Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View Paperback – April 24, 2007

This is a fascinating book. To begin, it is extremely well written and for the most part a joy to read. (The second half of the book in which he presents his survey of historical trends and astrological factors, however, does get a bit verbose, tedious, and boring.) Tarnas exposes the limitations of the mechanistic world view that has dominated modern science until recent times with the advent of quantum physics and relativity. His understanding of Western intellectual history is profound. For astrologers there is little new in this book but for non-astrologers his research is eye-opening. I found the beginning chapters to be the most interesting with their discussion of the modern idea of self. Having studied astrology for over 40 years and having been trained in psychiatry and Freudian psychoanalysis, I finally feel understood by a reputable member of academia. For example I have lectured about the conjunction of Schopenhauer's natal sun with Saturn, only to received befudlled looks from my audience. I was delighted that Tarnas uses this same example to illustrate a point in his text. My only reservation is that the author presents his material as if he has personally newly discovered correlations between celestial phenomena and mundane events, which astrologers had already written about for centuries. He does not credit his astrological sources in a way that one would expect of a research scholar. One gets the impression that he has not studied the rich intellectual traditions of astrology in the same meticulous way that he has pursued Western philosphy, religion, and science. I also found myself agreeing with the review of Anton G. Hardy on this site, especially his comments about "Kant's Copernican revolution, certainly an event of import in the history of thought," having "received such scant discussion. The reason apparently is that 1781 falls outside the expected Uranus-Pluto period of influence." Hardy argues that interpretive systems (like astrology and psychoanalysis) utilize "bailout" propositons to explain phenomena that don't fit their system. Tarnas would have been more convincing had he addressed such events headon. Tarnas correlates many but not all major events in Western intellectual history of astrological cycles. But correlation is not proof; it's merely a suggestion that something deeper may be going on. I'm afraid this book will be lauded by astrologers and dismissed by serious scholars of history as not convincing.Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book because it places astrology deservedly at the center of the Western intellectual tradition.

This came up in a recommendation as I was looking for introductory books about astrology. This book is fantastic! I would say one thing about it before you read-this is not a pop astrology book. If you are interested in things like horoscopes or more basic astrology, this is not the book for you. It has philosophical concepts in it, and it might be hard to understand if you are not familiar with philosophy and famous philosophers. I had several courses in college, and I would have not understood the first few chapters had I not. However, that was something which was appealing to me. If you enjoy philosophy, you will love this book. Also, if you are a Carl Jung enthusiast as am I, you will really appreciate this book. It is a very intelligent, academic look at the significance of the heavens and their relations to life on earth. The concepts are more along the lines of ancient astrology, in which mathematicians detailed the positions of stars in relation to world events and rulers of the time. There is a lot of exploration of world events, including wars and 9/11. It was fascinating. Tarnas believes in the idea of a "personal cosmos" and if you do as well, you will love this book. Even if you are not familiar with that idea but it appeals to you, I promise that you will want to read this book. I think Richard Tarnas is a great voice for the idea of a personal cosmos. I also think that he credibly addresses ideas that people in academia might dismiss. If there is anyone to be the voice that gets through to skeptics, it is Tarnas. Very well done!

I read this a number of years ago. I still re-read this on a regular basis as there is so much to digest.In my opinion, it is THE best book at least right now in terms of not just laying out the framework for verifying the truth behind astrology, but also how revelatory it is making one understand astrology. It is the first book that I know of that will allow astrology to enter the mainstream as there is now a way to verify its truth. Astrology is archetypally predictive and not fatalistic as is usually understood. That is the primary paradigm shift that makes astrology finally accessible. You will need to spend some time with the book as it is not a one time read or a coffee table book. This takes a little bit of work. There is so much cultural bias against astrology that it is almost impossible to approach it with any seriousness. I myself struggled with that a huge deal till someone I hugely respected read my chart in a way that opened a door I could not shut. His recommendation of this book got me onto this. Keep an open mind as you read this book. If this book connects for you, some other authors that can deepen your knowledge are Steven Forrest, Stephen Arroyo, Robert Hand and Liz Green. Liz Green's book on Neptune is the bible on Neptune. Nothing comes close to that. Arroyo's Astrology Karma and Transformation is a classic. Astrology is a science as much as art. Cosmos and Psyche will become the Bible for astrologers at some point in the future once it has penetrated the mainstream consciousness. I suspect mainstream recognition of this book will come in due time once people take the time to verify what he shows. Once you verify you have incontrovertible proof yourself, so you can't poohpooh it anymore. He is thorough as he is deep. The writing is excellent so much so that I love reading it just for how well it is written. It must've taken enormous effort to product this tome. Excellent work !