 |
 |
| |
| Departments |
Home
Columns, Special
Topics & Features:
The Columns:
Angels, Guides, &
Loving Spirits:
Angel Blessings:
with Dr. Doreen Virtue
Ask Valerie Morrison,
Internationally
Acclaimed Psychic
Trust Your Vibes
By Dr. Sonia Choquette, PhD.
Internationally Acclaimed Psychic Healer & Author
Body Mind & Spirit with John Holland
Psychic Medium, Author
& Teacher
Astrologer's Notes:
Carin Martin,
Astrologer
Donna Cunningham, MSW, Astrologer
Basil Fearrington,
Astrologer
Diana Stone,
Astrologer &
Huna Shaman
Jeff Jawer
Astrologer
Glenn Perry,
Astrologer
Ray Merriman,
Financial Astrology:
MMA Market Week
Noel Tyl,
Astrologer
Daily Aspect Calendar
by Care
MoonWatching with Dana Gerhardt and Friends
Creating Bridges:
The Spiritual &
Philosophical
Act of Power
Discovering the Key to Living Your Sacred Dream
by Lynn Andrews
The BUT Doctor
Healing America's Real Crack Problem One Person at a Time
by Eddie Conner
Avant-Gardening:
Insights by Frank &
Vicky Giannangelo
From The Heart:
Alan Cohen
Teachings from the Western Mystery Traditions: The Esoteric "Paths of Return"
by Jacquelyn Small, Eupsychia
Spirituality in Daily Life: by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
The Conscious Column
by David Ault
Spiritual Mastery
for the 21st Century
Dr. Gwen MacGregor
Pearls of Wisdom:
with Care & Aeon
Encounters on the
Shaman's Path with
Dr. Hank Wesselman, PhD.
Anthropologist, Zoologist, Author, Shamanic Healer & Teacher
The Divine Human
by Ornesha De Paoli
Awakenings
by Karen Johnson
Worshipping by Wondering with
Sankara Saranam, MA Founder of the Pranayama Institute
Feng Shui & Chinese Metaphysics:
Inside Chinese Metaphysics
by Barbara Finch,
Feng Shui &
Chinese Astrology
In Practice:
Juliet's Marketing Wisdom
by Juliet Austin, MA Marketing Coach, Author & Consultant
Kabbalah:
Kabbalah Revealed:
Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, Kabbalalist
"Letters from Heaven:" Spiritual Guidance from
the Hebrew Alphabet
by Avigayil Landsman
Pet Care:
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care
by Dr. Kathleen Carson, D.V.M.
Tarot:
Moment to Moment
by Gigi Miner
Author, Tarot Consultant, & Teacher
Reviews:
Tarot, Cartomancy,
Oracle Decks,
Books, & Software.
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Master
Humor:
Wake Up Laughing.Com:
Swami Beyondananda
Features:
Blessings & Messages
Event Calendar
Historical Notes & Data
The MetaPersonals
Opinion-Editorial
News Briefs
Symbols, Seals,
Amulets & Talismans
The What in the
World Department
Trivia & Life's Other
Novel Moments
Interviews:
Watch for Upcoming Announcements
Healing & Alternative
Health:
Living in Harmony-Astrology, Yoga & Ayurveda:
Venkat & Christine Machiraju
"Spirit and Practice
of the Wise Woman
Tradition"
By Susun Weed
Tai Chi & Qigong
by Bill Douglas
The Holistic Mystic,
by Lonny Brown
Medical Intuition: Tune
in to Your Body and Improve Your Health
by Caroline Sutherland, Sutherland Communications
Transformational Healing through the Violet Flame!
by Eva Kettles
Herbs for Health
with Kami McBride
The Directory
The Book Nook
Archives:
Past Issues
|
|
|
|
|
|
Astrologer's Notes:
AstroDPsychology:A Synthesis |
|
 |
ASTROMYOPIA
Missing The Forest For the Tree
|
|
|
by Glenn Perry, Ph.D., MFT |
|
|
Having ventured into a deep wood of beauteous complexity, with a great variety of ecologically interdependent phenomena, I discovered an astrological colleague hugging a particular species of tree while shrieking with delight, "Eureka! I've found it! The final, ultimate, irreducible essence of forest!"
