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AstroDPsychology:A Synthesis
Archetypal Places & Things
by Glenn Perry, Ph.D., MFT
In previous columns, we've discussed the synchronistic relationship between process and content. Process constitutes the psychodynamics of the birthchart and has to do with the underlying motives, beliefs, and intentions that characterize a person's inner life. Content, on the other hand, is the outcome of psychological functioning, and shows up in a person's lived experience -- relations with people, places, things, and events. In this installment, we will be discussing the astrological significance of places and things.


Archetypal Places

Each planet fulfills a purpose in that it expresses an action that is designed to satisfy a motive and attain a goal. However, purposes require places in which the appropriate actions can occur. A place can be defined as an area of space of a particular quality set aside for a purpose. For example, Mercury symbolizes a process of learning, which often requires a school -- a place of learning; the Sun signifies the creative impulse, which might require a theater or studio; Uranus signifies a group of like-minded people bound together for a common cause; hence a convention center or meeting hall would be a fitting place.


The upshot is that not only do planetary archetypes symbolize characters that perform actions; they also represent the places in which these actions occur. Normally we think about houses as constituting the places, or contexts, within which planetary activities occur. While this is correct, astrology's flexibility as a language enables "places" to also be ruled by the corresponding planetary functions. Accordingly, a planetary archetype is not limited strictly to the psychological realm, but shows up in the environment, too. As Jung pointed out, archetypes are psychoid; i.e., they shape matter as well as mind.


If a woman is working in a hospital as a nurse, then both her inner preoccupations (relieving suffering) and her working environment (patients in a hospital) correspond to Neptune. Since her life experience appears to highlight this planet, we are cued to check the status of Neptune in her chart, i.e., its sign, house, and aspects. Clara Barton, who gained the title of "Angel of the Battlefield" for her work as a nurse during the American Civil War (she later founded and then served as president of the American Red Cross for 22 years), has Sun conjunct Neptune in Capricorn in the 10th house. For Barton, her 10th house of career was for all practical purposes a hospital (Neptune).


Linking places to planets is a simple matter of observation and deductive reasoning. If we know that Neptune symbolizes the transcendent function, then we can deduce that Neptune rules places that support transcendent activities, e.g., rescue missions, retreats, convents, meditation centers, and the like. Next, we can test our hypothesis by observing whether, in fact, Neptune manifests as these kinds of places wherever it is constellated in the chart. Of course, there can be more than one place befitting a planetary archetype. In each instance, however, the place is appropriate for one or more of the activities that typify that archetype.


Since Neptune is also associated with escapism, victims, the aged, and people who must be secluded, Neptune rules hospitals, bars, crack houses, rest homes, prisons, mental institutions, and other places where people go to escape, get high, recover, rehabilitate, fall apart, or end their lives. While a planet may not literally manifest as an actual place, its location in the chart can color a house environment so that it feels "as if" the place was there, e.g., Neptune in the 4th can make one's home feel like a retreat; with Mars in the 7th one's marriage may seem like a war zone; and with Pluto in the 10th one's career may appear to take place "underground". Table 1 presents a brief listing of some purposes and places associated with each planet.



Table 1: Archetypal Places
Sign-Planet Purpose Place
Aries-Mars Assertion, survival

Stadium, arsenal, battlefield, desert, boxing ring, gate, front line
Taurus-Venus Security, comfort

Bank, park preserve, farm, holding area, massage center, garden
Gemini-Mercury Learning, reporting

School, library, book store, newsroom, station, road, passageway
Cancer-Moon Belonging, nurturing

Residence, restaurant, hotel, shelter, reservoir, reservation, river
Leo-Sun Creativity, play

Theater, playground, place of fun or entertainment, sports arena
Virgo-Mercury Service, health, work

Workplace, office, garage, employment agency, health clinic, lab
Libra-Venus Partnership, beauty

Bridal suite, art gallery, ballroom, beauty salon, arbitration office
Scorpio-Pluto Healing, regeneration

Abyss, cave, brothel, morgue, bathroom, sewer, operating room
Sagittarius-Jupiter Expansion, justice

University, church, courthouse, embassy, airport, foreign land
Capricorn-Saturn Success, structure

