An Astrological Map of the Soul: Merging the Archetype of the Self with the Natal Chart
Introducing the Territory
How do we truly know ourselves? Should I consider myself as an internal entity or external? Is it reflected to me by the world or do I find myself by digging deep inside to later bring forward? Is myself static or an evolving process? Is it rational? Is it intuitive? Is myself human or more-than-human? Is my fate predetermined, or am I creating my fate as I go? Is there a god, or gods responsible for my life circumstances? Is my story merely my day-to-day interactions, or is it embedded and reflected in the greater cosmos? Am I living for the story of me, or am I living in service to a higher order? How do I know when I am where I am supposed to be? How do I know when my life is in ‘order’, and everything is in its ‘right’ place? I will attempt to forge a path for these questions by weaving together two schools of thought: Jungian theory and Astrology. Appropriately, evolutionary astrologer and counselor, Mark Jones (2011), in his book, Healing the Soul, has said that “astrology becomes a powerful tool for generating awareness about the most difficult questions in life: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I meant to be doing?” (p. 14).
This paper is an attempt to bring together two ideas that, for me, feel very intimately connected and I believe have a lot to offer one another: Jung’s archetype of the Self and the astrological natal chart. I will posit that the natal chart actually serves as a symbol of the archetype of the Self. It is a map of how to get to know the Self in its totality. I will explore Jung’s theory of the Self, an explanation of the natal chart as well as a breakdown of it, and then integrate the two to create a model for a way of relating with the Self. “The astrological horoscope, Carl Jung observed in a letter in 1954, “corresponds to a definite moment in the colloquy of the gods, that is to say the psychic archetypes” (Jung, 1954, as cited in Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 1). Throughout his life, Jung continually warned that an archetypal perspective on life as well as the journey of individuation cannot solely be understood through the rational mind. They must be lived, experienced, and embodied. Astrology can serve as a dynamic bridge between archetypes and experience. Though I believe Jung was on his way to integrating these ideas, my thesis here is unique to me, and not something I have come across yet in my research. My own individuation continues to guide me on a serpentine labyrinthine path, and I am excited to present here what I have discovered as it relates to this argument. I imagine that this will be an ongoing and long-term inquiry. I will open with a statement from Jungian Astrologer, Alice Howell:
The birth chart is, in potentia, a treasure map to the individuation process or greater awareness of the Self, and I am using Self in Jung’s definition of the word as meaning the center and totality of the psyche. The chart will impel us unconsciously, as do our complexes, until we become more conscious. (Howell, 2012, p. 6, as cited in Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 8)
Jung’s Archetype of the Self
The word ‘self’ is typically associated with the ego, and it does not have the greatest reputation. ‘Self’ is often boxed in with selfishness or self-centeredness. However, Jung had another understanding which was much more expansive and processual rather than a fixed aspect of our identity. Stein (2006) stated that “the Self has a highly dramatic quality” (p. 153). It is considered the goal of psychic development and the center of the personality.
Jung’s psychology holds the path of individuation as the core premise. Individuation, the path of wholeness, is a process of transformation that involves integrating the conscious with the unconscious. The archetype of the Self has been described as both the beginning and end of the path of individuation, it is the seed of individuation as well as the goal. It is both the center and the circumference. Jung considered wholeness as equivalent to the Self. Stein (2006) described wholeness as such:
Wholeness results, practically speaking, when the self is realized in consciousness. In fact, this is not completely achievable, since the polarities and opposites resident in the self are forever generating more and new material to integrate. Nevertheless, practicing wholeness on a regular basis is the way of the self. (Stein, 2006, p. 158)
In simple terms, Stein (2006) also said that “the self is the magnetic center of Jung’s psychological universe. Its presence pulls the ego’s compass needle to true north.” (p. 156). This is why the Self is also often considered to be an inner god, or the “universal person within us. It is the greater person that we are but it might not be known to us” (Le Grice, 2016, p. 70).
The fact that Jung referred to the Self as an archetype makes it a bit more complex to understand. It is a very different entity than his other archetypes such as the persona, the ego, the shadow, the anima, or animus. However, by referring to the Self as an archetype Jung has alluded to the fact that there is something universal about the Self and the primordial pattern that it holds. So, what does all of this mean? Again, typically, the ego is considered the center of one’s personality, but it may be better to describe it as the center of consciousness, and the Self as the center of the personality, and this includes consciousness. The Self breaks down into all of the other psychic archetypes to further its development “so that its component parts can be brought into experience, into consciousness, in a way that preserves consciousness” (Hoffman, 2021). In order to present the difference, one can imagine that the ego is a center point with a small circle around it, containing it and making it fixed. The Self, on the other hand, is the greater circle containing the center as well as the small circle around it.
‘Differentiation’ is an important word in Jungian psychology. Jung believed that the first half of life is dedicated to ego development and in the second half, we enter a time of differentiation. Ego development is usually highly based on familial, social, and cultural conditioning and expectations. It inhibits the development of a truly authentic self. This is not to say that everyone is inauthentic in the first half of their lives, rather it is more of a challenge to trust the voice of the Self because of societal norms and the desire to gain social acceptance. One begins to question and untangle from who they have become because of what has been expected of them, and in turn, develop security and self-validation to move forward with integrating the Self, their authenticity, and their inner compass. This can involve psychospiritual experiences of death and rebirth. “The parts of the Self that we encounter in all the other archetypes, are how we make the Self conscious. Just as importantly, it is by becoming conscious of the Self in this way, that we discover all its facets that inhere in its totality” (Hoffman, 2021). The ego is a crucial factor in illuminating the oppositions within the Self and the psyche. So, as one begins to differentiate the ego from the Self, it is important to realize that they are also not entirely separate. One contains the other and needs the other to become fully realized.
To add more complexity, there are two stages that need to be addressed in order to understand the Self as a concept. Le Grice (2016) explained this below:
One might have a sense of being a greater person on some level from a fairly young age (as in Jung’s sense of having a “number two” personality) and one might feel called to a great destiny, perhaps. These are the ways the Self makes itself known to us, even if we don’t recognize it. But this initial recognition of the Self is something quite different from that realization of the Self in consciousness through individuation. To individuate is to bring one’s will and one’s life into alignment with the greater person that we also are while still preserving the ego, the soul, the child, and so on. (p. 71)
The two stages are the encounter with the Self and realization of the Self. It is this “realization of the Self that is the aim of individuation. It is an ongoing process that never really comes to an end” (Le Grice, 2016, p. 73). After the ego has developed, an individual may begin to have such encounters with the Self. These experiences have a numinous, mystical, or religious quality and often come about during tumultuous or traumatic moments of identity/ego molting or dissolution. I consider these to be similar to the clues mentioned above by Le Grice, which may occur throughout one’s life, the Self making itself known. It seems as though the encounter is just a piece of the work, however, as it is required that one allows these encounters to truly reshape the ego into the realization of the Self. The realization of the Self, the ultimate goal of individuation, comes as a result of integrating the numinous qualities of the Self into one’s daily life and experience a “gradual reorganization of the psyche around this power” (Le Grice, 2016, p. 73). This is a long process. It can be lifelong. And, in this sense, it requires surrendering to the will of the gods or the internal god within.
Le Grice (2016) also differentiates between an idealized self and Jung’s concept of the Self: “To realize the Self, one effectively sheds all images of one’s life, and of what one might be. Individuation leads to a more or less realistic view of oneself and the world. One simply becomes what one is, what one always was in potential” (p. 73). With this in mind, I will segway into explaining another of these kinds of blueprints: the astrological natal chart.
The Natal Chart
It’s fundamental to the meaning of astrology that the natal chart means something. Like a seed, or an acorn means something to an oak tree. There must be enfolded potential within the natal chart. There is some intense symbolic correspondence between the symbolic picture of the sky the moment you were born. It’s the radical meaning of astrology that the natal chart implies this enfolded potential that like an acorn contains a great tree, in potentia. (Jones, 2015)
A natal chart, or birth chart, is a snapshot of the sky the very moment an individual took their first breath. One can just as easily cast charts for the time of significant events. The premise behind astrology is that the natal chart is reflective of personality characteristics as well as time-telling of significant moments in an individual’s life. There is a school of astrology that is focused on predictive aspects, but this is not the main purpose for astrology as a whole. It is something like telling time, tracking patterns, and understanding the story-map of one’s life and how they are connected to archetypal forces. The chart is not static, it is a process, and it is an evolution. As well, it is a treasure-trove of an archetypal landscape for one’s life. “Astrological charts might be construed as something like a symbolic portrayal of the universal principles, or archetypes, once personified by the gods and goddesses of ancient myth” (Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 1).
A chart will show you the exact placement of all of the planets at the day and time of one’s birth. All the more importantly, it shows the aspects, that is, how each of the planets is relating with one another at that moment. There are challenging aspects (squares, oppositions, etc.) and more harmonious aspects (trines, sextiles, conjunctions, etc.). Each planet has particular archetypal significance as well as rich mythology. Rossi & Le Grice (2018) explained that “the planets themselves are symbolically associated with certain dynamic principles and powers. Jung likened them to gods and archetypes, whereas the signs might be construed as something like modes of being or archetypal styles manifest in enduring personality traits” (p. 3). Planets will be located in a particular zodiacal sign within a house. The zodiacal wheel itself is representative of the evolution of life and development, the seasons, the cardinal directions, as well as an archetypal death-rebirth. There are many maps and myths nested within one another when it comes to understanding astrology and the birth chart.
The chart is broken into twelve houses, one for each sign, each representing a particular aspect of life. For example, the first house represents the house of self, the fourth house represents the house of home, the seventh house is the house of relationships, and the tenth house is the house of career. The first six houses are related to personal matters, and the next six houses are related to relational and external world matters. Just as each zodiacal sign has a polar opposite, so does each house. It is not important whether someone has planets in each house or not. What is more important is how all the planets relate, and what they are striving for. The latter is often determined by examining opposing signs and houses. Wholeness is implicit in the zodiacal wheel.
The natal chart may be a snapshot, but it is far from fixed or static. Of course, we can get a lot of information from understanding our birth chart, but the other part of the journey involves understanding transits. This means studying and tracking the movement and placement of planets in the current sky (on any given day) and being in relationship with the impact. The conversation truly never ends. In this way, astrology is a tool that supports an ever-evolving psycho-spiritual transformation — individuation and the realization of the Self. Richard Tarnas (2007) stated, “astrology is the last lingering vestige of primitive animism, a strangely enduring affront to the objective rationality of the modern mind” (p. 64). I find this a compelling thought to bring in here with the consideration that there is something inherently archaic about humans following and understanding astrology as a deep source of wisdom.
Mandala
Another element Jung was fascinated with is the symbol of the mandala — a circle (often a quadrated circle) with a significant center. For Jung, the mandala had become a representation of the Self, often spontaneously emerging for an individual. He believed them to be “symbols of order” (Jung, 1951, p. 32) and occurring for individuals at times of distress and disorientation. Jung developed a personal relationship with the mandala during the time when his confrontation with the unconscious began — a definite time of disorientation. His experience led him to associate the symbol of the mandala with the archetype of the Self. Stein (2006) recounted what has been recorded of this:
Jung came to realize that he was reproducing a universal underlying archetypal pattern that has to do with putting things in order. This experience led him eventually to the conclusion that if a spontaneously unfolding psychic process is followed to its own logical end and is permitted to express itself fully, the goal of this process will be fulfilled, namely to manifest universal images of order and unity. The mandala is a universal symbol that expresses the intuition or ordered wholeness. To name the archetypal factor that is operative in the psyche producing this goal and this pattern, Jung chose the term self. (p. 156)
Jung recognized that the mandala as a symbol is a process, not a quick insight. It takes time, energy, and patience “before the full range of the symbol can be anything like completely understood” (Jung, 1951, p. 32). Understandably, one can see how this symbol became equated with the archetype of the Self. Because of their spontaneous emergence during times of psychic instability, Jung concluded that the mandala has a healing capacity — it is a symbol of self-healing. The object of the mandala is the Self as distinct from the ego. There is simply not enough space to get into great detail about the entirety of Jung’s research and understanding of mandalas, but it is important to mention for where we are going.
