Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View

by Richard Tarnas

From a philosopher whose history of Western thought was praised by Joseph Campbell & Huston Smith comes a book tracing the connection between cosmic cycles & archetypal patterns of experience. Drawing on years of research & on thinkers from Plato to Jung, Tarnas explores the planetary correlations of epochal events like the French Revolution, the world wars & 9/11. Whether read as astrology updated for the quantum age or as a contemporary classic of spirituality, Cosmos & Psyche is an important work of sophistication & learning. importance.
Preface
1 The transformation of the cosmos. The birth of the modern self
The dawn of a new universe
Two paradigms of history
Forging the self, disenchanting the world
The cosmological situation today
2 In search of a deeper order. Two suitors: a parable
The interior quest
Synchronicity & its implications
The archetypal cosmos
3 Through the archetypal telescope. The evolving tradition
Archetypal principles
The planets
Forms of correspondence
Personal transit cycles
Archetypal coherence & concrete diversity
Assessing patterns of correlation
4 Epochs of revolution. From the French Revolution to the 1960s
Synchronic & diachronic patterns in history
Scientific & technological revolutions
Awakenings of the Dionysian
The liberation of nature
Religious rebellion & erotic emancipation
Filling in the cyclical sequence
The individual & the collective
A larger view of the sixties
5 Cycles of crisis & contraction. World Wars, Cold War & 9/11
Historical contrasts & tensions
Conservative empowerment
Splitting, evil & terror
"Moby Dick" & nature's depth
Historical determinism, realpolitik & apocalypse
Moral courage, facing the shadow & the tension of opposites
Paradigmatic works of art
Forging deep structures
6 Cycles of creativity & expansion. Opening new horizons
Convergences of scientific breakthroughs
Social & political rebellions & awakenings
Quantum leaps & peak experiences
From Copernicus to Darwin
Music & literature
Iconic moments & cultural milestones
Great heights & shadows
Hidden births
7 Awakenings of spirit & soul. Epochal shifts of cultural vision
Spiritual epiphanies & the emergence of new religions
Utopian social visions
Romanticism, imaginative genius & cosmic epiphany
Revelations of the numinous
The great awakening of the Axial Age
The late 20th century & the turn of the millennium
8 Towards a new heaven & a new earth. Understanding the past, creating the future
Observations on future planetary alignments
Sources of the world order
Epilogue
Notes
Sources
Acknowledgments
Index

Genres: Astrology, Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction, History, Spirituality, Science

592 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Richard Theodore Tarnas (born February 21, 1950) is a cultural historian known for his books The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View and Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. Tarnas is professor of philosophy and psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is the founding director of its graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.

Reviews

[adam prometheus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I think this book is going to change the world. Tarnas' research is absolutely astounding-- he is a well-renowned historian, and he's the only one to go into historical astrology in such depth and with such scientific dignity and prowess. 30 years in the making, Cosmos and Psyche is a mind-blowing masterpiece which presents historical eras alongside the planetary alignments and astrological events, along with the lives of historical figures, their birth charts and planetary returns, and explains carefully and explicitly the archetypal energies at play on earth and the heavenly aspects that correspond to them, emphasizing that the relationship between events in space, events on earth, and events in the mind are not in his opinion causal relationships one way or the other but are nevertheless simultaneous and correlate in a predictable manner. And he shows the evidence for this to such a great length that I don't think anyone could actually read this book and continue to view astrology as a "pseudo-science". Seriously, it straight-up proves it to be a legitimate science, and even an unbeliever in astronomy, if you could get them to read this, would have to admit that there is an uncanny relationship between human history and planetary cycles, enough so that a study of such things should be taken seriously. And I believe it will be in the near future, as this kind of understanding becomes more widespread. Tarnas' research is the key to bringing astrology back into the mainstream because it is so undeniable and without opinion or bias, it just says, here is history, and here is what the planets were doing at that time, and here are the patterns that show up. Take a look!

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

All of the "evidence" for astrology was "retro-dictive" rather than predictive.

In other words, the "research" looked at history and explained the events based on the astrology.

The idea was that the events were explainable by what an astrologer could have predicted.

