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[The Magic Thread] [By: Idemon, Richard] [March, 2010]
Back due to popular demand! For centuries, philosophers, alchemists and psychologists have been intrigued and fascinated by the intricacies of the labyrinth as a metaphor for human experience. Richard Idemon sees the birth chart, a symbol of inherent universal order, as a labyrinth—a logical but complicated and elusive structure. The interwoven symbols in the horoscope are made up of a single thread that, when unravelled—like the magic thread of Ariadne—lead us through the maze to the heart of the chart and our own nature. This book is transcribed from a six-day lecture given in 1986.
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First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 14, 2012
[3½ stars] In general, this is a fine book on combining astrology with depth (Jungian) psychology. Idemon focuses on getting an overview of a chart's major themes so that the astrologer doesn't get lost in detail. He stresses that the astrologer needs to keep an open mind when looking at a chart and find out from the client how they're living their chart rather than insisting that the astrologer's interpretation is the only possible one. Idemon goes into great depth on some subjects such as how missing elements, modes, etc. in the chart affect the person's life, the shadow, and projection. The book is an edited transcript of a 1986 conference, which is both a plus and a minus: the conversational style makes it easy and pleasant to read, but also a bit difficult to look up specific points.
The book had its flaws, however. It has several typos throughout; I am wondering if this is because the transcript was edited into a book after Idemon's death; the editor may have been guessing at the spellings of some words and wasn't able to consult him. This is also another book that treats traditional astrology dismissively. And I found myself increasingly annoyed with Idemon's practice of describing Pluto with the rape metaphor. Given the whole Pluto (Hades)-Demeter-Persephone myth, it's not that that's completely irrelevant, but he appeared to have no other metaphors at hand for experiencing Pluto, and to believe that only feminists would be bothered by this one.
This is no beginner's book; the reader is expected to know the basics of an astrological chart. But it would be a good book for those trying to apply depth psychology to an astrological chart.
The book had its flaws, however. It has several typos throughout; I am wondering if this is because the transcript was edited into a book after Idemon's death; the editor may have been guessing at the spellings of some words and wasn't able to consult him. This is also another book that treats traditional astrology dismissively. And I found myself increasingly annoyed with Idemon's practice of describing Pluto with the rape metaphor. Given the whole Pluto (Hades)-Demeter-Persephone myth, it's not that that's completely irrelevant, but he appeared to have no other metaphors at hand for experiencing Pluto, and to believe that only feminists would be bothered by this one.
This is no beginner's book; the reader is expected to know the basics of an astrological chart. But it would be a good book for those trying to apply depth psychology to an astrological chart.
December 6, 2020
I am saddened that Richard Idemon only had 2 books transcribed from his 3 seminars and hadn’t written books himself. He is one of those special astrologers that the world needs more of.
Favorite Excerpts:
“A person who sees astrology as a given thing, as a destiny, as something static, is going to interpret the chart very differently than the person who is in process. The depth of work that you have done on yourself, the amount of homework that you have done, the level, or I should say, the depth, of your consciousness, will equal the depth of your ability to read an astrological chart.
…So there are archetypal themes. How do you know how the person is going to live out the archetypal theme? You learn to listen and the person then tells you the chart. This is one of the most important differences, at least for me, between a traditional and a psychological approach to the chart. In the traditional approach one tells the person what is in the chart. In a more psychological approach we discover together through dialogue what is in the chart and how it effects the life.” – Pages 6-7
“The chart does not come alive, does not become real, until the living person is there dialoguing with you, or until you at least have the biography.” – Page 8
“The singleton becomes a psychological sore-point. It’s either the runt of the pig of the litter. In a litter of puppies, one is the pig that gets all the attention and all the food, and one is the runt that is very often left out.” – Page 29
“I think there are two kinds of people with Sun-Pluto squares. Those who are not afraid of it will express it consciously and be driven to power, while those who are terrified of that side of themselves and can’t face it, will project it onto others where they act it out themselves, but are totally unconscious of doing it. However, they have a way of running into their Pluto outside as a force of evil, yet it really is inside and I think it takes a lot of courage to face up to and integrate a Sun-Pluto square.” – Page 88
“Moon-Uranus is often the symbol of the abandoned child, the child who inwardly feels abandoned and it’s also the child who feels special, unusual. Moon is a nurturing figure and Uranus is the wanderer. I think people with strong Moon-Uranus contacts in their chart innately have to live through the myth of abandonment. “Someone is going to leave me.” It almost invariably means problems with the mother, or with the maternal and nurturing thing. Uranus doesn’t like the Moon. Cancer and Aquarius are in quincunx. They have an awfully hard time because they want opposite things. Cancer wants holding and wombs and umbilical cords and nurturing and closeness. Aquarius says, “Give me space, I can’t breathe. I have to go away from you in order to find myself.” So Moon-Uranus at best is an uncomfortable situation.” – Page 130
“[Speaking of the Ascendant, the mask] It has a defensive property, does the mask. It protects us from the elements like our clothes. It protects us from too much attention, or approach from other people, and it also has another quality. There’s an assertive quality about the persona; in other words, it makes a statement about ourselves. I often call this our advertising; this is how we are advertising ourselves.
