Don't be disheartened by skeptics. As with all good things, because some people misused astrology to earn a buck or exert control,they have poisoned the well a bit. But you are clean fresh water.....and those who can taste that water will see what astrology really has to offer. Not too many of us can read the map of the skies the way you can. Thank you for reading them and sharing what you see with us all. Please don't stop.
It’s actually funny, because I genuinely forget that some people don’t regard the wisdom of the stars as valuable. It still shocks me, especially when people will acknowledge that the point I’m making is accurate, whilst discarding entirely where I got it from. Doesn’t dishearten me at all…I just get a bit stumped, which is why I wrote this blog so now I’ll have it handy next time!
Thank you - great response! It is fascinating how 300 years of “rational thought” can ignore and deny millennia of understanding about the universe. May cosmic consciousness open people’s minds.
It’s pure arrogance on modern society’s part. In a general sense, as far as the collective is concerned, the “science and technology” of today is vastly superior to any “superstition” of the ancients. They would rather replace and supersede ancient, ancestral knowledge with modern understanding rather than consider that maybe, just maybe, the two can work together in harmony. It’s like the herbalism vs pharmaceuticals debate. Personally, I use both, in tandem, based on the need. Unfortunately, arrogance and condescension run rampant, especially on the internet. It’ll be interesting to see how this particular transit plays out, and as far as I’m concerned, forewarned in any capacity is forearmed.
Yes to absolutely everything you just said. I believe we are headed towards a time where we merge modern knowledge with ancient wisdom, and realised they are essentially two sides of the same thing. I also believe we will soon find out that as advanced as we are now, we were far more advanced long ago, in a time before our history books can recall. Not advanced in the same way we are now, technologically, but physiologically, spiritually far more advanced. We are a species with amnesia that is about to remember….
Thank you for your thoughtful reply! Out of curiosity, and only as your energy allows, do you have any recommendations on resources for beginners learning how to read charts and understand transits? I am utterly fascinated and feel drawn to digging deeper but don’t know where to start. And while Google is free, it’s also sponsored, monetized and doesn’t always give the most accurate answers. Thanks in advance!
I've been getting this question a lot lately, and I wish I had an easy answer. The truth is that there are so many books out there on the subject, and none of them make the process easy (that I am aware of, at least). Reading a chart can feel overwhelming when you start, and I'm yet to find the book that really breaks it down and makes it simple, and that's probably because at it's heart, it's not simple. It's deep and rich and complex. That being said, as a start, there are books that at the very least break down what each sign means, what each planet represents, the meaning of each house and the implications of the angles.
One book I have on my desk that I use every day is "The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need" by Joanna Martine Woolfolk. It's thick like a phone book, but and incredible resource.
Pam Gregory has written two books, "You Don't Really Believe in Astrology, Do You?" and "How to Co-Create Using the Secret Language of the Universe". I just adore Pam (you can find her on YouTube and she's well worth watching) and must confess, it was her teaching that put my on to the stars in the first place.
Steven Forrest's book "The Inner Sky" is also one that sits on my shelf and I look to daily. Actually, his book is a very good starting place.
I'm pondering writing some cheat sheets for people interested in understanding their own chart better, giving some basics on the signs, planets, houses and angles. I'm mindful that it can be overwhelming and I don't want to turn people off their own discovery of the stars by hitting them with the complexity. For now, you could certainly benefit from thumbing through the books listed above.
You could study astrology for a lifetime and still find yourself having to look things up - its why I still don't consider myself an astrologer (can't hold a candle to the likes of Pam) but rather an astrological investigator. None of the angles and charts comes easily to me - I'm always having to look things up and cross check. I feel fortunate that I am strongly intuitive so much of my work is sensing and feeling into a person or a situation, and then finding confirmation of that sense in the charts. So ease yourself in - this is not something that can be learned fully in a day, or a week, or even a lifetime, but pursuing this wisdom can bring great benefit. Always here if you need further guidance!
Oh wow!! Thank you for the book and YouTube recommendations! I will definitely start there. I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond. I love to learn and as a neurodivergent intuitive who is fascinated by patterns I can see this topic sweeping me up into a vortex of study. I’m excited to start! Many thanks!