And that somehow proved astrology is true.

That doesn't really prove anything.

The book had a sciencey feel.

But it was clearly not science.

I'm embarrassed that I read it.

But I did.

That was back when I still had an open mind about such things.

This 600 page monster pretty much put an end to all that.

Now I just read actual science.

It makes me feel less like I took crazy pills.

[Szplug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure, trying to make a serious case for the cyclical positioning of the planets as having an intermediary influence upon the terrestrial course of events seems loopy and absurd in this, our high tide of technocultural rationalism - but full marks to Tarnas both for having the sheer balls to publish this obvious labour of love and for refusing to back down from the implications of his own argument. He will doubtless join the ranks of those like Koestler, who endured much maligning - and took a severe hit to his reputation - for his interest in, and turn to, the paranormal in the later stages of his eventful life - but it really does take all kinds, and this book presents a fascinating, if highly questionable means of interpreting curious and seemingly stochastic events from throughout human history.

[Owen Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has permanently altered my worldview. In short, the author, a respected scholar/scientist, presents a busload of data strongly suggesting that the movements and alignments of the outer planets of our solar system are strongly correlated (i.e., synchronistic) with certain kinds of events that repeatedly and predictably occur on Earth. Strange though it may seem, the data convincingly demonstrates that the entire solar system predicts (and perhaps influences) the trends of human history and reveals the existence of cyclical historical themes (recurring archetypes that function globally). Now you're probably saying to yourself, "Astrology? Seriously? Nonsense!" Right? I felt the same way before reading this book. My initial impression of astrology was that it contained no truth whatsoever. And, of course, much of astrology (especially horoscopes) will always be utter nonsense. Nevertheless, the type of astrology in "Cosmos and Psyche" appears to be entirely valid, and the author supports all of his ideas and conclusions with an abundance of convincing evidence. "Cosmos and Psyche" is also one of the most spiritually enlightening, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally rewarding reading experiences I've ever enjoyed. My review of this book fails to do justice to the amazing information this book contains. Note: Knowledge of the writings of Carl Jung is helpful for a full understanding of several important concepts in this book.

[Gregory Tilden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Quote me on this, that this book is an early sign of an entirely new potential re-structuring of the way we relate to the world. Most beautifully written, brought me to the point of tears as well as shakes when reading, even only 100 pages in. I hope to study with Tarnas at CIIS for graduate school.

[Abner Rosenweig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was deceived. There is nothing in the book's title, or on the description on the back cover, or in the first 60 pages(!), that mentions the book is about astrology. If I had known this book was about astrology, I never would have bought it.

I want my money back.

Disappointment aside, Tarnas is an outstanding writer and I would eagerly read his other book, "The Passion of the Western Mind." The first two parts of "Cosmos and Psyche"--approximately the first 60 pages--are a stunning recapitulation of the development of cosmological views throughout history and an intriguing assessment of where we are and where we're headed. The astonishing scholarship and clarity of writing in the first two parts were the only reasons I decided to continue reading once the book took a nosedive off the cliff of credibility.

The main exposition of the book consists of various coincidences of astrological archetypes and historical events. While Tarnas' writing and scholarship are impressive, he never considers examples that don't fit his model, only ones that do. In this way, any system of thought, no matter how fanciful, could claim legitimacy. He even states near the end, "The researcher must engage in a constant renegotiation between theory and data, reconsidering each in the light of the other in a continuous process of recursive feedback"--namely, when facts didn't fit his theory, Tarnas simply bent his theory until the facts did fit.

In spite of the book's brilliant introduction, I am not at all convinced that astrology has merit. However, I maintain an open mind. Just because I don't see astrology's worth doesn't mean there's no value in it. As Tarnas says in the book, quoting William James, "Those who have ears to hear, let them hear."

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time that I had a review gone missing!!