High office, office building, mountain, skyscraper, top of anythingr
Aquarius-Uranus Change, awakening

Conference room, fraternity house, convention hall, internetor
Pisces-Neptune Unity, endings

Places of confinement, rest home, retreat, bar, asylum, sanctuary



While the list is by no means exhaustive, it serves the purpose of demonstrating how the purposes of each planet find expression in various locales. The value of knowing the various locations that correspond to planets brings us back, once again, to Jung's notion of synchronicity. An outer condition or environment is likely to correspond with an inner psychological state. If a client reports, for instance, that he's an innately curious person and spends his free time combing through old history books at the library - in fact, its his favorite thing to do, we should not be surprised to find Mercury in Cancer in the 5th house, for Mercury rules libraries, Cancer rules history, and the 5th house signifies a context of fun and recreation. In short, Mercury in Cancer signifies an inner psychological state (curiosity about history) and an environmental condition (history section of the library).


Correlating planets with situations and locales also can provide clues to psychological conflicts. For example, if a client reports that she is feeling drained and exploited at her job in the hospital, we can translate her report into a psychological language of process. What are the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that correlate to her experience with the hospital? These, too, will be indicated by Neptune's placement. If we note that Neptune squares Mars in her chart, then we can hypothesize that her capacity to set limits and act in her own self-interest (Mars) is in conflict with her capacity for compassion and selfless service (Neptune). Accordingly, she may not have proper boundaries when it comes to caring for others, and is therefore vulnerable to exploitation or overextension at the hospital where she works.


The point is that whatever place corresponds to a planet, the native's experience within that locale can be traced directly back to the corresponding psychological functions. Thus the astrologer has a ready means for discerning the attitudinal and behavioral antecedents that generate the outer condition.


Archetypal Things

Planetary archetypes also tend to crystallize into various things, with each planet representing a class of things. What exactly do we mean by "thing"? It's surprising how many definitions there are. My dictionary lists nineteen. For practical purposes, a 'thing' can be defined as an entity, object, or quality thought to have its own existence. While a thing can be an abstract behavioral quality, like belligerence, the term generally refers to inanimate objects like a wallet or animate objects like a pet. Of course, a thing can also refer to utterances, "What a nice (Libra) thing to say," or even to actions, "He's doing his thing." In this latter sense, a thing can refer to any type of astrological action, such as controlling (Saturn), socializing (Venus), or competing (Mars).


Things that a planet "rules" are consistent in their function and quality with the psychological principal of the corresponding archetype. For the warrior archetype, a Mars thing would be a weapon. For the archetype of beauty, a Venus object would be jewelry. A book would be a clear manifestation of Mercury, whereas for Jupiter it could be a religious relic. With regard to behavioral qualities, the pride and strength of a lion is a good symbol for the Sun, whereas the lethal sting of the scorpion is apt metaphor for Pluto. It's worth noting that animals have long been associated with specific sign-planets, e.g., Aries the Ram, Taurus the Bull, and Capricorn the Goat, as their traits and aptitudes symbolize abstract, psychological qualities (things).


A planet correlates to a class of things, all members of which symbolize that planetary quality. Saturn, for example, constitutes a class of objects that includes bones, barriers, blockades, corporations, clocks, buildings, handcuffs, measuring devices, bricks, scaffolds, and frames. Note how all these things evidence the Saturn principle of structure, time, and control.

Knowing the astrological meanings that 'things' have helps us to think symbolically and to appreciate the deeper, synchronistic import of everyday events. Table 2 lists several objects that serve as symbols, or metaphors, for the psychological qualities associated with each sign-planet.