Thank you for this description. No one has ever explained it to me in quite so rational terms. I was drawn to astrology recently because of the upside down ways of the world today. The constant swirling chaos has been confusing, overwhelming, and rather frightening. Posts like yours have brought me hope… and the predictions being made many months ago are now manifesting. It’s been grounding to understand that we are in a period of major transition—perhaps even birthing a new form of government. The astrology writers I follow have been helping me cultivate patience, replacing the fear.
Honestly, this is what drew me to astrology during a period in my life where I was desperate for guidance. Having my chart read, I was startled by how accurately the chart seemed to know my life, how it could see events and timings with pinpoint accuracy. If it could read my past so perfectly, it helped me trust it with the future. Then I delved in further and saw how accurately it maps larger cycles, like the one we are in now, of collapse on the way to renewal. And it brought me peace. Sometimes cycles are so long they take lifetimes to complete a full revolution - we are used to annual cycles, like the seasons, but less used to longer cycles (like those found in the stars) but once you see the pattern and know the cycle, you can prepare. It helps to know what you’re in for!
Indeed. And my understanding is that the upheaval we’re currently witnessing may not even be resolved in my lifetime. This isn’t a quick fix situation. Patience and perseverance are called for. My part may lie in holding the vision of a kinder, more inclusive future—that is more collaboratively oriented.
I think it might have something to do with this society’s profound disconnect with nature. Those of us that have European ancestry had all ties wiped out with our indigenous ancestors in Europe 1000 years before Europeans committed genocide against Native Americans. That was the original genocide for which we are still paying for today and why I expect to see indigenous wisdom and ways begin to reassert themselves in new ways.
Also, as someone else said, a lot of the opinions are just the ongoing monologue of the left brain dominating discussions with mostly belief and ungrounded beliefs as opposed to intellectual honesty about what they really know or don’t know. Let’s face it, what most of us really know about astrology could fit into a thimble so the comments aren’t typically grounded in anything real. There’s all sorts of research on this.
So, I think your writing is really good. It grounds Astrology in nature which it is, and provides historical context which few people know anything about. I enjoyed it. Thank you!
I always look forward to your comments, Ben. I really like the way you think and see the world. And I agree - we lost connection with nature and thus lost connection with ourselves, each other, with guidance....we have been stumbling around in the dark for a good long while. But I believe that is about to change (and is already changing). The last few hundred years have been dominated by the mind, but we are entering the age of the soul. We've been unplugged from our source for a long time, but we're about to be reconnected....
I haven’t read the article, but assume it's as sharp and smart as your other posts. Seeing the headline, I had to stop and give a shout-out to my teacher, Noel Tyl. Noel was a pioneering modern psychological astrologer and author of more than 30 books. He made a huge impact on Western astrology, starting in the '70s. Noel loved to tell his students how, decades ago, when he was a big thing on the TV circuit, journalists would ask him why he believed in astrology.
“I DON’T believe in astrology!!" he would (Moon in Leo) roar in his booming bass-baritone (he was also a professional opera singer, and at 6’10”, his most famous role was Wotan).
The journalists would stare at Noel, stupefied by his statement. And then he would say — with great authority — “Astrology is a good thing to KNOW about!!”
Noel taught his fortunate students that patterns in the horoscope suggest potential. It’s up to the human living the horoscope to decide how to manifest the potential suggested, if they manifest it at all. “Planetary patterns, fascinatingly, reflect patterns in life development.” That’s another thing Noel said in his many books and public appearances.
Astrology is a legacy art. Wisdom is passed down through generations. I owe my own far-reaching perspective to the fact that I stand on the shoulders of giants who came before me. I can add to their depth, through my own experience, and I do.
For example, I’ve been writing for years (in my forecast about the astonishing synchronicity of astrology and the headlines), that I can't explain WHY astrology works, but I can tell you HOW it works -- and this is the same thing scientists say about gravity! It’s fascinating. And so astrology, like gravity, doesn’t need or care if you believe in it. Both work precisely and powerfully, whether you believe in them or not. And I’m delighted to see this perspective on astrology reaching more and more people, especially since Noel is no longer here to speak for himself (he passed at 11:11 AM on his birthday, 12/31/2019). Thanks for your most excellent work.