…We don’t often get a chance to see that mirrored back at us. One of the best ways to see our mask can be photographs or movies taken of ourselves, which is why it’s so uncomfortable. And isn’t it interesting which ones you tear up? You say, “That does not look like me,” but what you’re really saying is, “That does not look like the me I would like me to look like.” Now, what is the reason? It is no accident that this mask forms, so I think we ought to look at the 7th and 12th houses to understand more clearly where the persona comes from.” – Pages 221 - 222
“People have a hard time accepting within themselves that the dark is beautiful, the dark is okay, the underworld of the psyche is all right and not a thing that you want to overcome, not a thing that you want to transcend. …So, if we only accept the light, and the bright, and the white, and the transcendence, and the spiritual, we’ll only be intellectual, which nicely puts us at a distance.
…So, if you are only the light, then how can you shine the light into someone else’s darkness? We must be Psyche who has turned the light on, but who has paid the price for the light. …You can’t go from Libra to Sagittarius. Between an Air sign and a Fire sign comes a Water sign and you don’t skip over that stuff. You don’t go from cognition and communication, nicely separated and detached and objective, and leap over to the Fire. You don’t have awareness and the act of grace and reunion with the universe and a new start, without going through the Water. That is the path through it. You can’t get from Gemini to Leo without going through Cancer or from Libra to Sagittarius without going through Scorpio.” – Pages 244-245
Favorite Excerpts:
“A person who sees astrology as a given thing, as a destiny, as something static, is going to interpret the chart very differently than the person who is in process. The depth of work that you have done on yourself, the amount of homework that you have done, the level, or I should say, the depth, of your consciousness, will equal the depth of your ability to read an astrological chart.
…So there are archetypal themes. How do you know how the person is going to live out the archetypal theme? You learn to listen and the person then tells you the chart. This is one of the most important differences, at least for me, between a traditional and a psychological approach to the chart. In the traditional approach one tells the person what is in the chart. In a more psychological approach we discover together through dialogue what is in the chart and how it effects the life.” – Pages 6-7
“The chart does not come alive, does not become real, until the living person is there dialoguing with you, or until you at least have the biography.” – Page 8
“The singleton becomes a psychological sore-point. It’s either the runt of the pig of the litter. In a litter of puppies, one is the pig that gets all the attention and all the food, and one is the runt that is very often left out.” – Page 29
“I think there are two kinds of people with Sun-Pluto squares. Those who are not afraid of it will express it consciously and be driven to power, while those who are terrified of that side of themselves and can’t face it, will project it onto others where they act it out themselves, but are totally unconscious of doing it. However, they have a way of running into their Pluto outside as a force of evil, yet it really is inside and I think it takes a lot of courage to face up to and integrate a Sun-Pluto square.” – Page 88
“Moon-Uranus is often the symbol of the abandoned child, the child who inwardly feels abandoned and it’s also the child who feels special, unusual. Moon is a nurturing figure and Uranus is the wanderer. I think people with strong Moon-Uranus contacts in their chart innately have to live through the myth of abandonment. “Someone is going to leave me.” It almost invariably means problems with the mother, or with the maternal and nurturing thing. Uranus doesn’t like the Moon. Cancer and Aquarius are in quincunx. They have an awfully hard time because they want opposite things. Cancer wants holding and wombs and umbilical cords and nurturing and closeness. Aquarius says, “Give me space, I can’t breathe. I have to go away from you in order to find myself.” So Moon-Uranus at best is an uncomfortable situation.” – Page 130
“[Speaking of the Ascendant, the mask] It has a defensive property, does the mask. It protects us from the elements like our clothes. It protects us from too much attention, or approach from other people, and it also has another quality. There’s an assertive quality about the persona; in other words, it makes a statement about ourselves. I often call this our advertising; this is how we are advertising ourselves.
…We don’t often get a chance to see that mirrored back at us. One of the best ways to see our mask can be photographs or movies taken of ourselves, which is why it’s so uncomfortable. And isn’t it interesting which ones you tear up? You say, “That does not look like me,” but what you’re really saying is, “That does not look like the me I would like me to look like.” Now, what is the reason? It is no accident that this mask forms, so I think we ought to look at the 7th and 12th houses to understand more clearly where the persona comes from.” – Pages 221 - 222
“People have a hard time accepting within themselves that the dark is beautiful, the dark is okay, the underworld of the psyche is all right and not a thing that you want to overcome, not a thing that you want to transcend. …So, if we only accept the light, and the bright, and the white, and the transcendence, and the spiritual, we’ll only be intellectual, which nicely puts us at a distance.