Where the Chart and the Self Begin to Merge
“The Self paints itself into symbols, into images that by their very nature include all the polarities and oppositions that the mind wants to keep apart. In the symbol, the mind can see how they can live together. The symbol makes wholeness perceivable, and so realizable” (Hoffman, 2021). This statement could very well replace multiple uses of the word ‘symbol’ with ‘natal chart’ and we will now explore why and how…
Though there is less writing on this, Jung spent a great deal of time and energy studying astrology. He was very captivated with understanding this phenomenon of the correlation between the movement/placement of the planets with events in both the collective and the lives of individuals. The archetype of the Self is the signification of the many oppositions in the psyche as well as the numinous god-like quality within oneself. The natal chart strikingly embodies most of the characteristics that Jung described about the Self, especially the symbol of the Self as a mandala. A natal chart has a clear center point. This is the meeting place of the many tensions of opposites held in the natal chart. It is what holds all the aspects together. The chart itself, the circumference, is the totality of one’s astrological blueprint, and the zodiac itself is symbolic of wholeness. It holds the whole story with all of the possibilities. It is a vision of integration.
We can also begin to overlay Jung’s understanding of the mandala, its process, and purpose, with that of the natal chart aesthetic and function. When speaking about the mandala, Jung has said “attention is thus directed towards the centre, and at the same time all the disparate elements come under observation and an attempt is made to unify them” (Jung, 1935, as cited in Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 60). This sentiment feels like an accurate approach to the birth chart as well as it is the center that holds all of the polarities and ties the story together, but it is each individual planet that must be understood in its relationship with everything else. In fact, Jung elaborated on this by saying that “the horoscope is itself a mandala (a clock) with a dark centere, and a leftward circumambulatio with “houses” and planetary phases” (Jung, 1936, as cited in Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 59). The birth chart is, in a way, also a quadrated circle as is the mandala because of the way the twelve signs are divided into cardinal, mutable, or fixed types or by elements: earth, air, fire, water.
As mentioned above, Stein referred to the self as one’s true north. This metaphor has been particularly impactful for my understanding of the Self and ultimately brought me to this inquiry. For myself, and many others, the natal chart is that same force — an inner compass reflecting the wisdom and guidance of the gods and the cosmos. My natal chart serves as a compass in my life, and I trust the orientation it holds and provides. It gives me a story, a mythos for my life and it is one that I continue to come back to in order to remember who I am, my mission in this life, and my gifts as well as challenges. This is perhaps most crucial in moments when life presents difficult circumstances. I can read my current transits, find the correlations, and understand that everything is in its right place — even amidst challenges — this too is a part of my story. Most importantly, the story never ends. As I move through life, I am impacted by my transits (the way the current sky aspects the positions of the planets in my natal chart). Every day there is something I can glean, remember, or investigate with the knowledge that this symbol is the guiding force of my life. It is ultimately paving the way for me to become more of myself because it holds the seed of who that Self is, and has always been.
Just as the mandala is an expression of higher-order, so too is the natal chart. If we are lost in our lives, where do we turn? It would seem that the birth chart may be an ideal place to look. From an archetypal perspective, everything has a place where it belongs, and this is what creates this type of divine order. On a personal level, this is relevant to the psyche and all of its components. They all belong. It is a matter of creating the “right” relationships between them. This is part of the work of individuation. Planets and signs in the natal chart are representative of the archetypes in the psyche as well as parts of our personalities. When we understand these astrological archetypes as mirrors, we get a better glimpse into our own psyche and personality.
