Welcome to Within Orb, a podcast of the Celestial Arts Education Library Institute (CAELi)! Join host Jenn Zahrt each week, as she interviews astrologers about the books that changed their lives.
How exciting – our inaugural show, as we all get within orb! Our first guest is astrologer Thea Anderson! Tune in as Jenn and Thea discuss books galore, including Thea’s three (or four) books she’d take with her on a desert island, including one she’d bring to get OFF said island. Plus: remediation, zodiacal releasing, horary astrology, and making the mundane magical!
View full show notes at our Within Orb pod page!
View the books mentioned on our bookshop.org page, or scroll down for individual links. (By purchasing books through our bookshop.org page, you help support CAELi!)
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Read a full transcript of this episode below.
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And last but never least, the song “Wake Up” is used with permission by The E-Block Band.
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Episode timestamps (conversation recorded Jan. 2023):
00:32 – Welcome to Within Orb, everyone – our first guest is astrologer Thea Anderson! Yay!
00:46 – The first astrology book Thea ever read (or was it osmosis??): The Only Way to Learn Astrology, Vol. 1.
01:50 – What was the second book that Thea ever read? “The blue book,” AKA On the Heavenly Spheres.
02:39 – Thea’s desert island books include: Firmicus Maternus’s Mathesis, Valens’s Anthology, Attrell and Porrecca’s Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic, and Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy.
24:36 – Thea’s picks for astrology beginners are: Astrology and the Authentic Self by Demetra George and 36 Secrets by T. Susan Chang.
35:55 – Thanks for listening to Within Orb! If you love the show, please help support it at no cost to you: Follow or subscribe wherever you listen, rate it five stars, or write a kind review! And if you’d like to become a CAELi member or support our work with a contribution of any amount, we’d be delighted! Thanks!
Show notes by Jen Braun, JJ Boots Productions LLC.
Transcript, Episode 1: Within Orb
Jenn Zahrt: So welcome Thea [Anderson] to Within Orb, the Celestial Arts Education Library’s new podcast and you’re our very first guest.
Thea Anderson: Oh my god, I can’t believe it. I’m really excited to be here. Thank you, Jenn.
Jenn Zahrt: Thank you for coming. And I love to hear actually the very first book you’ve ever read about astrology.
Thea Anderson: I think it was I know, it was the only way to learn astrology volume one. Yeah, because I was nine years old. And it was the first time I had that aha moment. And I was at my grandparents house. And I think I’d either just come from like a garage sale, or someone got it from a garage sale. That’s what I remember. And no one in my house had an interest in astrology, or, like, studied it seriously. And I don’t know how that book got there. But it was supposed to be there for me. And I was like, Look at all this stuff you can do this is amazing.
Jenn Zahrt: So then you were only nine?
Thea Anderson: Yeah. So like when I say read it. I mean, like I had it. And then when I went to college, I kept it like, I kept it with me my whole time. I’m a keeper collector. So then when I went to school, I like read it again. And that’s when I was trying to I guess teach myself.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah, you almost got it through osmosis, just by having it in your sphere.
Thea Anderson: Yes. synchronistic.
Jenn Zahrt: So then what was the second book about astrology?
Thea Anderson: Second book that I read was probably on the heavenly spheres. So then when I started studying with Sam Reynolds, that was the book that he recommended to me. And like, I still have it. It just really anchored everything in their tradition. And I could kind of put aside all the things that I had learned by osmosis. And just I think switching from an enthusiast to like actually studying and applying.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah, because the rules are in there.
Thea Anderson: Yeah. So on the heavenly spheres is a textbook of traditional astrology.
Jenn Zahrt: Yes, I call it the blue book, because it’s bright blue. Yeah, no, that’s a great textbook. And I’m happy Sam recommended that to you. So if we get down to the nuts and bolts, I’d love to know the really like if you were on a desert island, and you can only take three astrology books with you. What are the top three books that you would need that have influenced you?