Thankfully, the review was just an apology to Richard Tarnas for not finishing all of it 🫣

A good read for modern astrology and archetypal astrology. 👍🏽💗

Reading is academic, sometimes I am with the flow, sometimes I am lost. 😣 I’m sure for those who are comfortable with academic writing and read a lot of astrology, this is probably a comfortable read. However, this was a little inaccessible to me. Makes me a little sad 😞 but also I shouldn’t be sad. 😤 I’m not reading academic texts all the time. 🥸

PS I think it’s an interesting thought-experiment when academic authors try to write for an everyday plebeian audience… and it’s still a smidge dry. 🫠

[Giovanni Gardinale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has radically changed my worldview. It brought me to tears several times. Tears of joy. Tears of meaning, of cosmic purpose. This book is a first handbook of the music of the spheres, let it work on you, keep an open mind and an open heart and it will deliver. It spans millennia and gives extensive evidence of a correspondence, a resonance, between the cycles of the planets and events in human history and culture.

The evidence is not of a literal kind, it's not about prophecy. It's about rythm and patterns of potentiality. The author has worked on it for 30 years and has an encyclopedic knowledge of (mostly) western cultural history.

I've discovered Tarnas thanks to a Goodreads comment that mentioned him in the section under Jung's Aion (another masterpiece) and knowledge and personal experience of archetypes helps to digest the book.

What first made it click for me is the fact that I found the archetypal correspondence of world events and planet cycles most astonishing and beautifully, intricately intelligent in the domains that I know most about (like the history of physics and philosophy) whereas I tended towards a skeptical attitude about the significance of the correspondence in other domains in which I'm more ignorant.

It has changed the way in which I see history, psychology, cosmology, metaphysics, artistic creativity and inspiration (a random list of my favourite subjects in the world) and many more.

The biggest impact, though, remains the existential one: the patterns that we can recognise the most are the ones in our own life and our own history is a fundamental part of the cosmos.

It feels particularly funny for me, because of how scornful I have been in the past towards astrology (this book is reaaaally not about horoscopes and the author is critical of mainstream, shallow, astrology) and how important it may well be in my vocation (connecting cosmos and meaning, the reason why I studied physics and philosophy in the first place).

Please, please, give it a chance

[A.J. McMahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarnas is not a very good writer, being one of those authors who is verbose in the extreme. He never uses one word where ten will do, and his prose style is so over-the-top that at times I just had to laugh. His ideas are interesting, however, and he expresses them so clearly as to be highly intelligible, which is a big point in his favour. His argument is that up till the Enlightenment we lived in a world in which we were a part of a larger whole, which meant among other things that meaning was objective. Tarnas then discusses a development (which was news to me, and which alone made reading this book worthwhile) called the disenchantment of the cosmos, which involved a paradigm shift which resulted in us seeing the world as merely a material process onto which we projected meaning. So far so good, and I would give him five stars up to this point (and simply forgive him his verbosity). However, he then tries to further advance his argument by putting forward evidence he has gathered over the years concerning correlations between the planets, especially Uranus and Pluto, and key developments in history and the achievements of historical figures; for example, Melville wrote Moby Dick during a particular phase of the Saturn-Pluto cycle. I found these correlations unconvincing because the outer planets move so slowly that any correlations can unfold over such a wide span of time that lots of things are bound to have been going on. Tarnas bravely has a stab at making predictions at the end of his book on the basis of his correlations but none of them to date have come true. He completely missed the Arab Spring. I will re-read the first part of the book sometime, as that was a very interesting background discussion, but I was not too impressed with the remaining sections, hence my grading of this book as average.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is mostly a long defense for Jungian archetypal astrology with synchroncity and how it must obviously be true since the author shows how heavenly patterns repeat themselves as they align themselves with human events and that Jungian archetypes laden on our collective unconsciousness are best at reconciling the human experiences through material and the spiritual and ultimately accounting for the ontological difference between what is in us with that which is out of us by acknowledging the truth of astrology.

I did read the book cover-to-cover because if one ignores the astrology that permeates every page, there are interesting cultural references sprinkled within the book as well as historically important books such as his mentioning of many of my most favorite books such as Augustine’s “City of God”, Hobb’s “Leviathan”, Schopenhauer’s “Will to Live”, anything by Nietzsche, Plotinus and many others. He sincerely thinks they were written under the epochal astrological alignment and they explain why they had to be written. He did mention how Augustine’s prolific writing proved that Tarnas’ theory of astrology explained why he was right, but I do want to note that Augustine showed why all astrology was bunk in “The City of God”, so much the worse for Tarnas’ pseudo-scientific world-view with astrology at the center.

