Taking responsibility, making choices

Model of Rosa Parks choosing & taking responsibility by sitting in a "whites only" bus seat. Montgomery Civil Rights Center, Alabama

It seems that our prime minister and government here in the UK are focussing just a little bit more on the need to be cautious, wary and considerate of others after 10 days of what has felt like a "way hey!" gung-ho, let's-let-it-all-hang-out approach to the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Words of caution are creeping in (Q - why weren't they emphasised right from the start?) as many commercial outlets are still requesting people wear face coverings. The large crowds at the Euro2020 matches, the opening up of nightclubs and the return of open air festivals are crowd magnets. Scenes of people mixing and mingling as if nothing has happened begs the question of how many people will pick up the virus from this so-called return to normal? Numbers of cases from 19th July are yet to be seen, even though  cases generally appear to be going down. That's because the figures shown are for prior to this date. We'll know more in a couple of week's time.

Coronavirus, the pandemic, Covid-19, the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants - call it and them what you will - the current situation we're right now in the UK is one where the importance and significance of being autonomous, making wise choices and taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions is paramount.

Regardless of whatever the government and scientists say (personally, I think the scientists have the edge here, and have had for some time) we have to be responsible for ourselves and consider the needs and safety of other members of our society - the "herd" if you like - regardless of who they are, what they do, what they look like and whether or not they have been vaccinated. Just because the government has said we can get back to normal it doesn't mean we should.

One of the key features of astrological psychology as a tool for personal growth is that it places taking responsibility for ourselves, our lives and what goes on within them into our hands, and our hands alone. It becomes more difficult to blame anyone else if things go wrong as the buck stops with us. This might be the government's plan, but in my opinion personal responsibility should have been emphasised and reiterated long, long ago. People need frequent reminding of such things.

Here comes the astrological psychology bit. Using the birth chart as a tool and a non-predictive guide, we find it offers us choices. Once we’re aware that we can exercise choice in our everyday lives, things are unlikely to be the same again because we’ll be responsible for the direction our life takes, and no-one else.

At this point I want to briefly mention the fact that underpinning the Huber Method of astrological psychology is Assagioli’s psychosynthesis, which leads us - through the use of the birth chart -  towards integration of the personality. This is a kind of ever “onwards and upwards” approach towards our own individual wholeness.

An important way of working towards this greater wholeness can be achieved by developing our own sense of self, which is astrological psychology is symbolised by the Sun. The Sun can be likened to the conductor of an orchestra, the captain of a ship, the leader of an expedition - it's the Sun/conductor/captain/leader who calls the shots, makes the choices and the decisions.

However you wish to see the role of the Sun, it’s a very significant planet, and one which is involved in the development of our sense of self, our autonomy, our ability to take responsibility - and as well to accept that yes, we do sometimes make mistakes.

 The Sun, the sense of self and the will   

The Sun in astrological psychology is linked to the use of the will in psychosynthesis. We have 3 main types of will:

• the strong will which gives us determination and the capacity to keep going
  
• the skilful will which endows us with sound common sense and the ability to be flexible and adaptive as we work towards our goals, and
  
• the good will which enables us to include others and to work selflessly for their benefit as well as our own. 

If we're individually putting our Sun/sense of self to work in the current pandemic situation we're anxious to move on from, then all aspects of our individual  will which we might engage with are relevant. There's the need to be strong and determined and keep going through these challenging times. There's the ability to be flexible and adapt our behaviour along the way, and the situation also requires a large amount of good will towards others as well as ourselves, so it becomes a win-win situation where we can all help and support each other. 

 

I suspect anti-vaxxers and "no mask" wearers are unlikely to agree with much of this; it's my personal viewpoint formed over years of experience of working with people using astrological psychology and psychosynthesis, plus a good dollop of common sense.