You'll forgive my metaphor, but it serves to illustrate what I call "Astromyopia" -- a visual defect in which the complex whole of the horoscope is collapsed into one or more parts. It is, in effect, the astrological equivalent of nearsightedness. Unable to reason from the part to the whole, the astrologer simply stays glued upon the part while proclaiming it to be, "The most important factor in the chart." This all-important factor might be the lunar nodes, Chiron, Pluto, black Moon Lilith, or some other esoteric object whose significance is exaggerated out of all proportion to the rest of the horoscope.
A person suffering from Astromyopia might look at the chart of George Bush and exclaim, "Look! Bush has south node in Sagittarius. No wonder he's a war-mongering, colonialist demagogue who wants to take over the world!" If one points out that Bush also has Sun in Cancer in the 12th disposited by his Moon which is conjunct Jupiter in Libra in the 3rd both of which are squaring his Sun and also trining Uranus in the 11th, our astromyopic friend might stare blankly and mumble something like, "Oh, yea, that, too." Whoops. Unpacking that complicated configuration is, well, hard.
Another variant of Astromyopia entails shifting one's attention from part to part within a single category of phenomena such as Sabian symbols, asteroids, or fixed stars. In this case, the astrologer focuses upon one piece at a time with no way of linking them together into more complex meanings. "Ohmigod! The Sabian symbol for Hillary Clinton's Sun at 3 degrees Scorpio is: 'A house-raising party in a small village enlists the neighbors' cooperation.' Surely this explains the topic of her book, It Takes A Village!" Next, the Sabian symbol for her Ascendant is cited, then for her Moon, then her M.C., then…well, you get the picture. Each Sabian symbol, asteroid, or fixed star is looked at as an irreducible whole of meaning in isolation from every other part of the chart.
This kind of thinking makes astrology deceptively easy. The practitioner does not have to actually delineate the chart by combining parts into more complex wholes, for the meanings are ready-made and spoon-fed. The sheer amount of Sabian symbols (360), asteroids (6000 and still counting), and fixed stars (numberless), virtually guarantees there will be something that appears to account for the salient features of the native's life. Unfortunately, this approach also trivializes the object of our study -- the human being.
To be sure, many practitioners specialize in particular areas of astrology while also recognizing the central importance of the chart as a synergistic whole. Lynda Hill is an expert on Sabian symbols. Bernadette Brady is an aficionado of fixed stars, Grazia Mirti knows all about black Moon Lilith, Melanie Reinhardt emphasizes Chiron, and Michael Lutin is an authority on the nodes. These are all stellar astrologers who, in addition to their areas of specialized expertise, also recognize the importance of interpreting the chart synergistically.
The issue here is not whether singular factors in the chart have significance, but the extent to which focus on them can be an anxiety-reducing substitute for the more difficult task of chart delineation. As a style of interpretation, Astromyopia may simply be a way of managing the inevitable anxiety that accompanies looking at the chart as a whole. Let's face it. Astrology is hard. If you don't have a talent for abstract, symbolic thinking and a capacity for synergizing vast amounts of data into coherent, intelligible wholes, you might want to consider a less demanding field.
In contrast to a synergistic approach, Astromyopia is reductionistic. Wholes are reduced to parts, which are then assigned unrealistic and exaggerated importance as determinant factors in a person's life and character. Of course, the most flagrant example of Astromyopia is Sun-sign astrology. The complexity of the individual is collapsed into a single sign. He or she is an Aries, or a Taurus, or a Gemini. On this basis, all manner of advice is given about relationship compatibility, vocational aptitudes, personality traits, health matters, and so on. Yet, we all know that signs are not people; they are parts of people. Sun sign astrology is the equivalent of a medical practice that focuses exclusively on the condition of one organ, e.g., the liver, as if nothing else is relevant to a patient's health.
I don't mean to pick on Sun-sign astrology. It has its place. The point is that Sun-sign astrology is merely one example of Astromyopia. We could just as easily be talking about the lunar nodes, Chiron, or any other favored element that astrologer's look at with tunnel vision.
To be fair, Astromyopia is probably unavoidable at early stages of one's development. Before learning to combine parts into more complex units of emergent meaning, there is a tendency to assume that salient features of a person's character are products of simple factors. Yet, this interpretive myopia is not limited to neophyte astrologers. It persists in many of us for the simple reason that learning to interpret a chart as a complex, interdependent whole is extremely difficult.