Thea Anderson: I love that. If I were on a desert island, I would be taking astrology books with me.
Jenn Zahrt: Oh, yeah, we don’t need any other books. We’re only taking astrology books. I mean, Ephemeris aside, that’s a given.
Thea Anderson: Yeah, so once I have the ephemeris the one that I reach for most often right now is the Fermicus because my thesis book, just because it’s like, it’s interesting, because I’ve tried to think about my relationship to this book and how I use it, but maybe we’ll get into that later. So I think that’s number one. Then number two, I know you had a hand in this book, too. Maybe I didn’t give you a heads up, obviously Valius Valens. but it’s so nice to hold in my hand and not just be a PDF. And then because hopefully on the desert island, I will be doing some operations to get off the island, I would bring a copy of the Picatrix.
Jenn Zahrt: And that’s a really great version of this book actually translated with an introduction by Danna trowel, and David Porreca. From the amazing series of books coming out from Pennsylvania State University Press. So this is the one that I actually got to know that this one existed from Nina Gryphon.
Thea Anderson: Yes. And I worked with this. I think in Austin’s class before I’ve had, I think the Greer one that I worked with.
Jenn Zahrt: Very cool. Very cool. So that’s the top three.
Thea Anderson: I think so You know, I’m changeable. So if you asked me another day, I could change.
Jenn Zahrt: Okay, you get a bonus book besides the ephemeris. What’s the fourth one you take? If you could,
Thea Anderson: Oh, I get a bonus. Like, okay, so then the bonus one would be Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy.
Jenn Zahrt: That is a huge book.
Thea Anderson: Yes. Right. And I think I would take it because I’ve had courses that have helped me get through this and work with it and the way that it should be worked with, I feel like it needs you need someone to help shepherd you through, say more about that? Well, so like, it’s not a book that I like recommend to people unless you’re in class. So studying with Nina Griffin, this was one of our source texts, and then from there after working with it in class, there’s like pitfalls, there are things that you kind of want to be guided through test, or else you could have like major blowback because what we’re doing here is laser source texts that are operational focused and were written a long time ago or collected or what have you. And so it’s just really nice to have some guardrails in before you dive in.
Jenn Zahrt: So if I were to say that in other words it says though, reading it straight. Just sitting down in a chair and deciding to read Agrippa is not going to be as helpful as having conversation around what’s actually in it.
Thea Anderson: Yeah, it needs to be workshopped tested. Compared. I love hearing other people’s opinions. Like, it’s not a book that I sit down and enjoy reading for Agrippa I enjoy, but I think I’m sorry, I think I enjoy the discovery. And so like, I hope we get to talk about that too, like the part that comes where you’ve integrated it. And then you’re like, Okay, this is how this fits for me today,
Jenn Zahrt: For sure. And I feel it, let’s just start with Agrippa. So when we look at what he actually did, Eric translated Agrippa from Latin freshly from that and compiled a bunch of sources. His footnotes are so big look at this, this is the latest one, we have it in the library here. That’s beautiful, three volumes, hardback. And the thing is, in speaking with Eric, it’s like Agrippa didn’t actually write a book, he compiled quotes from everything that he was swimming in at the time. And I think that’s what makes it hard to read. Because there’s these compiled quotes.
Thea Anderson: And then upfront, it’s like, if you’re going to be a sage, and do sage work, you need to be like properly prepared. I kind of like laugh at how there’s like this things are a cult. But like, once you’ve studied, then you gain entry. It’s sort of like there’s initiation and having to take these seriously. But then, like, once you do it you’re in. And so it’s almost like a club. I think, sometimes and how dense and compiled these are or like, sometimes I think, Oh, that’s a little pitfall. Or like, that’s a little misleading. Or maybe that was translated wrong. There’s not like a reading. And it can take that wholesale. There’s like a reading and vetting part, which I think is always really enjoyable for me. Like, I enjoy the vetting process. And sometimes it can feel like frustrating or like, I’m not just instantly gaining knowledge. But what I do feel like I’m gaining is experience and how to like, either decipher or navigate.
