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When Worlds Collide

I think most TMA blog readers know that I also edit the book reviews for the magazine and have the great fortune to have many astrology books on hand, all longing to be included in the column.

There is never enough space to include all the noteworthy books, so this week I am using this format to mention a recent book, When Worlds Collide: Another Look at the Lunar Nodes, by Kathy Allan. (2012)

Kathy Allan was trained as a scientist and her primary interest (according to her book cover) is in “developing and refining astrological techniques that improve natal delineation and predictive accuracy.” She has written for TMA, including the article Re-Visioning the Lunar Nodes (Feb/Mar 2009), some of which is woven into this book.

In this book, the author reviews Jyotish and Western views of the nodes, including a misconception based on Rudhyar’s early work that he subsequently corrected. She traces the ideas of modern authors, such as Lilly, Carl Jansky, Celeste Teal, Judith Hill, and many others.

Kathy lucidly explains the astronomy. (This is the kind of thing I can read again and again, in the hopes that it will sink in; her clarity has made me confident that I do really understand it now.)

After setting this background, she next builds her own hypothesis on delineating the nodal axis; the reader will benefit from her careful thinking on the subject. Her methods for assessing the nodes include planets at the bendings; the planets ruling the nodes, or parallel – in either declination or latitude – to the nodes; and the house of the PNSE (and its ruler).

The main part of the book is comprised of chapters on chart delineations for many people and events. Julian Assange, Evangeline Adams, Albert Einstein, Princess Diana, Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and others, have chapters with well-told life stories and astrological technique.  (The book was published in early 2012. She wrote: “Although the current polls have Romney winning over Obama in a two-way race (statistically they are even), when considering the progressions and transits on election day, Obama appears stronger than Romney.”)

Some of the entities and events are the Federal Reserve, the Indonesian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Gulf Oil Spill.

She uses tri-wheels with secondary progressions, transits, and solar eclipses.

Her chart delineations draw upon a range of techniques including: planets out-of-bounds in declination; dispositorship and reception as taught by John Frawley; and modern rulers of the planets.

This is a thorough and clearly written book. It is also nicely designed, with a spacious layout and graphics.

I loved this quote that I found on Kathy Allan’s website: “It is accurate to say that I live for astrology. For everything that happens of significance, I consult a chart. The vastly creative expression of the symbols and their correspondence with life events always astonishes me. A day without astrology is a wasted day. It connects me to the wonder of the sky, and to the mystery and magic of the world.”

Please visit her website for more about the author and her book: KathyAllan.com

Have a good week everyone.

Here’s to the fast-approaching, best possible ending to 2012.

3 Comments

  1. Mary, thanks for the heads up on this book. I will definitely check it out. jc

  2. Thank you for this great review, Mary. I just ordered her book. I’m looking forward to getting it!

    Happy Holidays!

    <3 Claudia

  3. Kathy has also written an article for the upcoming Feb/March 2013 issue of TMA. It looks at the astrology of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” — which launched the modern environmental movement — as well as what is happening now with Hurricane Sandy and climate change.


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