One notable quote:

Preposterous as it may be, the astrology cult suggests a deep longing for some order in the universe–an order denied by modern science and philosophy. This is expressed by Danny Weiss, a 24-year-old partner in an astrologically hip music-recording outfit called Apostolic Studios, which is guided by top-ranking Astrologer Al Morrison, president of the Astrologers’ Guild of America. Danny Weiss believes that the uptrend in astrology is a result of “an awakening of religious consciousness. People have lost faith in their old beliefs,” he says. But “if you believe in the order of the universe, then you’ll believe in astrology because the order of the stars expresses that universal order.”

There is indeed a comfort in understanding that when we’re going through a difficult time there is an associated planetary event happening at the same time.  It helps us to see the underlying purpose of the challenge, and it helps us to see when we will move through the challenge and end up on the other side.  

The article spends quite a bit of time on Carroll Righter, who wrote syndicated newspaper horoscopes which was a burgeoning new field for astrologers.  Righter was known as the “astrologer to the stars,”  and advised President Ronald Reagan as well as many other actors and Hollywood illuminati. 

The article makes the point that “[a]strologers who publish mere sun-sign generalities earn the scorn of their less commercial (or less successful) brethren, who limit themselves to charting and interpreting individual horoscopes.”

The article ends with this conclusion:

Sensitivity, intuition and maybe even clairvoyance make the difference between such tomfoolery and “good” astrology. The good astrologer senses the mood of his client, perceives his problems and finds the most positive way of fitting them into the context of the horoscope. Then he looks ahead, shaping predictions so that they amount to constructive counsel. The client might have been better advised to consult a psychiatrist, marriage counselor, physician, lawyer or employment agency. But there are many troubled people who refuse to accept personal responsibility for their lives, insisting that some outer force is in control. For these, a first-class astrologer can seem a necessity–and perhaps he is.

It’s unfortunate, because the article is pretty well-balanced until this point.  But the idea that troubled people seek the counsel of astrologers because they are unwilling to accept personal responsibility and instead seek to blame their troubles on the stars is a very poor generalization.  In fact, when you understand the nature of your birthchart you MUST take responsibility for your life.  You can see that yes, your mother was mean to you but you have Pluto, planet of fear, on the Moon, representing mother, so you came here with a predisposition to see your mother as cruel.  Or yes, you have never been married but Uranus, planet of absolute liberation, is in your seventh house of marriage and as a result you have fleed from commitment.  

Still, it’s an interesting read and has held up well over the last 40 years!