Jenn Zahrt: How do you recommend someone vet what they read? In Agrippa? For example? How do you do it?
Thea Anderson: So usually, I start out with like, what do I want to do? And so do I want to do lunar mansion work? During when I do planetary magic work? What is the thing, sometimes I find myself like lately looking for really specific things that either I forgot, and are there. So I think having first of all, like a point of entry is really helpful, because then you can kind of put your blinders on. And then anything that sort of either bumps up against what you already know, I think it’s always a good exercise to trust, like, Okay, this maybe got translated wrong. And sometimes you’ll check the footnote, and you’ll see, or like, this seems like today, in 2023, we have more source texts available to us. And there are better ways to like do this operation. Say, for instance, the timing thing requires like, you know, you need the sun in Aries. And like back a couple years ago, when Saturn was in Capricorn, and we had that square, it was like, No, we can’t so like figuring out, but maybe I can wait till the sun is in Leo, and then do something they’re like trying to figure out, you know, there’s the timing aspect that I don’t isn’t always made clear. And so timing is also where you would want to like vet and figure out like, am I going to do something that’s going to have major blowback? I mean, of course, the way to do that is in class, and then after you finish a class, you never stopped doing that.
Jenn Zahrt: Right? Yeah. Have you tried to do something out of step with the advice given in Agrippa? Just to test it?
Thea Anderson: Yeah, I’m kind of, for myself, I am a like F around and find out kind of person. You know, say for instance, like working with fixed stars or something like that. I think it was like last year, I found like a great one for sirius, but like Mars was opposing it. And I was like, ah, can I try it? Can I try it? Is this gonna be like, I actually don’t remember if I did it. And I want to say I actually did it. But I had a whole operation planned out. And then I just got a bad feeling. I’m not gonna make something. Yeah, this is moment, even though it was a beautiful, sirius moment, soon as the fixed star was about to say. So yes, there have been times for myself, I’m willing, I’m willing to experiment. Yeah.
Jenn Zahrt: I love that. I love that because it’s almost like you’re saying like, okay, it got passed down from the sages that we need to be paying attention to the moon not being in via combusta. But let’s just see if that’s still true, right. Like, what’s the worst that can actually happen. Well, the thing about that is the precession of the equinox, right? So the fixed stars that were behind you The tropical zodiac at that time might have moved on. And so we have to readjust our via combusta tropical pathway.
Thea Anderson: And that echoes across to to lunar mansions. So I went through a whole thing where it was like, you know, I think lunar mansions should be tropical zodiac, but I’ve also learned it like people are like, you need to adjust back to sidereal. So like, that’s another experiment I’ve been doing for like,
Jenn Zahrt: Really? I had no idea. That’s awesome.
Thea Anderson: Yeah, I compare.
Jenn Zahrt: have you gotten anything so far?
Thea Anderson: it’s been so spotty. Listen, now. Now I feel like I need to delve into it further. It takes a lot of time. But for me, I do lunar mansions off the tropical zodiac. And it works. Although I understand mansions are set by the constellation. Like, that’s what we’re talking about.
Jenn Zahrt: It’s like, yeah, in terms of like, the stacking of the spheres, right? Is that what you mean? Is the mansions in like, the outer shell of the …
Thea Anderson: the lunar mansions themselves, like, have an origin that are fixed to the constellations? And so the tropical zodiac? Yes, of course, it’s like shifted. I mean, there’s been Astro musicians who are doing this work. And they have different reasons. But like, for me, this is like one of the instances where I’m like, what works now? And the only way that I know it is if I run it through the experience of testing it myself. And you know, like to like, the thing is, we’ve got outer planets, like what’s happening when you like, add a little dose of Neptune? Like, I can’t unsee that Neptune is right there.
