On the Soul's Terms

Chris Skidmore
  • 5.0 (39)
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The wisdom of stories. Approaching what the ancients knew. On the Soul's Terms: The Podcast

  1. #117 | Thomas Moore | Taking Shape in the World

    6D AGO

    #117 | Thomas Moore | Taking Shape in the World

    Calling doesn’t arrive as a neat job title. It asks for consent. In this deep, playful, and piercing conversation with Thomas Moore—author of Care of the Soul—we explore how the Midheaven (tenth house) points not to status but to a life that can bear its own meaning in public. Thomas shares how fifty years of quiet preparation—monastic study, Latin and Greek, music, Jung—suddenly opened into visibility, and how he learned to stand on big stages without losing the cave within. We trace practical pathways from symbol to life. Ficino’s Renaissance astrology and the idea of stellar rays become a usable art: choosing textures, colors, plants, and music that genuinely nourish temperament. Beauty shows up as medicine, a missing ingredient in clinical spaces shaped solely by science. From there we wade into the myths that guide us—Rapunzel’s root hunger, Pegasus striking the spring of the Muses—and ask what it means to descend to our roots so we can rise well. Depth versus height, “higher” education versus lower, richer knowing; Thomas prods us to find what truly feeds the soul. The heart-work is also gritty. Parents and culture can shrink a life. Angels—those messenger moments—ask for an answer. Sometimes you jump in the river, sometimes you wrestle toward a yes, but either way the next step is usually the truest one. We talk late blooming, saving depression rather than erasing it, Saturn’s gifts, and why aiming higher than your current story of yourself is an act of care. If you’re feeling adrift, this is a map and a nudge: let your roots inform your reach, let the muses tune your work, and meet your calling as it unfolds. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—then tell us: what’s the next step your calling is asking you to take? *The above blurb was auto-generated by Buzzsprout's AI Thomas Moore's website where you can find his books, teachings and more.  Episode Artwork: The Alchemist c. 1558 - Philip Galle after Pieter Bruegel the Elder Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    1h 35m
  2. #116 | Rapunzel & The Six Swans | The Ups and Downs of the Tenth & MC

    JAN 8

    #116 | Rapunzel & The Six Swans | The Ups and Downs of the Tenth & MC

    A tower without roots looks impressive until the wind picks up. We follow Rapunzel and The Six Swans to uncover how a real calling demands both height and depth: the Midheaven’s shine, the IC’s ground, and the sixth house’s quiet craft. Using vivid fairy-tale images, we explore the earth-house triad—second, sixth, and tenth—and what happens when desire for “more” outruns our sense of enough. From stolen rampion and severed hair to a desert reunion healed by tears, Rapunzel shows the cost of ambition cut off from home and body. The Six Swans answers with a different power: six years of wordless work, sewing starwort shirts under accusation, modeling the discipline and devotion that transform ideals into form. I share how scarcity in the second house morphs into compulsion, why the IC’s hearth practices restore vision when the public gaze distorts, and how the sixth house rescues the tenth from burnout by dignifying humble routines. We talk Thomas Moore’s insight on moving both up and down—growing and deepening—so authority stays human. Expect practical reflections: crafting a resource plan that feels like “enough,” creating rituals that anchor memory and grief, and building systems for deep work that keep you steady when attention splinters. The ending isn’t neat by design—one brother keeps a wing—because meaningful work is always incomplete and that’s the point. If you’ve felt visible yet unmoored, driven yet depleted, these stories offer a map: braid your golden ladder back to living soil, let tears restore sight, and keep stitching the star into the everyday. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s rethinking their path, and leave a review to help others find the show. * the above blurb was auto generated by Buzzsprout's AI Thomas Moore: A Life at Work Episode Artwork is here and here.  Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    46 min
  3. #115 | The Tenth House & Midheaven | The Work of Finding our Work

