Saturn and the art of self-preservation

This warning sign stopped me in my tracks. It was displayed in Big Bend National Park in Texas. I'd been there before and knew there were mountain lions about - but BEARS too?! That was news to me and my Saturn sub-personality immdiately focussed on safety and self-preservation as I noted all the warnings on the info board and committed them to memory. I wasn't up for taking any chances.

 

I have written about Saturn before - you can read it here -  but this time I want to look at how the qualities of this often-maligned planet can play an essential part in our own self-preservation. We may find ourselves in danger  - meeting a bear or lion or alligator on a path in a national park, we need to know the "rules" of how to manage this. The sign I saw laid these out quite clearly. That was Saturn in care-taking mode with the best interests of public safety involved, along with suggestions of how people could take responsibility for themselves.

"Rules" - there's a Saturnian word to conjure with. Depends which kind of rules they are - the restrictive, controlling "do not" type, or the more benevolent and protective guidelines, encouraging self-awareness and offering choice. You can ignore them (possibly at your peril) or take them on board and be responsible for your own safety.

 

In my co-authored book, The Cosmic Egg Timer, I describe Saturn as "...the planet that swings into action when we need to know exactly where we stand - so to have social structures, guidelines and rules to abide by are all part of Saturn's realm".

Appreciating and nurturing our own Saturnian qualities can be a useful tool in keeping ourselves safe and sussing out situations which might prove a bit dodgy. Of course, there will be more than Saturn involved here if we're using our senses to judge a situation. Eyes and sight (Jupiter) will be involved, as will hearing and sound (Mercury) along with the ability to leg it/the fight-flight response (Mars).

 

As an ego planet, Saturn gives us a physical sense of self, gained through the body, which is composed of various life-supporting systems, such as the skeletal, respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems, to name just a few.

I say in my book that "The psychological drive associated with Saturn is security. Saturn is concerned with structure and form, always seeking to organise, preserve and maintain things within manageable limits.....In astrological psychology we see Saturn in a positive light. It's value should not be underestimated as it plays an essential role in our psychological make up."

Bearing in mind that, like all planets, it can operate at different levels of consciousness, at it's highest level it gives us the ability to act wisely, with dignity and maturity.

 

 

Be prepared - You may meet an alligator on a path!

 

 

Masks - it's a Pluto thing

Masks made by particpants at an astrological psychology workshop. The masks they are wearing represent a part of themselves they would not nomally share or show.

 

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, mask wearing has become a hot and controversial topic. 

Some people are strongly against wearing masks, even though these are known to be the most effective barrier against spreading the Covid-19 virus and its variants. The airborne viral load breathed out or in by we humans is effectively sequestered by the wearing of masks which cover both mouth and nose. Masks protect both the wearer and everyone else they come into contact with. For me it's a no-brainer not to wear one; they're beneficial to all. Otherwise why have medical/surgical staff been wearing them long before the onset of the pandemic? How might a mask-denier feel about a surgeon operating on them without a mask, breathing goodness-knows-what out into the operating theatre and all over them?

So why don't people like them? Is it purely to do with not liking the effect they have on being able to breathe properly or communicate easily? Or is it something to do with people not liking being "told" what to do, maybe thinking they know best? Thinking they look a bit daft or strange wearing them? How vain and anti-social might that be?

In astrology, masks are associated with Pluto, the outermost planet in our solar system, most distant from the Sun, and is associated with the psychological drive of transpersonal will, which is engaged when our energies are directed towards perfecting ourselves and upping our personal ante.

Pluto operates at different levels of awareness. On a personal level it can be seen in disruptive, power-laden behaviour. Pluto is symbolic of the masks we wear to cover up what we don't want others to see. It can make us manipulative, allowing us to force our will on others, trying to dominate them.

Masks can also provide a hiding place for aspects of ourselves we don't want to show or share, to keep safe something hidden about ourselves - think of the smiling face and demeanour which hides a ruthless personality, or a person whose actions belie their true colours.

Masks are not all bad, as long as they are used as masks and not as a hiding place for truth. They can be fun too, but in a superficial way - think of masked balls, dressing up in costumes for a specific role, and make-up which transforms the face of the person beneath. Pluto is the transpersonal planet of tranformation, change and power, things which should definitely be used with awareness and always with the mantra of "do no harm". 

