The Practice and Philosophy of Astrology, with Ray Grasse

In episode 330 astrologer Ray Grasse joins the podcast to reflect on a number of lessons he has learned after a lifetime of practicing astrology. Ray is a longtime editor and columnist for The Mountain Astrologer magazine, and he has published two books of compilations of essays he has written over the years on the practice and philosophy of astrology. The first book is titled Under a Sacred Sky: Essays on the Practice and Philosophy of Astrology (2015), while the second is Star Gates: Essays on Astrology, Symbolism and the Synchronistic Universe (2020). During the course of the interview we talk about a variety of different topics from some of the essays he has written, including synchronicity and the mechanism underlying astrology, symbolism and omenology, the physical properties of the planets reflecting their astrological meaning, the importance of stationary planets, the most elevated planet in the chart, and more. For more information about Ray see his website: RayGrasse.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timstamps Here are some timestamps for when we discuss different topics in this episode: * 00:00:00 Intro * 00:00:50 Ray’s books * 00:01:24 How astrologers determine the meaning of new planets * 00:04:07 The mechanism underlying astrology * 00:06:50 Synchronicity * 00:10:30 Omens * 00:12:33 How astronomical properties of planets echo astrological symbolism * 00:16:48 Role of intuition vs. empirical methods * 00:24:10 Generational symbolism of outer planets * 00:25:54 Huge gash on Mars * 00:26:20 Uranus and Pluto and eccentricity * 00:27:50 Symbolic techniques vs. mechanistic * 00:31:00 Charts still working after a person’s death * 00:33:50 Van Gogh example * 00:36:26 Charts indicate events prior to birth * 00:40:10 Impact of cultural background on charts * 00:40:49 Retrogrades * 00:43:42 Does astrology still work on other planets? * 00:49:30 Phenomenology of the Moon * 00:50:52 Planetary stations * 00:56:20 Tom Cruise’s natal chart * 00:57:56 JFK moon speech and Jupiter station in Aquarius * 01:01:34 Trump’s natal chart * 01:03:25 Double and triple stations * 01:03:56 Amy Winehouse’s natal chart * 01:04:54 Looking at the most elevated planet in a chart * 01:05:29 Stories of tracking down celebrity birth times * 01:11:07 Bob Dylan’s natal chart * 01:14:15 Mick Jagger’s natal chart * 01:15:10 Chris Brennan’s natal chart * 01:19:25 More on the most elevated planet * 01:21:07 Do planets exert an astrological influence before they are discovered? * 01:26:30 Using past transits to anticipate the future * 01:32:15 How to start a reading * 01:35:06 Mistake of telling clients what to do * 01:42:10 Regulating intelligence at work in the universe * 01:49:19 Ray’s website and upcoming book * 01:49:47 Concluding remarks and sponsors Watch the Video Version of This Episode Watch the video version of my interview with Ray Grasse here: – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: