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Home / Blog / Astrology / How Planetary Alignments Shape History: Cosmos and Psyche Book Review

How Planetary Alignments Shape History: Cosmos and Psyche Book Review

March 1, 2007 by Benjamin Leave a Comment

This article originally appeared in my March 2007 newsletter

There are plenty of astrology books out there competing for your attention. But one recently published volume stands apart. In fact, it may do more than any other astrology book in modern times to give astrology significantly increased mainstream legitimacy!

After all, how often does an author who’s the toast of the scientific and academic communities – and whose prior best-selling (non-astrological) work is required reading in many universities – come out with a book that exhaustively documents the effect of the outer planets on world events?

The author in question is Richard Tarnas. The book that put him on the map was The Passion of the Western Mind, and his revolutionary new one – 30 years in the making – is Cosmos & Psyche. In it, he delves into the patterns formed by Uranus, Neptune and Pluto at important moments in history. Whether the pivotal times he’s probing involve politics, war, literature, art, music, science or medicine, his research demonstrates that there is invariably an archetypally appropriate outer planet alignment fueling it.

One such example is the 1960’s, when powerful waves of revolution and transformation swept the entire world. During this decade, Uranus and Pluto formed a conjunction, which only happens every 110 to 150 years. Uranus carries the energy of revolution and paradigm shift, and Pluto stimulates core-level transformation.

A coincidence? Skeptics would hasten to say so, but then how do they explain the fact that the prior Uranus-Pluto conjunction exactly coincided with the French Revolution?

The word “coincidence” gives way to “synchronicity” as Tarnas methodically documents an impressive body of evidence. He shows consistent correlations between the archetypal meanings of the outer planets and the world events that occur when they make significant aspects to each other.

Cosmos & Psyche is not light beach reading – it’s a thick book – but I found that it never failed to fascinate. No prior knowledge of astrology is needed, since Tarnas explains everything you need to know as he goes. My understanding of, and appreciation for, the power of astrology was considerably deepened by it – as I’m sure yours will be too.

 

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Filed Under: Astrology Tagged With: Pluto, Uranus

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About Benjamin

I offer the soul-level insights of astrology, the healing power of shamanism, and the life-transforming support of life coaching. My podcast won a Top 10 Astrology Podcast Award, and I was a Best Astrologer winner three years running. After 10,000+ sessions, I can help you master challenge, embrace transformation, and enjoy a more wonderful life! Click for more detailed bio.

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