    JAN 3

    #115 | The Tenth House & Midheaven | The Work of Finding our Work

    What if your calling isn’t one narrow lane but an oak with many strong branches? We open the year by climbing from the ninth house of vision to the tenth house of visibility, where ideals must learn to walk, speak, and serve a real-world “whole.” The Midheaven becomes our threshold: a place to meet power, define vocation, and decide how to be seen without cutting off the roots that feed us. We ground the theory with living images. An ancient oak oracle in Dodona shows why vocation can have many limbs that still belong to one tree. The seagoat reveals a body-wisdom path from the IC to the MC, and we guide a simple spine practice to carry soul upward without burning it out. Then myth raises the stakes: Zeus, fed on goat’s milk, dons the pelt and faces Cronus across a decade-long crucible. Jupiter’s expansion and Saturn’s restraint become two necessary “horns” you must use to gain purchase on your mountain. Drawing on Dane Rudhyar, we reframe the “world” as the largest whole you can genuinely participate in with competence—your village, your nation, or humanity. Achievement, he says, is becoming chief, but a head is useless without the body that sustains it. We explore how to right-size ambition, avoid the twin traps of self-inflation and self-shrinking, and translate ninth-house understanding into tenth-house mastery. Along the way, we highlight Thomas Moore’s many-layered path as proof that one seed can unfold through multiple forms without losing coherence. If you’ve ever felt pressured to choose a single label, this conversation is a relief and a challenge. The tenth house isn’t just career; it’s your second gestation in public, where authority, authorship, and authenticity share a root. Find the whole you can serve, claim the power you can responsibly marshal, and let your branches grow from the same living trunk. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who’s rethinking purpose, and leave a review to help more seekers find the show. * The above blurb was generated by Buzzsprout's AI. This book by Dane Rudhyar is referenced in the episode.  The TV show from my childhood - Monkey - is also in here.  Podcast art is here. Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    55 min
  4. #114 | The Juniper Tree | Singing our Song in the Ninth

    12/18/2025

    #114 | The Juniper Tree | Singing our Song in the Ninth

    A winter wish, a juniper tree, and a song that won’t be silenced. We read and unpack The Juniper Tree through the lens of myth and astrology, following a stark arc from dismemberment to remembrance, from underworld descent to the ninth house return of voice. The tale’s violent turn isn’t spectacle—it’s symbolic. A sister gathers bones and lays them at the roots; a bird rises from fire, sings what happened, and earns a golden chain, red shoes, and a millstone. Each gift answers a wound: the chain restores the severed link, the shoes return movement and joy, and the stone delivers the kind of Saturnian justice that ends what cannot be integrated. Along the way we explore why juniper is a liminal, funerary, protective tree and why solstice is the perfect time for a story about death and the slow return of light. We trace resonances with Snow White, the Raven, Medusa, Osiris and Isis, and even the Christian ritual of remembrance that turns body and blood into bread and wine. The ninth house shines through as the realm where hard-won wisdom gets sung aloud, where fair exchange dignifies art, and where truth becomes beautiful enough for others to bear. This is not a call to bypass grief; it’s a ritual map for metabolizing it. If you’ve ever felt your voice frozen in the underworld, this story offers a path: gather the bones, honor the roots, set a boundary around your song, and let the wings come back. As the year turns, join us for a solstice myth that holds both the darkest night and the first hint of dawn. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves deep stories, and leave a review to help others find the show. *the above blurb was generated by Buzzsprout's AI Podcast Artwork: Warwick Goble - Out of the fire flew a beautiful bird. The Juniper Tree from the Grimm Collection. Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    56 min
  5. #113 | Amanda Simon | The Ninth House | The Téchnē of Longing

