And so it begins!

[my_starz]

Welcome to My Starz! This will be a place where I will be posting various thoughts on astrology, and encouraging you to respond to those thoughts. The content here will be closely tied to a still-under-development website, on which will appear (among other things) natal charts and the interpretation thereof for an assortment of Famous Folks: politicians past and present, performers in various media, historical figures, and anyone else of interest for whom I can find the relevant data for chart construction.

Somewhere in the near future, these sites will also begin to host crowdfunding events which will make it possible for you to acquire your own, unique natal chart -- an astrological chart based on the time and place you were born, along with multiple pages explaining how the positions of the planets potentially affects the shape and style of your personality. Options will be offered for those who have time and effort to contribute as well as for those who have cash to spend, so that everyone can be included in the fun.

Come back soon, and often! I'll be starting things off with several short essays sharing my experiences with astrology, and the opinions I've formed of the practice based on those experiences. Your comments are encouraged and are quite welcome, but please keep in mind that your words, no matter how well thought-out and expressed, aren't likely to change my mind on some crucial issues -- let's agree from the start that our mileages may vary, and that nobody's words will outweigh someone else's first-hand experience (at least in most cases).

See you soon!

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm happy to see this project taking off. It's exciting when someone asks for something on crowdfunding and someone else provides it!

Okay, I'll listen

[thejeopardymaze]

But I warn you, I've been really warming up to traditional, especially Hellenistic the past few years, and have converted to the whole sign house system.

Despite the fact I am an amateur I still plan on starting a DW astrology community sooner or later, possibly by next month.

[clare_dragonfly]

This is exciting! I look forward to this very much!

Re: Okay, I'll listen

[ysabetwordsmith]

I found some:

astrology and divination seem dead, but could probably be revived if new folks joined and started talking about stuff.

There are more generic communities such as allpaths and witchythings that have more recent posts.

Re: Okay, I'll listen

[my_starz]

Hmmm, looks like I need to clarify things a bit regarding my intentions with this blog. While I'd love to see a DW community targeted for astrologers, both amateur and professional, in which the more esoteric elements of various house systems, use of asteroids in casting charts, and/or the subtleties of interpretation in 1/2-degree increments were debated -- the folks who'd take part in those discussions aren't my target audience here.

The tone and content I'm aiming for is inspired more by an unfortunately long-out-of-print book, _A Time for Astrology_ by Jess Stearn. If I recall correctly, the author had set out to write a book disproving any claims to validity for astrology, and in the course of his investigations became, if you'll pardon the expression, a True Believer, and documented that change of heart over the course of those pages.

I intend to share some of the experiences that led me from ridicule through skepticism, from casual curiosity into serious research, transforming scorn into acknowledgement. I want to present the field of astrology as a general whole, encouraging those whose sole exposure has been the "daily horoscopes" to discover the depth and detail contained when more than just the sun sign is taken into account. I hope to refute those who've attempted to use astronomy and mathematics as "proof" that astrology is hogwash, without once having actually tested for themselves the claims made by astrologers. I dream of interactive discussions regarding the implications, the ramifications of astrology in the average person's life, once they've come to discover the extent an accurate casting can enhance their understanding of themselves.

Stick around if you'd like; I think you may find some of what comes out of my head to be of at least passing interest. And *please* let me know when you've launched your planned-for community: I'd love to take part in that, even though it's not what I'm planning to offer here.

Re: Okay, I'll listen

[thejeopardymaze]

Thanks for the clarification, that still sounds interesting, though I do have some recommendations for the history of astrology that might be relevant to your interests.

I think astrology can be proved, but it's more about techniques than say, alleged magic or stellar rays. I leafed through materials trying to prove or disprove the discipline, and I was never impressed, knowledge of tradition and how it works as a whole can lead the way to promoting it. Assuming humanity survives the next century I believe there is a future of genuine rebirth of it, as long as there is intellectual honesty.

-

My idea for the community has partly to do with the fact I need a space where traditional rulerships and houses are encouraged, but without discouraging discussion and research of modern things like asteroids and outer planets. Most of my posts will probably flocked, but what members choose to do really isn't my business (to a point, it'll be moderated in order to keep out trolling and other idiocy). I'm currently waiting for my book on Electional astrology to arrive before I proceed, however.

Re: Okay, I'll listen

[ysabetwordsmith]

Oh, I think the stuff about asteroids and outer planets is pretty cool. Llewellyn did a series on advanced astrology -- I mean really esoteric topics -- and I got some of those as review copies. I think the asteroid book I have is part of that series.