Jenn Zahrt: That is Like here’s the perfect word for Neptune too: get a dose. What’s the word for Pluto, right?
Thea Anderson: Like I don’t know. I know. I know.
Jenn Zahrt: That’s awesome. But when you talk about the tropical zodiac being the tempo setter for your work with lunar mansions, I’m thinking about that platonic cosmology that’s got the earth in the center, and then the spheres and then you get to the eighth sphere of the fixed stars. And then you get I’ve read like, then the lunar mansions are there on the outside. But the moon is inside, right?
Thea Anderson: that’s not how I even think about like it being that far. I don’t know. There’s like a different visual that conjures up my head when I work with lunar mansions.
Jenn Zahrt: what is it?
Thea Anderson: It’s kind of like the moon goes to a place and visits the Spirit. Because each of the lunar mansions have ruling spirits. And I feel like they each have a tone. So I started a project and abandoned it. Maybe I should actually finish it where I started writing like, hymns to the mentioned spirits. Oh, and once I started paying attention when the moon was in her Zodiac because our solar zodiac, it’s the moon’s Zodiac In other words, and then noticing like funny things that happen. Like, I’m not going to have the examples now. But like, a day where the moon was in a certain mansion that had to do with like, toxins, I like got bit by like a hornet like this, like weird and like, I don’t know that I would have seen that if I was just paying to the where the moon was according to like, the 12 signs seller Zodiac that we always use, because I’ve started paying attention, like, all these things happened. And I was like, Oh, this also feels a little scary. Like, I don’t want to start to like, welcome these things. But then I would write like, it would inspire me to write a little hymn of how we get the best use out of it. Because the thing that I’ve noticed about I know we’re here to talk about books, but no, this is awesome. I love it. The thing that relates to like, I find that the lunar mansion spirits is like, I feel like we call them planets a lot or like there’s more people doing that now, but I feel like when you call the name of a lunar mansion spirit, it really does you get this like, like this kind of like it’s louder or more noticeable to that spirit is kind of how I imagined it. That’s like my little visual for it. So I have like these little comfy layers where the moon travels to.
Jenn Zahrt: How would you categorize the Picatrix depiction of the lunar mansions versus what you get in Agrippa?
Thea Anderson: So when I go to the Picatrix, let’s just open it up. It’s more like it’s filling in for me. And the Picatrix. There’s like two sections that are talking about lunar mansions, you get like, what the mansion is called, and where it begins and where it ends. And you can get like a certain meaning of what this is good for. So like the third lunar mansion, which has like amazing properties, and the Moon is about to get there soon because it begins. It’s at the end of Aries and the beginning of Taurus, like up to six Taurus. So yeah, about to enter that. And it’s really good for like rowing things over time. Works of alchemy. And so like, I find myself going here, when sometimes I’m confused. I don’t know the Picatrix just has like a really good it’s like a reminder for me, because like, I don’t have these memories. But I just go the here I mean, I know them. So that’s in book one, chapter four. And then if you go to book four, it just list them all again. And it does tell you their spirit. have names and like more about what to do and how to invoke so then it will say like, the third management has this names. This is the Pleiades, it’s not anymore. And then oh annuncius such and such. And so it’s got more of like, operational bent within here.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. A seated woman holding her right hand above her head. And dressed in clothes. Very important.
Thea Anderson: Yes. And I was like, Oh, I think I might make that one. Again. I have a image talisman that I met me during that operation that I’ve used for a couple years. That’s like really beautiful. But actually also like, what’s kind of going on right now? Like, it’s just interesting entering Pisces? Really, that when the moon gets to the Taurus, part of this mansion, it’s like really sweet. So for me, I think the lunar mansions are actually clearer in the Picatrix.
Jenn Zahrt: I’m also hearing from you like reading is one thing. It’s motor for the sort of semi initiation, but actually taking the time to like, put the book down and do the work is really what gets you to know how to do the work in a way.
