Richard Tarnas: Cosmos and Psyche

Richard Tarnas first became famous for his book The Passion of the Western Mind, which is a narrative of the development of western thought and philosophy, and it became a standard textbook in many college courses. Cosmos and Psyche was always intended to be his magnum opus though, and in it he is basically presenting the case for astrology by following certain historical figures and developments from an astrological perspective.

I realize that it has been a while since I proposed the idea of the book club last summer and we read our first book The Moment of Astrology, but I think that it is time to start this up again and to move on to the next book. I think that someone, maybe Trish (?), proposed a while ago that the next book should be Richard Tarnas’ relatively recent book Cosmos and Psyche, and I think that this would be a good one to restart the book club with.

The book is important because of Tarnas’ reputation in the academic community, as well as the wide reach that he has since he was already an accomplished author prior to the publication of Cosmos and Psyche. In a way Tarnas has become sort of the spokesperson for the astrological community to the rest of the world, and he is making inroads by presenting astrology in a way that is considered to be plausible or even respectable.

While the book is not necessarily written for astrologers per se, there is a lot in it that should prove to be fruitful for discussions. I also think that it is a good choice for the book club because it is so widely available at this point.

The book is relatively cheap, and you can order a copy for as low as $5 through Amazon.com.  You can also buy a new copy of the paper back edition at your local Borders or Barnes and Noble bookstore for like $20. There is also a website set up for the book with lots of reviews.

So basically, anyone who wants to participate should get a copy of the book, start reading, and then post you thoughts on the book on the HA group forum over on Myspace.