Mark Jones (2011) has eloquently expressed the zodiac in a manner that speaks to the heart of the Self:
In their highest expression, the 12 archetypes of the Zodiac represent a symbolic correspondence between the infinite potential of the total field and all possible ranges of human experience within that field. The critical fashion in which the 12 archetypes manifest within the individual natal chart corresponds to the nature of the particular “charge” that an individual emanates: the expression of the creative and spiritual will of the individual. Emanating the energetics of this charge, the individual then aligns with the multiplicity of potential realities. (p. 9)
It is exactly this field of potential that is also described as the totality of the Self. If the Self is the universal person within us, as stated earlier by Le Grice, then is the natal chart not a symbol of such potential? It is the image of the way we are composed of the universe! I would like to restate a comment from Le Grice (2016) about individuation and the realization of the Self: “One simply becomes what one is, what one always was in potential” (p. 73). This is the piece that truly ties together the birth chart with the archetype of the Self. The birth chart is, in essence, what one has always been, as it is reflective of the greater cosmic conversation the moment of one’s birth. This holds the very potential of what one can be and can do. The path taken is up to the individual, but the seed which was planted will always be there. Jung (1955) stated: “individual character is, on the old view, the curse or blessing which the gods bestowed on the child at its birth in the form of favourable or unfavourable astrological aspects” (as cited in Rossi & Le Grice, 2018, p. 70).
To add a bit of cosmology, I will again incorporate the work of cultural historian and archetypal astrologer, Richard Tarnas. In his book, Cosmos and Psyche, Tarnas differentiated between the primal and modern world views. Below is the diagram he provided to explain this:
There is an incredible overlap here with Jung’s differentiation between the ego and the Self. Earlier, I mentioned that the Self is symbolized by a circle with a center point, emphasizing the totality. The ego is symbolized by a small circle containing the center point within a larger circle. The modern world view can easily be identified with an ego-consciousness, and the primal world view with a consciousness that values, respects, and sees the wholeness of things. In Tarnas’s diagram, the primal world view has a permeable boundary between Self and world, a necessary element if one is to truly practice astrology in a way that transforms them. The modern world view contains the self and in this way, holds a boundary between self and world — a very destructive and limited way of living. With the following statement, Stein (2006) reminded us from where Jung has gathered many of his theories:
Jung’s argument, often difficult to follow as he threads his way through astrology, Gnosticism, alchemy, theology, and various traditional symbol systems, claims that this transcendent factor of the psyche — which we now call the Self — has been studied and experienced by many people in earlier times, and their accounts of it in symbolic terms can be useful for grasping its nature and energy. (p. 157)
Jung studied the ancient and indigenous wisdom traditions that valued more than just the intellect. It appears to me that he was tracking something that they knew which we have forgotten. Astrology is one of those important practices which is in need of recovery in order to grasp the fullness of life and in all of its relationships.
Conclusion
“The Self represents the totality of the human being, an emerging unknown center, and a new psychological orientation by which one comes into line with a greater order in the universe” (Le Grice, 2016, p. 74).
Jung continually stressed that the archetypes cannot be understood rationally and that the mind is of no use in this sense. “If this insight were purely intellectual it could be achieved without much difficulty” (Jung, 1951, p. 32). Instead, they need to be experienced to be realized, and it is usually a long journey. It is through experience that archetypes enter the deeper layers of the psyche and the unconscious. This way, they penetrate to the core and can work and reshape the ego. This is the path of individuation. It too cannot be thought of or decided rationally. The path must be walked, and it is a process, and the unconscious must be included. The archetypes, the gods must be related with and given a proper seat at the table. I see no clearer symbol for this journey than the astrological one that is a given whether one studies it or not. The planets are always there, always moving, always conspiring, and always have been. If our aim in life, and in individuation, is to integrate, to create harmony and unity among all parts of us, then the birth chart is the perfect mirror for this order. Just as the path of individuation is arduous and labyrinthine, the natal chart too does not make any promises but offers a doorway into the conversation. The natal chart is the pathway to the Self and a true map of the soul.
References
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Jung, C. G. (1968). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 09 pt. 2. Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (H. Read et al., Eds.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1951) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400851058
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