Holotropic Research and Archetypal Astrology - part 2

5. Correlations between the psychodynamics of the birth process and planetary

archetypes:

The first indication that there might be some extraordinary connection between

astrology and my research of holotropic states was Richard Tarnas’s recognition that individuals

who experienced major psychological breakthroughs and awakenings tended at those times to be

undergoing major personal transits involving the planet Uranus, often in combination with

Jupiter, while those undergoing more difficult and psychologically constricting periods tended

to be undergoing transits involving Saturn. Eventually, he came to realize that this simple

dichotomy was part of much more complex patterns of correlation involving all the planets and

a wide range of psychological conditions and stages of transformation.

One particularly notable observation was Tarnas’s realization that my description of

the experiential patterns associated with the stages of biological birth showed astonishing

similarity to the four archetypes that astrologers have empirically correlated with the four outer

planets of the solar system.

My description of the phenomenology of four basic perinatal matrices (or BPMs), pertaining to different stages of the birth process, was based on clinical observations made quite independently many years before I knew anything about astrology. By way of very brief summary: In both its positive and negative forms, the first perinatal matrix (BPM I) is unmistakably reflective of the archetype that astrologers link to Neptune. The positive aspect of BPM I includes the reliving of episodes of undisturbed intrauterine existence, as well as the concomitant experiences of dissolution of boundaries, interpersonal fusion experiences, oceanic ecstasy, cosmic feelings of unity, transcendence of time and space, and awareness of the mystical and numinous dimensions of reality.

The negative aspects of BPM I are associated with regressive experiences of prenatal disturbances. Here the dissolution of boundaries is not mystical but psychotic in nature; it leads to confusion, delusion, a sense of chemical poisoning, bizarre metaphysical distortions, and

paranoid perceptions of reality. This matrix also has a psychodynamic connection with

alcoholic or narcotic intoxication and addiction. All these qualities, both positive and

negative, are ones that astrologers associate with the Neptune archetype.

The second perinatal matrix (BPM II) represents the stage when the uterine

contractions periodically compress the baby, but the cervix is still closed and there does not

seem to be a way out (hence “no exit”). