Episode #5 Recorded 4/17/2011

In the first segment Delia starts us off with an exploration of the fascinating case of hip hop artist Darryl McDaniels, and the story of his suicidal depression which was cured by Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel." Then Jessica shares some of her recent personal experience with her own Saturn-Sun transit, and Chad wraps up the segment with a look at Charlie Sheen's recent meltdown. In the second segment we continue with more of our favorite recent correlations, and I start us off with a look at Gene Sharp, who's writings on civil disobedience have played a significant role in the recent successful revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.  Chad then gives a presentation on the history of breakthroughs in quantum physics including the recent breakthroughs under our currently ending Jupiter-Uranus conjunction.  We wrap up the second segment with a look at the recent film "Fair Game" which explores the drama that unfolded in 2003 when Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA agent.In our last "honoring the gods" segment, we focus on the Mars-Pluto archetype (tight square in the sky at the time of this recording), and look at a few examples of the combination.  I start us off with a look at the film "Gorillas in the Mist," and correlations to both Dian Fossey, who the film is about, and to Sigourney Weaver, both of whom have Mars-Pluto hard aspects.  Next, Chad takes us through a brief history of Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the connections to both Mars-Pluto and Saturn-Pluto alignments.  We then take a quick look at Mel Gibson's as an example of Mars-Pluto's shadow potential for eruptions of rage.  Jessica brings us home with a couple of examples of Mars-Pluto in its more noble form, as manifested in the lives of Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. You can go directly to the recording (and listen to the podcast in an open browser window) by clicking on the highlighted text here.  Enjoy!

Episode #4 Recorded 3/27/11

We had the same crew again this week, with Delia Shargel, Chad Harris, Jessica Garfield-Kabarra, and Rick Tarnas all joining me for another spirited round of archetypal dialogue. In the first segment we start off with a discussion of the current world transit situation, focusing on the unfolding tragic situation in Japan, and then also addressing the recent events in Libya.  From here we move to an honoring of Elizabeth Taylor with a discussion of both her chart and the chart of Richard Burton (we also look at the synastry between their charts).  We finish off the first segment with a brief discussion of the struggling broadway play Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, and a look at Julie Taymor's chart and transits (Taymor was recently fired from her role as director). In the second segment Jessica brings in a topic for group discussion, and we have a rich exploration of the psychological phenomenon of projection.  We discuss the question of how one works to distinguish between genuine intuition and projection, and we explore how astrology can aid in this process.  We explore the idea of "archetypal possession states" and look at how the discipline of an "I-Thou" relationship with the cosmos, and a careful mindful engagement with oneself and others, can help one avoid this potential.  We discuss how an astrological practice that focuses on integrating and honoring all of the planetary archetypes is a natural correction for the potential for archetypal possession states. In our last "honoring the gods" segment, we focus on the Venus-Neptune archetype (tight conjunction in the sky at the time of this recording), and look at three brief examples of artists with the combination.  Delia and Jessica start us off with a look at singer Jeff Buckley (born with the conjunction) and we listen to an interview with Buckley as well as a brief example of one of his songs.  Next, Rick brings in an example of opera singer Luciano Pavarotti (also born with a Venus-Neptune conjunction) singing his signature piece "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's (who is also born with Venus-Neptune in hard aspect) opera Turandot. Lastly, I bring in an example from the Icelandic group Sigur Ros, whose lead singer, Jonsi Birgisson, is born with a tight Venus-Neptune opposition. You can go directly to the recording (and listen to the podcast in an open browser window) by clicking on the highlighted text here.  Enjoy!

