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Week Three: The Personal Forces, Part 1
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
INTRODUCTION
In this week's studies, we examine the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as representing specific stages in the development of the individual ego/personality. These stages do not always develop in a linear sequence but more often, simultaneously in nonlinear fashion. Real life can be messy and we'll use astrology to create some order for ourselves (but not too much order, OK?). The maturing personality ripens with the integration of these seven personal forces. Many of our so-called deficiencies, flaws and shortcomings can be traced back to a lack of integration of any combination of these Personal forces.
Integration of personal forces starts by:
1) acceptance of their existence within
2) experiencing them directly and fully for oneself
3) redefining, or reframing, them according to one's personal experience.
Any force that remains unintegrated still continues to function but in more automatic, unconscious ways. Often times, these unconscious patterns act out as the 'default' cultural conditioning absorbed from whatever family, schooling, media, peers, and authority figures we gave our power, authority, and autonomy to. Integrating the seven personal forces begins openly experiencing our own ideas (Mercury), emotions & needs (Moon), beliefs (Jupiter), excitements (Mars), fears & commitments (Saturn), aesthetics & personal tastes (Venus) and our very being (Sun).
EACH FORCE HAS ITS SHADOW SIDE
The planetary glyphs on your map represent dynamic forces at various degrees of latency, expression and manifestation. However, just because a given planetary symbol is placed in your chart does not mean that its force has been integrated into your life yet. When unintegrated, a force can express its "shadow" side that unfolds unconsciously, beyond ego awareness. These negative traits express an absence of the energy and presence symbolized by the unintegrated planet. "Negative" here does not mean "bad" but an absence of.
Here are examples of how unintegrated Forces might show their Shadow side:
Sun: timidity, lack of self-confidence, sycophancy
Moon: sloth, neediness (over-dependence on others), depression
Mercury: anxiety, over-thinking, lack of problem solving, not thinking for oneself
Venus: poor taste, lack of aesthetic awareness, insensitivity to others, low self-worth
Mars: apathy, lack of drive, low physical energy, difficult to excite
Jupiter: recklessness, prone to generalizations and exaggerations, overly dogmatic
Saturn: poor timing, commitment phobia, fear of defining oneself, "authority issues".
Integrating any given force amounts to making it your own through full-on experience and an embodiment of what that planet represents. This integration process constitutes a life's work - it doesn't happen over night or after six weeks - and gives expression to what Carl Jung called individuation, a lifelong process of self-work as physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual beings.
WEEK 3 READING ASSIGNMENT #1
On Integrating the Personal Forces
Personality Maturation and Individuation
SATURN.
An unintegrated Saturn can manifest outwardly as avoidance, fear or dread of authority. An unconscious Saturn can also appear as a lack of competence in the House it resides in and/or a reluctance to fully commit to anything (in or out of that House). Commitment phobia. Those with unintegrated Saturns often unconsciously seek approval from those they project the saturnine qualities onto -- competence, expertise, integrity -- while secretly resenting themselves and/or the external authority figure by their own feelings of inadequacy and ineptitude. An unintegrated Saturn can also leave us feeling "reality-challenged" in the areas of time management (always arriving late for appointments?) and integrity loss (no follow through or trouble "keeping word") as we drift through life without an anchor. An integrated Saturn acts as our personal anchor into the manifest world of time, space and knowledge.
INTEGRATION: Each placement (the House and Sign) of Saturn represents a unique fear or human terror in response to specific shortcomings, flaws and imperfections. Saturn is integrated after facing our fears and eventually, converting our fears into commitments. This process is essentially "Saturn work". For example, an 11th House Saturn might reflect an early childhood fear of crowds and herd mentality. Integrating this Saturn might involve converting this fear of people into commitment to groups and to humanity as a whole. Work for Saturn and you will be rewarded with the kind of success that can happen for anyone who honestly faces their fears and turns them into commitments in the House Saturn resides.
JUPITER.
An unintegrated unconscious Jupiter can dramatize as a recklessness and lack of conscience in the House Jupiter resides in, an area of our lives that demands more consciousness. As we expand consciousness of the experiences symbolized by Jupiter's House, we perceive more reality there and begin to discover what we actually care about and don't care for. As this awareness expands it becomes its own kind of conscience, or ethos, of how we define good and bad, right and wrong. Jupiter symbolizes the development of our beliefs, philosophy and world view. When it remains unintegrated, we remain unaware of what we believe in or stand for or we might assume we have no beliefs or even parrot the beliefs and views of others. Without integrating natal Jupiter, we can lose perspective (tunnel vision) and a sense of humor about our lives. When the world starts appearing less funny, more claustrophobic and narrow it may be time to expand our consciousness of Jupiter.
