Richard Tarnas 15th November 2009 - Amsterdam
A day workshop suitable for astrologers and non-astrologers

The Eye of the Storm: Understanding the Transits of Our Time

We all recognise today that we are collectively in the midst of a dramatic period of conflicting forces and collapsing structures. Pressures for change (Uranus) are equally balanced with pressures of constraint (Saturn). The old and the new, the past and the future, seem to be reaching a peak of intense confrontation. Transformative energies (Pluto), larger and more powerful than we can control, are at work:  An old way of being is dying, a new is trying to be born. 

Alert economists, and indeed thoughtful observers in many disciplines, have known for years that a crisis such as what began last year was on the horizon.  But astrologers had an additional context of insight concerning the timing, the potential duration, and the nature of the underlying archetypal forces informing such a crisis.
 

In this day-long workshop, we will explore the archetypal dynamics at work in our time and over the next decade - in certain respects some of the most powerful such dynamics in our lifetime. How can we bring forth the most life-enhancing expressions out of this challenging threshold of transformation?  How can we avoid the more problematic and destructive possibilities? Join Richard Tarnas as he surveys the major planetary alignments and archetypal factors at work in these crucial next few years, 2009-12.

Richard Tarnas is the founding director of the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.  He is also associate faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara.  A graduate of Harvard University and Saybrook Institute, he was the director of programs and education at Esalen Institute.  He is the author of The Passion of the Western Mind, a narrative history of the Western world view from the ancient Greek to the postmodern that is used as a text in many universities. 
 

His most recent book, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, received the Book of the Year Prize from the Scientific and Medical Network in the UK. 

Based on thirty years of research, Richard Tarnas’s book sets forth a substantial body of evidence that suggests the existence of a systematic correspondence between planetary movements and the archetypal patterns of human experience.  These correlations, rather than indicating a fatalistic determinism in the cosmic scheme, appear to open up a new dimension of awareness through which human beings can participate more consciously and intelligently in their encounter with and embodiment of the great archetypal forces that shape human life. 

The archetypal astrology that has been emerging in the work of many researchers and psychological astrologers in recent decades is proving equally valuable as both an aid in personal counselling and as a tool for illuminating the collective drama of human history. 

Also interesting is Richard's involvement in the Archai – The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology.