Joyce Hopewell Astrological Psychology
14 Aug 2024
Saturn and the art of self-preservation
28 Jul 2024
Piercing the Eggshell – the story of Bruno and Louise Huber
Unexpectedly, along with Barry Hopewell as co-author, I researched and helped compile a biography of Bruno and Louse Huber, pioneers of the Huber Method of Astrological Psychology. This non-predictive use of astrology combined together with psychology is now used worldwide as an astrological psychological tool to help people realise their own potential and, ultimately, contribute to making the world a bit better than it is right now.
The Huber’s story is a fascinating, real-life one, and tells of the obstacles they had to overcome, the sacrifices they had to make and the determination they had to hold on with in order to realise their vision of doing something for humanity.
It wasn’t easy, but these two were people were very special, driven and motivated beyond personal gain and in pursuit of more spiritual goals and the evolution of humankind. They were influenced and helped by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, who founded Psychosynthesis, and they founded the Astrological Psychology Institute in Zurich in the early 1960s.
Bruno and Louise presenting an English Huber School student with her Diploma in Astrological Psychology |
You don’t need to know any astrology to enjoy the book as it’s an intriguing stand-alone read, but if you do understand some astrology you’ll probably get a lot more from it – and if you don’t know any astrology it might inspire to find out more. The photos and the few charts it contains are all in full colour, and there are many personal accounts and memories of Bruno and Louise contributed by students who knew them and worked with them, myself included.
Piercing the Eggshell is available from all good booksellers and from Amazon, as well as being available as an e-book. Click on the link for full details.
But best of all, go read it and be impressed – not that we wrote it – but by what these two remarkable people did and what their gift to humanity is.
Bruno and Louise Huber - two remarkable people |
Also see more info on this book, which has been translated into German and Spanish, here and here, and has been favourably reviewed by an non-astrologer:
Fascinating Biography
"Piercing the Eggshell" reviewed by Will Parfitt, Psychosynthesis therapist and author.
If you are an astrologer I would think this book is a must, even if you don't follow the Huber style of astrology; the story of how the Hubers created this new, very workable approach is interesting even to a non-astrologer like myself.
Better still, for astrologers and non-astrologers, this is a tale of two people's indomitable will to create a new psychological science using astrological connections to include and raise consciousness to a deeper spiritual connection. A fascinating and most unusual biography, very interestingly illustrated with relevant photos.
I was particularly interested in the influence of Roberto Assagioli and Psychosynthesis on their work and the development of Huber astrology, and how whilst he fully supported them in their explorations, even giving Bruno Huber access to all his client notes, they worked hard to collate, edit and where necessary translate his writings into what became the key work in the Psychosynthesis world.
10 Jul 2024
Bittersweet
In the book Bittersweet – how sorrow and longing make us whole by Susan Cain, the author explores something you might recognise immediately, just by reading the title, especially if you’re the kind of person who’s drawn to what is poignant in life. This set me thinking astrologically about which planet or planets might be associated with what is bittersweet in life, and I came up with strong possibilities for these being Moon, Venus and Neptune, but of course it doesn't stop there and readers may have their own ideas - if so, please share/comment.
Venus represents the drive to be selective and choose, using discrimination. Venus is associated with our ability to form relationships, to develop and express our aestheic tastes and preferences, to pursue what is harmonious and beautiful and, as a sensory organ, to use our physical sense of taste. The energies of Venus will be as fully engaged when you're eating a meal, as when you're visiting an art gallery, deciding on a colour scheme, listening to a piece of music or forming a new friendship. And, of course, falling in love.
Neptune notches things up to a higher and often far more inclusive level. Neptune
is most likely to be the source of kindness, unconditional acceptance
and non-judgemental love at its highest level - the level of mind -
where "there is a desire for universal love as the highest ideal" to
quote from their book, The Planets, by Bruno and Louise Huber.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines Bittersweetness as
“a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world.”
To that I’d add yearning, the desire to be reunited with something or someone who is no longer there, or to search after an elusive goal, place or state of mind which we seek in order to feel whole, fufilled or spirit-full. Bittersweet includes both the light and the dark, exploring how the combination and meeting of sadness and joy can trigger our own creativity and open a portal to something greater than our personal selves. It can be transformative, and can be recognised as something we already “knew” when we meet it (but had forgotten about).