Tarnas writes well, but he sincerely believed that Jungian archetypal synchronicity astrology is real and he provides what he considers as proof through this long-winded defense of the absurd.

[Mateo · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first encountered this book at the Henry Miller Library last summer I had a vague hunch that there were answers to be found somewhere inside, so I followed up and began the complicating, invigorating, and disillusioning process. What I found was: a cultural history of the past 2500 years of "western civlization" engaging enough to almost have a plot; an introduction to discerning archetypes within the collective and individual texts of cultural-ish activity (and thus, over time, intimations of comprehension of that term 'archetypes'); 490 pages of examples, boggling in depth and fluidity, of how these archetypal dynamics play out through the trajectory of history, seemingly implying deeper structures that--this is the best part!--seem to be correlated to how and which planets are aligned with each other from the earthling's perspective. You see, as the planets interact around us, the same characters that they represent within the human and natural world also seem to be interacting and playing out certain moments as if the universe were some sort of stage and the actions had some amount of structured intent to them. An inundation of scholarship follows. One idea that Tarnas mentions early on is the concept that each moment is imbued with a certain 'quality' that can be discerned (often after-the-fact), and I've been thinking about that recently--why did 2 people, just the other day, both tell me separately that they had the same song stuck in their head? Hmmmm... As I was saying, I'm not sure if I found the answers I was looking for about how greater powers control my destiny, but I did learn a whole lot of telling factoids and big pictures about the history of art, politics, science, and religion, and in a way that felt creative and kept me engaged and guessing--for that alone I'd easily recommend this book. The academic tracts within the book are accessible enough, though, to make me feel smart while reading them, which I actually think I liked, and I feel somewhat more prepared now to hunt for hints of meaning, no matter how arbitrary it may seem, within the cultural fabric. One last thing I did learn was that we will be surprised by the future, even if some things will remind us of other things.

[Andrew H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mechanistic view of astrology is not believable in the C21. In Cosmos and Psyche, Tarnas proposes a psychological link. How this works is never thrashed out. There is a heavy reliance on Jung and Archetypes, and the subconscious; in fact, Jung is used a convenient touchstone. In one throw away sentence, Tarnas hints at the method, then skates away quickly into heavy prose. Simply put, certain people open themselves up to archetypal planetary structures, connect to cosmic, archetypal patterns and express these energies. Out of this connection movements arise ... instead of planets influencing human life, human life senses the solar system, psyche connects to cosmos.

Tarnas makes grand claims by referring back to history. His arguments are tantalising. But when questions are raised they wobble terribly. For example, in 1643-1654, one of the main archetypal cycles, Pluto-Uranus, coincided with the English Civil War. Pluto-Uranus, according to Tarnas, creates emancipation and eroticism. Lo and behold, in 1643, Milton wrote his divorce tracts. Clear evidence of psyche responding to cosmos. Unfortunately, I have never found the divorce tracts particularly Dionysian and Tarnas does not give an example passage. His arguments are frequently without detailed textual support. Now, had Milton written the Sixth Elegy in this period, his sensual epistle to Diodati. The Pluto-Uranus cycle peaked in 1648-9. Was Milton following Dionysus at this major exact alignment? Sadly not. He was occupied with Eikonoklastes and regicide.

Cosmos and Psyche is a provocative read. But it paints with broad brush strokes and does not engage with cultural developments in sufficient detail. A new science is born? That is a grandiose claim indeed. This is a book that needs counter-argument at every stage and in that sense it is a good read.

[deborah pearmain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author really got on my nerves with his" why use 10 words when 100 will do" approach.Verbose is a word I don't use often but to this book it should be applied in spades.I did not enjoy the book. I didn't find anything new and refreshing in it. The ideas were all familiar to me. Maybe that is because I had studied astrology in considerable depth prior to reading the book. I did not experience a meeting of minds between myself and the author or any profound revelations. It's easy to prove astrology in retrospect. One simply cherry picks important events that took place at the time of the particular planetary configuration one is looking at. In the case of the outer planets which have such long cycles this is not difficult. I am an astrologer myself but with a healthy dose of skepticism thrown in. For some reason the book just did't cut it for me. I wanted to like the book. It came highly recommended by a friend. It obviously took a lot of time and effort to write. Pity.