Elisabeth, this has moved me deeply. I did not know of your work until now, nor of Noel's, but I've just followed you on here, and I've been googling Noel. I align with everything you've said here, and everything you've said Noel said, and as much as Noel has passed, I feel his presence as my fingers type this message. In fact, I sense he may be even more present now than ever before, now that he has returned to the stars from which we seek all wisdom. I'm with you - I cannot explain why astrology works, but I can demonstrate it's accuracy time and time again. I don't have all the answers, but I have plenty of endless questions, for which the stars seem more than willing to respond to. And that will do me just fine! Thanks for commenting, and I look forward to connecting more with you and your writing on here!
"Tell someone summer’s coming, they smile and grab their swimmers. Tell someone Mercury retrograde’s coming, and they roll their eyes like you’ve just told them Bigfoot reads their aura.
But both are forecasts. Both are based on real cycles. he only difference is that one’s socially accepted, and the other makes people uncomfortable because it threatens the illusion of control. Because astrology doesn’t cause things. The stars aren’t making anything happen. They’re just reflecting what’s already unfolding, like a mirror, or a weather vane. They’re giving us a map to guide the way forward. Clues on when to rest, when to act, when to grieve, when to revolt."
Love these parts!! You really do have a way with words. I'm gonna be honest, I may steal this phrase when I'm talking to other people ;)
In one article you've transformed my view of astrology! I love your writing, and was somewhat in the camp of the reader who said “You had me until you mentioned Pluto.”... although I was striving to stay open to the possibility that the "astrology stuff" meant *something* - something I had not yet grokked. What turned me around is this: "...I pay attention to astrology. Not because I’m obsessed with stars. But because I’m fascinated by patterns.". Oh! Hey, *I'm* fascinated by patterns too! I believe we are all dancers in a mystery far beyond any person's comprehension, but driven by purpose, order, Divine intelligence, wit, and most important, Love. It's not such a big leap from there to seeing the movement of planets as information about what is being served up at the Great Banquet this week, as a tool to enhance our contextual understanding of it all. I don't think I'm about to become a student of astrology myself, but I will read your writing now with heightened appreciation for *why* the astrology part is there and why it matters. Thank you.
Yes! Another pattern lover! Sometimes I really am shocked that I've become this person who talks about the stars, because I always thought those people were nuts. But I cannot deny the wisdom written in the stars - once you see the patterns it's impossible to unsee. Before I really latched onto astrology, I was fascinated by the work of William Strauss and Neil Howe, and their book "The Fourth Turning" which identified a pattern throughout American history, a cycle playing out in roughly 25 year chapters, or turnings as they called it, revolving every hundreds years at the completion of four turnings. I was borderline obsessed with the work - told everyone I knew about it. It was by digging into their pattern work that I came to understand that astrology was essentially doing the same thing, just with a wider lens, with research spanning millenia. You might enjoy their book if you haven't read it. At any rate, I appreciate your open-mindedness to all this - you don't have to become an astrologer to appreciate that there are patterns in our world that deserve our attention. I'll keep highlighting them.....see what lands for you!
Thank you for this. I’ve never read it laid out like this before. I wonder do you see the patterns just applying to humans? Wouldn’t the plant and animals worlds be more in alignment with these patterns. Are my cats wrestling with mercury retrograde like I am? I have to watch.
I pulled a chart for our dog the other day and it actually read quite accurately. Countries have charts. Businesses do too. No reason a plant couldn’t. It’s fascinating, right!
Its not that the alignments are creating the energy patterns, as I understand it, but that they are moving in synch with them. One is not necessarily triggering the other, but rather happening alongside one another, in an observable pattern. I wonder why the energy moves in a pattern in the same way I wonder where the wind comes from…it’s knowable and measurable while at the same time being almost entirely mysterious!
Don't be disheartened by skeptics. As with all good things, because some people misused astrology to earn a buck or exert control,they have poisoned the well a bit. But you are clean fresh water.....and those who can taste that water will see what astrology really has to offer. Not too many of us can read the map of the skies the way you can. Thank you for reading them and sharing what you see with us all. Please don't stop.