Thea Anderson: And matching it. Yeah, to my lived experience. So like, if we were to give you an example, like when I’m talking about firmicus, this is another book where there’s like, really fun things in here. Like in the beginning. He’s talking about what kind of life an astrologer ought to have?
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. That’s awesome. I’ve only read the eighth book. So what kind of life does he say an astrologer should have?
Thea Anderson: Let’s see. I can tell you, Oh, my God. Okay, like what sort of practices astrologers ought to have. And it’s really short. And some of it’s really archaic. Like you should have a wife and a home. Everybody wait. I know, right. But what I do like about it, which I flagged here now, nor should you join in conversations secretly with anyone but openly, just as I said, above, under the gaze of all, you should reveal the learning of this divine art. There’s like little gems in there. And it’s really just like, study hard and like, be a good person. Don’t use this knowledge for ill. Then there’s like some things about like, if you’re going to work with the Emperor’s destiny, like basically don’t do it.
Jenn Zahrt: That’s funny. I love the way in the back that eighth book just to connect to this text with you. There’s all of these horoscopes just from reading the ascendant degree. So I looked it up for some of my friends, and it’s like, you’re gonna be an herbalist which and it’s like she is. Yeah, some of them are super violent, though,
Thea Anderson: and like what term are or bound it’s in. Because like, yeah, so colors it in this way that like, I was reading, rereading this again recently, too. And I was like, oh, yeah, that’s such a nugget that like you forget.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. Oh, I love looking at bound rulers of descendants. The way I learned it from Bernadette Brady was it’s the material manifestation of a thing. It’s how something actually shows up in the world. So yeah, I didn’t know that was in there.
Thea Anderson: Where it was gonna go with the story. I think we’re talking about like vetting you can do that too. With like your chart, obviously, like unknown astrologers do this and thinking about like how it shown up for your life. The reason why this is one of my favorite books is like I saw it operate really clearly in my life. There’s these like planetary combos that permit because gets into, so for instance, Mars and Saturn together, and then it’ll do Mars and Saturn, but depending it could be a square can be trine can be whatever the aspect is. So if you have that combination, and I learned this in Austin’s class, like we delve, this is where I tilted to this book. And we went over thinking about how these planetary combinations showed up in our lives. And I have Mars square Saturn in my chart by whole sign, so that’s fun. And I was like, how does that show up for me and like, one of the things is, is that the native will lose their inheritance or something really weird like that. And also like, the mom will die young, relatively young, I have to find it so I can read the quote. That’s really fucking what happened to me. So my mom died young, she died young and for her life and also for my life. So I was in my 20s and through like, a series of really unfortunate weird things that happened, a lot of the possessions that she owned are just forever gone. They’re just they’re gone. There’s no getting them back. And it’s really interesting because I saw it that I was like, you know, the thing that I always lost is like there’s photos and all the stuff she owned and things that were hers that I wish I like physically had picture like whatever it was that she kept and seeing that show up in this like just really quick couple paragraph delineation was like mind blowing for me. And I actually had to sit with it for a couple of months and be like, what does this mean? And if I had read this before my mom’s stuff like, I would have been freaked out. So obviously, like really grateful that I read it when I was ready to. And also like, so then what do I do with this? And I think for me, like, you know, there’s lots of scary things and some of these traditional texts, but like, the thing is, is that it can play out in like, a way that fits your life now, like, it didn’t lose a monetary inheritance, I lost something that was sentimental, and then I never thought it would lose,
Jenn Zahrt: Right. Which actually makes the pain harder, because you’re thinking it’s always gonna be there. And then it is, yeah, yeah. Where are you with it now?
Thea Anderson: Like with firmicus, and …?
Jenn Zahrt: Just the lived experience of seeing something be foretold reading it after the fact was hindsight. And then now you’re a transmitter of the tradition to people who come to you for consults. Right?