[Carole Brooks Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Tarnas is a man with a vision, which happens to include not only the vastness of the universe (the cosmos), but also the depths of the individual creative mind (the psyche). In the process, he combines a historical time frame (the synchronic) with the diachronic sweep of time through the lens of the alignment of the outer planets. Whereas you would think an astrological vision would be totally out of reality's ballpark, it turns out that his argument is very convincing, most of all because of the 30 years of research he has put into this magisterial work. His knowledge of history and the most important, game-changing books written over time's past, leaves you breathless. It's not an easy read, but it's a deep, deep thesis reaching to the ends of the known universe. One would not expect less from a mind of such enormous scope and erudition.

[Anita Ashland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An almost overwhelming look at history and how the patterns of various cycles of war, economic downturns, inventions, bursts of creativity, etc. coincide with the transits of the outer planets. A superb reference for just about any historical event and how it relates to, say, Uranus-Neptune, or any of the other outer planet transits.

His archetypal descriptions of the 7 traditional planets are excellent. He also has a section on what it is like to experience an outer planet transit in your personal life, which helps give you self-compassion about those inevitable mid-life crises.

[Travis Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable book. After 1000 pages of Richard Tarnas (I read "Passion of the Western Mind" before this one), I can't imagine a more thorough, open-minded, and incisive tour through western human consciousness of the past 2000+ years. And in the end, it's a comprehensive and effective argument against the scientism that has dominated our relatively recent culture, and a compelling call to reanimate the world around us so that we can evolve and survive, both individually and culturally.

[Vallin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proof of astrology and that Pluto is a planet.

[Aleksandra Bekreneva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я не побоюсь громких слов, эта книга гениальна. И сделает для 21 века то же, что работы Фрейда и Юнга сделали для 20 века.

Ричард Тарнас — учёный из Калифорнийского университета, у которого хватило стальных яиц для того, чтобы рискнуть своим добрым именем и академической карьерой и написать огромный, подробный, со множеством статистических данных, труд, который подтверждает тот факт, что планетарные циклы влияют на события в мировой истории.

Я могу только стоять и аплодировать. Я читала эту книгу несколько месяцев и от каждой страницы у меня взрывался мозг.

Я знаю, что у меня тут люди свободомыслящие, новаторы, интеллектуалы. Поэтому я вам горячо рекомендую эту книгу к прочтению!!!

А теперь подробнее:

Вы никогда не задумывались, как это люди веками жили без психологов, а вот в ХХ веке вдруг «бац» — и бум психологии, и каждому срочно нужен психотерапевт (и мне тоже), иначе жизнь не жизнь?

К ХХ столетию окончательно и бесповоротно сформировалось наше представление о Вселенной как о бездушной, бескрайней, холодной, пугающей, где всем управляет хаос и случайность, бесстрастно и механистично.

И в этой безбрежной Вселенной, на самом отшибе, на микроскопической Земле живёт Венец Творения, человек. И его мозг, который превосходит по уровню развития ни много ни мало, а всю Вселенную разом. Человек и его разум каким-то образом обособленно существуют среди бездушного, бескрайнего НИЧТО.

Как пишет Ричард Тарнас, профессор философии и психологии в Калифорнийском институте интегральных исследований в Сан-Франциско, в своей книге, ни в одну эпоху, никогда, уровень человеческого высокомерия не был настолько высоким — космических размеров — как сегодня. Мы, каждый, за редким исключением, искренне полагаем, что исключительный источник всего смысла и цели во Вселенной сосредоточен в человеческом разуме. И разум этот абсолютно уникальный, особенный и превосходит весь Космос.

Какая плата за наше высокомерие? Пустота и одиночество. «Бог умер», как сказал Ницше. Все к психологу!