Episode #3 Recorded 3/6/11

The third recording of Correlations was really fun.  I was again joined by Delia Shargel, Chad Harris, and Jessica Garfield-Kabarra. And this week we were also really happy to be joined by our friend (and teacher) Richard Tarnas who we have all been studying with for many years. In the first segment Rick starts us off with an overview of the world transit situation, and we discuss the current Jupiter-Uranus energy, the long Uranus-Pluto square, as well as the bigger picture of the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T-square of 2008-2011.  Then Delia brings in the example of blues singer Nina Simone, and we discuss her Moon-Pluto opposition, as well as her Venus-Saturn conjunction.  The Nina Simone song that we listen to, "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl," also inspires a brief discussion on sexuality, and the differences between Moon-Pluto, Sun-Pluto, Venus-Pluto, and Mars-Pluto sexualities.  Chad then brings in the case of actor/filmmaker Tyler Perry, and we discuss his Madea character as an expression of his Moon-Jupiter conjunction.  We also discuss the abuse Perry suffered at his father's hands as relates to Perry's natal Sun-Mars-Pluto alignment. In the second segment we  have a rich group dialogue on the question of electional astrology, and the use of astrology to time the beginning of a venture.  Using the example of trying to time a wedding with astrology, I pose the question of what is the most powerful predictive astrological agent for the wedding:  is it the natal charts of both individuals; is it the synastry between the two charts; is it their transits; or is the actual wedding chart itself powerful enough to outweigh these other factors?  A very interesting discussion ensues from here. In the third segment, "Honoring the Gods,"  we focus on the Moon-Jupiter archetype, and I begin by bringing in the example of Andy Griffith, who is born with the conjunction.  Jessica then brings in the example of Oprah Winfrey who is born with a Moon-Jupiter opposition.  Delia brings in Karen Carpenter who also has a Moon-Jupiter opposition, and we use Carpenter as an opportunity to explore some of the shadow side of the energy.  And then Rick brings us home with the example of Julie Andrews, who has the Moon-Jupiter conjunction, and he describes all of the many ways that The Sound of Music embodies the energy of Moon-Jupiter archetype. You can go directly to the recording (and listen to the podcast in an open browser window) by clicking on the highlighted text here.  Enjoy!

Episode #2 Recorded 2/26/2011

The second episode of Correlations went really well.  I was joined again by Delia Shargel, and this time we also had good friends Chad Harris and Jessica Garfield Kaberra rounding out the team.  We're starting to find our groove, and this time we settled into what is likely to be the more regular format.  There are two segments that are each about an hour and 10 minutes long.  In the first segment we all share our favorite astrological correlations from the recent weeks, with many fine examples.  Chad focuses in on the revolution in Tunisia, Jessica brings in the music of Michael Franti and the comedy of Lucille Ball, Delia brings in the chart of a Nazi hunter, and I bring in a song from Aimee Mann and also look at the chart of actor James Franco.  In the second segment, "Honoring the Gods," we focus on two archetypes that were in the sky at the time of the recording, the Mars-Neptune combination (we discuss the chart for the founder of Aikido as well as the chart of Dan Millman), and the Moon-Pluto combo (looking at Mary Tyler Moore's chart and the Hindu "hugging saint" Ammachi's chart). You can go directly to the recording (and listen to the podcast in an open browser window) by clicking on the highlighted text here.  Enjoy!

Episode #1 Recorded 2/13/2011

Welcome to the first episode of Correlations: The Archetypal Astrology Podcast!  I'm very excited to be moving forward with this new venture.  I have been wanting to do an astrology podcast for a long time now, but I finally got organized with the technology, and I am delighted to be able to post this first episode.  Here on this blog, for each episode I will post a description of who participated, the topics that were discussed, and the approximate time that each new topic was explored, so if you don't have time to listen to the entire podcast, you will be able to go directly to what you want to listen to. This first episode came together very spontaneously, so forgive me if it is less organized and a little rough around the edges.  This first episode really functions as a kind of general introduction to this particular approach to astrology, and it has a more personal quality, with both me and my friend Delia Shargel sharing the history of how we came to astrology. I think the general format that I intend for future episodes is to have three segments, in the first segment there will be general discussion of whatever astrological correlations are most on our minds at the time of the recording.  This will likely involve discussing whatever major news stories that are happening and their astrological correlates, and also sharing whatever other favorite correlations we happen to be "geeking out" about in the moment.  The second segment will vary from week to week, but it will generally be a dialogue on some astrological topic that we are interested in.  Hopefully there will also be listener feedback, and the audience will suggest topics of discussion.  This second segment may also be an interview whenever I can find another passionate archetypal astrologer who is available.  The third segment I'm thinking of calling "Honoring the Gods," and will be an opportunity for anyone who is participating in the podcast to go into their chart database to bring a favorite chart correlation that mirrors something that is in the sky for the time of the recording.  For example, in this first podcast, given that there was a Venus-Pluto conjunction in the sky at the time of the recording, we discussed a couple of famous people who are born with Venus-Pluto hard-aspects.  This first podcast didn't really stick to the format (Uranus wouldn't let us), so let me now outline what did actually transpire.  You can go directly to the recording (and listen to the podcast in an open browser window) by clicking on the highlighted text here.  Enjoy!