Engaged Heart Wisdom Media

Bradford C. Collins, Ph.D. is the co-founder and co-director of the Venus Rising Association for Transformation, Venus Rising University, and the Transformation House Process at the Isis Cove Community Retreat Center in western North Carolina. He talks about how he's interested in exploring personal change within the context of community, and the best way to change the old, self-defeating behavior patterns that we carry around with us. The primary modality that he's interested in is Shamanic Breathwork™, since he's personally experienced a lot of transformation, but has also seen people heal from a large range of different traumas. He talks about the range of cathartic movement that people experience during breathwork and how it helps to release the trapped emotions that are stored within the cells of our body. Collins also talks about the changes that he saw in the participants in the 28-day Accelerated Transformation and Training Program for Shamanic Ministers & Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitators that happened between March 27 to April 23rd, 2011. The biggest change that he saw was that people were more embodied. He also describes the five initiations of that are included within the Shamanic Healing Initiatory Process (aka S.H.I.P) including The Spiral Path, Family of Origin, The Shadow, Sacred Marriage and Sacred Purpose. He explains whey there's a focus on "recovery from whatever ails you," which could include addictions such as alcoholism, substance abuse, co-dependency, workaholism, food, Internet, etc. And he further explains and defines what he understands as "co-dependency." Finally, Collins talks about The Transformation House, the Isis Cove community, changing the world one psyche at a time, and how he sees the work that he's doing as helping people discover how to bring more meaning, purpose and belonging into their lives. Audio:  Download

In this interview, Linda Star Wolf, Ph.D. gives an overview of the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process that she founded. She's the co-founder and co-director of the Venus Rising Association for Transformation, Venus Rising University, and the Transformation House Process at the Isis Cove Community Retreat Center in western North Carolina. After a brief meditation, Star Wolf talks about the Shamanic Breathwork™ process in detail as well as how it differs from other Breathwork techniques such as Stanislav Grof's Holotropic Breathwork™, Jacqueline Small & Eupsychia Institute's Integrative Breathwork and Pranayama Yoga Breathing. She talks about the unique components of the Breathwork process including the sacred witnessing by a co-journeyer, the use of chakra-attuned music, and a heart-centering meditation at the beginning and end of the journey. She also shares some of her own personal experiences and sychronicities that have followed from her various journeys. From our own experience with the Shamanic Breathwork process, we can definitely attest to the potent personal transformation that happens from this modality. Star Wolf also mentions the Breath America event in Portland, OR, which was a free event that was held for 80 participants and was organized by Pam Sophia Savory and Barb Magdalena Westover of Freedom Rising Spiritual Community. Audio:  Download

Pam Savory talks about her healing journey with Shamanic Breathwork as well as the Shamanic Healing Initiatory Process. She also talks about some of the events that she puts on in Portland through her Freedom Rising Institute, which is a non-profit congregation of Venus Rising Institute. Audio:  Download

Ruby Falconer has been an astrologer for over 37 years, and she collaborated with Linda Star Wolf in writing the book Shamanic Egyptian Astrology: Your Planetary Relationship to the Gods. She explains how the Egyptian pantheon is older than the classical, Greco-Roman myths, which form the basis of modern Western astrology. She explains how Egyptian deities represent a language of wholeness and add a dimension of divine femininity to the astrological archetypes. The classical myths were heavily influenced by patriarchal wounding that was happening during ancient Greece and Rome, and so there are many stories where the feminine goddess are wounded by the hand of masculine gods. Falconer provides some examples of how this patriarchal bias is still present within the traditional Western astrological archetypes, and explains how the corresponding Egyptian mythological stories can provide a more holistic story with richer dimensions and complexity. She talks about some of the current transits between Saturn and Uranus and talks about the corresponding Egyptian archetypes of Sobek and Wadjet, and explains the struggle between the ego's need to maintain security of Saturn/Sobek and the need of Uranus/Wadjet to allow new energy to come through. She talks about reclaiming the essence of Shamanism, which is about letting the ego regularly die in order to effectively embody different solar purposes and being comfortable with change. There is a part of us that needs to die in order to change, and she talks about how much our culture suffers from the fear of change and the prospect of death. Audio:  Download