Thea Anderson: Yeah, I think this is where like remediation comes into play and sitting with these difficult signatures. So that it’s not really like a matter of this is really scary, or I don’t want this thing to happen with me. But like, if I’m gonna live Mars, Saturn like that, there’s things I can do from like, a remedial standpoint that build a relationship with my Mars and build a relationship with my Saturn, depending on what you know, in that moment, I’m willing to enter into a relationship to and like constantly dialogue with it. And it’s given me so much richness, and so much context, that there’s a trust that I have in this art, not just from reading the words on the page, but from understanding the ways in which they played out and could have played out.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah, that’s a very fascinating line to toe between, like appreciating the tradition through textuality. But having to marry that with mentors who are guiding through the text, and then also lived experience of just time paying attention to the movement of the moon, paying attention to the working you want to do evaluating it. And that’s not in a book. You know?
Thea Anderson: Yeah, yeah.
Jenn Zahrt: I almost wonder though, if it were in a book, if we would be able to really, truly read it and understand it. Do you know what I mean?
Thea Anderson: Yes.
Jenn Zahrt: Because you’re, you’re transmitting embodied wisdom through having gone through these texts. Yeah. As an operator.
Thea Anderson: Yes. And I’ve also learned lots of things and read things. And I’m like, I don’t know if this is for me to pick up right now. And I also feel like, that’s also okay. And I’m trying to think of if I have a good example of that. But you know, like, there’s so many things that are now available to just like, order and get, and that’s not the same thing as sitting and earning wisdom from it. Yeah, like, I’ve done the same, like, I have books that I’ve ordered, because I was like, I should read that. But either I’m not really called to right now, or I’ll see it make the rounds, and I’ll get it, but I haven’t actually read it yet.
Jenn Zahrt: I still think it’s in your field, though. And osmosis, you know, it just kind of, I think they kind of it keeps the temperature like, this room is filled with all of the books written by our astrological ancestors, and it is loud in here, like, oh my god.
Thea Anderson: I love that word. Ancient astrological ancestors.
Jenn Zahrt: And there’s so many. It’s like, no one has enough lifetime left to read them all. So if you’re gonna give a reading list to someone just starting, what would you tell them to pick up first?
Thea Anderson: I love the way that Demetra George writes, like, I love the way that she explains astrology. So if someone wants to enter the field, and like start talking about their friends, charts to them, and maybe start embarking on readings, I feel like the one that she has, oh, yeah, astrology and the authentic self. I love that one. Because it’s like at that point, you know what the planets are. And usually there’s that point where you gather all the information and say they’re just starting out and they want to sort of synthesize but you find that like, it scatters as soon as you start bringing it all together, I find that that book is really good for that. And like in terms of like, what to prioritize.
Jenn Zahrt: yeah, what would be your next recommendation for them?
Thea Anderson: I mean, I love 36 secrets, Susie Cheng’s book, I probably still go into this often just because this is astrology and then tarot and the deck ends. So I go to this one a lot, because I think it’s nice to have visuals. Like you can anchor what parts of the Zodiac look like, and how they show up in the taro archetypes. That’s also really helpful for someone starting out to get like a sort of visual conjured image of what are we even talking about here?
Jenn Zahrt: Very cool. Very cool. When you’re making your images do you do the art yourself?
Thea Anderson: Yeah, I’ve really learned not to judge it and like to just have fun in the experience of making something. I’m not the best by hand drawer, but I do love collaging like, I love that since I was a little girl. I used to have like stacks of magazines and make images and I do that Even from time to time when I’m bored. So like, that’s always a fun way for me to put together almost like a symbolic representation of what I think it looks like. And once I let it go that it had to look like the thing was a lot more fun.
Jenn Zahrt: You think the working also guides you with that in a way like You’re like engaging something that’s a little bit outside of your capacity to be in control.
