Astrological Psychology Consultations
maslowFigure 1.2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Clients may or may not be motivated to face up to their basic needs both in therapy and in astrological consultation, instead of gratification of their fantasies, wants or desires. To accomplish this, their ego needs must be recognized and supported by the therapist or consultant as they present them. First, there is the physical need for safety and security, which is achieved by building trust in the first encounter. The consultant expresses that this is a private and confidential session and returns requests for service promptly. There is a correlation between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and astrological psychology’s development of ego planets. On the first two bars of Maslow’s pyramid are Physiological needs and Safety (See Figure 1.2). These refer to nourishment and growth in the first four years of life, where 70% of development is physical. A parallel situation for the client [...]
Neptune Part 2
New post on The Astrological Psychology Website The Astrological Neptunian Character 2 by Barry Post by John Grove This is the continuation of John Grove's explorations into his Neptune, following on from the previous post. A complex is an inner state of opposition between these two contrasting energies within the psyche; based on my personal psychological past of early attachments. The way a complex works in the outer world is that a bipolar behavior pattern is expressed. When one side of the complex is expressed at one time you get one presentation and when the other opposite side is expressed you get another presentation. I had this complex that was forgotten and repressed in my personal unconscious. i A complex is not caused by an aspect pattern in a horoscope. It is caused by a traumatic event. “An experience of high emotional content… with great dynamic power.. an event which hits a vital point of our [...]
Neptune the Mystic, Part 1
Part I The Astrological Neptunian character What is written here is an example of my life-long project to understand the effect and siren call of the planet Neptune in my natal horoscope. The struggle I have had is nothing less than a battle with my own ego, first caused by the disillusionment that comes from recognizing the force of the Neptune energies in my chart and then going beyond the limitations of my own ego identifications to include a universe of possibilities that Neptune represents. This amounts to nothing less than transcending ego consciousness and learning to perceive non-duality against the backdrop of my personal history of taking a stand against the chaos that comes in when I allow Neptune energies to influence me in negative ways. When Neptune was discovered in 1846 there were synchronistic events on the world stage of technology with photography and moving pictures which paved [...]
Couples counseling and subpersonalities
Today I was interviewing a couple when Mary asked me..."Why do I hold back from people and not communicate but push information that is unpleasant back in my mind and let it just sit there? " Mary was explaining that she has a split between what negative feelings she has and does not communicate to others vs. what she thinks others want to hear. These two versions of reality are not comparable, not compatible. Then I introduced the concept of subpersonalities and self-expression. In a course by Will Parfitt, I learned that of "all the contributions of psychosynthesis, the sub-personality model is the most well-known." I asked Mary to consider first how she likes to come across to others. She said the behaviors she shows is as a confident, determined and a non-dramatic person. She said she dampened down her emotional side, thought of it as weak and not useful [...]
The Psyche in action and present dangers of psychic inflation
Some Christian groups which believe in the rapture believe Trump will usher in the end of the world. These Evangelicals believe that the end of this millennium will result in the Second Coming of Christ and that believers will be transported to heaven. It is an eschatological concept of certain branches of North American Christians. Their belief is that there will be an end time event when all Christian believers who are alive will rise along with the resurrected dead believers into Heaven and join Christ. Apocalyptic events would result in the extinction of humanity, a collapse of civilization, or the destruction of the planet. The Last Judgment , Second coming of Christ, and Great Tribulation are common events described in the Christian scriptures. A poll conducted in 2012 across 20 countries found over 14% of people believe the world will end in their lifetime. Global weather phenomenon which [...]
The Changing, Emerging Consciousness
Having practiced psychotherapy as a clinical social worker for 40 years, I have felt torn between the life of my professional identity and the studies I have pursued outside my profession. I have lived two worlds which became increasingly difficult to resolve: the world of empirical psychotherapy in my daily work vs. the world of astrological psychology. Of course the usual justifications existed and I could prepare my defense. But Astrological psychology was not able to be brought out in the sun to be scrutinized by my peers. It was too vulnerable and would only be measured for efficacy by standards that were not suited to it. So I had to be cautious and preserve its precious caldron of meanings, insights and faith engendering proclamations. Today I have written this article to state my position and make it clear to myself what I believe and why. I feel less [...]
Aspect pattern astrology explained
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18CYAzMU8PWoAoQY0aP4jPulg9Az8LRS4zgttxipjYlo/edit?usp=sharing Copy and paste into your browser to see the Huber method of Astrological Psychology explained.
Psychosynthesis Using Dreams and Astrological Psychology Life Clock
This process of dreaming and using the images to navigate life's challenges throughout the life cycle according to one's needs for psychological growth can be most effective using Huber's Life Clock to determine the context of the issues involved. This post has two theoretical basics: Use of the psychological model of Assagioli's Psychosynthesis and The Huber method of Astrology. This approach is determined by why people visit astrologers in the first place..."one is a crisis situation of some kind and the other is due to awareness of something in the person needing to change that comes into consciousness." ( Astrological Psychology, The Huber Method. Barry Hopewell editor, Hopewell Publishing, Knutsford, England. 2017.) This blog has therefore, the use of astrological and psychotherapeutic skills of this writer to guide the reader him/herself to deal with both of these situations. I am a clinical social worker with 40 years clinical psychotherapeutic experience as well [...]