VerDarLuz is an astrologer who integrates shamanism, past-life regression, breathwork, meditation, dance and movement with the cosmic language of astrology. He talks about different sections from his recently published his first book Codex of the Soul: Astrology as a Spiritual Practice, Vol. 1 The StArchetypal Theater. He sees a lot of potential in synthesizing different archetypal and healing languages, and has a desire to uncover the language of astrology that is present in our daily lives. VerDarLuz discusses planetary rights of passage and initiation cycles, intergenerational dialogue as well as generational astrology. He talks about how the language of astrology can be used by parents and teachers to help a child fully blossom into their potential by individualizing the education process, as well as how Astrocartography can be used for both relocation and riding the energy of transits that are particularly strong in a specific time and place. Audio:  Download

Mark Jones is a transpersonal psychotherapist and psychosynthesis therapist who uses alchemical hypnotherapy, regression techniques and evolutionary astrology as a diagnostic tool to help liberate people from stuck karmic patterns. He talks about how he integrates all of these different modalities in order to understand people at a depth level and help them in their loss of meaning in their lives. Jones describes the different evolutionary levels of consciousness development, and discusses how the depth psychology principles of transference and counter transference influence an astrological reading. Audio:  Download

Patricia Walsh is a Deep Memory Process, regression therapist and author of the book Understanding Karmic Complexes: Evolutionary Astrology and Regression Therapy. She discusses how active imagination and imagery work alongside the tool of astrology to allow journeying into other realms based in order to get to the core of an issue. She also talks about the process of writing her book on Karmic complexes based upon her many years of work combining past-life regression and Evolutionary Astrology. Walsh also talks about some of the recent transits and how they relate to the Capricorn and Cancer archetypes. Audio:  Download

Deva Green is the director of The School of Evolutionary Astrology, which was started by her father and founder of EA Jeffrey Wolf Green. She is also author of the book, Evolutionary Astrology: Pluto and your Karmic Mission. Green talks about how her father's dreams guided him to become an astrologer, and inspired her interest in astrology at the age of 13. She explains how Pluto transits, and transits to the nodal access and planetary rulers signify evolutionary progression of the soul. She also discusses the purpose of collective soul evolution and the importance of integrating polarities in order to develop a balance in consciousness between two archetypes. Audio:  Download

A.T. Mann is an astrologer who has recently been helping to translate the advanced Kalachakra Tantra Teachings teachings given by the Dali Lama. He discusses the overlap between Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Eastern philosophy and astrology through the concepts of impermanence and constant change. Mann also describes how he uses a logarithmic time scale to interpret the natal chart. He uses the logarithmic metaphor to help explain the importance of our early stages in our life in our overall development, but also how our sense of time is expanded near the beginning of life when billions of connections are being made, and how time seems to speed up as we get older and decades seem to fly by. This kind of reading is a "round art" based on the art of wholeness, and an understanding of the wheel of samsura and illusion and allows for metamorphosis in the horoscope. Audio:  Download

Laura Nalbandian is a second generation astrologer and co-owner of the Northwest Astrological Conference (NORWAC). She talks about the archetype of Virgo and the Sixth house. She emphasizes the importance of honoring the small acts of daily life as reflective of the greater experience and connection to divine consciousness. This is reflected in the Zen Buddhist saying of "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." She also explains how the polarity between Pisces and Virgo can create balance and healthy functioning. For example, the Pisces imaginative connection to forgiveness can help Virgo to release its tendency toward over-analysis and perfection, while Virgo teaches Pisces to have discernment and critical thinking. Audio:  Download

