the-astrology-book

eginning to use astrology as a diagnostic tool because of the advantages it presents
over traditional psychological tests. Since it is based on an external frame of reference,
the chart offers a character portrait that is entirely independent of test responses as
occur on traditional psychological questionnaires, thus eliminating any possibility of
response bias by subjects who might unconsciously wish to manipulate their scores.
Whereas most diagnostic tests provide a flat, static profile based on a quantitative
assessment of various personality attributes, astrology presents a qualitative assessment
of psychic structure based on psychological processes in interaction (i.e., conscious
and unconscious dynamics, areas of repression and conflict, pathways of sublimation,
projection, and the like). Thus, the horoscope more closely approximates the psychic
geography that therapist and client are exploring.
Because it is based on external referents that are observable and predictable,
therapeutic astrology provides an objective reference point to balance the subjectivity
of the therapeutic process. Whereas traditional tests are restricted to linear measurements
that fragment the personality into a multitude of traits, motives, needs, factors,
and scales, a horoscope depicts personality as the overall pattern of behaviors resulting
from the unique organization of its underlying variables. Here, again, it is superior to
devices that are limited to measuring parts of the personality because such assessments
cannot offer an integrative picture of the whole person.
The dysfunctional extremes of zodiacal signs can be precisely correlated to some
of the major diagnostic categories of traditional psychology. Generally, however, astrology
does not reduce people down to preformed categories with pathological diagnoses.
Rather, a chart enlarges one’s sense of identity and creates a sense of possibility. Astrology
suggests that the individual is not merely a consequence of multiple impinging factors,
such as genetics or environmental conditions, but is a mirror of the living universe. The
hermetic doctrine of the macrocosm and the microcosm provides the philosophical foundation
of astrology and is a counterpart to the modern philosophy of holism. In this view,
the psyche is not merely a whole for itself but is also a part of the greater whole that
reflects it. Psyche is isomorphic with cosmos. This explains, in part, why human beings
are capable of evolving toward communion with the source of individual existence.
Not only does astrology present a comprehensive portrait of the psyche in all
its rich complexity, it is also capable of looking backwards into the past or projecting
forwards into the future. Astrology is a diagnostic time machine that allows the therapist
to gain access to psychological events that span the period from birth to death.
For example, by examining the transits and progressions for any year of the life the
astrologer is able to discern clues to traumatic events that might have occurred in
early childhood, or project into the future and target periods when the individual is
liable to face new crises. Such projections do not just predict a generic crisis, but a crisis
of a specific type and duration. A chart assists the therapist in both diagnosis and
prognosis, for where it symbolizes inborn conflicts, complexes, and areas of repression,
it also points to latent potentials and areas (and times) of probable growth. In effect,
the chart can be seen as a symbolic map of the process of self-actualization.
An astrological chart has one further advantage over traditional diagnostic
schemes. While every assessment device is capable of describing the personality of its
Therapeutic Astrology
THE ASTROLOGY BOOK
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