In her 2018 book, Jung’s Studies in Astrology, the astrologer and Jungian analyst, Liz Greene wrote that Jung expressed an understanding “that planetary configurations—the ‘planetary gods’ in relation to each other—symbolize unconscious complexes, which are expressed imaginally through the mythic narratives that portray in symbolic form the structure and teleology of the complex.” (p. 26) In this class we will look at the symbolic layers of the astrological chart with complexes as our focus.
The popular, and often the clinical use of the term ‘complexed’ refers to a state in which ego consciousness is subsumed by a kind of sub-personality, or ‘splinter psyche’, as Jung observed early in his studies. But Jung also stressed that complexes are “characteristic expressions of the psyche” and the “normal phenomena of life.” (Vol. 8) We will examine how the natal chart reveals the archetypal structure of our psyches and also indicates ways that certain configurations can “constellate” as complexes.
This course will endeavor to reveal some valuable psychological insights that astrology illuminates — insights into Jung’s theoretical ideas, as well as into the direct experience of being ‘possessed’ by a complex. We will use sample charts to explore Greene’s point—crucial to a psychological perspective— that, “complexes, like planetary fate, are negotiable in their level of expression if not in their essence.” (Ibid, p. 28) We will be looking at the planets, signs and aspects through the lens of complexes, but it will be helpful to know the basic astrological meanings prior to the class, and to have this book on hand: Clare Martin’s Mapping the Psyche: An Introduction to Psychological Astrology, Volumes 1 and 2.
5 Mondays, 6:00 — 7:30pm | UTC-5, online only via Zoom | Beginning April 10, 2023