Pluto as a power trip is the expression of this planet at its lowest level; at its highest level of expression personal power has to be surrendered and control relinquished. Those who refuse to wear masks and disapprove of those who do have quite a way to go yet on their path to perfection, which is Pluto at it's highest level: the perfect being. 

That's something we all have to work at, but maybe the mask-deniers have to do it just that little bit harder.

NB - I'm aware that some people have exemptions for wearing masks because they have a medical condition. I know someone in this category who wears an uncomfortable face shield to protect herself and others when she is out, and I take my hat off to her for doing this selflessly.

 

 

 

There's more on Pluto and the transpersonal planets in my book,

 The Cosmic Egg Timer,

and in The Planets by Bruno and Louise Huber.

Both books are available on Amazon.

Click here and here for details of these and other books on astrological psychology.

 

The Four-Fold Way

Some time back in the 1990s I came across the Four-Fold Way, which was referred to at a personal growth workshop I attended. The Four-Fold Way was attributed to anthropologist Angeles Arrien, and I was impressed by it’s four simple points of wisdom:

 

· Show up and choose to be present

· Pay attention to what has heart and meaning

· Tell the truth without blame of judgement

· Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome

 

This led me to read her book, entitled The Four-Fold Way - Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary. The book, its content and ethos have come back to mind right now. The times we are currently living in are full of change and divisions within society. Climate breakdown is not new, but the need to take on board and address the problems we're making for ourselves and future generations now have to urgently be addressed.

It's time for us all to start taking responsibility for ourselves and stop moaning.

Angeles Arrien suggests four paths we might take, and her opening sentence, way back in 1992 when the book was published, is pressingly relevant today. She says,

"Today it is imperative that we pay attention to ecological issues. Our planet, the house we live in, is in danger of becoming unliveable, due primarily to the neglect of our own industrialised society. It is clear we need to take action before it is too late."

She goes on to say that the word ecology comes from the Greek word oikos, which means house, in other words our "house", our planet.

The four ways she describes can be shown diagrammatically using the medicine wheel layout and includes the four points of the compass, and the four elements of fire, earth, air and water. Each Way has a single line description which more or less lays out what it's about.

The Way of the Warrior - Show up and choose to be present- the message here is to stip dillydallying about and do something, take action. The associated human resource is power, the way of living is right action.

The Way of the Healer - Pay attention to what has heart and meaning - this suggests don't allow yourself to get distracted (by smart phones, social media etc?) but remain in touch with what is really important and connected to your heart. The associated human resource is, unsurprisingly, love; the way of living is right speech.

The Way of the Visionary - Tell the truth without blame or judgement - here we have to remember to speak our own truth, be true to ourselves, and not take on board what others have tried to foist upon us. This can be a tough one as it's much easier to go along with things we don't really agree with in order to fit in, or keep the peace. And we have to remember not to blame or judge ourselves and others. The associated human resource here is vision, and the way of living, right placement.

The Way of the Teacher - Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome - the message is to stay open to the new and not have an end goal in mind. A good teacher will always be open to new ideas and viewpoints because so much fruitful material can come from staying open and learning more. Good teachers are always learning! The associated human resource is wisdom and the way of living is right timing.

Angeles Arrien’s work as an anthropologist, educator and facilitator of workshops aims to build a bridge between cultural anthropology, psychology and comparative religions, revealing how indigenous wisdoms are relevant to our families, professional lives and our relationship with the Earth itself. There is something in The Four-Fold Way for all who wish to develop themselves, their potential and their ability to live life creatively, and we need this approach more than ever right now, in our current times.

“Do all the good you can, with all the means you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can” - Angeles Arrien.

 

Friendship, Fun and Folly in the Fifth House

The astrological houses sometimes cause a bit of confusion for non-astrologers, because people don't know what the houses are, but if you substitute the words "area of life experience" for "house" that will give you a better understanding of what they mean in a real life context.

To find out which areas of life experience each house represents take a look at my my co-authored book The Cosmic Egg Timer and my YouTube channel where I describe what each house  - including the fifth house  - represents.

The fifth house is one which most people can readily understand as it's concerned with relationships, the friendships we make and the experiences and real life lessons - both good and bad -  that we gain from them.

