The Cosmic ZodiacYour Whole SkyThe FiguresThe Library
The Universe Behind the Zodiac: Astrology of the Whole Sky, by Brian Mahlum. The cover shows the twenty-eight rooms as wedges around the Earth, with the deep sky objects at their real directions.

There is a galaxy two and a half million light years away that you can see with your own eyes on a dark night.

A Persian astronomer wrote it down in the year 964.

No astrologer has ever been able to put it in a chart where it actually stands, until now.

Kindle · $9.99Paperback · $29.99

On sale November 11, 2026 · Brian Mahlum · 60 figures · 405 pages

The back cover

Not for want of trying. The zodiac measures a band about sixteen degrees wide — the road the planets travel — and almost everything in the sky is outside it. Every galaxy. Every nebula. The center of our own galaxy. The direction the entire solar system is traveling at nineteen kilometers a second. And with that, the meaning of almost the entire sky has been left out of astrology.

That was never a failure of astrology. It was the limit of the tools, which could measure along the road but not the rest of the sky.

One civilization cut the whole sky into twenty-eight wedges running from pole to pole, anchored them to named stars, and wrote down what was in each one. That system is over two thousand years old, and it has never been put to full use for reading the sky. Until now.

For the first time, the deep sky has an address. And on that ground lies the record of what more than seven hundred sky-watching peoples, on every continent, saw there, as far back as the record goes. The sky keepers left a vast storehouse of meaning, not only for the thirteen constellations on the Sun's path but for the constellations beyond it, the ninety-four regions and two voids within them, and everywhere else in the sky. Straight from the source.

It is a library of ancient wisdom left to us by our ancestors, written in the sky itself, where it cannot be destroyed.

Every position in this book is computed and can be checked by anyone.

People who share a region of the sky share certain attributes. Not the same career or the same life, but something of what that place holds. Reading the whole sky shows you what humankind has recorded over the place you were born under. The raw materials which point to where your gifts lie are your legacy, and having that awareness is half the battle. The rest is up to you.

For anyone drawn to astrology who has suspected there is more in the sky than the twelve signs.

And for anyone who has looked up and wondered what their potential is. It is now readable in the sky library of the whole human race.

Contents

Thirty-three chapters, in five sections

Introduction · Three voices · Who this book is for · On whose shoulders · Your sky, in hand · A note on five words

Section OneActual Sky Astrology

What the ancients left for us on the road, and where it stops.

  1. 1The Ones That Move
  2. 2Thirteen Figures, and Not One of Them a Sign
  3. 3The Hand That Draws the Bow Is Not the Arrow's Tip
  4. 4Eleven Roads, Not One— a note: why the ancients wrote the stories in the sky

Section TwoThe Whole Sky System

Five skies, one layer at a time, and then one all the way through.

  1. 5The Mover, the Region, the Roomfive skies, three places each, the first layer only
  2. 6What Is Present Therethe same five skies, and what stands in their rooms
  3. 7In a Life, on the Earth, and in the Bodythe same five skies, brought home
  4. 8Where They Showed Upfour lives, beside four skies
  5. 9Amelia Earhart, All the Way Throughthe whole trick: five placements in horns, and a Midheaven in a void
  6. 10Five Skiesthe method, in four steps, stated only now

Section ThreeAs Above, So Below

Thirty-seven deep sky objects, read for the first time — and the only thing that decides the order is how far away they are.

Eight steps out by distance, and each one turns out to be a structure you live inside. Three more skies arrive on the way, at the point where you can finally read them.