INTEGRATION: Jupiter can be integrated by firsthand experience of whatever constitutes higher learning for us. What is "higher learning" ? Higher learning amounts to the exposure of what we show the least amount of consciousness and conscience for (they are related). With a Sixth House Jupiter in Taurus, higher learning might be experienced through service that honors the integrity of The Body as 'guru', or teacher. Higher learning through Taurus can also occur by expanding consciousness of one's values, what we can truly call our own and what makes life worth living. Jupiter can also be integrated by discovering how we come to know truth; not "THE" truth but our truth. In the astrological mandala, truth can be known in twelve ways. Jupiter in earthy Taurus knows truth through the senses.
MARS.
An unintegrated Mars can manifest as indecisiveness, lack of motivation, overwhelming passivity and a reluctance to take action. Mars symbolizes how we raise enough physical energy to perform the actions necessary to our survival and generally, for getting things done. Mars represents "the doer" driven by the visceral charge of our personal drives and excitements. When we are out of touch with what actually excites us and turns us on, we are out of touch with Mars. In the extreme neglect of Mars, we can become passive victims of circumstance, unwilling and unable to make decisions, defend ourselves or fight for what matters. We can lose interest in sex. Apathy takes over and maybe we dial-down and live the half-life of a lower energy state.
INTEGRATION: Mars can be integrated by any direct experience of what genuinely excites us and gets us going. It's that simple and direct. Look to the House and Sign Mars is in for indications of your personal excitement criteria (and planets that aspect Mars). For example, a 3rd House Capricorn Mars might be excited by learning processes that extend into action and putting ideas into motion. Mars in Capricorn represents a force of excitement that may be best harnessed after setting goals and going after them.
VENUS.
An unintegrated Venus can manifest as lack or absence of personal aesthetics and attractive inter-relationship behavior for showing affection, love, and affinity for others. Venus represents our emotional heart experienced through the things and people we love and are attracted to. When this force is neglected we lose heart. Without Venus we are essentially "heartless", which does not necessarily mean we are cruel but that our hearts are diminished or closed. Un integrated Venus can also express as low self-worth, vague or meaningless values and a diminished experience of beauty and harmony in one's life. The placement of Venus can also show our "romantic style", how our hearts are won over and even how we fall in love. Woo hoo!
INTEGRATION: Venus can be integrated the more we experience what, how, why and and who we love and/or find attractive and appealing. Love comes in many colors and styles. Venus' House and Sign (and shared aspects with other planets) can indicate the specific conditions that need to be met before we know it's really "love". And this experience differs for each of us; one person's love can be another's person's dread. For example, a 2nd House Venus in Sagittarius might be in love with honesty and a sense of adventure, attracted to courageous people who are truthful and know their worth. In the 2nd House, Venus also symbolizes what makes life worth living: love, art, beauty, money. Yes, money; Venus is also a banker.
MERCURY.
An unintegrated Mercury can manifest as intellectual laziness, an inability to think for oneself and a resistance to solving one's own problems. Natal Mercury symbolizes our intellectual style of how we think, write and speak, as well as, interpret our experiences in ways that become meaningful -- or meaningless -- to ourselves and others. Thoughtless remarks and an absence of any ideational development in one's language -- written, spoken and in thinking -- all express symptoms of unintegrated Mercury. Intellectual styles run the gamut. Some are more logical (Virgo), others more poetic (Pisces) or instinctive (Cancer) or literal (Gemini) or investigative (Scorpio). This diversity explains why many people cannot understand each other. For example, my 1st House Sagittarius Mercury expresses a philosophical and sometimes humorous intellectual style articulating my direct firsthand experience (1st house). My lovely talented wife has 2nd House Mercury in Gemini and when I forget that, I get annoyed with all her free-associative thinking and theoretical speculations. Viva la difference!!
