Stars & Artists: Tony Iommi, Mars, and the Factory Accident that Birthed Heavy Metal
Although the world has come to love the dense, dark sound he pioneered, Tony’s unique guitar style came from a horrible industrial accident. A new form of beauty was born from his blood.
Stars & Artists: James Hetfield, Metallica, & Mars in Libra
Ordinarily, Mars in Libra is considered a difficult placement, but Hetfield’s life is a great example of a debilitated planet put to good use. Many highpoints of his musical career correspond to moments when his Mars was activated
Stars & Artists: Neige of Alcest & the Moon in Pisces
Stéphane Paut, known by his stage name "Neige," was born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France on April 16, 1985. He is best known for his project Alcest which pioneered the blackgaze subgenre.
Infinite Oceans: Pisces & Post-Metal
In their desire to create truly transcendent music that encapsulates both bitterness and bliss, this effusive and expansive range of bands is best identified with the zodiac sign of Pisces, the last sign of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Sitting with Saturn and Cycles
Life always unfolds in cycles - the waxing and waning of the moon, the endless turning of the seasons, the path of water from rain to river to sea to cloud and down again. Saturn counts the years to a slower metronome, with beats lumbering and long and vast intervals of silence between.
Do You Want to Go to the Seaside?
Just 50 miles beyond Santiago de Compostela, the destination for pilgrims on “El Camino de Santiago,'' there lies a small craggy spit of land jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. It is called Cape Finisterre and can be found at the furthest Western edge of Spain in the enchanted province of Galicia. The Cape is so-named because the ancient Romans literally believed it to be the “end of the earth.”
A Light in the Dark
Recently, I spent a couple hours at home in the dark. Aside from a few shafts of light sneaking in through slanting shades and stray lights on appliances, there was no illumination. No lamps, no candles.
On Cunning and Cutting: Mars as Sword and Swordsmith
With Mars currently running retrograde through the Mercurial sign of Gemini, lately I’ve been thinking about Mars as an underappreciated planet of magic and sorcerous power. Throughout astrological history, swords and knives have always been his domain. Most glyphs depicting Mars are suggestive of weaponry - sleek, sharp, and direct. Therefore, the knife, as that which cleaves, slices, and separates, is symbolic of Mars' power. It's an essential part of every magician's arsenal as well.
What is Astrology?
Etymologically, the word astrology comes to us from the Greeks and has two parts: astro and logos. Logos means “a branch of study” and astro means “stars,” so astrology literally means the study of the stars, much as biology is the study of life. Studying the stars may sound like a misnomer however, since most astrologers focus on planets such as Mars, Mercury, and Uranus, not stars like Sirius or Betelgeuse. Why not call it planetology?
Capricorn - Doom Metal
Birthed from Black Sabbath’s eponymous song in 1969, doom metal is the grandfather of all heavy metal genres. Inspired by bassist Geezer Butler’s eerie experience of waking to see a looming shadow at the end of his bed, Ozzy Osbourne captured the feeling of impending doom with these hauntingly brief lines…