An astrological Rorschach test
The visualization techniques of psychological astrology are sort of like an “astrological Rorschach test”, both in the sense of being like an astrodiagnosis and as a tool for working through the process of Individuation and for the general development of one’s personality. As an example, I use them in my consultation, “Studying your birth chart through your own eyes”.
Gaston Bachelard said that the zodiac was the Rorschach test of “early humankind”. And indeed, this analogy is accurate : the zodiac and all forms of symbolism in astrology have established humanity’s psychological universe in both early and contemporary times, because they are tied to the portrayal of our collective unconscious and our inner world.
In cases where the Rorschach test takes an abstract form (which is the point of it), the astrological visualization techniques melt into and mix with the archetypal foundations of astrology. It’s thus necessary for the individual to really invest a lot into gaining a global understanding of their birth chart as well as some knowledge of astrology and the symbols involved; for example, they could learn the basic meanings of the Signs and Planets, which requires a bit of study, if possible with the support of an astrologer. But once acquired, this basic knowledge acts as a tool for integrating various things into one’s personality.
The aforementioned visualization techniques allow us to analyze the tendencies (mental blocks) and Projections of the individual. They must be used in conjunction with each other, many times, if possible, in order to vary the angles of analysis used in understanding how the person is structured overall, which takes time.
On the one hand, they are used to confirm the astrologer’s analysis of the Birth chart, but above all, and most importantly, they act as mechanisms that allow the client themselves to better understand themselves; as active processes, they become catalysts of the person’s transformation and help that person’s developmental process along.
Not everyone is receptive in the same way to visualizations, especially since, as mentioned above, they require an investment of time and learning (this will require less effort for those people who already know some astrology).
However, even for those people who are least receptive, these techniques are likely to provide significant evidence to further the individual’s understanding, and they are worth being studied and attempted, particularly because the individual is active in these processes : individuals themselves discern their own mental structure, their tendencies, their Projections, and the implications. They do not simply wait passively for the astrologer to “tell them their fortune”.
Various astrological visualization techniques exist, and here I lay out a technique for discerning sub-personalities that is both simple and relevant.
The analysis of these visualizations is a complex discipline which involves several different astrological techniques, and which deserves its own book. In the text that follows, I address some points, but it would be best to be accompanied by an astrologer through this process.
Each sub-personality is part of an internal dialog that makes up one’s personality in its entirety, in all of its plurality and its contradictions : the Shadow, the Anima, and the Animus coexist and embody parts of these sub-personalities. Sometimes the archetypes overlap, which is not something to be surprised about.
One of these characters often gets the upper hand. We can often identify it through the planet, element, or sign that dominates the Birth chart, and it will predominate in the image that we give of ourselves and in how we express ourselves in the “social theater” of our environment (the Sun, the Ascendant).
Getting in touch with your sub-personalities : guided meditation
Getting in touch with our sub-personalities does not necessarily mean “giving them free rein”. It’s most of all about learning about them, and observing how they affect our psyche.
- Print out your Birth chart.
Sit down and take the time to relax. At this stage, it’s useful to do few breathing exercises : you can start by breathing quickly (the Breath of Fire of Kundalini Yoga) for one to two minutes, and then move on to a deeper breathing pattern for the visualization technique below. - Position yourself in front of your birth chart and look at each planet, its sign, and its house : go through them all, lingering for a moment on each one. Then, close your eyes, and imagine that you are in the center of your chart, surrounded by all of these different planets, each one the manifestation of some energy.
- To start, choose the first planet that comes to mind, the one that comes to you spontaneously, without thinking.
If possible, the chosen planet should be considered in the context of the ensemble that it forms with its Aspects, sign, and house. For example, if it’s in Virgo in the 3rd House and is Conjunct with another planet and in a sextile with a third in the 5th House in Scorpio, this is the ensemble that you need to try to keep in mind. If you are not able to maintain this global viewpoint, do not worry : to start, just concentrate on the one planet. - While thinking about this ensemble, still with your eyes closed, what image comes to mind ?