Мы больше не верим в принцип «что внутри, то и снаружи», иными словами, что человек и Вселенная — едины и устроены по схожим принципам. Ведь допустить это, значит, предположить (О БОЖЕ!!!), что у Вселенной, вероятно, тоже есть душа, разум ...

И что Вселенная НЕ бездушное и хаотичное НИЧТО.

Для наших предков было естественным, к примеру, считать священными реки, горы, леса и т. д. Для наших предков у всего вокруг, а не только у одного человека, была душа и разум.

В ХХ веке одним из первых о том, что что-то явно пошло не так в нашем понимании Вселенной, задумался психолог и психиатр Карл Густав Юнг, описав явление синхронистичности, которое он также живо обсуждал с такими знаменитыми физиками, как Альберт Эйнштейн и Вольфганг Паули.

Цепи необъяснимо повторяющихся событий, совпадения, которые никак не объяснить логически — периодически возникают в жизни многих людей.

И В ТВОЕЙ ЖИЗНИ ТОЖЕ, ЧИТАТЕЛЬ, Я ТОЧНО ЗНАЮ.

Например, вам может сниться сон о воробье, потом на работе в ваше оконное стекло бьётся воробей, потом ваши коллеги обсуждают воробья за обедом, а вечером вам дарят книгу о воробьях и по телевизору идёт передача о воробьях, и т. д.

Это и есть синхронистичность / синхроничность / синхронность.

Многие учёные знакомы с этим явлением не понаслышке, так как оно значительно учащается в их жизнях особенно перед важными открытиями.

Если коротко, объяснить синхронистичность можно только одним способом. Допустив, что Вселенная — это НЕ ТОЛЬКО хаотичное НИЧТО. Допустив, что она живёт по своим, разумным, законам.

«Cosmos and Psyche» / «Космос и душа» — большое исследование об устройстве нашей Вселенной, которое понравится всем ищущим и пытливым умам.

А также тем, что живёт по принципу i want to believe.
Все тайны я вам не раскрою.
Читайте!

[Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

If what he claims is true, it would be something beautiful. Unfortunately, it takes a stretch of the imagination to convince myself. The selective choices made concerning persons and events, along with the elasticity of archetypes, allows for a kind of dullness of the intellect to take over if one gives in to it. Skepticism chastens us for the better, I believe, and I prefer to remain in good conscience. That being said, though the thesis here is not a topic for proving, it is not necessarily untrue.
A few additional notes: All of Section One can be glossed over or skipped if you've finished Passion of the Western Mind (particularly the Epilogue). It wasn't particularly interesting having read it.
Section two is where Tarnas properly begins. The parable of the Two Suitors is where the reader realizes that they're either in or out- willing to suspend the imagination and consider this woowoo worldview or not. I struggled here but decided to go on; our way of seeing a disenchanted universe is overwhelmingly obvious to most of us, of course, but just what if this objectified world as we know it has a soul? So he brings up synchronicity to entertain the idea. (Which, by the way, this idea of synchronicity has fascinated me since coming across it in Peck's The Road Less Traveled years ago). Then he delivers the basics on astrology and a renewed vision of cosmology. It all seems whacky but again, growth comes via humility and I'd decided to entertain the idea.
Next he explains and historically situates archetypes. This leads into the relationship between archetypes and their planetary counterparts, aka astrology.
It is at this point that the worldview starts crumbling fast for those of us who are on high alert, cynics, or skeptics. Personally, I expect something that resembles certainty if it's novel and I'm asked to live by it.
What I preemptively cringe at here is that he describes the archetypes as being fluid in their nature and not like math (in other words, playing whatever role one needs them to in order to make a correlation). One has to keep reading some five hundred additional pages to find out whether or not they are so malleable as to have any acceptably valid, fixed meaning and whether one can claim these ideas as their own.
Lastly, this guy loves the word multivalent. And why doesn't he cite his quotations (if anyone who comes along and reads this knows)?

[Jessica Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brilliant book follows on from The Passion Of The Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View and offers a worldview and cosmology to help heal the disastrous split in the Western psyche. Tarnas demonstrates with overwhelming levels of detail and clarity, that there is another way of looking at reality. For full review: http://jessicadavidson.co.uk/2013/12/...

[Mitzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book - I was very interested in the subject matter (archetypes and astrology) and the author's point of view. Unfortunately, the writing style was so academic and dense that it was a real struggle to get through a page, let alone a chapter. I got the feeling that the author was using difficult language as a way to add credibility to his ideas. I read about a quarter of the way into it, and skimmed the rest.

[Alejandro Carrillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Más allá de ser una gran compilación de datos para echar luz sobre los patrones arquetípicos que laten tanto en la psique como en el cosmos (lo que hace muy bien), me gusta más para seguir aprendiendo sobre las combinaciones arquetípicas y sobre la historia del mundo occidental. Es decir, no me interesa tanto como compendio de pruebas sino como llave hacía la imaginación arquetípica.

De todas formas es un trabajo titánico, bien documentado y muy interesante.

[Alex Ast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This scientifically paradigm breaking book radically reshaped my world view. The Harvard educated historian, Richard Tarnas, set out on an intellectual quest equally spiritual, aesthetic, and moral as he attempts to infuse meaning and purpose to our mechanistic and disenchanted worldview that Max Weber in the early 20th century claims pervades every aspect of our modern, post-enlightenment perspective we are all instilled with today.
Tarnas was initially a skeptic of the astrological perspective, as was I, until he began to dive in the science and art of the stars and began to see remarkable coincidences and correlations that could not be simply left ignored if one wants an accurate and truthful representation of reality that doesn't leave in any gaps. Our modern scientific perspective today is severely reductive in its materialistic analysis and will immediately negate anything that seems contrary to the larger perspective (in a way very similar as to how Christianity used to regard and immediately dismiss heretical ideas throughout the Medieval era that went against popular support). "The physicist and philosopher of science, P. W. Bridgeman famously observed, 'coincidences' are what are left over after one has applied a bad theory". The astrological perspective, I am beginning to believe, serves to explain those coincidences that our mechanistic, disenchanted worldview fails to explain or altogether just flat out ignores.
Jung's notion of "synchronicity" was pivotal to this exploration because it allows one to see the significance of events even though there appears to be acausal forces at play. In fact, reading Jung is what initially piqued my interest in astrology because he would analyze people's natal charts with his clients in order to get a better representation of their psychological profile and saw its validity. "Most of us in the course of life have observed coincidences in which two or more independent events having no apparent casual connection nevertheless seem to form a meaningful pattern." The thrust of this book is Tarnas utilizing a variety of disciplines, history, philosophy, cosmology, in order to analyze planetary configurations in the heavens that archetypally reflect human dynamics and patterns on earth. The number of coincidences that appeared in this analysis is enough to at least make one consider the possibility of these ideas.
Tarnas analyzes four major world-transits throughout the book and how they appeared in archetypally consistent manners throughout many epochs of history. The four transits were: Uranus-Pluto, Uranus-Saturn, Jupiter-Uranus and Uranus-Neptune. For example, Uranus-Pluto transits (which are archetypally resonant with themes of liberation, revolution, Dionysian power and eroticism, and evolution) were in alignment during the American and French Revolutions, the sparkings of revolution in Europe with the rise of Marxist theory and in America the beginning of the fight for abolition, and most recently with the 1960s and the civil rights movement. The majority of the book is Tarnas delivering example after example of coincidences of this kind and the build up of evidence is astonishing.
Tarnas also epitomes how crucial it is to develop an archetypal view of history in order to understand the fullest extent of what he is laying out because it can take on many forms while simultaneously still adhering to its base principles. Tarnas is also Platonist who sought to understand his Theory of the Forms in a way that is more attached to our participatory existence with the cosmos and not in some transcendent world not attuned to our sensory reality.
Tarnas makes a point which he emphasized repeatedly that astrology is not concretely predictive (able to predict exact future events down to the persons involved and exact time, this gives a bad name to astrology and should and is rightly criticized by the larger public and scientific community) but rather archetypally predictive (meaning that we can understand common themes of historical periods and can anticipate in what style and manner it will come about). Another way to understand this is with the determinstic and free-will comparison. Concretely predictive astrology says we are beholden to our fate and can do nothing to block and bring it about in our lives. Archetypally predictive astrology allows us to inhibit our free will still while simultaneously allowing us to align our lives and actions through the cosmic trends and waves that the universe naturally goes through. We are not slaves to fate, but co-creators with the cosmos in shaping our destinies. Realizing this has been immensely empowering and inspiring in my personal life and I think holds great potential for if and when our collective psyche comes to realize this.
What I liked about this book was that Tarnas didn't even talk about astrology well unto 60-70 pages in, slowly introducing the reader to the possibility that we live in an enchanted cosmos. What I didn't like about the book was that some of his historical examples did get a little repetitive overtime and dragged on a little too long, but that was simply because there was so much data that he was examining so I understand. It didn't make it an easy read though, that's for sure!
Despite its challenges while reading, it was a blast reading this book and it gave me an even deeper appreciation for the stars and its effects on the dynamics of human history and more importantly, our future.