…So, if you are only the light, then how can you shine the light into someone else’s darkness? We must be Psyche who has turned the light on, but who has paid the price for the light. …You can’t go from Libra to Sagittarius. Between an Air sign and a Fire sign comes a Water sign and you don’t skip over that stuff. You don’t go from cognition and communication, nicely separated and detached and objective, and leap over to the Fire. You don’t have awareness and the act of grace and reunion with the universe and a new start, without going through the Water. That is the path through it. You can’t get from Gemini to Leo without going through Cancer or from Libra to Sagittarius without going through Scorpio.” – Pages 244-245
July 21, 2013
This is the first book I’ve read by Richard Idemon and I found it was very interesting and thought provoking. As with many astrology books it takes the format of transcripts of seminars given by the author – in this case in 1986. Surprisingly enough they do not date. The book’s sub title – ‘Astrological Chart Interpretation Using Depth Psychology – explains what the book is about. The author uses myths and Jungian psychology to study astrological charts.
Case studies are provided of well-known people and the audience participation brings the whole thing to life. The subjects covered are: - inferior and dominant functions; shadow issues; the Ascendant as mask; counselling etc. Whether you are engaged in astrological counselling as a professional or are simply interested in exploring your own astrological chart with a view to understanding yourself in more depth this book will be of interest to you.
I was particularly struck by the two chapters which concern incest and the damage it had done to two sisters and the lady who had serious medical issues. I found her own short autobiography included in the chapter titled ‘The Case of Linnie Ozer’ very moving and the exploration of her chart in the light of the autobiography really brings the chart to life.
Case studies are provided of well-known people and the audience participation brings the whole thing to life. The subjects covered are: - inferior and dominant functions; shadow issues; the Ascendant as mask; counselling etc. Whether you are engaged in astrological counselling as a professional or are simply interested in exploring your own astrological chart with a view to understanding yourself in more depth this book will be of interest to you.
I was particularly struck by the two chapters which concern incest and the damage it had done to two sisters and the lady who had serious medical issues. I found her own short autobiography included in the chapter titled ‘The Case of Linnie Ozer’ very moving and the exploration of her chart in the light of the autobiography really brings the chart to life.
February 11, 2019
Estuve leyendo este y Astrología de las relaciones: a la búsqueda de uno mismo en el reflejo de los demás los dos libros de Idemon que alcanzó a escribir, para complementarlos con unos estudios que estoy haciendo sobre mitología griega y resultaron MUY importantes para otras cosas, entre ésas entender mejor la relación entre Zelda y FS Fitzgerald, las semejanzas y diferencias entre Hemingway y Hart Crane!, además de dinámicas de abusos familiares. Esas cosas sorpresa que aparecen cuando uno está buscando otras. Para los que sepan algo de astrología pero además les interese la literatura están bien interesantes-.
January 16, 2021
I enjoyed the whole book, the contents, the delivery, the charts delineated, it left me wanting more. There was one thing that confused me when a capricorn sun in the third house was noted as a singleton in mutable.., so it's cardinal, it is aspected, and there are two other planets in mutable houses...this had me going back to it over and over to try to suss it out. There were a few wee typos also but all in all a fantastic book.
May 15, 2017
Idemon had such deep astrological/psychological insight for such a young man. Extremely gifted. He died way too young.
July 21, 2018
Lecture style & deeply psychological one of my favorites.
February 24, 2023
Me es difícil de valorar. El lado técnico astrológico me parece muy flojo, en la línea de este tipo de publicaciones, y en lo psicológico no me ha entusiasmado apenas. Sin embargo me parece muy útil para entender el fundamento de lo que se denomina "astrología psicológica", a pesar de que el autor es una "rara avis" que se sale de los marcos habituales en este campo . Me ha parecido muy buena la actitud crítica (y auto-crítica), advirtiendo de las trampas y peligros que se pueden dar en este tipo de sesiones. Y algunas de las reflexiones, sobre todo en temas periféricos, me han gustado mucho: por su inteligencia, sensibilidad y cierta profundidad. Los dos últimos capítulos me interesan más (sobre el Ascendente, las consultas y la astrología en general). En suma: una buena lectura, de la que he tomado bastantes notas, pese a muchas objeciones y aunque la considere (personalmente) en su mayoría prácticamente inaplicable. Lo veo más un libro para pensar y discutir que práctico.
October 12, 2025
7/10 (Electrónico) Bastante interesante para comenzar...
March 18, 2023
Absolutely brilliant
Such an insightful, deep, & wonderful book! I'm sorry I bought the Kindle edition! I HAVE to get this in hard copy! Was hooked from beginning to end!
Such an insightful, deep, & wonderful book! I'm sorry I bought the Kindle edition! I HAVE to get this in hard copy! Was hooked from beginning to end!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews