Pagan Astrology: Spell-Casting, Love Magic, and Shamanic Stargazing

Astrology and magic have been topics that I have been interested in over the years. I had my chart done years ago, and found the correlations between my sign and my personality amazingly accurate (I am truly an Aquarius). What interested me about Raven Kaldera's book, Pagan Astrology: Spell-Casting, Love Magic, and Shamanic Stargazing, was that different magic is used depending on the astrological alignment.

If you have never read anything on pagan astrology, this book can look overwhelming. Since the magic Kaldera discusses refers to charts, knowing a little about them beforehand can help greatly. Kaldera starts with a chapter on charts, explaining deciphering to beginners and goes into detail about the different glyphs on the chart. For people already quite knowledgeable, he also includes a more advanced chapter.

For each of the planets, Kaldera has in depth explanations about the planetary magic, when during the astrological cycle each planetary spell is performed, and what is the significance of each spell; for example, Jupiter magic brings out the different gifts, such as courage or ingenuity. There are spells for the eight moon phases (New, Crescent, Waxing, Quarter, Gibbous, Full, Disseminating, Waning, Quarter, and Balsamic), Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (Kaldera includes an author's note in the beginning of the book regarding Pluto). Further into the book, Kaldera describes planetary altars, which change on which sign the planet is in. Kaldera also includes magical prescriptions for Western readers, which are used for positive and negative transits of the planet.

When I started reading Pagan Astrology, I felt a tad overwhelmed, due to a lack of previous knowledge. However, Kaldera does a good job explaining every detail, making it easier for astrology amateurs, like myself, to catch up. Having your natal chart while reading this book, which can be done online, definitely helps with understanding the material. For anyone interested in pagan astrology, Pagan Astrology is an excellent resource for spells, altars, and magical prescriptions.

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