Table 1: Archetypal Things
Sign-Planet Planetary Things
Aries-Mars Weapon, missile, ammunition, tool, face, head, iron, scissors, sharp objects, adrenals
Taurus-Venus Couch, possession, sweets, mortar, object of art, savings, ornaments, cow, sculpture
Gemini-Mercury Book, newspaper, arms, mail, phone, printer, cabs, dictionary, nerves, radio, language
Cancer-Moon Souvenir, memento, biography, breasts, fluids, silver, womb, container, boat, pot, food
Leo-Sun Scepter, award, medal, prize, trophy, gift, gold, heart, games, toys, sports, lion, peacock
Virgo-Mercury Pets, vacuum, toothbrush, calculator, microscope, vitamins, utensil, device, intestines
Libra-Venus Scales, object of art, contract, treaty, beautiful things, embroidery, valentine, kidney
Scorpio-Pluto Wound, bomb, corpse, bodily waste, genitals, rectum, reptiles, toilet, debt, a will, finances
Sagittarius-Jupiter Bible,advertisement, a law, passport, code of ethics, diploma, religious icon, liver
Capricorn-Saturn Bones, barrier, corporation, clock, building, handcuffs, ruler, scaffold, frame, gavel
Aquarius-Uranus Airplane, computer, technology, an invention, antennae, satellite, group/club, modem
Pisces-Neptune Alcohol, drugs, fish, gas, oil, fog, photography, mask, parasite, decay, garbage, feet



Things that make up real-life events can be interpreted in the same manner as objects in dreams. If one dreams of driving a car downhill and suddenly finding that the brakes are out, an interpretation could be that the dreamer is feeling out-of-control in his real-life actions, that "things are moving too fast." The same event could conceivably have the same meaning in one's waking existence. A car is a means of moving forward, and thus has a Mars connotation. Breaks, on the other hand, serve a Saturn function; they retard, inhibit, and slow things down for purposes of control. If a person has a Mars square Saturn natal aspect, and actually has an accident involving break failure, then the event has an obvious correlation to the aspect and may hint, synchronistically, at a needed change in attitude. Perhaps he should better regulate his actions, be more patient, and not push so hard to accomplish goals -- all challenges of Mars square Saturn.


A thing, in effect, is a symbol of an archetypal principle, and thus points to a living essence that has a meaning beyond its concrete, material expressions. Even if a thing is solid, this does not make it real in the same sense that an archetype is real. An archetype enjoys a permanent, stable existence on it's own plane, whereas its material expressions are comparatively ephemeral. In the end, archetypal meanings are more important than the things that carry them; thus, one should always distinguish an archetype from that which symbolizes it.


For example, a statue of the Greek goddess, Venus, is merely a thing that stands for the archetype behind it; i.e., the image is not the archetype but a manifestation of the archetype. The real Venus exists within the sculptor, but is only symbolized by the statue. Venus animates the sculptor's actions, which produce tangible, material evidence -- the statue -- of a human impulse that is itself the expression of a divine principle immanent within the psyche. The things of our lives, therefore, mirror the archetypal components of our psyche, and serve to remind us of hidden purposes and meanings. For the sculptor, his statue of Venus provides concrete proof of his own capacity to embody grace and beauty.


Planets in signs can represent a compounding of things, and thus have meanings that are more complex than a planet alone. When an expensive car is referred to as a "status symbol," we are saying that the car not only is a symbol of action -- moving forward -- but also stands for abstract qualities such as wealth, excellence, superiority, and high achievement. In this regard, it's a kind of Mars in Capricorn thing.


Again, however, "expensive car" points to an archetypal compound that exists on a psychic plane that trumps its material expression. While the car will get old and eventually have to be replaced, the character of soul that gave birth to it, i.e., the initiative, drive, and discipline it embodies, refer to psychic qualities that are enduring. Once developed, such qualities become attributes of soul that may conceivably carry forward from one life to the next. The material Cadillac will end up in the junk heap, but the "Cadillac within" lives on forever.

"Astrology is a religion inasmuch as it reveals the anatomy and psychology of God."

~ Manly Palmer Hall
Glenn Perry,
 Ph.D., MFT

Glenn Perry, Ph.D., MFT

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist


Director of the Association for Psychological Astrology

Board Member of the International Society of Astrological Research


Glenn Perry lectures and conducts workshops throughout the world on the application of astrology to the fields of counseling and psychotherapy.


He has written six books, including "Essays In Psychological Astrology".



Dr. Perry is the founder and president of the Academy of AstroPsychology, a masters and doctoral degree program.

For more information:

www.astropsychology.org



Information on Glenn's books, tapes, and on-line mentorship program can be obtained at:

www.aaperry.com.



E-mail: glenn@aaperry.com
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