Episode 209 features an interview with Kim Farnell about her new book titled Modern Astrologers: The Lives of Alan and Bessie Leo.
Alan Leo (1860–1917) is often credited with helping to spur the revival and popularization of astrology in the west in the early 20th century, through his efforts to publish magazines, horoscopes, and books.
In 1915 Alan and his wife Bessie Leo (1858–1931) founded the Astrological Lodge of London, which still holds weekly astrology meetings in London every Monday.
Kim has been the President of the Lodge since 2008, and we met in the research library of the Theosophical Society to conduct this interview on June 12, 2019.
During the course of the interview we discussed how Alan and Bessie got into astrology, their efforts to promote the subject, and their impact on the field.
Kim’s book provides a detailed and insightful account of the practice of astrology around the turn of the 20th century, and I’d highly recommend checking it out.
The book is available through Amazon:
Modern Astrologers: The Lives of Alan and Bessie Leo on Amazon US
Modern Astrologers: The Lives of Alan and Bessie Leo on Amazon UK
Here are some previous episodes of the podcast that cover similar themes:
- The Modern Revival of Astrology, with Nick Campion
- Evangeline Adams and the Advent of Astrology in America
- Dane Rudhyar and the Birth of Modern Astrology
This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.
To help support the production of future episodes of the podcast, while getting benefits like early access to new episodes, become a patron through our page on Patreon.
Image Gallery
Kim brought some original documents and books to the interview:
–
Watch the Video Version of This Episode
Here is the video version of my interview with Kim Farnell:
–
Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 209 transcript
Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode
You can either play this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your computer by using the buttons below:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:06 — 62.9MB)
[…] that has documented the emergence of modern astrology in the 20th century through figures such as Alan Leo, Evangeline Adams, Carl Jung, and Dane Rudhyar. This episode brings that series closer to […]