Moll Frothingham discusses the archetype of Libra, which is timely because Saturn is currently moving into Libra for a couple of years. This means that the collective will have the opportunity to learn necessary lessons about relatedness and getting along with those who have fundamentally different values, which involves courtesy from both sides and the ability to respect others who are not like us. She explains how the cardinal air sign of Libra seeks balance by going to extremes in its quest to find equality through social exchange. She also discusses the value of disagreement in order to better understand oneself as well as compares Libra with it's polarity of Aries. Audio:  Download

Darby Costello talks how Venus represents love as a kind of garden that you build and nurture, and how you choose to invite people to bring beauty into your garden. The sign and house that contains Venus can signify the type of garden that you create. She describes Eros as the possibility of two people coming together, which then ignites some form of creativity. Costello also discusses the work of love that must happen in order to sustain growth after the initial spell of falling in loves wanes. Audio:  Download

David Pond describes the 12th house as being an interface between the personal consciousness and the collective consciousness. Planets that are in the 12th house operate under a different set of rules than in other houses, and can't be interpreted with an analytical mind. He explains how one must feel how twelfth house planetary energies manifest through poetry and myth rather than referring to a fixed list of keywords. The mystical mind takes over in interpreting the 12th house because it is dissolving and transcending ego identification. Pond also explains how the outer three planets are the triad of evolution of the soul, and how these transpersonal planets are a connection to the collective consciousness, which impacts individual consciousness. Audio:  Download

Gisele Terry is an astrologer, psychotherapist, and president of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR). She discusses the convergence of developmental psychology and astrology, and how the sequential phases of childhood development of emotions and cognition mirror the progression of astrological signs through the zodiac. Gisele also explains how the moon and progressed new moon represent the early relational dynamic between mother and infant, and have a persistent and enduring influence on the way relationships and attachments are formed all through life. Audio:  Download

Lynn Bell is a teacher of psychological astrology at the Center for Psychological Astrology. She explains how squares in a natal chart represent a person's creative edge and where they may get caught in repetitive behavior, and how aspects can function as fault lines and defense mechanisms in the psyche. She reflects on how to integrate and resolves squares by finding the balance point. She also reflects on the meaning of the Cardinal T-Square and the movement of Uranus into Aries. Audio:  Download

Stephanie Gailing is a nutritionist, wellness consultant and author of the book Planetary Apothecary, which offers dietary tips and wellness practices based on understanding the sun sign. Through the chart she looks at a clients temperament, strengths and challenges and is then able to help them better personalize a wellness regimen. She discusses the concept of Medical Astrology and reflects on how the health of mind, body and spirit were once linked with the teaching of medicine. Audio:  Download

Adam Gainsburg of Soulsign astrology describes how the dynamic movements between any two planets create synodic cycles, and how he's been studying the synodic cycles between Mars and Venus. He explains how one's personal feminine and masculine phase describe how we can contribute to the collective unfolding of femininity or masculinity. Gainsburg's understanding of the Mars and Venus cycles are based upon research into ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Sumerian and Mayan ways of seeing astronomical events, and he talks about some of the distinct Mars/Venus synodic phases play out in an astrological chart. Audio:  Download

Jeff Jawer talks about looking at a chart from the perspective of the social impact of an individual on the culture. Astrology has recently been used as a psychological tool to understand personal patterns, family history and sometimes past lives, but Jawer is interested in looking beyond the individual perspective to a larger context of how our lives may fulfill a specific role in the collective human process. He also discuss other topics such as Uranus moving into Aries, the cardinal cross as well as some of the limitations of thinking of astrology as a predictive tool for someone's personality, events and life cycles rather than as a tool to help create something that is useful. Audio:  Download

Maurice Fernandez talks about the meaning of Neptune moving into in Pisces. He explains how Pisces represents letting go of control and returning to source. Through the disintegration of what is known and stable, one is able to become a channel of inspiration. When one is open to a dialogue with life and deep listening, then a deeper place of realization and truth is found through the archetype of Pisces. Fernandez also talks about The River of Stars astrology conference that he's helping organize in January of 2011. Audio:  Download