It could be absolutely anything, a person, an object, and animal, a place, an action, etc. - Welcome this perception without judgment, and just watch it as it takes shape.
Allow the images to develop naturally. Your imagination is what does the work in the visualization process. It’s possible to see anything, and it’s important to be as honest with yourself as possible and to not allow yourself to be restricted by taboos or any sort of internal censorship : it’s a space for free expression of the imagination and the unconscious. - When the images dissipate, mentally visualize your birth chart again in its entirety, taking a step back.
Take the time to put this energy into the larger context by thinking about the other planets that are present.
In the following moments, focus on breathing deeply.
Open your eyes and take note of what came to you during this visualization process : what did you see ? What did you feel ?
Analysis of astrological visualizations
The analysis of these visualizations is surprising and revealing in spite of ourselves because the visualizations give energy to our unconscious. The visualizations speak to us in terms that the conscious would not use.
A sub-personality is a synthesis of character traits and other psychological elements. Each facet of a person’s life may itself make use of a medley of several sub-personalities. For example, in your work you may exhibit “coldness and materialism” while still having an underlying aspect of “poetic creativity”.
Over the course of our lives, there is a time for expressing each of our aspects : the lover, the spouse, the worker, the dreamer, impulsiveness, etc. There is also a time for stability and a time for change. The ego, or the personality, cannot really know “what time” it’s at any given moment. Should it allow an agent of change to be expressed, or, on the contrary, bring a more conservative aspect into play ? In the midst of our individuality, how can we reconcile sub-personalities that are sometimes so antagonistic ?
Especially since the sub-personalities involved are often deviations or degraded versions of fundamental archetypes, the Shadow, the Anima, and the Animus; for example, fanaticism may be a distorted version of Jupiter, coldness that of Saturn, intolerance that of Uranus, authoritarianism and tyranny or helplessness and incompetence those of Mars or the Sun (see Be a catalyst), materialism that of Venus, superstition that of Neptune, etc.
Later, you can repeat this visualization technique with the various Planets and Aspects in your chart.
The intersections of these various visualizations are useful because they allow us to identify the different sub-personalities that play a part, consciously or unconsciously, in our psyche.
The analysis of sub-personalities derived from astrological visualizations is similar in some ways to transactional analysis, which has been put forward by some schools of thought in psychology, as well as to creative visualization techniques.
An important point about visualization is that the client becomes aware of the unconscious energies that drive them through their own freedom of imagination and the associations that they make : there is no external intervention beyond guiding their own understanding.
If we listen to our sub-personalities, and understand them, or at least treat them with respect, they eventually open up and enrich us with the fundamental archetype that they represent.
You cannot transform the deep, underlying structure of your nature, but you can learn to live with it in a better way. You can create harmony between antagonistic forces, and you can stop experiencing the same patterns negatively, instead transforming them into positive experiences that are fully understood and integrated.
Coming into contact with something archetypal, like a sub-personality, provokes an intense, emotional response, and the diametrically opposed archetype awakens and takes shape in the mind. The facets of one’s personality function in opposite but complementary pairs; thus, for example, getting in touch with a sub-personality linked to “generosity” immediately activates the more “conservative” side of ourselves.
As soon as we recognize and consciously admit to the true reality of a sub-personality, we can accept it and change it. We thus heighten our understanding of our psychological structure : that is to say, our understanding of how we experience our Birth chart. We cannot change that which we do not recognize or admit to.
We also need to identify these sub-personalities in order to accept them. We cannot accept that which we have not identified.
It’s necessary to identify them in order to “unidentify” with them, so that the “I” becomes more complete. This is the difference between “being” a sub-personality and “having” a sub-personality. Each sub-personality is just a part of the whole which forms our individuality. And individuality is the sum of all of the sub-personalities.
The more conscious we become of this internal dynamic of our sub-personalities, the less of a risk there is that they will dominate us unconsciously.
