The False Dichotomy Between Psychoanalysis and Prediction
The psychological underpinnings of "traditional" astrologies.
Happy New Year! This post is two days late, in true Mercury retrograde fashion. However, with the Mercury cazimi perfecting and rising in my location at the time of this post launching? Sometimes, the timing chooses you! I also I know I am a month late in responding to some spicy takes on astro-twitter involving the idea that “traditional” (read: prediction-focused) astrology is somehow dangerous for newcomers to astrology, because it takes the focus away the individual and fails to give them tools to navigate their lives. Ever since I made the switch to older forms of Western astrologies five years ago and started learning Vedic two years ago, this schism between prediction and psychoanalysis in astrology has come up in some form. After practicing with clients and dipping my toes into different traditions of astrology, I have concluded that the idea that older forms of astrology were devoid of psychology that could be empowering to the individual is actually bullshit. In fact, I want to argue that psychoanalyzing through placements in a chart is a form of prediction in itself because you are making assumptions about what someone’s character is and how they respond to certain situations based on the archetypal language that is astrology.
Whether you are a Hellenistic, Vedic, Medieval, Renaissance, or Evolutionary astrologer, all of these frameworks provide language for discussing the person’s psychology and how that informs how they move through the world. The only difference between more modern astrologies and those practicing reconstructions of traditional forms of astrology is that the latter is able to see the star map as the context in which a person is experiencing life. What I mean is that the chart is not only reflective of a person’s mental framework, but the chart describes other people and situations that a person encounters. These other people, situations, and experiences do shape a person’s psychology and I think that these other forms of astrology can help us paint a better picture of the context surrounding a person and their psychological landscape!
The Ascendant - Your Avatar
When people first get into astrology, the ascendant is often described as a “mask” that you wear. This is not entirely accurate, even though the luminaries do tend to describe deeper facets of identity and a person’s psychological makeup. A lot of spiritual frameworks or cosmologies share parallels with the idea of The Matrix, which can be likened to moving through a simulated world with a character of sorts. Let’s assume that our experiences are like a video game or constructed reality where we have a character, or an avatar. This is what the ascendant represents. It describes your appearance, temperament, likes, dislikes, and your overall approach to navigating the world. This is the house of the chart that is arguably the most representative of the person in question.
Therefore, the chart ruler and its position, will provide the first clues to the kind of person that someone is. The sign placement would describe the temperament of the individual. The house placement describes the topics that the individual tends to be concerned with. The essential dignity describes the agency a person has and how authentic a person can be to their nature, and whether they are empowered or disempowered by circumstance. Meanwhile, accidental dignity describes how location can provide opportunities to do something, regardless of if a planet is comfortable doing what it wants to do. This language is very useful in describing someone’s experience in the world.
Aside from looking at these pieces, I find that analyzing the narratives of the decan of the zodiac or the Nakshatra of the ascendant (if you are into Vedic Astrology like I am, but please use your sidereal chart if you will do so) are especially helpful because they provide a narrative that can describe the focus of your meatsuit as it moves through this world! This imagery and these narratives can describe the kinds of situations that the person gravitates towards and certain features of their mental landscape.
The Moon - Gateway to the Psyche
The biggest argument against the lack of psychology in older forms of astrology is the role that the Moon has been shown to play throughout the history of astrologies everywhere! This luminary speaks to the primal drives and urges that consciously and unconsciously color our perspectives on life. I think the association between the Moon and the High Priestess is pretty apt, because not only are spiritual workings often timed through the Moon, but the rhythms of life seem to be heavily correlated with her movements! Though older forms of Western astrology focus mainly on the bodily significations of the Moon, Vedic astrology explicitly makes the connection between the Moon and the mind. The Chandra Lagna chart (i.e. make the moon the 1st house and read the birth chart) can tell you a lot about someone’s temperament and mental and emotional landscape. Your birth nakshatra (moon sign) can actually tell you a lot about the narratives you end up playing out in life as a result of these deep seated emotional drives.
Though the Moon in the Western astrological tradition has more bodily symbolism, it can say things about temperament. According to Sahl ibn Bishr, the Moon’s house placement, sign placement, ruler, and it’s term lord can say things about the character of a person. Furthermore, there are all sorts of delineations for describing personality traits by looking at aspects to the Moon. How fitting that this luminary which goes through cycles of waxing and waning similar to our own life trajectories can speak to these instinctual drives that influence the experiences, places, and people that we tend to seek out! I hope to outline more of the role that the Moon plays in speaking to one’s inner workings in next week’s blog post, and contrasting it with Mercury.
The Sun & Lot of Spirit - Your Personal “God”
As much as it pains me to say, Sun-sign focused, pop-astrology was onto something when it focused on marketing stereotypes based on Sun signs! The Sun speaks to that divine spark within all of us. Even if you are not particularly spiritual or religious, I think this description of what the Sun does in our chart is apt. There is some drive within each of us that motivates us to get up in the morning and something that we center our lives on embodying and identifying with to varying degrees. However, unlike the Moon, the Sun represents that aspect of ourselves that we strive to embody as we progress in life. Yes, it’s associated with the “ego,” but I think the Sun is actually the superego if we want to go Freudian or Jungian. In the Vedic system, the Surya Lagna chart (make the Sun the 1st house) can describe your soul purpose and all the things that may be helping or hindering you in achieving it.
The association between the Sun and spirit or a higher ideal is also found throughout the Western astrological tradition. The Sun is described as “all-seeing” and “nature’s fire and intelligent light,” by Vettius Valens— carrying that connotation of being the prime mover that gives life to things. The Sun, like the rest of the Traditional Seven, is associated with one of the Hermetic Lots. How fitting that the Lot of Spirit, aka Daimon (your spirit guide or guardian) is also the Lot of the Sun! In his 2020 NORWAC lecture, Sam Reynolds does a beautiful job of contextualizing the Lot of Spirit beyond its connotations for career related developments. He explicitly describes it as “what one worships” in this life. It’s helpful to look to the Lot and its house placement, sign placement, and ruler to get key insights into what may be a priority to you in this life.
While these are some examples of how more predictive forms of astrology can be useful tools for psychoanalyzing a person, this is not an exhaustive list! However, I do not think it is useful to bore you all to death with the details of finding the master of the nativity or the almuten of your chart. Beyond calculating which planet plays a dominant role in your mindset, you can also assess temperament in Western and Vedic astrology using various methods. Furthermore, you can explore the Arudha Lagna in Vedic Astrology to get a sense of how a person is perceived by others in a material sense, which is an interesting perspective on understanding who a person is and how they operate. Regardless, I hope these musings can offset some of the concerns that people have about making delineations for people outside of the modern, psychological astrological framework. No matter which methods you favor, there are interesting ways to understand yourself and others! If this post has inspired you to think more about how astrology can serve as a tool to foster personal development and you would like timing advice to match, consider booking a consultation with me.
i love this so much mo, thank you for this piece! will book a reading witchu soon, i've been so curious about my basic sun, moon, rising in the vedic system ~