Chiron

Astrology Is Not A Magic Show: Season 2, Episode 6

Star Love Podcast Host Daniel Beck | Guest Maren Altman


On this episode of the Star Love Podcast, we welcome astrologer, author, and philosophy graduate student, Maren Altman. I learned about Maren through a friend who found one of Maren’s videos on TikTok, and I must say, I was surprised to see high quality astrology coming through that media platform! Maren is doing some innovative and practical things in astrology education, keeps her growing audience informed with the latest trends in political astrology, and most deliciously, whips up great recipes as the Cosmic Chef.

Time Stamps for Time Keepers

0-Intro

4:20-Maren’s Approach to Astrology

19:04-Maren’s Philosophy Background 

27:44-Bringing Psychology Into Astrology

29:57-Maren’s Acting Background 

32:10-Pluto

34:47-Meaning of Maren’s name 

36:05-Mundane and Political Astrology

40:45-Fate and free will

44:06-Maren’s Writing 

48:22-Astrology Transits of 2020-2022

58:34-Maren’s Culinary Arts

1:00:48-Closing

Maren’s Books

Maren’s Book Picks

Dan’s Book Pick

Crime and Punishment is a classic with a dire warning: if you transgress with a new idea or word via delusions of greatness, and it be unformed and spun by the machinations of a paranoid mind, the crime becomes not the idea but rather the abandonment of spirit that can give liberation beyond the words.

IMG_3910.jpg

Link To Maren’s Website

Further Resources

To explore the idea of “wrong charts”, that is astrology charts that are not accurate birth times that still provide meaningful, exacting insights, purchase Maggie Hyde’s book, Jung and Astrology. Or go to this link to read an essay by Geoffrey Cornelius that references how “wrong charts” work in the context of astrology as divination. This is a good counterargument to one of the most forceful skeptical arguments by Geoffrey Dean.

To explore how to reconcile using whole sign houses and some form of quadrant houses, go to this link and read an essay by Charles Obert about using both systems at once. I find that this method helps live chart interpretation flow during readings. Take for example, if somebody has Venus in Aries in the 7th house, but Aries is the 8th whole sign, an interpretation might be “there is an aggressive drive towards finding harmony in relationships that can result in fights about joint resources.” At this point I might reference the tarot card the 4 of wands which is the tarot equivalent of Venus in Aries (designated by the Golden Dawn) and suggests a need to construct harmony to harness that aggression. For a long while I’ve been using the deck the Tarot of Dreams, available for purchase below, that includes that astrological significations on each of the cards.

Tarot of Dreams
By Ciro Marchetti, Lee Bursten
Buy on Amazon

Thank you for listening! If you’re interested in sponsoring a season or episode of the Star Love Podcast, email Inner Makeup Business Manager James

Star Love Podcast Season 1 Episode 11 Featuring Astrologer and Artist Anne Beversdorf

On episode 11 of the Star Love Podcast we welcome astrologer and artist Anne Beversdorf. Anne possesses a diverse background in education, library science, and is an accomplished artist, along with her considerable astrological career. We discuss Anne’s drive to succeed in her career life, her and her family’s creative background, and her unique approach towards the use of both Western and Vedic Astrology. Please rate us on apple podcasts, and if you’re interested in sponsoring a future podcast, e-mail james@innermakeup.net. To support the continued production of the Star Love Podcast go to the Leave a Tip Make a Wish Section and make a wish for yourself as well.

Star Love Podcast Season 1 Episode 9 Featuring Astrologer and Marketing Guru Lori Randall Stradtman

Lori Randall Stradtman

Lori Randall Stradtman

On episode 9 of the Star Love podcast we welcome astrologer Lori Randall Stradtman. Lori and I met in an online forum under an auspicious Pisces moon and lucky degree (12) of Gemini Rising (to research this further, and maybe use for yourself, purchase this book and go to page 165-166). We discuss Lori’s early interest in mythology, her impressive background in marketing, and her move to use astrology as a tool to guide people to their evolutionary purpose and ultimately, happiness. To support the production of the Star Love Podcast, leave a donation in the Leave A Tip, Make a Wish section. Please rate us on apple podcasts, and if you’d like to sponsor a future podcast, e-mail james@innermakeup.net.

This episode was recorded in late March 2020.

