A FEW TIMES EACH century, someone comes along and explains astrology to the rest of us. Richard Tarnas is one of those people. He is known mainly for his history of Western thought, The Passion of the Western Mind, which is required reading in many philosophy departments around the US. His newer book, published last year after 30 years of work and learning, is called Cosmos & Psyche. In sometimes overwhelming detail, it not only demonstrates the existence of astrology for anyone who cares to look; in so doing, it points the way to another concept of reality. That happens to be something we really need right now.

Richard is a major planet astrologer; he sticks to the original seven bodies and especially loves the modern planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. He doesn't even use Chiron. One day Melanie Reinhart, the Chiron pioneer, asked him what he thought of the minor planets, and he said that an astrologer should use whatever is burnished in their soul.

In this spirit, I dedicate Small World Stories, the 10th anniversary annual edition of Planet Waves, to my Pisces brother Rick Tarnas.