Cheers to Martin Gansten

[Deb]

A while back I asked Martin Gansten if he would consider being moderator for the new sidereal and Indian/Asian astrology sections of the forum. At first I wasn't sure to ask because I know he is so busy, but I'm really pleased that he has accepted. Martin was an obvious choice for me - a siderealist himself, most of us would barely even notice this, since he has contributed so many helpful and informative comments to all astrologers, regardless of personal approaches or zodiac preferences. He is also a strong advocate for getting astrologers to recognise how the so called 'western tradition' has been impacted by Asian traditions. He has a good article about this on his website: Western v Vedic
This is something I also think is very important. The focus of interest in Greek astrology is great for what it is, but it's important to keep a sense of proportion and balance in our understanding of the history of astrology and development of techniques, recognising that the roots of the Medieival European tradition extend in many directions. Also, that some of the presumed cultural distinctions are less distinct than is often reported.

A few biographical details on Martin:

Dr Martin Gansten (to give him his proper title) has been studying traditional astrology for more than 20 years. He is also a historian of religion and divinatory traditions, and has been teaching at Lund University, Sweden, since 1998. He is is now Reader (docent).
He is a well-known Sanskritist and scholar of Indic religions and has made Swedish translations of the Bhagavadgītā and early Upaniṣads. His doctoral thesis was called Patterns of Destiny: Hindu Nāḍī Astrology - a South Indian form of astrological divination. He has also published a number of articles on Indian, Greek, Perso-Arabic and European astrology (I hope to present one on Skyscript soon). And of course, he is the author of Primary Directions: Astrology’s Old Master Technique. Thankfully for us Martin's interest in astrology is not purely academic. He is an active astrologer who gives personal consultations, presents lectures and workshops and also runs his own, very reasonably priced Diploma Course on Primary Directions. This is a course I want to take myself and I hope I can start it before the end of the year. That will be interesting - if I'm not sure of an answer I'll be tempted to post something incorrect on the forum and wait for Martin to correct me before submission

All the moderators in this forum do a great job. It really could not continue without them. I'm so pleased that we have someone as well qualified as Martin to join us and keep a watchful eye over two of the new sections.

So to Martin - cheers, welcome aboard, and a big thank you from me

[Astraea]

A big cheer from me, too. Martin has been enormously helpful in my own astrological journey, and I am honored to know him through this forum. Best wishes, Martin!

[Martin Gansten]

Thank you very much for the kind words, both of you!

[Mark]

Great news for Skyscript and those forum areas in particular.

Good luck in your new role as a moderator Martin.

Mark
_________________
“In nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read.” Antony and Cleopatra i.2

[james_m]

thanks to everyone for trying to make this a great site.. martin was very helpful to me when i first came to this site..

[fredericus]

I second your message Deb... I also think you are doing a great job here on Skyscript.

"Fred"