Thea Anderson: Yeah, that is a part of what we’re doing here is like, sitting with energies, and then making the thing at the moment and just like not judging it, but it’s beautiful. Because you made it, you know, you gave it a little physical home.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. Are these images that you’ve made gonna stay private? Or do you think you might share them at some point?
Thea Anderson: They’re probably private for now. But what I do sometimes feel called to do is like, take a picture of my altar, because that to me is that that’s like the whole presentation. And so I have a lot of I have so much fun, like, buying the right color candles and making candles, like from beeswax and like doing the dubbing. So it’s like getting the right kind of flowers, correspondences or like, I like creating the whole thing. And like, I have like, even since I was a kid, I would like ask my mom to be like, Can we do a seance? And she would take me to go buy candles and like glitter for the table. And it’s like that same kind of working energy that I love, and I really relate to. I should share more photos, though.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. Well, I mean, in going back to Agrippa, he articulates that the things that the planets like, aren’t just a matter of correspondence, but that they’re actually like the earthly manifestation of the planet itself. Like, if you cut yourself, that’s literally Mars on your hand. And if you eat a piece of garlic, you’re like chewing Mars. So in a way, like going through this ceremonial presentation and gathering is actually like, you’re meeting them, like, tangibly.
Thea Anderson: yes, because that’s the only way we can engage in this reality like, is to create a little sphere of what this would look like down on earth. I love that. And then sometimes there’s like cute things that I do, like, even like today’s Venus’s day in and we’re in green, or like, sometimes, I’m like, I need a little energy and I’ll get my nails done like bright red. And sometimes I’m like, this is how I’m showing up for this planet. And I kind of since then I need that, or like adding lemon water because it’s deep winter and we’re in Aquarius season. So like adding lemon to my water.
Jenn Zahrt: literally drinking the Sun.
Thea Anderson: If the Sun doesn’t want to come out, I will drink it.
Jenn Zahrt: So you’re like living planets there in your cohort?
Thea Anderson: Yeah. You know, I find myself too like, even in my household, I do a lot of the cooking and the shopping. And it’s like our Tuesday’s like, maybe I’ll make the red meat. We’ll eat an animal on Monday. Or maybe we’ll just go meatless and have like a lot of cheese and dairy. Like there’s, there’s a way that I probably do too much. But it’s fun. And you know, the mundane, magical. It’s just like always what I’m returning to I think. And then that way too if I’m reading or I’m learning about an operation, you know, I’m not just doing it one time, because I need something. I’m like carrying the spoon, like a daily lived experience. How you’re saying like that thing is the planet. It’s not just like correspondence.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah, well, and it’s good to avoid transactional relationships, right? Like, I mean, I can feel it I didn’t even think about green. But yes, it is Friday. And like, here you are wearing green, like you bring in Venus to the table, you know.
Thea Anderson: I hope so.
Jenn Zahrt: So you’ve brought up mathesis and Baylands anthology, but those seem like kind of diametrical… like they’re not quite the same vantage point on Hellenistic. So could you say more about your take on how they present that era of astrology differently.
Thea Anderson: I entered Valens because of the zodiacal releasing and so I think I entered them for different reasons. For me, like I don’t read these books from start to finish, I read them in different order. So they kind of live in my head as sort of like a mixed collection if I’m working with them at the same time, which I kind of happen and then like balance again like I feel like that PDF that everyone worked with it was really like what do I need and what what do I enter with to get the most out of so to be honest, like these are my favorite books because I feel like I can go through enter and get something really sound about whatever it is I need but then I kind of back out for me like to read them from start to finish is different like I would maybe do like Demetra George if I want it to be like guided through because I think it’s hard to like read this whole thing and digest it and make meaning of it. It’s been an easier experience to read in context of like topic by topic, then I would recommend. this is volume one and I don’t have her Volume Two yet.
