Astrology: Our Ally on the Road to Individuation

In a letter to French astrologer, André Barbault, Jung stated: “Obviously astrology has much to offer psychology …. I am almost sure that something could be learnt from its symbolic method of interpretation; for that has to do with the interpretation of the archetypes (the gods) and their mutual relations, the common concern of both arts.” Jung further amplified: Astrology can be our ally on our path of individuation, which “… is practically the same as the development of consciousness out of the original state of identity .…”

In this Seminar, Steven Forrest, astrologer, and Boris Mathews, Jungian Analyst, will explore the fruitful marriage between clinical practice and evolutionary astrology. Steven Forrest will first illustrate the basic language and methodology of astrology and then explore the natal charts of both Jung and Freud. Later he will discuss the astrological implications of both Jung’s break from Freud and Jung’s confrontation with the unconscious, as documented in Jung’s Redbook.

This seminar will explore how astrology is a classic expression of Jung’s principle of synchronicity, a map of the sky at the instant of a child’s birth that illuminates the soul’s current evolutionary predicament, and simultaneously the path forward into full individuation, personal empowerment, and happiness.

Steven Forrest and Boris Matthews will respond to questions, comments, and challenges from the audience.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe how archetypal energies imaged as several planets in the natal chart can shape the essential personality.
2. Name and describe how different individual natal charts represent different essential personality constellations.
3. Discuss how those archetypal energies are modified over time by transits and progressions.

Suggested Reading

• Buck, S. (2018). “Hiding in plain sight: Jung, astrology, and the psychology of the unconscious.” Journal of Analytical Psychology, 2018, 63, 2, 207–227. (Used with author’s permission)
  • Link to PDF will be sent in ticket email
• Jung, C.G. (1975). Letter to André Barbault, 16 May 1954, in C.G. Jung Letters, vol. 2, ed, G. Adler and A. Jaffé, pp.175-177
  • Link to PDF will be sent in ticket email
• Forrest, S. (2012). The Inner Sky. Borrego Springs, CA: Seven Paws Press. (Amazon)