It’s important to understand that a sub-personality has its own urges, feelings, and emotions, and even imparts to us its own ways of talking, presenting itself, and walking. To express itself, the sub-personality has to become solidified around some center, some urge, or some desire that is fighting to emerge from within you. It’s this urge that forms the mass necessary to support the sub-personality. Without it, the sub-personality would collapse.
If we are not careful, these archetypal sub-personalities can get the upper hand and overwhelm the ego, during what we might call psychotic breaks, where the archetype becomes more powerful than the entirety of the conscious personality, which then fully identifies with it.
Conversely, we cannot accept that we which have identified. The ego hates ambivalence; when it’s confronted with conflicting choices, it chooses to identify with one and repress the other, and the principle that has been thrown out into the unconscious inevitably ends up reappearing in one form or another, often in some nasty way (Depression, somatizations, or other sicknesses).
How many sub-personalities do we actually have ?This is an interesting question that does not really have a definite answer. Some authors count up to 20 distinct sub-personalities, but I think that many of them overlap or inevitably form some sort of group. Having four to eight “major” sub-personalities is quite common for a “normal” person. Even with just that many, this makes for a lot of work if you want to deal with each one of them.
There exist relatively few different types of sub-personalities. These types are primarily related to the four Astrological Elements and their archetypes, with different variations depending on the Planets and Houses involved.
It’s impossible to explain here in detail the entire process of analysis of visualizations, which is complex and protean, and tied to each individual person, with each case obviously being unique.
A persons psyche, even if adult and mature, takes the form of a nebula of primitive tendencies, each with a different level of significance. We can lie to others and lie to ourselves, consciously and unconsciously, but in this line of work ones Birth chart does not lie.
Variants and the evolution of visualization techniques
If you already instinctively know which sub-personalities are clashing inside of you, you could try to assign a percentage to each sub-personality to try to understand all of your imbalances : what percentage would you assign to this one ? Are you happy with that one ? Which one do you like best ? What is preventing you from living that way ?
Your Birth chart reveals seeds of underlying potential that can be developed. Where are these energies fully expressed ?
It can be useful to give names to your own sub-personalities. Giving them names allows you to recognize their existence and the part of your personality that they occupy so that you can work with them. This name can be anything at all, and it’s not fixed. It can evolve as the sub-personality itself evolves and as a result of the connection that you form with it.
It’s possible to initiate a dialog with each of your sub-personalities : what do they want ? What do they have to offer ?
When do they come into play in your life ?
Imagine their responses as they would come from this part of yourself.
It’s also useful to make your sub-personalities talk to each other in order to coordinate their efforts, determine their potential affinities, and manage the clashes of contradictory energies that may restrict their expression or create tension.
You can also consciously designate a particular time for each personality to be expressed in your life.
Imagine that you have identified a “sensitive” sub-personality, but that you think that it does not have the floor often enough in your daily life in a concrete way. Consciously find a pathway to express it by setting aside a time for it to be expressed in one form or another during your day.
This way, there is no more “being left out”. Each sub-personality can express itself and no longer risks upsetting the needs and urges of the others in doing so. The danger of an explosive accumulation of frustration decreases.
Only after these steps comes the integration of all of the sub-personalities through cohesion. Harmony emerges throughout ones entire personality and process of Individuation. We must always aim to favor the personality as a whole, rather than the interests that one sub-personality or another tries to emphasize.
You may also have experiences of Synchronicity : the more you study or take an interest in a particular sub-personality, the more your external environment will give you opportunities for expressing it. This is the path for moving more towards integration and Individuation. People and situations will appear and provoke projections at exactly the right time, inexplicably, brought out by your unconscious. Often, repeated patterns of our deepest tendencies will lead to this synchronicity. These events can be put to good use using visualization techniques.
The visualizations techniques of psychological astrology are full of lessons and are fun to put to use. They require a certain investment of time and learning, but clients who invest themselves in this way have a better chance of finding the answers that they are looking for.