I would have to say that my favorite horoscope writer of all time was Patric Walker who died in 1995. If you’re not familiar with him and want an idea how beloved he was… check this tribute written by a depressed non-believer in astrology :
“I learned this morning that Patric Walker, author of the only horoscopes I’ve ever read, died on the 10th of October, in England…”
It’s ironic this is the anniversary of his death and the fact I am posting this today is entirely coincidental. I mentioned him in that interview and googled because I was going to write this and voila! This guy cites the date of his death and goes on to say this:
“…Patric Walker was not a prophet or a seer, he was a man who touched on the tender nerves of millions by confirming that the vague disillusionments and disappointments we feel throughout our lives are genuine, and that the path to happiness is not paved with impossible glimpses into the future, but by spiritual absolution and peace of conduct in daily life.”
Pretty nice, eh?
I remember when he died. He used to write for Mirabella and I would pick up the magazine for his column and his column alone. And then, whoosh! He was gone. And ten years have passed and I still miss that guy. Isn’t that incredible?
Really, I think a lot of the sun sign columns are crap. But the ones that aren’t, aren’t! The good ones amuse, entertain, encourage, instruct, comfort and inspire. And that’s why I read them. And become attached to the astrologers who write them.
So what about you? Who do you read… and better yet, why?
I grew up reading Sydney Omarr’s daily horoscopes, and that was my first exposure to astrology. When I started getting into the subject and could understand how horoscopes are actually written, I became a HUGE fan of Susan Miller’s monthly forecasts. http://astrologyzone.com/forecasts/
I really like Astrobarry, because he, like you, doesn’t try and soften the edges. Instead he forces me to think and reconsider what I’m doing with my life.
Again, thank you for intro’ing him to me. 🙂
I read Susan Miller too. One of the best though, and unfortunately he’s only in Italian..I’d love to translate him for something..is Paolo Fox. His famous line for people who don’t believe in astrology is “Non credete, verificate”, which means don’t just believe it, read/listen and see how it plays out in your life to “verify” that it’s true, and that’s enough to make you a believer. It’s great because he’s not interested in convincing anyone of anything. He outlines how to take advantage of what’s happening astrologically at the moment to benefit your life. He sees astrology as a tool for knowing who you are so you can build on your strengths and be aware of your weaknesses. I find it really helpful. Just like Elsa is really helpful, because the more you know about yourself the better life is.
that was a lovely tribute. thank you for sharing that.
you!
because you’re my favorite!
and for horoscopes, Astrodienst because they are relatively accurate and I don’t really know a lot of writers of daily horoscopes/ones that take into account more of your chart than your Sun Sign.
Patric Walker, man i’d forgotten that dude..he was a great inspiration to furthering my astro studies cos he made sense like no other horoscope writer did. Made me think ‘there’s more to this shit than people are telling me and i need to know more’, so thanks for reminding me of how i started on my astro journey. S’made me feel all warm 🙂
I’m just getting into your site and I think it’s because you’re so honest. If you agree or disagree, you say so rather than sugar coat everything. I believe in astrology but know nothing about it, other than things work together and things don’t.
Wow, that non-believer writes beautifully. He along with your blog, gives me faith that in the written word can be found emotions to affect others endearingly and kindly.
And Elsa, I like how you see the cosmos. Thank you.
I like Rob Brezsny’s weekly column. http://freewillastrology.com/
I also read astro.com’s computer generated daily reports.
You’re my favorite by far.
I always remnember Nick Campion’s quote on Patric. “The first time I spoke to Patric Walker I had been going through my Uranus opposition, my Pluto square and a range of other major outer planet transits, and I felt pretty emotionally exhausted. He asked me what my Sunsign was and, on hearing it was Pisces, he gave me a complete reading based on the presence of transiting Saturn in my solar twelfth house. He did as much with that as any other astrologer would have done with a Pluto, Uranus and the rest of the cast.”
I like Holiday Mathis’ daily scopes with Creators.com. It’s just the sun signs but come on, too much crap added to a stew makes it hard to taste. Holiday’s scopes are easy to swallow, have good flavor, while they always seem to say what you ought to know, like nutrients. I think she’s a good cook.
you, because you’re a good one. you’re honest, and to the point – there’s no sugarcoating, but no needless harshness either.
and Rob Brezsny, because he’s so damned poetic and inspiring, and always seems to hit it spot on…
oh! and Michael Lutin of course, whom i found because you blogged him somewhere. also brilliant, poetic, inspiring, and *that* down realistic about what’s going on.
Sally Brompton who writes for The Mail On Sunday Magazine in the UK is Patric’s officially appointed successor. However other astrologers such as Shelley Von Strunckel (Sunday Times) and Jonathan Cainer were colleagues and heavily influenced by Patric. One thing that Jonathan revealed to me is that Patric shunned houses and only used aspects (as Jonathan himself does). The twelvefold division of the ecliptic is highly symbolic and obviously fundamental to astrological thought,however there are myriad ways that the great circles can be divided to produce house systems and many move planets from one house to another. I recommend abandoning houses as Patric did as every bit of information you need can be found through study of the angular relationships (aspects/harmonics) between the planets from the solar chart.
How odd….I was just thinking about him this week, as he was the first astrologer I ever read ( in Town & Country magazine then Mirabella). I looked up his obit and saw he died in October years ago….sort remembering him and his work around his anniversary.
And Patric was brilliant. He made me take astrology seriously….Elsa made me want to learn more.
I’m not sure why, but found myself drawn to your page to read the comments about Patric Walker. I should explain, as a child, our home included an aunt who’d worked for Aleister Crowley, and a grandmother who was both medium and scryer. Published astrologers were a regular subject for discussion; I think they would have appreciated him as I did.
His was the only horoscope I ever read, and I stopped after his demise…
Some readings would leapt out of the page at you, beginning pungently with phrases like “no astrologer can fail in their duty to remind you today that…”
A naturally occurring mystic, was Patric…
Ouch! Correction: would leap out…
Patrick Walker changed my life as a young man and fueled my ambition to work around the world in several significant horoscopes in 1983. Some years later I looked at one of those horoscopes I had cut out and turned to the back. It showed a journey for a world cruise and ended up at the City I had made now my home. Sheer Coincidence maybe but not to me
I agree regarding Patric Walker, 100%. I am still missing him, almost 30 years after his death.
If you read Tuppenceworth’s comment above “he gave me a complete reading based on the presence of transiting Saturn in my solar twelfth house.” you’ll see he actually did use the solar house positions of the planets in his interpretations. He just didn’t use birth-chart houses.