It’s actually funny, because I genuinely forget that some people don’t regard the wisdom of the stars as valuable. It still shocks me, especially when people will acknowledge that the point I’m making is accurate, whilst discarding entirely where I got it from. Doesn’t dishearten me at all…I just get a bit stumped, which is why I wrote this blog so now I’ll have it handy next time!
Yep...smart thing to do...to avoid having to explain over and over again :)
Thank you - great response! It is fascinating how 300 years of “rational thought” can ignore and deny millennia of understanding about the universe. May cosmic consciousness open people’s minds.
Yes, we seem to have forgotten what we once used to know, but perhaps we are slowly beginning to remember!
It’s pure arrogance on modern society’s part. In a general sense, as far as the collective is concerned, the “science and technology” of today is vastly superior to any “superstition” of the ancients. They would rather replace and supersede ancient, ancestral knowledge with modern understanding rather than consider that maybe, just maybe, the two can work together in harmony. It’s like the herbalism vs pharmaceuticals debate. Personally, I use both, in tandem, based on the need. Unfortunately, arrogance and condescension run rampant, especially on the internet. It’ll be interesting to see how this particular transit plays out, and as far as I’m concerned, forewarned in any capacity is forearmed.
Yes to absolutely everything you just said. I believe we are headed towards a time where we merge modern knowledge with ancient wisdom, and realised they are essentially two sides of the same thing. I also believe we will soon find out that as advanced as we are now, we were far more advanced long ago, in a time before our history books can recall. Not advanced in the same way we are now, technologically, but physiologically, spiritually far more advanced. We are a species with amnesia that is about to remember….
Thank you for your thoughtful reply! Out of curiosity, and only as your energy allows, do you have any recommendations on resources for beginners learning how to read charts and understand transits? I am utterly fascinated and feel drawn to digging deeper but don’t know where to start. And while Google is free, it’s also sponsored, monetized and doesn’t always give the most accurate answers. Thanks in advance!
I've been getting this question a lot lately, and I wish I had an easy answer. The truth is that there are so many books out there on the subject, and none of them make the process easy (that I am aware of, at least). Reading a chart can feel overwhelming when you start, and I'm yet to find the book that really breaks it down and makes it simple, and that's probably because at it's heart, it's not simple. It's deep and rich and complex. That being said, as a start, there are books that at the very least break down what each sign means, what each planet represents, the meaning of each house and the implications of the angles.
One book I have on my desk that I use every day is "The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need" by Joanna Martine Woolfolk. It's thick like a phone book, but and incredible resource.
Pam Gregory has written two books, "You Don't Really Believe in Astrology, Do You?" and "How to Co-Create Using the Secret Language of the Universe". I just adore Pam (you can find her on YouTube and she's well worth watching) and must confess, it was her teaching that put my on to the stars in the first place.
Steven Forrest's book "The Inner Sky" is also one that sits on my shelf and I look to daily. Actually, his book is a very good starting place.
I'm pondering writing some cheat sheets for people interested in understanding their own chart better, giving some basics on the signs, planets, houses and angles. I'm mindful that it can be overwhelming and I don't want to turn people off their own discovery of the stars by hitting them with the complexity. For now, you could certainly benefit from thumbing through the books listed above.
You could study astrology for a lifetime and still find yourself having to look things up - its why I still don't consider myself an astrologer (can't hold a candle to the likes of Pam) but rather an astrological investigator. None of the angles and charts comes easily to me - I'm always having to look things up and cross check. I feel fortunate that I am strongly intuitive so much of my work is sensing and feeling into a person or a situation, and then finding confirmation of that sense in the charts. So ease yourself in - this is not something that can be learned fully in a day, or a week, or even a lifetime, but pursuing this wisdom can bring great benefit. Always here if you need further guidance!
Oh wow!! Thank you for the book and YouTube recommendations! I will definitely start there. I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond. I love to learn and as a neurodivergent intuitive who is fascinated by patterns I can see this topic sweeping me up into a vortex of study. I’m excited to start! Many thanks!
Wonderful! Well please let me know how you get along!
