041 | Tara Aal: Living Planets First

Astrologer, teacher, author, artist, and tarot reader Tara Aal joins host Jenn Zahrt from Los Angeles, California to chat books, and shares an incredible mini-lesson on “planets on the first.” In this ep, the duo also offers food for thought on: letting the story come through; the difference between learning together and teaching; spirit versus soul; the gifts to each sign; the way through and tests on our journey; the signs in the natal chart as an apprenticeship; how the season of birth impacts life; getting lost 360 different ways; and astrological magic and planet remediation. Plus: letting the devil out of the cake, a goosebump moment, and… our first must-have book that’s offered thanks to a previous guest’s recommendation!

 

 

Visit CAELi’s Within Orb pod page!

Learn more about the CAELi Institute.

Visit our bookshop.org page to support CAELi and purchase books mentioned on the show!

Become a CAELi member or renew your membership!

Love the show? Support our work with a financial contribution or book donation.

Follow CAELi on FB, IG, and YouTube.

Transcripts available upon request.

Song “Wake Up” used with permission by The E-Block Band.

 

*****

 

Episode timestamps (conversation recorded March 2024):

 

00:31 – Tara Aal is an evolutionary astrologer, writer, educator, artist, and tarot reader. She’s the co-author of Astrology by Moonlight and Natural Astrology. Tara’s been practicing since 2011 and sees clients, teaches, and speaks (including NORWAC, UAC, Kepler College, and ISAR). She’s passionate about experiential astrology, including the practice called Living Planets 1st. Tara currently serves on the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) Board as Vice President.

 

01:51 – Tara’s first astrology book – The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk – was gifted to her by her boss during a performance review around the time of her first Saturn Return! About ten years later, she signed up for an astrology program and really dug in.

 

05:36 – If Tara accidentally got off the plane on the wrong island in the Bahamas, which books would she bring? First up: The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino by Thomas Moore. Tara enjoyed this one so much that she wound up signing up for Moore’s Soul Psychology courses and is a current student of his! And thanks to Adam Sommer, who mentioned this text on episode 10; how cool to have our first must-have book mention based on a previous episode!!

 

10:58 – Tara’s second text would be An Astrological Triptych: Gifts of the Spirit, The Way Through, and The Illumined Road by Dane Rudhyar. This is a much-needed reference book for Tara!

 

17:14 – Join the Significant Sources Salon, hosted by Dr. James Dotson at the CAELi Institute!

 

18:01 – Tara’s third title would be An Astrological Mandala: The Cycle of Transformations and its 360 Symbolic Phases, also by Rudhyar. Tara keeps this one handy during readings, for those intuitive moments when she feels called to look up a degree symbol. (A high five also goes to The Sabian Symbols in Astrology by Marc Edmond Jones.)

 

20:32 – Tune in for Tara’s teaching on “Living Planets 1st,” complete with examples. (Hi, Mars!)

 

29:15 – As a big Rudhyar fan, Tara’s recommendations are two more in the collection: The Pulse of Life: New Dynamics in Astrology and The Astrological Houses: The Spectrum of Individual Experience. To find Rudhyar’s (free!) works, the Rudhyar link that Jenn and Tara reference is here.

 

30:35 – Find Tara at: https://www.taraaal.com/. And her handle on Instagram is @TaraAal.

 

31:22 – Thanks for listening to Within Orb! If you love the show, please help support it at no cost to you: Follow or subscribe wherever you listen, rate it five stars, or write a happy review! And if you’d like to become a CAELi member or support our work with a contribution of any amount, we’d be delighted – thanks!

 

Show notes by Jen Braun, JJ Boots Productions LLC.