Today was my second, and final (for this term), lecture with Liz Greene. It was phenomenal. I typed 13 pages of notes, and felt like the lecture she was giving was actually a piece of a book she’s writing. Listening to the eloquence and scholarly accuracy of her thoughts, interacting in the class with her, seeing and feeling what came up in myself and the other students—it all felt like we were experiencing the creation of an important work in the field of Psychological Astrology.
We started out with a discussion of what the shadow parts of the psyche are—how Freud and Jung, Lang and Klein all contributed to what we now think of as the unconscious, the darker, unknown sides of ourselves. We talked about projection: how we can’t immediately deal with the parts of our psyches that don’t fit into the social mores and our own sense of morals, so we are attracted to or draw into our lives others who have those qualities. These others can be people, religions, political parties, foreigners, etc. It’s in dealing with the issues in the others that we gradually come to recognize those issues as our own. Then we have to go through the pain and depression of knowing that we ourselves are less than we thought ourselves; we have shadow elements and moral failings that bring shame and pain. We learn to forgive ourselves, and have compassion for others. This is the way of integration, that which Freud and especially Jung believed all people strive for, naturally, as part of being human.
The rest of the time we spent talking about how much we can use Astrology to discover these darker areas in a person, and how much we can use Psychology, and in what order, etc. It was fascinating. I minored in Psychology in college, so the basic concepts were not new to me. Nor was the use of dreams as ways to delve into the unconscious, to get hints as to what needs to be worked with and on. What was new to me is the use of Astrology in this realm, in an ordered, systematic way. I think I’ve been working with clients in a somewhat intuitive/psychic way in this regard. I know I’ve touched on deep, personal areas where my clients have begun to realize they need to look more closely and work with their issues. But I didn’t know exactly what to look for, or where to start, or when.
Liz told us we can’t just start with someone’s chart. We have to know about them, about their family, about their pain, their fears of inadequacy. Where are reactions too strong, too obsessive? Who brings up those feelings? Once we have some hints as to those things, then we can begin to look at the chart. I won’t go into those details here, as most of you are not astrologers and it would sound like a foreign language. But any of you who are interested in talking about this, please contact me. I’m very sad to be leaving this community of astrologers and teachers, and want very much to continue discussions on these topics.
Here are a couple of short paragraphs from my notes on the conclusion of the talk:
Without the shadow components, we are only 2-dimensional. It’s the allowing of the unconscious to come to light, of grappling with ugly darkness, of creatively coming to some resolution, that makes us whole. In the search for meaning in one’s life, in the quest to understand why we’re here, we hit the rocks and have to create our own resolutions. We may find reasons for existential problems like loneliness, the unfairness of life, and even death, but we still have to deal with those things. And to bear those things with grace takes honesty, and the willingness to confront the shadow aspects of one’s personality. There’s greater tenacity and strength in the willingness to deal with it than in having simple faith. Faith is fragile, but dealing with the shadow brings a lasting hardiness. Making peace with life without adopting a doctrine is a strong place.
Because it takes a great strength to be able to face the darkness in one’s psyche. It’s a profound, but subtle, lesson that the shadow brings us. As long as we deny it, project it, run away from it, then we are driven by fear, and don’t have a full, integrated life.
This whole day was important for me, because I feel as if I’m now part of history in the making, part of the knowledge that will be passed down to future generations. I am part of the community of people who, in working closely with other people, work on ourselves as well. We all have our ways of striving for integration, and mine has come, more and more, to working with models of the psyche—Astrology and Psychology—and models of the Universe—my studies of cultures, religions, and mythologies. These are the tools of my work.
I want very much to make a lasting contribution somehow. I have ideas of what forms that contribution might be: maybe I’ll write books, maybe I’ll build a planetarium, maybe I’ll do visual art. I’m sure that at least some of the people I’ve done readings with are more aware and further on their path, so that’s something of a contribution. And today, in a small way, I’ve participated in something great. I’ve been a part of a large endeavor to bring meaning and awareness to us all. Perhaps this is all overly romantic, but I have Jupiter (planet of largess) right next to Neptune (planet of vision and ideals) in my birthchart, and I tend towards that way of looking at things. Which, given the pleasure and depth of feeling I’m experiencing, is not, at least today, a flaw in my character. It’s a joy. This is exactly why I came to the UK.
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