Thank you for this description. No one has ever explained it to me in quite so rational terms. I was drawn to astrology recently because of the upside down ways of the world today. The constant swirling chaos has been confusing, overwhelming, and rather frightening. Posts like yours have brought me hope… and the predictions being made many months ago are now manifesting. It’s been grounding to understand that we are in a period of major transition—perhaps even birthing a new form of government. The astrology writers I follow have been helping me cultivate patience, replacing the fear.
Honestly, this is what drew me to astrology during a period in my life where I was desperate for guidance. Having my chart read, I was startled by how accurately the chart seemed to know my life, how it could see events and timings with pinpoint accuracy. If it could read my past so perfectly, it helped me trust it with the future. Then I delved in further and saw how accurately it maps larger cycles, like the one we are in now, of collapse on the way to renewal. And it brought me peace. Sometimes cycles are so long they take lifetimes to complete a full revolution - we are used to annual cycles, like the seasons, but less used to longer cycles (like those found in the stars) but once you see the pattern and know the cycle, you can prepare. It helps to know what you’re in for!
Indeed. And my understanding is that the upheaval we’re currently witnessing may not even be resolved in my lifetime. This isn’t a quick fix situation. Patience and perseverance are called for. My part may lie in holding the vision of a kinder, more inclusive future—that is more collaboratively oriented.
I think it might have something to do with this society’s profound disconnect with nature. Those of us that have European ancestry had all ties wiped out with our indigenous ancestors in Europe 1000 years before Europeans committed genocide against Native Americans. That was the original genocide for which we are still paying for today and why I expect to see indigenous wisdom and ways begin to reassert themselves in new ways.
Also, as someone else said, a lot of the opinions are just the ongoing monologue of the left brain dominating discussions with mostly belief and ungrounded beliefs as opposed to intellectual honesty about what they really know or don’t know. Let’s face it, what most of us really know about astrology could fit into a thimble so the comments aren’t typically grounded in anything real. There’s all sorts of research on this.
So, I think your writing is really good. It grounds Astrology in nature which it is, and provides historical context which few people know anything about. I enjoyed it. Thank you!
I always look forward to your comments, Ben. I really like the way you think and see the world. And I agree - we lost connection with nature and thus lost connection with ourselves, each other, with guidance....we have been stumbling around in the dark for a good long while. But I believe that is about to change (and is already changing). The last few hundred years have been dominated by the mind, but we are entering the age of the soul. We've been unplugged from our source for a long time, but we're about to be reconnected....
I’m very new to studying astrology, but I have a Bachelors of Science in Geoscience and have studied the earths processes and cycles.
Explained in this context it all makes so much sense to me!
I can see the connections between earth science and astrology more clearly now.
Thank you!
I never had much of a brain for science, but it's pleasing to know that this explanation speaks to a mind that does! Thank-you for sharing xx
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I haven’t read the article, but assume it's as sharp and smart as your other posts. Seeing the headline, I had to stop and give a shout-out to my teacher, Noel Tyl. Noel was a pioneering modern psychological astrologer and author of more than 30 books. He made a huge impact on Western astrology, starting in the '70s. Noel loved to tell his students how, decades ago, when he was a big thing on the TV circuit, journalists would ask him why he believed in astrology.
“I DON’T believe in astrology!!" he would (Moon in Leo) roar in his booming bass-baritone (he was also a professional opera singer, and at 6’10”, his most famous role was Wotan).
The journalists would stare at Noel, stupefied by his statement. And then he would say — with great authority — “Astrology is a good thing to KNOW about!!”
Noel taught his fortunate students that patterns in the horoscope suggest potential. It’s up to the human living the horoscope to decide how to manifest the potential suggested, if they manifest it at all. “Planetary patterns, fascinatingly, reflect patterns in life development.” That’s another thing Noel said in his many books and public appearances.
Astrology is a legacy art. Wisdom is passed down through generations. I owe my own far-reaching perspective to the fact that I stand on the shoulders of giants who came before me. I can add to their depth, through my own experience, and I do.
For example, I’ve been writing for years (in my forecast about the astonishing synchronicity of astrology and the headlines), that I can't explain WHY astrology works, but I can tell you HOW it works -- and this is the same thing scientists say about gravity! It’s fascinating. And so astrology, like gravity, doesn’t need or care if you believe in it. Both work precisely and powerfully, whether you believe in them or not. And I’m delighted to see this perspective on astrology reaching more and more people, especially since Noel is no longer here to speak for himself (he passed at 11:11 AM on his birthday, 12/31/2019). Thanks for your most excellent work.
Elisabeth, this has moved me deeply. I did not know of your work until now, nor of Noel's, but I've just followed you on here, and I've been googling Noel. I align with everything you've said here, and everything you've said Noel said, and as much as Noel has passed, I feel his presence as my fingers type this message. In fact, I sense he may be even more present now than ever before, now that he has returned to the stars from which we seek all wisdom. I'm with you - I cannot explain why astrology works, but I can demonstrate it's accuracy time and time again. I don't have all the answers, but I have plenty of endless questions, for which the stars seem more than willing to respond to. And that will do me just fine! Thanks for commenting, and I look forward to connecting more with you and your writing on here!
"Tell someone summer’s coming, they smile and grab their swimmers. Tell someone Mercury retrograde’s coming, and they roll their eyes like you’ve just told them Bigfoot reads their aura.
But both are forecasts. Both are based on real cycles. he only difference is that one’s socially accepted, and the other makes people uncomfortable because it threatens the illusion of control. Because astrology doesn’t cause things. The stars aren’t making anything happen. They’re just reflecting what’s already unfolding, like a mirror, or a weather vane. They’re giving us a map to guide the way forward. Clues on when to rest, when to act, when to grieve, when to revolt."
Love these parts!! You really do have a way with words. I'm gonna be honest, I may steal this phrase when I'm talking to other people ;)
Steal away! All is one, so what's mine is really yours anyway. xx
In one article you've transformed my view of astrology! I love your writing, and was somewhat in the camp of the reader who said “You had me until you mentioned Pluto.”... although I was striving to stay open to the possibility that the "astrology stuff" meant *something* - something I had not yet grokked. What turned me around is this: "...I pay attention to astrology. Not because I’m obsessed with stars. But because I’m fascinated by patterns.". Oh! Hey, *I'm* fascinated by patterns too! I believe we are all dancers in a mystery far beyond any person's comprehension, but driven by purpose, order, Divine intelligence, wit, and most important, Love. It's not such a big leap from there to seeing the movement of planets as information about what is being served up at the Great Banquet this week, as a tool to enhance our contextual understanding of it all. I don't think I'm about to become a student of astrology myself, but I will read your writing now with heightened appreciation for *why* the astrology part is there and why it matters. Thank you.
Yes! Another pattern lover! Sometimes I really am shocked that I've become this person who talks about the stars, because I always thought those people were nuts. But I cannot deny the wisdom written in the stars - once you see the patterns it's impossible to unsee. Before I really latched onto astrology, I was fascinated by the work of William Strauss and Neil Howe, and their book "The Fourth Turning" which identified a pattern throughout American history, a cycle playing out in roughly 25 year chapters, or turnings as they called it, revolving every hundreds years at the completion of four turnings. I was borderline obsessed with the work - told everyone I knew about it. It was by digging into their pattern work that I came to understand that astrology was essentially doing the same thing, just with a wider lens, with research spanning millenia. You might enjoy their book if you haven't read it. At any rate, I appreciate your open-mindedness to all this - you don't have to become an astrologer to appreciate that there are patterns in our world that deserve our attention. I'll keep highlighting them.....see what lands for you!
Thank you for this. I’ve never read it laid out like this before. I wonder do you see the patterns just applying to humans? Wouldn’t the plant and animals worlds be more in alignment with these patterns. Are my cats wrestling with mercury retrograde like I am? I have to watch.
I pulled a chart for our dog the other day and it actually read quite accurately. Countries have charts. Businesses do too. No reason a plant couldn’t. It’s fascinating, right!
Brilliant.
Thank you for such a great explanation about Astrology. Makes sense
Pleasure! Glad it landed for you!
Its not that the alignments are creating the energy patterns, as I understand it, but that they are moving in synch with them. One is not necessarily triggering the other, but rather happening alongside one another, in an observable pattern. I wonder why the energy moves in a pattern in the same way I wonder where the wind comes from…it’s knowable and measurable while at the same time being almost entirely mysterious!