins the show to talk about Mercury retrograde and what it means in astrology. Mercury retrograde periods occur when the planet Mercury begins moving backwards in the zodiac for about three weeks every few months. Astrologers generally associate Mercury retrograde periods with miscommunication, delays, technological snafus, and other issues in the areas associated with Mercury. During the course of the show we talk about the significations of Mercury, ...

In episode 275 astrologer Kirah Tabourn joins the show to talk about the concept of dividing groups into of people into generations astrologically, and looking at the different sub-generations of millennials based on their Saturn sign. At the start of discussion we talk about how modern astrologers divide different demographic cohorts based on what sign of the zodiac Pluto was in when they were born, such as the Baby Boomer generation that tended to coincide with Pluto in Leo. Later we focus on ...

In episode 274 of the podcast Chris Brennan gives a detailed overview of the concept of sect in astrology, which is the difference between day and night birth charts. Sect is a fundamental concept that was used in Hellenistic astrology, but it has only been recovered by contemporary astrologers over the past 30 years through translations of ancient texts. The purpose of this talk is to give a broad introduction to sect, first by establishing how pervasive the concept is in ancient astrology, and...

In episode 273 astrologers Leisa Schaim and Chris Brennan answer some questions about astrology that were submitted by listeners of the podcast. Some of the topics we covered in this episode include whether you should learn natal or horary astrology first, how to determine the sect of charts where the birth was close to sunrise or sunset, the ethics of reading the birth charts of children. We also discussed placements in the difficult houses, such as the 6th, 8th, or 12th house, as well as other...

In episode 272 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for October of 2020. The forecast for October features Mars retrograde in Aries squaring Saturn, Pluto, and Jupiter, as well as a Mercury retrograde station opposite Uranus, and a Full Moon conjunct Uranus. With all of the Uranus and Mercury retrograde signatures, our working title for this month is October Surprise. Later in the episode we talk about some ambivalence surrounding the Jup...

In episode 271 astrologer Melanie Reinhart joins the show to talk about her pioneering work on the minor planet Chiron in astrology. Melanie is the author of the book Chiron and the Healing Journey, which was originally published in 1989, and is now in its fourth edition. Chiron was discovered on November 1, 1977, and Melanie was one of a number of astrologers who soon after began researching its astrological meaning. During the course of the interview we talk about Melanie's background in astro...

In episode 270 astrologers Chris Brennan and Leisa Schaim discuss which techniques you can use in natal astrology to interpret a birth chart even when you don't have a birth time. Western astrology has focused very heavily on using timed birth charts since about the 1st century BCE, and there are many techniques in natal astrology that can only be employed if you know a person's exact time of birth. While in many western countries the birth time is usually recorded on a person's birth certificat...

In episode 269 astrologers Kelly Surtees, Austin Coppock, and Chris Brennan look at the astrological forecast for September of 2020. September is one of the more crucial and tense months that we identified back in our year-ahead forecast, due to Mars stationing retrograde in Aries and squaring Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto in Capricorn. This month will also see Jupiter and Saturn stationing direct in Capricorn, and beginning their final run through that sign between now and December. We spend the f...

In episode 268 of the podcast Dr. Martin Gansten joins the show to talk about his new translation of a 17th century Sanskrit text on Tajika astrology, which focuses on annual predictive techniques derived from medieval Arabic sources. Martin is a historian of religion as well as a Sanskrit scholar, who specializes in the study of the history and transmission of ancient astrology. Earlier this month he published The Jewel of Annual Astrology: A Parallel Sanskrit-English Critical Edition of Balabh...

In episode 267 astrologer and scholar Levente László joins the show to talk about his new translation project for ancient Greek astrological texts, and to discuss some of the translations he has completed so far. Levente is classical philologist from Hungary, and he recently launched the Horoi Project, which is a crowdfunding project to translate ancient astrological texts that survive from the Hellenistic and Byzantine astrological traditions: https://www.patreon.com/horoiproject/ During the co...