The Astrological is Political

[Ava]

Just bought this book. The author is inspiring and clearly brilliant, even though the book is written a bit too sloppily, in my opinion. So far it's like reading a college term paper by an exceptional Ivy League student who was pressed for time and just trying to get the grade, not teach anything to the teacher. But I recognize the difficulty of innovating, putting a new spin on old concepts, and impressing these upon others in a credible way, all at once. In other words, I admire their ambition wholeheartedly but the execution is a bit disappointing. With more development or better editing, the book could have been something epic like Cosmos & Psyche.

www.thenation.com/article/culture/alice-sparkly-kat-interview/

Wonderful blog:

www.alicesparklykat.com/category/READ/

[12YearsABlob]

That is an interesting take, a postcolonial reading. Venus as a city under siege. It would be useful to extend this to other theories too. Like we study Literature from the point of view of the Russian formalists, the feminists, the eco-critics, etc.

[Ava]

Thanks 12YearsABlob

Could you elaborate on that? Do you mean it's good to look at different types of astrology and the cultural/historical background in which they emerged?

I'm wondering what kind of brainstorm you have about this.

Overall I think Kat's approach is a sort of maverick synthesis of whatever appeals to them personally, looking all around at life but perhaps with a sort of narrow focus in each area. The book's disjointed in my opinion, and too fast paced. But I think it's groundbreaking with its creative approach and scope. I just prefer the blog.

Here's Mars in Libra. Seems true enough. Whether or not it is, I think it's beautiful someone even sees other people this way:
www.alicesparklykat.com/articles/394/Mars_in_Libra_Power/

[12YearsABlob]

Apr 17, 2023 13:00:32 GMT Ava said:

Could you elaborate on that? Do you mean it's good to look at different types of astrology and the cultural/historical background in which they emerged?

Partly, yes! This is one avenue of exploration. I was also thinking of different types of interpretations of existing signs/aspects as we look at them from a different lens. For instance, a feminist reading would incorporate both yin and yang into both genders. Typical 'masculine' planets/aspects interpreted holistically for a female, and vice-versa for a male. They tend to be interpreted as projected energies (projected onto the opposite gender), which they can be. But there is less focus on how the 'yang' manifests in the woman's own behaviour (similarly, 'yin' for men). 

Another way of looking at it is on the macro-scale (as opposed to individual). What role does each planet/sign play in our ecology? Does the cycle of life and death hold any clues about our environmental future as shown by the planets? For example, analysing the link between the Saturn-Pluto conjunction and subsequent natural disasters. What factors (tertiary progressions, etc.) have been shown to accelerate a particular phenomenon?

This isn't well-thought-out just yet. Some possible avenues for exploring astrology beyond the scope of what we have so far. 

[12YearsABlob]

Apr 17, 2023 13:00:32 GMT Ava said:

Here's Mars in Libra. Seems true enough. Whether or not it is, I think it's beautiful someone even sees other people this way:
www.alicesparklykat.com/articles/394/Mars_in_Libra_Power/

This is really good! I agree with most of what they're saying here. Such alternative takes were what I had in mind. Studying astrology through different lenses.