Time Stamps for Time Keepers

0-3:29  Intro and Lori’s background 

3:30-8:52 Lori’s early fascination with mythology

8:53-12:27 Story of Chiron exchanging places with Prometheus 

12:28-16:57 Long term cycles from 2020 onward

16:58-20:20 Lori’s Christian background and moving in a different spiritual direction

20:21-25:29 Lori’s harrowing experience that moved her to pursue astrology

25:30-34:39 Defining happiness 

34:40-36:20 Strategies towards orienting the mind towards happiness

36:21-40:00 Astrology and happiness

40:01-41:00 Fate and free will 

41:01-49:12 Ecstatic happiness and feeling blue

49:13-56:58 Digitizing what you love to do

56:59-the end 

Book Recommendations That Cover Topics Discussed

The Happiness Myth is a great book that deconstructs common assumptions about what it means to be happy. Purchase below.

Circe is a wonderful book that gets you in the spirit of magic when you go up against the Gods. There is a gripping description of the story of Prometheus, a mythological character that has played out prominently in Lori’s life. Purchase below.

Circe
By Miller, Madeline
Buy on Amazon

Star Love Podcast Season 1 Episode 8 Featuring Astrologer and Developer Henry Seltzer

Throw an apple, touch off a war. The story of Eris. Original Link.

Throw an apple, touch off a war. The story of Eris. Original Link.

On episode eight of the Star Love Podcast we welcomed astrologer Henry Seltzer. I’ve been a big fan of Henry’s for a long time, becoming introduced to his software TimePassages by Susan Miller of Astrology Zone fame. I started learning astrology through his iPhone app and later attended a summer 2013 lecture he and Susan gave at the Apple Store in Soho, under a full moon no less. In this podcast we discuss Henry’s book The Tenth Planet which delves into the astrological Eris. You can purchase it here. Our conversation centered around his research into the dwarf planet, Eris, and how she functions in astrology. People as wide ranging as D.H. Lawrence, Andrea Dworkin, and Carl Jung came up while we explored Henry’s findings that have lead him to classify Eris as a feminine warrior archetype for soul purpose.

This episode was recorded in early November 2019 after the new moon in Scorpio at the end of October. The transits mentioned cover November 2019 generally.

Time Stamps for Time Keepers

0-3:56 Introduction, Henry’s biography, how Henry got into astrology, how does astrology work? what is astrology?

3:57-5:24 Henry as a man of letters both in the English language and the language of computer science. (I’ve been moved many times over the years by Henry’s spontaneous recitations of poetry during lectures and broadcasts)

5:25-10:59 Henry’s book about Eris and the discovery and “birth” of Eris, defining the Western worldview, higher, non 3D dimensions, the significance of the number of planets, defining the planets and their classifications

11:00-14:40 Meaning of Eris astrologically vs her mythological origins

Henry mentions the famous astrologer Rick Tarnas who elucidates how a God’s origin, in this case Uranus, can reemerge as a different planetary archetype, just as Henry holds with Eris. Purchase his book Prometheus the Awakener below to explore this concept.

14:41-22:14 Shakespeare “what’s in a name?”, Romeo and Juliet, story of Eris and Henry’s interpretation of the myth astrologically vs. mythologically 

22:15-25:46 How Henry became attracted to Eris through astronomy and the symbolic interpretation of literal language

25:47-29:46 Numerology of the tenth planet, Kabbalah and Sephirot, the new millennium, the perilous times, and the numerology of the number 10 

Tarot of Dreams is a Great Tarot Deck that Uses Kabbalah. Purchase Below.

Tarot of Dreams
By Ciro Marchetti, Lee Bursten
Buy on Amazon

29:47-31:22 Henry’s design of the Eris glyph

31:23-39:46 Astrology chart examples involving Eris

39:47-44:06 Eris’s energy as do or die in the U.S. Chart and 9/11

44:07-47:46 Does Eris rule a sign? 

47:47-52:29 Jung’s dreams of Sigfried in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, trying to kill ideal beauty, the subconscious, societal expectations, and the Red Book

We briefly discussed Jung’s Red Book which was a culmination of a lifetime’s work and expresses Jung’s experience with dreams and their creative, spiritual, and collective material. Purchase below.

52:30-56:15 Expression of Eris by gender  

56:16-57:29 Difference between Pluto and Eris as far as their respective mysteries and compulsivities

57:30-1:00:39 Which sign, if any, does Eris rule? We speculate that she might rule the Via Combusta region of the zodiac, which spans from 15 Libra to 15 Scorpio

1:00:40-closing remarks

Extended Notes

Here is a link to the D.H. Lawrence poem mentioned, Give Us Gods
Here is a link to Henry’s website

Purchase Henry’s Eris Book Below