  1. 11The Neighborhoodunder 1,500 light years · the Local Bubble · the Hyades · the Pleiades · the Beehive · the Helix · the Pencil Nebula · the ring around Meissa · the Orion Nebula · the Dumbbell
  2. 12Where Things Are Made, and Where They End1,500 to 8,000 · the Orion Arm · the Owl · the Veil · the Ring · Messier 67 · the Lagoon · the Blue Snowball · Messier 4 · the Crab · the Pillars · the Carina Nebula · the Double Cluster
  3. 13Out Past the Disk8,000 to 60,000 · the galaxy itself · the Sagittarius Star Cloud · Omega Centauri · Messier 13 · Messier 5 · Messier 80 · Messier 15 · Messier 2
  4. 14The Center26,000 light years, and behind a wall · the galaxy itself
  5. 15The Two We Are Eating160,000 to 200,000 · what our gravity holds · the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds
  6. 16The One That Is Comingtwo and a half million · the Local Group · Andromeda · Triangulum
  7. 17The Crowdtwenty to sixty million · the Local Supercluster · the Pinwheel · the Whirlpool · the Leo Triplet · Messier 77 · the Virgo Cluster and M87— and here a sky with no center · Robert Altman · the first sky you could not have read before
  8. 18What We Are Falling Towardtwo hundred and fifty million · Laniakea · the Great Attractor, which nobody has ever seen
  9. 19And Two Lights Standing on FeetAlice Guy-Blaché · the second sky you could not have read before
  10. 20The Same Thing Happening in Youand the one thing in this book that is not a rhyme
  11. 21Out of the Family, Toward the Frontierthe direction everything is traveling · a spiral inside a spiral · and the sky sounds: Kepler, and Amelia Earhart's chord

Section FourNow You

The method, step by step, and everything needed to run it.

  1. 22Your Thirteen Positions, and the Ordersteps one and two · where to get them, free — what to do without a birth time — and the rule of the room
  2. 23One Placement, Four Layerssteps three and four · the region, the room, what is present there, the life, the Earth and the body — then all of it at once, on one page
  3. 24From Lookups to a Readingstep five · the one line · so far · reading across the sky · the Six · the special cases
  4. 25Delivering Itstep six · tell the sky's story plainly, leave the person's story to them
  5. 26Practicestep seven · and what is not in this book

Section FiveOne Reading, All the Way Through

One sky, run all the way through with everything in Section Four.

  1. 27The Record30 January 1968 · Eau Claire, Wisconsin · two other things that were happening · and my sky at birth
  2. 28My Sky, Wholethe picture on the box: six of the seven stages, what repeats, and three threads
  3. 29Emptinessmy Ascendant, Moon and Mercury in the room of weeping, where empty towns rise again
  4. 30The Ox, the Winnowing Basket, the Pure Templemy Sun · my Venus · my Mars and Chiron
  5. 31The Extended Net, the Wall, the Tailmy Jupiter · my Saturn · my Midheaven, and the center of the galaxy
  6. 32The Wings, the Root, and Everything Beside Themthe ambassadors · the rooms I walked on my own · the deep sky alone · my company
  7. 33That Is the Readingthe questions, what I am not going to do, and how it sounds

And thenThe Whole Sky Library

Four tables and twenty-five shelves, A to Y. Below.

The figures

60 figures, and a cycle of seven stages

Every figure is computed from the same data the text is, and every one can be checked. The paperback prints them in black and white. The Kindle edition has every one in full color, like these:

Figure 52 · Everything, at its real direction and its real distance
Figure 52 · Everything, at its real direction and its real distance
Figure 6 · Wheels within wheels
Figure 6 · Wheels within wheels
Figure 4 · The Archer — the actual stars
Figure 4 · The Archer — the actual stars
Figure 18 · Amelia Earhart — four in one room, all the way out
Figure 18 · Amelia Earhart — four in one room, all the way out
Figure 55 · My sky at birth
Figure 55 · My sky at birth
Amelia Earhart’s chord, note by note
Amelia Earhart’s chord, note by note