 Quoting from The Cosmic Egg Timer, I say that

The 5th house is, in a sense, a place of self-discovery. This is an area where we venture forth from the collective to explore ourselves in contact with the world and participate in the Games People Play. It is an extrovert place where we are likely to be full of self-belief, flamboyance and even bravado as we go out on our journey of conquest. We like to be involved with people, have a good time, and our conquests may well involve the opposite sex; these may produce the other aspect of this house – creativity, whether this be babies or works of art.

The downside in this area of life is that when our conquests don’t produce the results we need to make us feel special, we feel rejected and insecure. We may attempt to possess somebody and hold him/ her as a personal prize in order to prove how good we are. 

Musing on this, alongside my own life experiences in this house/area of life, I consider myself lucky to have true friends, people I trust. I've known some of them for years. But there have been others along the way who initially presented themselves as friends, but turned out not to be so, and were not to be trusted. In this way, the fifth house can be a learning ground, filled with real life experiences which are not always pleasant, but which offer important lessons for self understanding and personal growth.

Friendship and fun with a true friend is something to treasure and cultivate. Friends can laugh together, do things together, trust each other and share confidences. A friend will support you, stay in touch, be there if you're going through a difficult time, remember your birthday, be kind to you, be honest with you, and not talk behind your back. And you can reciprocate by doing the same for them. It's a two-way traffic and you're equal partners.

Folly creeps in when someone purporting to be a friend proves to be anything but. You might blame yourself for being taken in by this person, for being taken for a fool, especially when you realise that this is a toxic relationship and you're being used, manipulated and controlled. You've been drawn into playing one of the many games people play in the arena of relationships. This is especially so where powerful emotions are involved, and your so-called friend -  or maybe it's your ex - proves unworthy of your trust and reveals their true colours.

Of course, the boot could also be on the other foot and you may realise that you could be the one attempting to possess or control somebody and hold him or her as a personal prize in order to gain power over them or prove something to yourself.

By waking up and being consciously aware of our own motivation and behaviour with the friends we relate to in this area of life we can, thankfully, begin to bypass the downside of these games - such as control and manipulation - and create lasting and worthwhile connections which are true, open, honest and beneficial to all concerned.

In fifth house friendships, as in all areas of life, there's always a choice between  the darker alleyways and the path of light.

Decisions and choices

My book The Living Birth Chart is a practical workbook which includes theory, chart examples and practical exercises for the reader/seeker to dabble in and enjoy the revelations they provide. It's a book to dive into and use if you want to bring your natal chart to life and apply what you discover to your everyday life. It's also about becoming more self aware and being responsible for yourself and the actions and decisions you make.

Now, I happen to think that achieving and maintaining autonomy and taking responsibility for ourselves is not easy. It’s something which we can always improve upon, wherever we are along this particular path, and sometimes we need to have a refresher and brush up on our skills in this department of everyday life.

Some time ago I heard a radio interview with one of the authors of a book called “Mistakes were made (but not by me)” * about why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions and hurtful acts - declining, wherever possible, to take responsibility for something which we’ve chosen to  do. 

Whether or not our choice was wise, foolish or misguided is not the point; the issue is our reluctance to take responsibility for the choice we made and the part we played.

As far as The Living Birth Chart is concerned, it’s always been my experience that the very best way to learn and understand astrology from a deep level is to make it come alive in ways that we can relate to on an everyday basis. It’s possible to learn astrology in an intellectual way, using our Mercury function of gathering and accumulating facts and information. But when we engage with Jupiter and use our eyes and our senses, and relate what we’re seeing, hearing, touching, perceiving to real life experiences, that’s when astrology truly comes alive and is for real.

When astrology becomes an integral part of your life on a day to day basis it begins to live - and you do too -  with a sharpened focus as you become more consciously aware, which means in turn that you begin to live in a more responsible way.

The point I’m moving towards here relates to the importance and significance of being autonomous and taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions, together with the capacity to recognise and honestly acknowledge when we’ve got something wrong. The converse is equally true, because if we’re really autonomous and self-aware we can quietly acknowledge when we’ve got something right without needing to crow or gloat about it.

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, so it becomes more difficult to blame anyone else if things go wrong.

Using the birth chart as a tool in this way, 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!

An important way of working towards this greater wholeness can be achieved by developing and using the Sun, which can be likened to the conductor of our orchestra of planets and psychologival drives -  or as I sometimes like to think of it -  the leader of our jazz band!