Bittersweet is found in sad (often beautiful) music with minor key notes…..in browsing old family photographs…..in rainy days….in intense reactions to music, art, nature and beauty, and is often accompanied by goosebumps. I’d add, based on my own experience of bittersweet, that a flash of insight, or a sudden recognition of a half-remembered, dream-like something from the past could be bittersweet too.
The book contains a short
quiz
to help the reader identify whether or not they are a bittersweet
type, and it’s also available on line, as is her curated
list of bittersweet music. You may want to try that out.
Cain shares examples of bittersweet experiences in her own life and draws on the experiences of others she meets during her thorough research for this book. She shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force which helps us transcend our personal and collective pain, whether from a death or breakup, addiction or illness. She asserts that if we don’t acknowledge our own heartache we can end up inflicting it on others, maybe through abuse, domination, or neglect. Once we realise that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward one another, rather than turn away, and connect with joy as well as sadness in a bittersweet moment.
I’ll share a couple of quotes from the book. If you read it, I hope you gain as much from it as I did:
Most of all, bittersweetness shows us how to respond to pain: by acknowledging it, and attempting to turn it into art, the way musicians do, or healing, or innovation, or anything else that nourishes the soul.
The love you lost, or the love you wished for but never had: that love exists eternally. It shifts its shape, but it’s always there. The task is to recognise it in its new form.
For more info see Susan Cain’s website
24 Jun 2024
Communication – how do you do it?
Mercury is the tool planet associated with communication of all kinds and in all forms, but before we even get to words, we are able to communicate in so many varied and diverse ways – we smile, scowl, turn up our noses, grit our teeth, pull funny faces, frown, glower, raise an eyebrow, wink, grimace – and that’s just a few of the many facial expressions we have at our disposal.
Body language speaks in volumes too – hand gestures (from friendly waves to giving the finger), taking an open stance with arms held loosely by the side, or a closed-off defensive or protected stance with arms crossed over the body, legs crossed protectively as we sit, or legs wide open and splayed out (sorry guys, it’s usually men who do this) in a “power” pose.
Arms, hands, fingers can also speak. Watch people being interviewed on TV (politicians are fair game here!). Does what is being said concur with what the limbs are saying? How the head is held? And how the eyes are engaged or not. Are they shifty or focussed on something else? And that’s before we get to voice, tone of voice and use of words.
An interesting view of how we interact with one another is worth a look. Virginia Satir’s Methods of Communication makes a lot of sense. My experience as a facilitator in practical group work in some of the psychosynthesis/self-awareness trainings I’ve been involved in delivering bears this out. We had a lot of fun and learning, taking on each of these roles in turn, so as to experience them, and with a thumbnail situation to role play within, they are:
The Blamer, who shifts the onus as far away from his/herself by throwing blame on others
The Placator, who tries to please & doesn’t want to upset things
The Distractor, who changes the subject as fast as possible
The Computor, who is logical and factual but is also totally unemotional as he or she doles out the dry facts
The Leveller however is where it’s at. Levelling is about being honest, truthful, coming from what is known as your centre in psychoynthesis terms. Even if you’ve never heard of “the (your!) centre” before, you will have a sense of what it means.
It means to be solid, honest, secure, true and “right on” in what you’re saying and doing, to be authentic…..if you’re coming from this place, and are levelling (like speaking your own truth and admitting you don’t always know the answers to things), people will respect you and believe you. You will be credible because of your vulnerability and authenticity.
5 Jun 2024
D-Day 80th anniversary
I'm reblogging the post I wrote 10 years ago, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June 1944. You can look at the original here, or you can read this reblogged post which I've updated.
This commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which is currently very much in the news. Sadly, Richard Llewellyn - featured in this post - is no longer with us but it feels right to honour his input as a naval officer in the D-Day landings. Several years ago, Richard was awarded the prestigious French Legion d'Honneur for the part he played in the liberation of France, and always spoke warmly of the welcome he and other visiting veterans received from the French people when he was there.
* * * * *
D-Day 70 years on (first published in 2014)
Chart set for 6.6.1944 at Longues-sur-Mer, Normandy coast, 05.15 |
Richard Lewellyn, D-Day veteran |
Utah Beach by Joyce Hopewell |
Richard in London. Image zimbio.com |
" When people say thank you, it makes me feel very humble, because you know I was just doing my duty, quite literally as most of us were, and it's wonderful for somebody to say thank you because I hope it gives them pleasure in being able to do that, and for me, it makes me feel proud, I suppose.. I'm not very good at feeling proud.."
Richard, I'm very proud of you, and even though you're no longer with us, this is another "Thank you."