July 2012 Newsletter - Three Wise Astrologers Swap Notes
Three Wise Astrologers Swap Notes
by Steven Forrest
The United Astrology Conference in New Orleans (UAC) in May was a zoo for me, as I expected. It’s good to have a gathering of the tribes, but playing the “famous astrologer” role in a crowd of 1200gets very exhausting. My classes went well and I enjoyed playing at least one role — that of a gay Albert Einstein meeting an equally gay Isaac Newton (played by UK astrologer, Andrew Morton) in Michael Lutin’s terrific show, “Maybe The Mayans Were Right.”
Otherwise, for me the high point of the conference was the chance to sit down with Gisele Terry and David Cochrane to talk about the current conditions in the astrological community. Videographer Kelly Phipps shot the conversation with a single camera as the three of us sat around a table in Gisele’s room. You can watch it now on YouTube.
Gisele is a psychotherapist in California as well as being the current president of ISAR. David is a past president of ISAR and currently runs the Avalon School of Astrology in Florida. I like and respect both of them very much. Harmony reigned, but we all have very different viewpoints about what’s important in astrology. David is very much oriented to finding statistical support for astrology. Like David, Gisele is academically-disposed, although more clinical and less numerical. I suppose I played the part of the Wild Man From Borneo, in that I am not very optimistic about astrology and academia being reconciled anytime soon.
The conversation was a pleasant one in that it never really veered into debate, nor was there a speck of vitriol or even disrespect among us. Instead, we danced around each other’s positions, poking a bit, but generally willing to learn from each other. Too often, different schools of thought in astrology become emotionally antagonistic. It was a pleasure to sit with two of my colleagues who were wise and mature enough to avoid that, humble enough to learn and grow, and kind enough to listen and share.
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