# #51: Chris Skidmore - The Astrology of Self-Love and Society

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-humans-work-podcast-1330381/51-chris-skidmore-the-astrology-of-self-love-and-society
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-humans-work-podcast-1330381/51-chris-skidmore-the-astrology-of-self-love-and-society.md
Podcast: [How Humans Work Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/how-humans-work-podcast-1330381)
Published: 2025-09-05T23:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://youtu.be/EslFnog-3jk?feature=shared
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/0bd4a524-785b-4b00-93f0-e037529b9c02.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/how-humans-work-podcast-1330381/episodes/51-chris-skidmore-the-astrology-of-self-love-and-society
Duration seconds: 4342

## Resource

Episode Summary In episode #51, wisdom keeper and astrologer Chris Skidmore , joins the podcast for a profound conversation exploring the intersection of myth, astrology, and social cohesion. Chris and podcast host, Jef Szi , delve into the the 12 House System of Astrology as a "mythic language" and ancient teaching device that can provide guidance for exploring human nature and our social realities. After framing astrology not so much as a predictive tool or literal science, but rather as a rich, symbolic framework for understanding the human condition, Chris and Jef discuss the organization and significance of the 12 house system. Along the way they highlight various features of this "medicine wheel" as an archetypal ally for personal and social development. From there, the conversation homes in on the critical axis of the Fifth and Eleventh houses. Jef and Chris connect this house-system polarity to Jef's recent experience at the Grateful Dead's (Dead and Company) 60th anniversary shows in San Francisco. The performer-audience relationship become the metaphor they use to examine the dynamics between our "individual fire" (the Fifth House's focus on creative self-expression) to "collective connection" (the Eleventh House's domain of community and social contribution). Later on, Jef and Chris call upon a rarely mentioned Greek Olympian God, Hephaestus, to further illuminate to the 5th/11th House axis. Hephaestus is a figure of both woundedness and masterful craftsmanship and lore surrounding his disfigurements. Both The Dead and the Hephaestus become pertinent tales through which the various connections and tensions that occur between the creative soul and social responsibilities can be known—how our personal struggles and creative passions of doing what we love can b…

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