[Todd B Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out astrology is right.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every serious student of astrology should read this book before getting mired in all the pop personalistic pseudo-spiritual colour-by-numbers texts that offend the intelligence of thinkers who approach them with open minds. Richard Tarnas has sought and in some ways managed to bridge two worlds: the domain of subtle awareness and experience science has yet to explain, and the no less esoteric if rational realm of the academy.

It’s typical of educated sceptics to regard Tarnas’s project with ambivalence: to concede his cultural history cred while dismissing his woo-woo notions of planetary archetypes as delusional. Yet these would be the same sceptics who acknowledge the game-changing genius of, among others, Galileo and Kepler but, lacking context, fail to see astrology as integral to their thinking.

This magnum opus preoccupied Tarnas for an entire Saturn cycle and he undoubtedly had high hopes for its paradigm-shifting potential. But 13 years later, it looks like he’s underestimated collective disenchantment. The view from an ivory tower reveals little about life on the ground. And pattern recognition – at which Tarnas shines, and essential for learning the lessons of history – appears to be on the decline in humanity at large while enabling the rise of AI, which can process mind-blowingly complex data without any need to make it mean something.

Tarnas has all the fervour of a convert who began his research from a sceptical standpoint. And research he did. One obstacle, even for the open-minded, to absorbing his findings is the inevitable repetition involved in charting two+ millennia of sociocultural change and developments against a backdrop of outer-planetary cycles. Words like ‘remarkably’ and ‘finally’ recur until they look like tics. Despite (or because of?) his sophisticated vocabulary, Tarnas made me acutely aware of the inadequacies of language for transmission of holistic, multidimensional perspectives. And yet, by eschewing both the laughably loose use of language that mars so many books on astrology and the dry convolutions that can blight serious scholarship, he comes closer than many to conveying a sense of something larger and stranger and vastly more awe-inspiring than his own considerable vision.

[Garrett Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe Tarnas is onto something here -- of Promethean significance if true.

It takes some perseverance to get through the hundreds of pages of evidence he has gathered here (jaw-dropping at times, I might add) but that amount of data is necessary to make archetypal astrology palatable to us proudly rational moderners.

The author is obviously deeply concerned with reframing our relation with the cosmos because mechanistic cosmology just isn't doing us any good anymore -- a point with which I heartily agree.

[Ivonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro que todo astrólogo debería leer, pero también los escépticos. En Cosmos y Psique Richard Tarnas aborda la astrología desde diversas ciencias y encuentra varios patrones a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad que se relacionan con ciertos aspectos planetarios.
Una lectura bastante apropiada para un año en el que la astrología fue bastante literal en muchas formas. Un libro de leer y releer.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book looked very interesting, but turns out to be a sham. It is entirely about Astrology and how the author claims it is all 100% true (how the alignment of Saturn and Mars can predict your aptitude and ambition, etc).

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mind-numbingly over-written with many repetitions and 70+ word sentences. This could easily be a couple hundred pages shorter and get the same points across. The points made in the book are interesting, but they're buried excess verbiage.

[Alanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt silly about “believing” astrology until I read this book. Now I feel silly for having ever had the audacity to believe the universe is dead and dumb.