    12/11/2025

    #113 | Amanda Simon | The Ninth House | The Téchnē of Longing

    A sun at rest can see farther. That’s the mood we step into as we explore the Ninth House with artist-astrologer Amanda Simon—an airy, unhurried place where conviction meets humility, myth meets method, and meaning proves itself alive. We trace how the Ninth becomes the sun’s joy, not as a grind toward achievement but as a space to linger, radiate, and speak from what you truly know. The conversation moves between lunar nearness and solar reach, pairing the Third House’s intimate tending with the Ninth House’s bold broadcast so ideas stay touchable and true. We look at conviction’s double edge—how it opens futures when rooted in experience, and how it burns when it ossifies into dogma. From Speaker’s Corner to Orpheus in the underworld, we track the classic arc of ordeal, boon, and return, and name the cultural wound of skipping the return in favor of productivity. Hestia’s inviolate flame threads through, a reminder that the inner light doesn’t go out; it can be faint, but never extinguished. That insight pairs with the first–fifth–ninth triad—“I am, I want, I know”—as a living check-and-balance against ego, hedonism, and rigid belief. To make all this usable, Amanda introduces techne: the practices that invite reciprocity with the more-than-human world. Writing, sculpture, breathwork, pilgrimage, ritual—these repeated gestures create a reliable bridge for insight, a ladder you can climb without claiming to own the heavens. We close with Michelangelo’s almost-touching hands, honoring the gap between human and divine as the Ninth House’s sacred tension: reach without grasp, radiate without rush, know without certainty. If you’ve been craving a wiser tempo and a more generous voice, this is your invitation to dwell well, then share what you’ve seen. If this conversation lit a spark, follow, rate, and review the show, or share it with someone who needs a slower sun today. *Above blurb auto-generated by Buzzsprout's AI companion. Cover Art: Creation of Adam, Michelangelo (1475–1564), circa 1511 If you would like to journey with Amanda here are some new 2026 offerings Group processes to cultivate astrological sensitivity  Primal Astrology the art of Cosmological listening with Claire Loussouarn (hybrid) starting Feb 2026   Chiron and other centaurs who hear timeless whispers with Amanda Simon - an online 8 month experiential journey to grow felt relationship with centuaric consciousness as Chiron moves from Aries to Taurus - starting Feb 2026  Temple tending - tender temples with Milena Kadziela - practice group working with the cycle of the year to support cultivating intimacy with the living sky through growing a basis of being & poetic basis of being through somatic and creative practice .  In person and on line starting March 2026 please email beckonedbythestars@gmail.com for interest and to arrange a call to explore further  Fire Signs experiential elements course through Hermes Hestia centre For 1 : 1 consults and longer journeys please visit amandasimon.co.uk or email beckonedbythestars@gmail.com Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    1h 22m
  6. #112 | The Ninth House | Four Ancient Mountains

    12/04/2025

    #112 | The Ninth House | Four Ancient Mountains

    The night breaks and a mountain appears. We step out of the eighth house and into the ninth, following a mythic trail across four Greek peaks—Helicon, Delphi on Parnassus, Olympus, and Pelion—to understand how vision is born, tested, codified, and taught. This is a journey from trauma to Pegasus, from memory to the Muses, from riddled answers to living oracles, from the banquet of certainty to the humility of service, and finally to Chiron’s cave where purpose is shaped into skill. We start with Helicon, where Perseus’ severing of Medusa gives rise to Pegasus and the Hippocrene, the spring that nourishes the nine Muses. History, music, comedy, tragedy, dance, love poetry, hymns, astronomy, and epic become living conduits for meaning. Hesiod’s insight that the Muses can speak convincing falsehoods as well as truth becomes our caution against dogma; ninth house wisdom is movement, not marble. At Delphi, we find the Omphalos, the eagle-eye view, and the Pythia’s forked speech. Apollo’s light and Dionysus’ winter rule alternate, teaching us to hold both clarity and mystery. Prophecy arrives obliquely and unfolds over time, working on the imaginal mind that can carry insight back into life. On Olympus, the ninth house expands into ethics, law, and systems—the “we think” that shapes culture. Zeus’ knowledge is not solitary; it’s conjoined with Metis, the oceanic intelligence that tempers sky-high judgment. We explore the lure and limits of certainty and remember Ganymede’s role as cupbearer: service as a path to perspective. Finally, we reach Pelion, where Chiron mentors heroes and healers—Jason, Achilles, Asclepius—grounding lofty aims in hands-on craft, medicine, and embodied practice. The fire-house arc aligns identity, joy, and purpose so that the tenth house can build the road our aim has set. Along the way, Ocyrrhoe’s tale warns against revealing everything too soon; mystery gives meaning its depth. If Helicon inspires, Delphi questions, Olympus orders, and Pelion mentors, which mountain is yours? Press play to find an eagle-eye view that still honors the serpent’s wisdom, and carry that vision into the work you offer the world. If this exploration sparked something, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find their way to the summit. *The above was auto-generated by Buzzsprout's AI Cover Art: Simon Vouet (1590-1649) The Muses Urania and Calliope, 1634 ca. Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    43 min
  7. #111 | Dr Travis Elliott | Asclepius on the Cusp of the Eighth & Ninth Houses