However you wish to see the role of the Sun, it’s a very significant planet 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 is a Cardinal planet expressing Cardinal energy. It embodies the drive to assert and create, and it is important that this part of us is developed and strengthened so that it can be expressed clearly and without fear. It shouldn’t be hidden away like a bright torch under a damp blanket, but allowed to shine and be seen.

Sun and the Mind

We gain a sense of self of the mind through the Sun, which, in the chart, represents our autonomous self - awareness. With its Cardinal quality, the Sun is our drive to be assertive, go-ahead and initiatory.

The Sun is the sense of self we gain through our ability to make decisions and use the mind. It’s our capacity to choose, our capacity to make conscious choices and ultimately take responsibility for ourselves.

Whichever role you cast it in, it represents how we direct and use our will based on the decisions we make. It leads the way, and the rest of the planets, our psychological drives, follow. The Sun signifies our strength and power and this is involved when we discriminate and judge, when we think, form ideas and tap into our innate creativity. 

 

 

The Sun, the sense of self and the will   

Closely linked with the Sun is the use of the will. We can draw on

 · our strong will which gives us determination and the capacity to keep going

 · our skilful will which endows us with sound common sense and the ability to be flexible and adaptive as we work towards our goals, and

 · and our good will which enables us to include others and to work selflessly for their benefit as well as our own.

The use of the will helps us to be goal-oriented and better able to go after what we want to achieve.

When we’re seeking to achieve the goals we set ourselves, it’s useful to remember that energy follows thought. Using the Sun/mind, we form our ideas and go on to make these real, to make them manifest. Doing so, we can be truly creative.

Our capacity to use our will, to be aware that energy follows thought and to find practical grounding in our everyday lives for our ideas and creativity can be developed and should be encouraged. It can help us strengthen the Sun and gain a greater, more centred self-confidence. We can aim to be devoid of ego needs or the urge to prove that we are “the greatest”. 

And let’s face it - if we’re on a spiritual path, this attitude is pretty much redundant!

 

The Living Birth Chart is published in full colour. Click on the link for more info, and read a review of the book here.

 

* "Mistakes were Made (but not by me)" by Carol Tarvis and Elliot Aronson. pub. Harcourt Books

 

Billionaire Man and the Climate Emergency

Dead trees, parched earth, Lake Amistad, Texas

I'm reblogging this thought-provoking blog post from I Can't Believe it!, written by my other half. There's a question for you at the end - please feel free to comment and say what'd you'd do with a billion pounds.

 What would you do if you had a billion pounds?

Would you follow the technological dream of science and the colonial dream of new physical horizons, and fund a space program to take humanity another step down this road that has supposedly served us so well for hundreds of years – exploitation of supposedly virgin lands, ignorant of the life that is there? Become so convinced of the magnificence of your own ego and exceptionality, that you insist on being one of the first to go into space? Even model your spacecraft to resemble a large penis as you exhibit your contempt for lesser humans?

Or would you do something to help repair the earth and nature that has been ravaged by that technological/colonial dream, to the degree that our ecosystem is now under extreme threat, both in its loss of biodiversity, in its drowning in its own pollution, in the breakdown of its long-stable climate – all effects which have been made worse by you and your like, the rich and powerful extracting money from ‘the system’ to a degree that is surely obscene and has deprived the public purse everywhere of the means to ensure a decent life and environment for all, even undermining the democratic systems that of course put limits on your individual power.

Psychologically, the first path is chosen in humanity’s adolescence, the creation of ego that we all go through. Some appear to remain arrested at this increasingly narcissistic stage – ageing egos going in a circle of their multiple houses, yachts, private jets, exclusive parties, security obsession, separation from the masses. 

But modern psychological knowledge means we now know that this ego process is just the first stage of our development, as we grow to maturity, transcend our individual ego concerns and becoming co-operating adults and gradually becoming wiser and more spiritual. Our concern is wider than the individual; it is the good of the whole and all its parts.

Of course, this is also the perspective that will enable us to address all those problems that we have created in the world around us. Restoration of our living ecosystem becomes of paramount importance, the space ego trip seems somehow irrelevant. Not that we should not have more space programs, but that they are hardly today’s top priority.

So what would you do with your billion? And if you had more than one billion, why? What a weight of responsibility to have so much money, the weight of so much of the earth on your own shoulders? What on earth would you do, and why?

The ideas came to me after reading Prof Tim Jackson’s excellent post on The Billionaire space race; the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth. Do read it.

 

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.