New writing by John Frawley

Quick one: John Frawley has been publishing extracts from his new book on his Facebook fan page. Fixed stars, and very compelling stuff it is. Have a look.

Horary astrology: What’s for lunch?

Okay, I don’t know anyone (besides hungry astrologers) who would bother to ask a horary question about  lunch. But I love the section in Bonatti’s Book of Astronomy when he talks about horary questions about banquets. If you’ve been invited to a banquet, he says, and want to know what’s being served, look at the planet the Moon is joined to. (By “joined” I believe he means by conjunction OR by aspect, not only by conjunction.)

Moon with Saturn: unfit and unclean foods, poorly prepared and displayed, not tasting like themselves. “He who has gone will repent of those tastes; whence it is better that he not go to the banquet.”

Moon with Jupiter: good feasting, foods of good flavor, sweets and delicacies. “There will be foods there made with laughter and the like, and you will be honored there.” (I want a recipe for food made with laughter.)

Moon with Mars: don’t go. Bitter foods, and fights break out among the guests. (He also says Moon/Mars can indicate “hot foods and roasted meat.”)

Moon with Sun: foods of good flavor, seasoned with pepper or mustard, country foods, “and similarly-flavored things that are good to taste, and received with foresight, and appropriate.”

Moon with Venus: delicious foods and diverse drinks, or rich and oily foods. “Gladness, and games, and many delights which will please you.”

Moon with Mercury: many diverse types of foods and drinks. Pungent flavors. “Good words will be said there… and believable and unbelievable things will be recited.”

A charming “astrologer’s lament” (with my response)

Spotted on writehandedleftie.blogspot.com: an astrologer’s lament. Here’s my response from the client’s point of view.

Sir, I pray, if I am fated
Never to be truly mated,
Tell me how I might reverse
This my solitary curse.

Is there not a lucky mantra
For my happy-ever-after?
Will I need to wear a jewel?
Fight a tiger in a duel?

Tell me and I shall obey
What the planets have to say.
Money’s not a thing to me.
Wait, what? How much will that be?

What astrology books would you take to a desert island?

Expecting to be stranded any time soon? (Wonder what progression would show that?) Dave Roell of the Astrology Center of America has some delightful suggestions for your desert island astrology library in the “FeMarch” issue of his newsletter. (He’s also added some hilarious movie quotes, though I haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re doing there.) Three pages, easy to read, have a look.

(Looking for his top pick of the financial astrology books? As a graphic designer I worked with used to say, “They’re on the back.”)

Free astrology magazine download (with a horary article of mine)

The publishers of The Mountain Astrologer have now made the complete June/July 2007 issue available as a free PDF. Download it from their site – all 112 pages of it, including my horary article, “How I Used Astrology to Find My Perfect Condo.” You’ll also find articles on the outer planets, Vedic astrology, astrology and Alcoholics Anonymous, Molly Ivins, and lots more. Enjoy!

Some astrology to read while waiting for Christine to post

Jonesing for some good, solid traditional astrology to enjoy? Go get the free download of the first issue of The Tradition: Journal of Predictive Western Astrology. There’s a lot to absorb here, and I haven’t read everything yet, but so far I’ve loved the article on signatures by Oscar Hofman, the one on “Moving toward Tradition” by Helena Avelar, and the profile of the childless queen Catherine of Braganza by Helena Avelar and Luis Ribeiro. Sue Ward, Martien Hermes, and Maria Joao Mateus have also contributed, and with a marquee like that, you really have no excuse not to peek. Enjoy!

The Boston Globe profiles astrologer Joyce Levine

… yet manages to misspell her name throughout. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying this piece. Congratulations on the great publicity, Joyce!

Astrologer and Narnia fan? Have I got a book for you

Jovial yet secretive, C.S. Lewis hid his best literary prank within the pages of his best-known stories. The seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and all its siblings – each feature one of the seven traditional planets as both background element and overarching theme. Oh, seven books from a scholar of medieval literature – we all should have known!

In Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, Michael Ward does not limit himself to a study of the Narniad. He also finds clues along Lewis’s planetary path in the Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength), and more blatant cosmic correlations expressed in other works such as The Discarded Image and a poem, “The Planets.” But since the Chronicles of Narnia are the works I’m most familiar with, I enjoyed best those sections in which Ward lifts the veil from one book after another, exposing the Venusian elements in The Magician’s Nephew, the lunar cast to The Silver Chair, and so on, sharing a relentless joy and pleasure with every discovery.

There is not a stretch or a forced connection to find here. Ward has researched his writer and his topic thoroughly, and, as if presented with a magic-eye puzzle, we’re taught how to focus anew on what we thought we’d seen before, until the new meanings and connections leap forward from the pages. There is much here to explain the lasting appeal of the Narniad, plus a fascinating look at the character of their author and why he might keep his cosmic structure from being discovered – how, even, he diverted colleagues from stumbling upon it.

If you’ve read Planet Narnia, how did you like it? If not, have you figured out which traditional planet goes with which book?

New horary article in The Mountain Astrologer

The December/January issue of The Mountain Astrologer includes my latest article, “The Horary 5th House: Of Pregnancy Past, Present, and Future.” I’ve used three horary charts to illustrate how to answer 5th house questions such as, “What sex is my baby?”, “Will we start a family soon?”, and “Am I the father?”

I’m very grateful to the querents and others who permitted me to use their stories in this article. And it’s a treat to appear alongside some very luminous astrological writers.

Please support The Mountain Astrologer – it’s really the only print publication of its kind. Subscribers can expect the magazine in their mailboxes in the next couple of weeks; then I believe it hits newsstands in December. Let me know how you like the article!

A little advice… on a Shoestring

If you haven’t seen Shoestring Magazine yet, come have a look. This just-launched online mag offers tips & tricks for living the good life for less (perfect timing in this economy). I’ve contributed a little old-school astrology in my advice column, “Moonlighting.” Let me know what you think!