Every figure in the book

Section One

  1. 1Where three figures share the same degreesThe Scorpion, the Snake Tamer and the Archer, laid flat
  2. 2The sky, named as a bodyTwenty body parts, and how many traditions named each
  3. 3The Archer, cut into its four regionsOne figure, twenty-two degrees of road, four places a Mover can be
  4. 4The Archer — the actual starsEighteen cataloged stars, at their true positions, with the four region boundaries cut through them
  5. 5The road: forty-six regions, the seven between them, and the two voidsThe whole road, at the finest grain the star names allow

Section Two

  1. 6Wheels within wheelsEarth, the Movers, the figures, the rooms — and the boundaries running off the page
  2. 7Amelia Earhart's Ascendant — the region and the roomthe horns of the Ram · the jaw of the Whale · the bright one of the River · Lou, the Bond
  3. 8Maria Montessori's Ascendant — the region and the roomthe glance · the head of the Water Snake · Liu, the Willow
  4. 9Michelangelo's Ascendant — the region and the roomthe arrowhead of the Archer · the tail of the Serpent · Ji, the Winnowing Basket
  5. 10Amelia Earhart's Ascendant — what is present therethe Double Cluster
  6. 11Maria Montessori's Ascendant — what is present thereMessier 67
  7. 12Michelangelo's Ascendant — what is present therethe Lagoon · the Pillars of Creation · the Sagittarius Star Cloud
  8. 13Amelia Earhart's Ascendant — the Earth and the bodythe lungs
  9. 14Ella Fitzgerald — one placement, all the way outthe Sun, in the head of the Ram
  10. 15Maria Montessori's Ascendant — the Earth and the bodymyelin
  11. 16Michelangelo's Ascendant — the Earth and the bodystem cells · the hand before birth · the pause between breaths
  12. 17Albert Einstein — one placement, all the way outMars, in the Untold Void
  13. 18Amelia Earhart — four in one room, all the way outthe Moon, in the horns of the Bull
  14. 19Amelia Earhart's Sun, all the way outthe Crab's foot · Jing, the Well · the Large Magellanic Cloud · muscle
  15. 20Amelia Earhart's Mercury, all the way outthe claws of the Crab · Liu, the Willow · Messier 67 · myelin
  16. 21Amelia Earhart's Mars and Jupiter, all the way outthe back of the Lion · Zhang, the Extended Net · the Owl · the fontanelles
  17. 22Amelia Earhart's Saturn and Uranus, all the way outthe beam of the Scales · Di, the Root · Messier 5 and the Great Attractor
  18. 23Amelia Earhart's Midheaven, all the way outthe Untold Void · Dou, the Dipper · the Ring · the skin
  19. 24Amelia Earhart's Chiron, all the way outthe Greater Void · Kang, the Neck · the Pinwheel · scar tissue

Section Three

  1. 25Thirty-seven objects, ordered by distanceA hundred and fifty-three light years to two hundred and fifty million
  2. 26Step one · the Local Bubbleeach object of this step, standing in its room
  3. 27Miles Davis' Ascendant — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  4. 28Miles Davis' Ascendant — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  5. 29Step two · the Orion Armeach object of this step, standing in its room
  6. 30Anton Bruckner's Sun — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  7. 31Anton Bruckner's Sun — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  8. 32Step three · the galaxy itselfeach object of this step, standing in its room
  9. 33Karen Horney's Moon — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  10. 34Karen Horney's Moon — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  11. 35C. T. R. Wilson's Ascendant — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  12. 36Step four · the galaxy itself: its centereach object of this step, standing in its room
  13. 37C. T. R. Wilson's Ascendant — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  14. 38Step five · what our gravity holdseach object of this step, standing in its room
  15. 39Amedeo Modigliani's Sun — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  16. 40Amedeo Modigliani's Sun — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  17. 41Step six · the Local Groupeach object of this step, standing in its room
  18. 42Aristide Briand's Sun — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  19. 43Aristide Briand's Sun — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  20. 44Step seven · the Local Superclustereach object of this step, standing in its room
  21. 45Gustave Flaubert's Ascendant — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  22. 46Gustave Flaubert's Ascendant — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  23. 47Robert Altman — one placement, all the way outthe Ascendant, on the southern claw of the Scales
  24. 48Step eight · Laniakeaeach object of this step, standing in its room
  25. 49Jacques Maritain's Sun — where it standsthe room and the Mover, before anything is said
  26. 50Jacques Maritain's Sun — all the way outthe region, what stands there, the Earth and the body
  27. 51Alice Guy-Blaché — one placement, all the way outthe Sun, in the feet of the Twins
  28. 52Everything, at its real direction and its real distanceThe seven nested structures you are inside at once

