Customer Reviews

The Outer Planets and Their Cycles: The Astrology of the Collective

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Another gem from psychological astrologer, Liz Greene! First written in 1980, you can see the gestation of ideas developed in her later books. With rare sensitivity and psychological understanding, she here discusses outer planet effects in mundane, political astrology, with a focus on the charts of Marx, Lenin, Hitler and the (former) USSR. She predicts with clarity the then-upcoming events of the late 80s/early 90s, namely the breakdown of the USSR. Along the way are various gems of insight into the psychology of individuals and the meanings of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Indeed, one of Greene (a-la-Jung)'s insights is the increasing "psychologization" of the human psyche and its historical influence on astrology: we need not be victims of literalism any longer. Another key point is that the outer planets, because they move so slowly through the sky (e.g., Uranus spends 7 years in a single sign), characterize whole generations rather than individuals. Before reading this book, this perspective somewhat puzzled me. After all, I (like everyone else) still have Pluto Neptune & Uranus operating in my natal chart-- particularly so during the midlife transition-yet not everyone in my generation has had the same life-experiences as I. Green's solution is to view the outer planets as representing impersonal contents of the Jungian collective unconscious. Some individuals, by virtue of outer planet aspects, are deeply attuned to the forces of the collective unconscious. Such individuals, like Marx, give expression to the unarticulated urges or intentions represented in the cosmos to whole generations, who then resonate to their message like an astrological zeitgeist. Astrological understanding can help us gain perspective on ourselves as individuals, as well as on our collective life, which allows us to work through issues psychologically rather than enacting them literally. Like some of her other books, this one is the transcription of a lecture series, with intelligent questions from the audience and Greene's fruitful, thought-provoking answers. Shortcomings include the lack of index or bibliography. But this is a small price to pay to attend a lecture by perhaps our greatest contemporary psychological astrologer. Not to be missed.

This is a very interesting and eye-opening book. It gives you the charts of many famous (or infamous) people, and also the charts of the U.S. and other countries (some of which are no longer around, however, but that's forgivable). It really strengthened my interest in astrology. My only problems with this book are that its chapters can sometimes drone on and on, and that some people might take offense at Ms. Greene's remarks. Lets just say that some Aquarius, Scorpio, and Pisces people might be a little offended by her comparisons. Also, those with a Saturn-Pluto conjunction may be startled. (I am a pisces with a saturn-pluto conjunction). This book certainly is "eye-opening", like a splash of cold water in the face.