The New Mountain Astrologer arrived at my house a few weeks ago but I was so busy I didn't have a chance to even crack it until last week. And as always it is pure joy to read. When I read the Magazine I usually poke around, first the cover story "Oh, I'll go for that Water Article first." then usually the interview with a famous astrologer (in this case Alice Howell) and then slowly the rest of the featured articles and the regular columns. For me, it is my perfect gym material. I go to the climbing stair thingy and plop my Mountain Astrologer and the time flies! And to make my legs and ass move that hard and it is 40 minutes later and I don't even realize....well, that should tell you the power of Mountain Astrologer articles.
The Water article is scary. I ain't going to tell you differently. Raye Robertson has written exhaustively about the history of water in the last hundred years referring to both the astrological aspects and the politics. The emphasis is (of course) on outer planet cycles starting with Neptune and Pluto in 1891 through the new Jupiter Saturn cycle in 2020. Using the Sibley chart for the United states there are some real track able astrological events. And next year's Saturn Return in the Sibley chart is another bell ringer for those of us who have quietly sat off in the city, blogging away, living our lives wondering to ourselves, "What is my son going to do for fresh water when he grows up?" Are now saying, "Wait a minute, it is not just my son's future, way off years from now.....it is my future too, and it is now!" "Hello, Telluride Colorado Realtor--I'll take ten acres with a well."
The interview with Alice Howell is inspiring. Her breadth and knowledge of Jungian Astrology is well known and I read her book "Jungian Symbolism in Astrology" many years ago. Now having read the interview I am dying to get her book "Astrological Ages". I didn't realize she went all the way back to the Cancer Age. I think the most I have ever read covers Pisces, Aries and Taurus. I would be fascinated to see what she says about life on Earth during Gemini cycle and Cancer. One thing I loved about Alice's story is that her life in astrology took quite a serpentine path. She found it when she was a teenager, relished it in her twenties, then she got married raised her children and then went back to her astrology with new zest once her children were out of the house. She was in her 50's when she wrote about astrology for the first time. I love that story!!!! It is a beautiful article for those of us who have little ones at home but still have dreams and visions.
For sport I read Dana Gerhardt's "The Noisy birds of Sagittarius". I say for sport because I am a Sag and naturally when I first started reading astrology (13) I went for my own sun sign. Once I really learned about astrology I skipped the general sun sign articles and went for the pieces that has more in depth astrology. A Saturn in Sag is so much more fun to read than a Sun in Sag. But I gotta say, Dana brings in a nice little twist to MY sign. Especially when she talks about all the changes that happened to the world with the transits by Pluto, Neptune, Uranus in the last twenty years. The way she laid it out is very compelling.
Uranus was in Sagittarius from 1981 to 1988, sending a
rebellious, iconoclastic surge through out the decade. Disco gave way to
punk--an intense and frenetic inversion of Sagittarius optimism. Rap, a preachy
musical genre was born as well. The rapper with the sparkly gold
chains was another Sagittarius avatar.
I am about to dive into Shelley Ackerman's article "Saturn to the Eighth Power: A Look Ahead to America's Eight Saturn Return". God knows we have had our asses kicked with Pluto's move into Capricorn I can only guess what is next with a big fat Saturn Return for the US.
Anyway, if you have not read Mountain Astrologer now is the time to hit the newsstands and get one. It is chocked full of well written astrological pieces. And of course Stephanie Austen writes her own beautiful Lunar articles.
Also, if you can't buy the magazine at a local bookstore then go here to purchase them individually or maybe give yourself a year's subscription for Christmas!
