Sextrology

There is already a plethora of material available regarding the current Venus retrograde motion that it’s pointless for me to rehash what has been written repeatedly. Instead, I’ll bang on about the astrology book to consult during this transit.

 

Venus’ retrograde motion takes place between 16 May and 28 June this year, moving from 23 degrees Gemini back to 7 degrees Gemini. Its movement within the parameters of the third sign of the zodiac is significant in that it asks us to re-evaluate our deepest values on an intellectual level. Our minds are likely to be overactive during this transit, generating curiosity about relationships. As Venus moves towards the Sun, overlapping on 6 June, we learn to relinquish outmoded values of love and sex. I tend to review previous relationships under Venus retrograde in my sentimental Cancerian way.

 

Roaming around in the past is something I do regularly, and this Venus cycle intensifies my past-fixation further by urging me to revisit past soul mates spiritually. Sextrology: the Astrology of Sex and the Sexes (2007) is the compendium to pocket during this phase of looking back before moving forward.

 

Written by New York based astrological consultants, Stella Starsky and Quinn Cox, Sextrology is one of those rare astrology books that deal with the delicate subject of human astrology and sex in an intelligent, entertaining, and slightly titillating fashion. The authors describe it as a zodiac mandala of human sexuality. It sure is.

 

So what makes Sextrology special? Most astrology books lump males and females together when men and women of the same Sun sign are energetically different. Sextrology factors in the divide between the sexes and fully explores the sexual distinctions between them. Each astrological character’s chapter is divided into three sections: psychological profile; physical attributes; and sexual attitudes and behaviour. The authors combine the knowledge of classical archetypes with Jungian psychology, the Ancient Wisdoms, pop culture, and splashes of porn. It’s an eclectic Gemini-flavoured education.

 

As an astrologer and creator of an astrology zine – Astrobabble: the Zine for Astrology Nerds - I rarely draw upon material written by contemporary astrologers. For some reason, I don’t warm to the musings of the New Guard in the way I do towards the words of legendary teachers such as Alan Oken, Liz Greene, and Howard Sasportas. Starsky and Cox, however, are different. Apprentices of astrology will agree that the majority of subject material lining the bookshelves of bookstores (virtual and actual) are inferior and cringe-worthy, an ode to the dumbing-down of the Language of the Stars. So it was a revelation to stumble upon Sextrology and find that it examines the under explored terrain of human sexuality with a depth, knowledge, and voice lacking in modern esoteric writing.

 

Sextrology was first published during the Venus occultation of 2004. The book has re-entered my consciousness during the current Venus transit as the go-to relationship guide, should I get all wobbly with existential angst about that sort of thing.

 

Starsky and Cox website: www.starskyandcox.com