059 | John Zambarano: Sciences of Light

Astrologer John Zambarano joins host Jenn Zahrt from Rhode Island to discuss astrological traditions, books, and more! Join Jenn and John as they cover: fixed star Spica and heliacal rising; the importance of the source text Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra (aka BPHS!); reading Sanskrit; working with Mars on Tuesday; the value of knowing your lineage; research on polyamory and non-monogamy; triplicity rulers of the houses; divisional charts (and dividing a sign into 300 segments!); the Dodecatemoria; numerology; planetary efficacy; Venus and Mars remedies; the Dasha system; and tertiary progressions. Plus: mantras, the far side of the Moon, and… nothing wrong with Libras!!

 

 

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Transcripts available upon request.

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

 

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Episode timestamps (conversation recorded July 2024):

 

00:31 – John is a queer Jyotiṣī and Hellenistic Astrologer on a journey to fuse both astrology from the East and West to provide a holistic view of the natal promise.

 

01:06 – Scorpio power! John’s very first astrology book was The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Woolfolk. Once in college, John learned his Moon sign, which led him down a path to learn more – and his mom joined him for the astro ride!

 

03:12 – If John could bring only three books to a deserted island, the first one he’d pack would be Science of Light, Volume 1 by his teacher Freedom Cole. John considers himself a Vedic astrologer and looks at this text every day. (And check out Freedom Cole’s appearance on Within Orb: Episode 22, Freedom Cole: Learning & Synthesizing!)

 

11:48 – Interlude: Join CAELi and snag yourself a Saturn stress-relief ball. (Yes, you read that right!)

 

12:35 – Keeping in the Vedic realm, John’s second choice would be Varga Chakra by Sanjay Rath. Rath was Cole’s teacher, and John finds value in the detailed divisional chart info!

 

20:16 – The third title John would bring is the rich and profound Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice: A Manual of Traditional Techniques, Volume 2 by Demetra George. John gets something new out of this one every time he reads it! (Also mentioned here is the out-of-print book The Astrology of Death by Richard Houck.)

 

24:27 – For beginners, John recommends Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune by Chris Brennan, and Crux of Vedic Astrology: Timing of Events by Sanjay Rath.

 

25:50 – Find John at his website: astrolojohn.com. On Twitter/X and Substack, his handle is @astrolojohn. And on Instagram, find him @john.on.jupiter.

 

27:39 – 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.