The essential feature of any horoscope is the dynamic relations between its parts. Planets in sign, house, and aspect symbolize the myriad drives, functions, conflicts, and defenses that combine to produce that emergent quality called personality. This property is not contained in any single part of the chart -- it is not the Ascendant, Sun, or Moon sign -- but emerges out of the way the chart is organized, lived, and integrated as a whole.
In my opinion, this principle applies to any chart meaning of real significance. Nothing of importance is contained in a singular factor, but rather emerges from the interaction of two or more chart components. This interactive, integrative process is what makes us individual. It is also what makes individuals only relatively predictable.
After thirty years in the field, I am increasingly aware that human behavior is largely indeterminate -- that is, not determined in advance by external (planetary) factors. It is our freedom to choose and our capacity for integrating parts into functional wholes that ultimately determines who we are. Likewise for the astrologer, the more parts of a horoscope we can combine into a comprehensible meaning, the closer we come to understanding the real person. Reading a chart is like putting together the pieces of a large and complicated puzzle. Astrology is hard even if it is also fun.
One way of managing the anxiety of complexity is to keep adding more singular factors to the horoscope. This is like adding extra pieces to a puzzle without actually putting the pieces together. If there is something about a person that can't be explained through one's current approach, simply include more stuff -- more asteroids, more fixed stars, more midpoints, imaginary planets, Arabic parts, centaurs, and on and on. Of course, if you put in everything, you end up with a big black blob of nothing, for there will be no space left in the chart to differentiate one factor from another!
The obverse (traditional) approach, yet equally myopic, is to reduce the chart to fewer and fewer components -- get rid of the outer planets, Chiron, nodes, asteroids, fixed stars, and anything else that clutters up the chart -- then tie the few remaining parts together via fixed rules that eliminate any possible ambiguity. Again, this approach assures that you don't actually have to do any real thinking for yourself; the simplicity and precision of the model does it all for you. I call this AstroFundamentalism. Is the ruler of your 7th house in your 6th house? That's easy; you're going to marry a servant. Is the ruler of your 7th house Mars? After you marry your servant, he's going to kill you. Is Mars in Pisces? His method of attack will be poison. Simple. Clear. Wrong.
Anyone who does astrology long enough will realize that this kind of rule-bound, formulaic thinking reduces the chart (and the person) to a singular physical manifestation, as if there can be only one expression for the chart. This is an example of what the eminent philosopher Alfred North Whitehead termed "the fallacy of misplaced concreteness," i.e., confusing a concrete thing (event) with the abstract category of meaning that it exemplifies.
The fallacy of misplaced concreteness occurs every time we settle on a single outcome as the meaning of an astrological configuration. If the significator of your 7th house is Mars in Pisces in the 6th, you may indeed marry an angry servant who poisons you, but this is only one of many possibilities (thankfully!). The actor Denzel Washington has this configuration. According to his biography, he's been married to the same woman for over thirty years, they have four children, and he has yet to be poisoned. By all reports, she remains an ardent supporter and source of inspiration for his work.
Precise rules that predict concrete singular outcomes may allay our anxiety as astrologers, but they don't make us good astrologers. The cognitive narrowing and shrinkage of meaning that typified the interpretive methods of ancient astrologers was understandable in light of their relative ignorance of the inner, psychological dimension of human beings. Certainty of prediction in a dangerous world that seemed to offer few choices necessarily had a high premium.
Yet, with traditional, event-oriented astrology, the most you can be is right. To actually be helpful, we have to have a tolerance for ambiguity and for what the poet John Keats called "negative capability". This is the capacity for being in uncertainty without feeling undue pressure to arrive at an intellectual resolution. For astrologers who have such a capacity, mystery and doubt is honored as a necessary concomitant of the consultation. Space is given for meanings to emerge organically out of the depths of interaction with the client. Rather than anxiously reaching for a specific, concrete interpretation, the astrologer accepts that planetary archetypes can interact, combine, and express themselves in myriad creative ways while still remaining true to their essential nature. This view holds that human behavior is archetypally predictable, but concretely indeterminate.
Of course, this does not mean that we should abandon precise, clearly formulated rules of interpretation. What it means is that we should not arbitrarily narrow the range of meaning that those rules allow. In subsequent columns, we'll discuss how a clear understanding of the grammatical structure and syntax of the astrological language can allay the anxiety that accompanies recognition of a horoscope's inherent complexity and indeterminacy.
|
|
|
"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
|
 |
You'll find it in
The
Directory! |
|
|
|
|
