Astrology for the uninitiated (and others)

Plus, medical astrology in modern times

SPECIAL EDITION

Greetings,

If you are at all attuned to astronomical phenomenon, you are aware that we have just entered a Mercury retrograde period where, from our perspective here on terra firma, that glittering little orb closest to our Sun appears to be moving backward as the distance in the rates of speed traveled by both Earth and Mercury in their respective synodic cycles, demonstrate their difference.

Meanwhile, it’s Capricorn season, so the focus is on reviewing (see Elisabeth’s guide to getting the most out of Mercury retrogrades) and refining what is practical in order to set ourselves up for success.

What exactly constitutes success — well, even that is up for review during this period, right? Is it a question of getting ahead of everyone else? Is it about having more, more, more? Is it about finding the path to your particular sense of peace (my personal take on it)?

Going home, going away

To that end, I have recently left living in Washington, DC, returning to my family home in the mountainy South, where I will be for the foreseeable future. I miss the intrigue and beauty of our nation’s capital (please put a visit there on your bucket list if you haven’t ever been), but already I am calmed by the mountain mists, the snowy peaks, and the abundant wildlife outside my window. Mostly what I love is the quiet. As I settle in, and unpack my oh-so-many boxes, I naturally am reviewing what has been and what I plan for the future. It requires some “down time”.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth has been ever the electric kitty, roaming the streets of new and exciting locals, and about to embark on yet another adventure from whence I expect she will return with a bronzey tan and a refreshed outlook on her recent second Saturn return.

Since this down-to-earth practical retrograde period coincides with the time we all are in the mindframe of retrospection, given that it’s the year’s end, it makes sense that the practical solution to serving our devoted and growing audience while balancing our own needs here at Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast is to return to the archives, but with a twist.

Cross-posting

Rather than delve into the files from OTC, I am borrowing from my flagship newsletter, docu-mental: mapping the american states of mind. It’s an award-winning collection of critical analyses of american culture and politics which you can read more about here.

It’s also where I first featured an interview, both by video and as an audio podcast, with Elisabeth and where we realized we worked well together. It’s useful here because increasingly, what we’re finding is that our audience is primarily comprised of people who are interested in astrology, but who are not likely to take formal lessons in it or turn professional. This video, complete with chart explanations, breaks down how mundane astrology works.

You might hear some of my questions and think I sound like a neophyte, but I confess to some guile: my docu-mental audience initially was policy wonks and academics, and so to full on publicly embrace astrology was a risk I still had to build up the nerve to take. But also, it was a useful device to put myself in my audience’s shoes and assume the stance of utter ignorance about the subject so I could ask innocent questions, the kind I know so many of our audience now has, and which deserve a clear explanation.

Read on to learn more about the special treat for patron subscribers — an interview with one of the world’s pre-eminent medical astrologers with whom I had a discussion about how medical astrology could impact our healthcare system today.

If you’d like access to that, you can gain it by becoming a patron subscriber now:

Thank you for what has been a truly fun and fulfilling adventure at OTC in 2022. We’ll see you fresh-faced (and tanned) in the new year.

xWhitney and Elisabeth

Astrologer Elisabeth Grace on the election, the US tough guy fetish & what's to come