    11/20/2025

    #111 | Dr Travis Elliott | Asclepius on the Cusp of the Eighth & Ninth Houses

    The most alive wisdom often waits at the edge where things end. We step onto the threshold between astrology’s eighth and ninth houses with Dr. Travis Elliott, a naturopath who traded protocols for presence and found his way into Asclepian dream healing, plant medicines, and the kind of listening that lets the body speak. This conversation travels from Santa Fe’s Living Astrologies conference to the old temples where snakes curled at our feet, and into the myths where Asclepius learns from Chiron, Coronis vanishes into smoke, and Medusa’s two vials test how far we’ll go to outwit death. We talk about what happens when healthcare stops treating people like problems and starts treating symptoms as messages. Travis shares how an image can surface in the room—a felt priority that guides the next step—and how clients reclaim agency when they learn to sit with what hurts. Along the way, we unpack the eighth house as a place of composting and grief, the ninth house as the clear sky of meaning, and Ophiuchus as the healer who stands between them. We look at diurnal motion versus zodiacal motion, Telesphorus as the small herald of completion, and the moment when pushing against death breaks the order that keeps life and underworld in balance. Underneath the astrology is a simple invitation: stay with the darkness until it’s done with you, then rise with meaning that is yours. If you’ve been craving a more soulful healthcare—one that respects intuition, the feminine, and the earth’s timing—this is a map back to that remembering. Listen, share it with a friend who needs permission to slow down, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the work.  *The above blurb was produced by Buzzsprout's AI. Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    1h 26m
  8. #110 | The Raven | Into (and out of) the Eighth House

    11/15/2025

    #110 | The Raven | Into (and out of) the Eighth House

    A weary wish turns a princess into a raven and launches a map of descent: a forest thick with symbols, an old woman’s tempting cup, a heap of alchemical tan, and a precise appointment at 2 PM when the sun’s power wanes. We follow that map step by step, using a Grimm story to illuminate the eighth house as lived experience—where unprocessed memory, shame, appetite, and inheritance ask for contact rather than conquest. I walk you through the seeker’s predictable failures and the deeper lesson they reveal: the unconscious will not be bullied by willpower. Then the tale widens—endless bread and wine, a name-inscribed ring, and a letter that points toward the Golden Castle of Stromburg. Giants appear as the embodiment of hunger. Instead of slaying them, we feed them, win their help, and unearth an ancient map that remembers what modern maps forgot. That’s the eighth house in practice: respect timing, befriend the beast, and let old knowledge guide the next mile. At the base of a glass mountain we wait—a year of vigil—until trickster tools arrive: a staff that opens doors, a mantle of invisibility, and a horse made for impossible slopes. With a touch of Hermes, we ascend. The ring sings in the chalice; the raven-princess and seeker reunite; inner masculine and feminine align. Along the way we thread white, red, and black through the story’s veins, and connect ravens, crows, Odin’s messengers, Apollo and Coronis, Perseus and Pegasus, and the alchemy of the negrito. If you’re navigating Scorpio season or moving through your own eighth house work, this journey offers a practical myth: how to enter, endure, and exit the underworld with something worth bringing back. If the story sparks insight, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Which symbol from the tale is speaking to you? *The above blurb was autogenerated by Buzzsprout's AI References mentioned: Grimm’s The Raven, Snow White, Odin’s ravens Huginn & Muninn, the Morrígan, Apollo–Coronis–Ischys & Asclepius, Medusa–Perseus–Pegasus, Psyche & Eros, Cerberus, Jung’s collective unconscious, hieros gamos, and the 8th house in astrology. Links to explore: The Raven (Grimm) Huginn & Muninn The Morrígan  Asclepius (Apollo & Coronis) Medusa / Perseus / Pegasus: Psyche & Eros Collective unconscious (Jung): 8th house overview Join the Newsletter! Podcast Musician: Marlia Coeur Please consider becoming a Patron to support the show! Go to OnTheSoulsTerms.com for more.

    53 min
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About

The wisdom of stories. Approaching what the ancients knew. On the Soul's Terms: The Podcast

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Skidmore
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    117
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 On the Soul's Terms
  • Show Website
    On the Soul's Terms

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