Reflections

Astrology has more than one way of describing what a person is “like.” Modern readers are often familiar with the elements — Fire, Earth, Air, and Water — and the balance of the elements do tell us something important. They suggest the kinds of things a person is inclined to notice, what captures attention, and how that perception becomes motivation. But older astrology also makes room for two related ideas that are easy to blurMore...

The Moon is the first heavenly body most of us love. Before we know the names of planets, before we understand the zodiac, before we ever think of the sky as meaningful, we know the Moon. She follows us down dark roads. She appears at the bedroom window. She grows, fades, disappears, and returns. The Sun may dazzle.The Moon keeps company. Most people who know any astrology at all know their Sun sign. That isMore...

One of the oldest accusations against astrology is that it belongs to a discarded universe. Once the Earth was no longer understood as the physical centre of creation, the argument goes, astrology should have collapsed with it. If the planets do not literally revolve around us, how can they meaningfully speak to us? But this objection misunderstands what astrology is doing. Astrology is not a claim that the Earth is the mechanical centre of theMore...

When I was five, I had my first conversation with my father about the existence of God — or at least the first conversation I can remember. That I would have such a conversation with Dad was not, in itself, remarkable. He was preoccupied with religion, though very much from his own particular angle. He would talk about God with whomever happened to be available. My father tended to see God as a means ofMore...

Writing has always seemed to me a kind of alchemy. The old alchemists believed that hidden within common and seemingly worthless substances lay the possibility of transformation. Their work began with the prima materia — dark, unformed matter — and through a long process of purification and refinement sought to reveal gold concealed within it. Writing feels much the same. Every piece begins in obscurity: scattered impressions, fragments of thought, overheard phrases, memories, intuitions, quotations,More...