Amy Herring describes her new book about the natal and progressed moon called Astrology of the Moon. She also explains some of her strategies for narrowing down the symbols of a natal chart in order to determine a theme. Herring also discusses the importance of understanding how one's emotional needs for trust and comfort are understood through the moon, and how the progressed moon reveals how these emotional needs are evolving. She also explains how the progressed lunar return can be important for understanding the Saturn Return cycle. Audio:  Download

Gretchen Lawlor is an astrologer who works with youth ranging in ages from 14 to 18 years old. She explains how she uses the moon sign as well as the element of their sun signs in order to create a dialogue with the students and their parents. Lawlor also talks about how the four types of the Myers Briggs personality test were based upon the four elements, and how she is able to integrate astrological thinking with her students by framing it as a form of psychological typing. She talks about some of the different cycles that youth experience such as how the Saturn opposition, trine, square, and return influence rebellion, separation and conflict in families, as well as the meaning behind a young person's journey toward individuation. Lawlor also explains how she uses cell salts and some of their astrological correspondences. Audio:  Download

Gary Christen is one of the owners of Astrolabe, which publishes the Solar Fire software. He talks about how Uranian Astrology is being rebranded as Symmetrical Astrology, and why he sees it as some of most cutting edge techniques of Astrology that he hopes forms a solid foundation for new types of Astrology. Symmetrical astrology is moving towards focusing on specific planetary transits rather than larger 30-degree archetypal windows, which hopefully provides more replicable and solid interpretations that are fast to generate. He sees one of the fundamental principles of Symmetrical Astrology as being one formed on resonance, and he explains what this means. He also talks about how the Solar Arc is one specific application of some of the ideas of Symmetrical astrology, which is seen as one of the most accurate predictive techniques in astrology. Finally, Christen gives a comprehensive history describing the evolution and philosophy behind Uranian Astrology, and hits a lot of historical mile markers along the way. While Solar Fire was designed to be an encyclopedic program for all of the various different astrological techniques, Christen is reviving efforts on the Nova Chartwheels program in order to implement some of these Symmetrical techniques. Audio:  Download

Rob Hand talks about the so-called "Arabic Parts," specifically the different Lots. A "Lot" is mathematical way of combining three points to get a fourth point, typically the angular relationship of two planets that are then added to the ascendent. He also talks a bit about the meaning of Lot of Fortune and Lot of Spirit. Hand discusses his lecture on the classical method of solar revolutions (aka solar returns), which he hopes to be restored as being one of the principal predictive techniques of astrology. He talks a bit about his keynote on "Those who are Ignorant Have No Freedom," which talks about how one of the causes of fate is ignorance. Ignorance limits your way of responding creatively to situations, and this is where astrology has a lot to contribute to broadening the spectrum of causes and possible responses through the language of the archetypes. He talks about how astrology can be used as a tool for self-realization and to achieve a third kind of fate, which is the unfolding of who you really are. Finally, he talks about some of the Medieval techniques and software that he uses in his chart readings. Audio:  Download

Curtis Manwaring is a software programmer and astrologer who is helping recover some of the ancient Hellenistic and Medieval techniques by writing a couple of software programs. He talks about the some of the techniques within the Timaeus Medieval Astrology Software as well as some of the Hellenistic Astrology techniques contained in the Delphic Oracle Software. Manwaring talks about the importance of knowing the boundaries of what types of questions can be answered by using different techniques. He also discusses some of the challenges that translator Robert Schmidt of Project Hindsight faces in promoting some of the Hellenistic Astrology techniques before the translations have been published yet. On the on hand, they want to make sure that the recovered techniques have validity before publishing the translated materials, but on the other hand other astrologers want to have independent verification based upon the texts. He talks about some of those debates and controversies around this tension. Audio:  Download