INTEGRATION: Mercury can be integrated as we pay more attention to how we learn, speak, read, write, think about and interpret our experiences. The House and Sign of Mercury gives clues about intellectual style. As the integration of Mercury also depends on developing communication skills, you might also find value in locating Mercury in the charts of family, friends and lovers you'd like to improve communications with. The more you understand the limitations. strengths, and the context of your own intellect, the more you can understand the context of others and learn to "speak their language". This also explains why it is so easy to be understood by those sharing compatible Mercurys (in the same sign or in sextile or trine aspect with yours, etc). Think for yourself, solve problems and interpret experiences as truthfully as possible and you will integrate Mercury.
THE MOON.
An unintegrated Moon can manifest a cluster of symptoms related to the frustration of basic emotional and biological survival needs for shelter, food, comfort, satisfaction, well being and nourishment. The nature of these needs differ for each of us, reflected by the House and Sign of our Moon (and any aspects shared with other planets). The Moon represents our "emotional tank" which runs from empty (discontent to depression) to full (contentment to elation). The Moon also can indicate our relations with our genetic Mother, women in general, and our domestication processes. When we "lose our Moon" we lose touch with our most basic needs and emotional realities. Our natal Moon shows us where we tend to become emotionally invested and attached despite what we want to think or believe. The Moon pinpoints the emotional anchor of the entire chart; lose touch with this force and you can lose touch with reality. The Moon can be deep that way.
INTEGRATION: The Moon can be integrated as we identify our basic needs and meet them. This does not imply that others cannot and do not meet our needs. However, for us to mature emotionally we must acknowledge accountability for our needs. The House and Sign of the Moon can help us understand the comforting experiences we seek out when feeling overly stressed or freaking out. Again, this differs for everybody. A 9th House Virgo Moon can decompress by lounging about the metaphysical section of a good bookstore or sit in a cafe and read a newspaper, or be anywhere alone to restore lost perspective. Sometimes those with Virgo Moon can calm down just by doing something useful. The Moon can be integrated by facing and meeting your basic needs for comfort.
THE SUN.
An unintegrated Sun can make us feel like non-entities without a point of view or a will of our own. The Sun symbolizes the stellar qualities within us, where (House) and how (sign) we shine brightest. The Sun sign indicates how you can become an entity over a lifelong process of Self-realization. Being born into a particular Sun sign does not make you an expert of that sign but an apprentice, ie., what you are learning to become more of. Everybody knows their Sun sign but not everybody has the energy and will to become Self-realizing stars. Those who do not Self-realize, for whatever reasons, often become satellites, or "moons", revolving around those who are Self-realizing stars and sometimes, happily so. The degree our energy field, or aura, lacks illumination and warmth is the degree we may be out of touch with the Sun, symbolizing the specific conditions (sign, house, aspects shared with other planets) of Self-realization.
INTEGRATION: The Sun can be integrated as we embrace the brilliance and the shadow of the archetype typified by our Sun sign. Self-realization requires a kind of radical self-acceptance for acknowledging the worst and the best, the darkest and the brightest sides, of our Sun sign and then, learning to live with that. This positive/negative polarity of our Sun sign acts as a kind of psychic battery, or energy source, and mimics the actual Sun as a dynamic source of self-generating power, light, and heat. As we increase transmission of our own light and heat (properties of our innate stellar nature), we are essentially becoming more star-like. As a Self-realizing Scorpio Sun, I accept the diabolical goodness of my contrary ways. I accept the darkness of obsession, manipulation, vengeance and ruthlessness AND I accept the brilliance of great passion, resourcefulness, insight and imagination. I know that neither side -- dark or light -- ultimately reigns but that both feed a third point of consciousness that transcends duality as the very being of who "I AM".
WEEK 3 RESEARCH TASK
WEEK 3 -- RESEARCH TASK
Choose ONE of the Personal Forces that you feel could use more emphasis and integration in your daily life. And then, study the State that Force inhabits. The idea here is by entering into the experience of that State, the Force will become activated. For example, I have Jupiter in the 6th State of Employment. The expansive force of Jupiter seems to always get triggered when I put myself into service or work of some kind, even if it's a chore of organizing my office. My consciousness expands as I am working! Since my Jupiter is in Taurus, I also notice a stabilizing influence when I'm working. The task here is to identify the Force you wish to activate by entering the experiences innate to the State that Force inhabits. Given your time and motivation, repeat this process with another Personal Force or two. Write down your results and if you want, post them on the Week Three Forum thread titled, "RESEARCH TASK".
WEEK 3 READING ASSIGNMENT CONTINUED
The Personal Forces - Part Two
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WEEK 3 READING ASSIGNMENT #2
The Personal Forces, Part Two
