What do Becca S. Tarnas, Ph.D and myself have in common? We're both second generation astrologers!
Back in the seventies, her father (Richard Tarnas, Ph.D) and Doctor Stanislav Grov used astrology to help make sense of the very different experiences people would have when trying LSD therapy. They had tried every other method, and to their own surprise, planetary influences turned out to be the only reliable factor to explain/predict the highly variable experiences - as if LSD therapy wasn't controversial enough without adding astrology to the mix.
Richard Tarnas went on to become famous as the writer of Cosmos and Psyche, in which he tracks Western history by correlating major events and trends that expressed very profound archetypes with neatly timed astrological transits. Talk about dropping a bomb in academic circles.
His daughter Becca studied ecology and theatre, which deepened her interest in lived stories and in the archetypes we all express. Somewhat to her surprise, she realised that the biggest expert in that field was no one other than her own father...
In her doctoral research, she compared the Red Book by Tolkien with the Red Book by Jung, and talks about how both authors seem to have tapped into the same imaginal realm, bringing forward the type of archetypes that are also expressed through astrology.
Becca S. Tarnas, Ph.D. is a scholar, artist, and editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology.
SPES Forum (Spirituality in Economie en Samenleving) has now invited her to give a short course on Archetypal Astrology. Mark your calendars (11 - 14 April), and check out the website ( http://spes-forum.be/spes/page.php?FILE=agendadetail&LAN=N&ID=4062 ) because there might also be a one day course and an evening talk. Maybe see you there!?