Richard Tarnas's The Passion of the Western Mind?acclaimed by leading voices in philosophy, religion, psychology, and history?sets the stage for this major work, thirty years in the making, that dramatically reframes our understanding of the universe in the light of extraordinary new evidence.

Cosmos and Psyche is the first book by a widely respected scholar to demonstrate the existence of a consistent correspondence between planetary movements and the unfolding drama of human history. A vast and impressive body of evidence illuminates patterns of meaning and precise correlations between the universe and the world of human endeavor. With meticulous detail, Richard Tarnas takes us on a journey that begins with the ancient Greeks and culminates in our own era and its transformative potential, putting into perspective these chaotic, tumultuous times?from the sixties to September 11, 2001?and pointing the way towards the future.

In terms of planetary cycles, our present moment in history is most comparable to the period five hundred years ago?that era of ?extraordinary turbulence and creativity, ? the High Renaissance. Not since Copernicus conceived the heliocentric theory has the human community faced such a profound realignment of the way we think. Readers of every persuasion will be impressed by the vast canvas here, the wealth of research and analysis, and the profound conclusions that may be drawn?conclusions that reunite religion and science, and restore a transcendent dimension to the universe.

Breathtaking in the scope and scale of its vision, this extraordinary book shatters our cosmological assumptions . . . Spellbinding, eloquent, compelling. (Christopher Bache, professor of philosophy and religious studies, Youngstown State University)

Majestic, sweeping, and profoundThis will be a book for the ages. (William Van Dusen Wishard, author of Between Two Ages: The 21st Century and the Crisis of Meaning)

From a philosopher whose magisterial history of Western thought was praised by Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith comes a brilliant new book that traces the connection between cosmic cycles and archetypal patterns of human experience. Drawing on years of research and on thinkers from Plato to Jung, Richard Tarnas explores the planetary correlations of epochal events like the French Revolution, the two world wars, and September 11. Whether read as astrology updated for the quantum age or as a contemporary classic of spirituality, Cosmos and Psyche is a work of immense sophistication, deep learning, and lasting importance.

Tarnas demonstrates the existence of a consistent correspondence between planetary movements and the unfolding of human history. He maintains the present is most comparable to the period 500 years ago, an era of extraordinary turbulence and creativity.