Jenn Zahrt: that goes back to what you’re saying in the beginning of, you know, reading these works that you’ve chosen in the context of a class or some kind of person who can guide you to get to that aphorism, and unpack it in a way because it isn’t meant to be read start to finish, actually, you’re sort of like, hey, what do you think about this? And you know, firmicus is like, that’s what you get for that planetary combo, and then you kind of move on.
Thea Anderson: Yeah. And sometimes I find myself frustrated a little bit to be honest. I’m like, oh, but there’s more like, there’s probably more. And so like, where’s the more is also where I’m interested.
Jenn Zahrt:Like, for things that are not saying?
Thea Anderson: yeah. And then like, the more for me in terms of like, so then you can back out and go into other texts, and link those together. And that’s what you’re saying, like this whole art takes like, it can be like several lifetimes. And I would love to have those lifetimes.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. I think we get it in community though. Because, you know, you cover certain ground with your work, and others cover other ground. And there’s conversations like this, you know, we’re sharing and sort of expanding our knowledge base together.
Thea Anderson: I was thinking about this too, because we’re sitting down and having a podcast and I was like, Oh, my God, I learned so much from like, when my daughter was born, like pushing her in the stroller and putting into podcasts, or audiobooks or something like that, like I didn’t have the capacity to sit down and read all the time. But that that learning also happened in that way too. And like where we are today, in 2023. It’s like, people may enter through an episode like this, and then be inspired to like, go get the book, which is freaking awesome. Yeah. And makes me really excited about like, all the techniques that we have, and like, actually, how they can be deepened.
Jenn Zahrt: What are some of your favorite techniques to use that you kind of put in practice more often than not?
Thea Anderson: I go to zodiacal releasing, also, too, I appreciate Valens, I felt a connection. I felt like ZR was really hidden hitting for me. And I could see it show up in client’s charts in a way that like, I think it is a sort of, what do you naturally gravitate? How is it filtered through you? So I’ve seen some people be able to be like this is hitting, and then some people will be like, Absolutely not. But I really enjoy it as like, even after the session is done to continue to follow a timeline. And I find that so beautiful, that we can have these sort of like, these times within times.
Jenn Zahrt: Hmm, that’s a nice way of putting it. the nested periods.
Thea Anderson: Yeah. What are some other techniques… so I took Horary last year at STA, like, even though I had learned it before and had been practicing it. But that also helped to further like my relationship to astrology just outside of Natal. And to be like, every single time I’m just blown away. But there’s all these rules. And I’m not necessarily like a rules person. But like that, then there’s like beauty in the rules. And that’s not a technique. That’s a branch of astrology. But I feel like we should just mentioned horary because it’s fun.
Jenn Zahrt: Ya know, I think if you are only coming in astrology from a modern standpoint, and you meet Horary it’s like, Whoa.
Thea Anderson: I know. And then sometimes I’m like, man, like if we had had this rigorous of a practice that was able to continue along all the like periods in history where there’s like religious persecution and things being watered down and texting. Like, we could have had this, like, Where would we be for, you know, for so many centuries? It’s just, it’s really phenomenal. But in terms of like, what other techniques do I bring to the table? I guess I don’t always think about in terms of technique. I just sit down and I’ll see what strikes me first. But I mean, I do what everyone does probably like, you know, profections and time period, like what Lords… like all that kind of stuff.
Jenn Zahrt: Yeah. But it’s nice to hear those sort of heat seeking missile vibe with a chart. like you look at a chart, you’re like, Well, we’re gonna talk about that. It’s like it’s telling you like, this is the topic, right?
Thea Anderson: Yeah, yeah.
Jenn Zahrt: Very cool. Thank you for spending the afternoon with me. This is fun.
Thea Anderson: Yeah. Yeah.
Jenn Zahrt: And if you ever want to come back, you’re always welcome to talk more books and more everything Astrology.
Thea Anderson: I love it. Thank you so much.
Jenn Zahrt: You’re welcome. See you again.
Thea Anderson: See you.
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