Psychological Astrology
sy-kuh-LOJ-ih-kuhl
Definition
Psychological astrology is a 20th-century Western school that reads the natal chart through the framework of depth psychology — especially the Jungian ideas of archetypes, complexes, the shadow, and individuation. Holden describes the approach as "astronomically guided psychoanalysis" (paraphrased from p. 220), with Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas its central English-language voices. The chart is treated as a map of inner functions and developmental tasks, not as a forecast of outward events.
In Tradition
Across the lineage from Dane Rudhyar through the Centre for Psychological Astrology (London, founded 1983), planetary positions name inner functions, aspects describe relationships within the psyche, and transits mark developmental phases. The school holds that conscious awareness changes how chart patterns express: the more conscious you are, the less mechanically a configuration plays out as an external event. The framing is interpretive, not predictive.
In Practice
Reading a chart this way, an astrologer leans on archetypal vocabulary — Saturn as the inner judge, the Moon as the inner mother, Pluto as a field of compulsive pattern — and treats hard aspects as developmental tasks rather than plain misfortunes. The style folds in counseling craft: the chart gives shape to a conversation about self-understanding. A common workflow looks at (1) the Sun-Moon-Ascendant character core, (2) the Saturn placement for patterns of boundary and discipline, (3) outer-planet aspects for transformative dynamics, and (4) transits to natal significators for the current developmental phase. Predictive specifics are usually held lightly.
Historical Origin
Dane Rudhyar opens the lineage in *The Astrology of Personality* (1936), recasting the chart as a person's archetypal Form. Liz Greene's *Saturn* (1976) and *Relating* (1977), Howard Sasportas' *The Twelve Houses* (1985), and the founding of the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London (1983) institutionalise the school. Holden documents its sharp rise since about 1980 and counts it as one of four contemporary practice categories, alongside traditional, esoteric, and event-oriented astrology.
Further Reading
- Liz Greene, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil
- Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses
- Dane Rudhyar, The Astrology of Personality