Section Four

  1. 53Reading a sky, in seven stepsThe order you will use every time
  2. 54One placement, every lookupTable Four, drawn: where each layer comes from

Section Five

  1. 55My sky at birthBrian Mahlum · 30 January 1968 · Eau Claire, Wisconsin
  2. 56Every placement, against the regions of the road and the two voidsthe thirteen on the road
  3. 57The Ascendant, all the way outin the hip of the Water Bearer
  4. 58The Sun, all the way outin the belly of the Sea-Goat, inside the overlap
  5. 59The Midheaven, all the way outin the armor, and the knee
  6. 60My deep skyfifteen objects in nine rooms

In the Kindle edition

All thirty-seven, photographed in color

Section Three reads thirty-seven deep sky objects, from the Hyades at 153 light years to the Great Attractor at two hundred and fifty million. In the Kindle edition, each one has its photograph right beside it.

The PleiadesThe PleiadesThe Orion NebulaThe Orion NebulaThe Pillars of CreationThe Pillars of CreationThe Galactic CenterThe Galactic CenterThe Andromeda GalaxyThe Andromeda GalaxyThe WhirlpoolThe Whirlpool

Two editions

Both open the Library

Kindle

$9.99
  • The whole book, all thirty-three chapters
  • All 60 figures and the seven stages, in full color
  • Color photographs of all thirty-seven deep sky objects
  • The password to the Whole Sky Library
Get the Kindle edition

Paperback

$29.99
  • 405 pages, 7 × 10 inches
  • All 60 figures, in black and white, with every figure in color online for readers
  • A blank wedge and a blank wheel, to draw your own sky on
  • The password to the Whole Sky Library
Get the paperback

The Whole Sky Library

Everything the book could not hold

The book ends in a Library. The shelves marked online are too big to print, so they live at sky.thecosmiczodiac.com/library, behind the password printed in the book. Online, the Library also has every Mover the long way, all ninety-four regions written out in full, every room with its records and its later voices, and every figure in full color.

Four tables · One: from longitude to room · Two: the regions · Three: the thirty-seven objects, in a life and in the body · Four: a reading, on one page

  • AThe twenty-eight rooms — every boundary star, both epochs, every width online
  • BThe twenty-eight rooms, one card each — what each room is, its season, what stands in it, and every Mover's record
  • CThe seven stages — every object by stage, and a sky's stage count
  • DWhat a body does — the rule, and the jobs the Earth and a body share
  • EMore parallels — more lives, more places on the Earth, more parts of the body, for every object
  • FThe rooms, from the ground
  • GThe words — a glossary of the book's own words
  • HHow to hear your sky — Kepler's intervals, and finding your own chord
  • IFrom your sign to your sky
  • JYour company — who else stood in each room online
  • KEvery placement — all eight skies, all thirteen positions, region, figure and room online
  • LYour notebook — every prompt in the book, gathered, with a blank wedge and a blank wheel to draw on
  • MThe epoch, and how it was settled online
  • NHow good are the boundaries online
  • OThe paran, computed online
  • PThe cohort
  • QThe predictions, as written before the run
  • RThe reachability table online
  • SSources by tradition online
  • TThe sourcing pass online
  • UHow I searched online
  • VWhat is new here online
  • WWhat is still open online
  • XA reader's bibliography — the books behind this one, and where to go next
  • YThe index

This is the first astrology that can read a galaxy.

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