Podcast Summary:

Spike Bucklow, "The Year: An Ecology of the Zodiac"
Interviewed by Yana Byers on the New Books Network – September 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Professor Spike Bucklow discussing his new book, The Year: An Ecology of the Zodiac (Reaktion Books, 2025). Bucklow talks with host Yana Byers about the origins, structure, and philosophical underpinnings of the book, which blends art, material culture, science, and ecology through a journey around the zodiac and the natural year. The conversation delves into how Western concepts of time, the interplay of science and faith, and a cyclical understanding of ecology can enrich the way we relate to the world around us.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis and Genre of the Book

• Bucklow’s background in art, chemistry, and science shapes the book, which departs from his earlier material culture focus to explore ecology via the zodiac.

• The idea emerged from conversations with a traditional astrologer and workshops blending nature observation with zodiacal cycles.

  “This is astrology or the zodiac from an Aristotelian point of view… This was a very interesting speculative piece of natural history.” (Spike Bucklow, 02:13)

• The book resists easy categorization and blends genres: history, science, anthropology, and narrative.

2. Western Conceptions of Time and Their Ecological Consequences

• Bucklow contrasts the Western, linear conception of time rooted in Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment thought with older, cyclical models.

  “…Losing track of the circularity of time is one of those fundamental assumptions that has not helped our relationship with ecology, I think, because ecology is all about circles.” (Bucklow, 08:47)

• The shift from sidereal to seasonal zodiac (post-150 BC, Hipparchus) linked time perception to more immediate seasonal cycles, especially relevant for agricultural societies.

3. Book Structure: The Year as Narrative Journey

• The book starts in April, paralleling Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, treating the year as a cyclical journey told through the four seasons, each with a beginning, middle, and end (like traditional storytelling, 11:14).
• Seasons are marked by solstices and equinoxes, anchoring the flow of time.

4. Intertwining Astronomy, Ecology, and Psychology

• Bucklow explores the psychological, practical, and symbolic aspects of the seasons:

  • Spring: Hope and biological reawakening
  • Summer: Relaxation and abundance
  • Autumn: Contentment or anxiety before winter
  • Winter: Hardship and anticipation of renewal

  “I’m trying to have an empathetic approach to life in a world where food security is not good and where you do need to know and you are psychologically influenced by how the seasons are changing.” (Bucklow, 13:24)

• Human biology remains synched to the seasons, despite modern disconnects:

  “A quarter of all our genes actually change their behavior through the year, and nobody knows why. So we are hardwired to the seasons…” (Bucklow, 15:18)

5. Plural Ways of Seeing: Art, Science, Faith and Beyond

• The book intentionally refuses to pick a single “correct” way of viewing the world.

  “I’ve tried to look at different ways of looking at things…with equal degrees of respect and see, how can these different ways of seeing things coexist?” (Bucklow, 39:19)

• Challenges the idea that science and religion are necessarily opposed, tracing their historic entwinement:

  “This idea that science and religion are divorced is deeply unhelpful. It’s a very modern idea… what I’m trying to do is…here are some interesting things to think about.” (Bucklow, 18:28)

Detailed Segment-by-Segment Walkthrough (with Timestamps)

I. Origins and Conception (01:34–05:59)

• Bucklow’s background in chemistry, shift to heritage conservation, and the deep influence of the seven ages of man and medieval art.
• Inspiration from astrologer Jane Chenkas Sunderland’s workshops:
  • Monthly observations blending zodiac and natural cycles.
  • The resulting book is the product of merging speculative natural history, material culture, and ancient philosophy.

II. Time: Linear vs. Cyclical (06:50–10:53)

• Host Yana Byers highlights the Western obsession with linear progress.
• Bucklow explains how the Western zodiac shifted to emphasize seasonal cycles, drawing individuals' attention to immediate, cyclical changes in nature and society.

III. Mapping the Year—Narrative Structure (11:14–15:04)

• Bucklow aligns his book's structure with the natural world:
  • Each chapter = month; grouped by seasons, marked at beginning, middle, and end.
  • Uses narrative techniques, giving readers a frame story to follow the journey of the year, starting symbolically with April/spring.

IV. Empathy, Ecological Knowledge, and Psychological Resonance (13:16–16:28)

• Emotional and survival stakes are foregrounded: hope in spring, anxiety in winter.
• Cultural incongruities (like starting the year in January vs. spring) reflect deeper ambiguities in how societies relate to time and the natural world.

V. Bridging Science and Faith (18:00–19:48)

• The false dichotomy between rational/scientific and religious/faithful epistemologies is critiqued; Bucklow’s work seeks synthesis, not conflict.

  “As a scientist who has worked for most of my career in the humanities… this idea that science and religion are divorced is deeply unhelpful…” (Bucklow, 18:28)

Spring as Opening: Aries, Taurus, Gemini (19:23–37:22)

Aries (Spring, Fire, Hope) (19:23–22:24)

• Aries as both logical and emotive starting point.

• Book uses Aristotelian elements (fire, earth, air, water) as perspectives, not substances.

  “They are the four ways of looking at… or the four ways of being in the world.” (Bucklow, 19:48)

• The book moves from fire and increasing light to dark, mirroring the year.

Why Begin with Aries? (22:24)

• Begins with light and hope, leading to the darkness of winter—an intentional narrative arc.

Ecology in Spring (Maple Syrup & Lambs) (25:24–28:21)

• Uses the example of North American maple syrup production to show how trees “wake up” from winter—a blend of modern and historical ecological knowledge.

  “There’s the ecology of the way in which the tree wakes up from its slumber through winter…” (Bucklow, 25:31)

• Lambs and flowers: symbols of vitality and joy.

Taurus (Earth, Stability, Beauty, Venus) (28:21–32:33)

• Taurus marks consolidation; earth element equates to security and beauty.

  “Venus brings beauty… Venus also is later in the year in the dark side…It’s not all kind of lovely, lovely. It’s actually tough love.” (Bucklow, 29:57)

• Attention to the detrital pathway in ecology—decomposition, nutrient cycles, and “tough love.”

Gemini (Air, Connections, Communication) (32:33–37:07)

• Gemini, ruled by Mercury, represents relationships and communication.
• Murmuration (starling flocks) as a natural phenomenon exemplifying collective intelligence through simple rules.

  “How do tens of thousands of individual birds…create a collective work of art, a dance?…they actually only watch their seven neighbors…” (Bucklow, 33:30)

• Modern parallels drawn between murmuration and the algorithms guiding autonomous vehicles.

Solstices, Cyclical Anchors, and Structural Interludes (37:07–38:21)

• The summer solstice: narrative and symbolic anchor.

  “It is a very, very special day. It’s when the sun…stops and then turns around. So it’s a kind of anchor in a frame story which is circular…” (Bucklow, 37:22)

Plurality, Synthesis, and Final Insights (38:21–41:17)

Takeaways About Ways of Knowing

• The book’s core message: multiple ways of engaging with the world are possible and valuable.
• Both ancient philosophical perspectives and modern scientific understanding can be respected as internally coherent.

  “…otherwise we’re saying that people like Thomas Aquinas was stupid, which I absolutely do not believe, or Ptolemy was stupid…The ecologists and the computer scientists…They’re equally intelligent.” (Bucklow, 39:19)

On Pluralism and Truths

• Bucklow warns against superficial pluralism; different traditions can have rigor, coherence, and their own axioms.

  “I want to suggest that there are rigorous ways in which you can acknowledge truths that are arrived at with different methodologies.” (Bucklow, 40:48)

Personal Affinity for the Seasons (41:17–42:48)

• Bucklow hesitates to pick a favorite season, noting the importance of each. He reflects on the hidden power and transformative wisdom of winter, referencing Beowulf:

  “…a king who is describing power… talks about wintering into wisdom…transformation happens in the dark.” (Bucklow, 41:34)

Notable Quotes

• On Time and Ecology:

  “…ecology is all about circles.”
  (Spike Bucklow, 08:47)

• On Science and Religion:

  “This idea that science and religion are divorced is deeply unhelpful. It’s a very modern idea… what I’m trying to do is…here are some interesting things to think about.”
  (Bucklow, 18:28)

• On Seasons and Biology:

  “A quarter of all our genes actually change their behavior through the year, and nobody knows why. So we are hardwired to the seasons…”
  (Bucklow, 15:18)

• On Plural Ways of Seeing:

  “What I’ve tried to do in this book is to be equally respectful to different ways of looking, not say, oh, modern science says this and those people said that, and this one’s right and that one’s wrong. But they are both equally valid ways of looking.”
  (Bucklow, 39:19)

• On Transformation in Darkness:

  “…winter is actually a difficult time, but transformation happens in the dark.”
  (Bucklow, 41:34)

Recommended Segment Timestamps

• [02:13] – Bucklow on origins and astrologer inspiration
• [08:47] – On linear vs. cyclical time and ecological consequences
• [11:14] – Explanation of book’s structure as a narrative journey
• [15:18] – Genes, biology, and our connection to the seasons
• [18:28] – Science, faith, and art aren’t enemies
• [25:31] – Ecology of spring: maple syrup and trees waking up
• [33:30] – Murmuration, communication, and natural algorithms
• [37:22] – Meaning of the solstice as a narrative anchor
• [39:19] – Plurality and respect for different knowledge traditions
• [41:34] – Winter, wisdom, and transformation

Conclusion

The Year: An Ecology of the Zodiac offers readers a rich, pluralistic reflection on time, nature, and our ways of knowing—inviting us to reconnect with the cycles of the natural world, respect diverse ways of interpreting existence, and see ourselves as participants in a grand and ongoing dance of ecology and meaning.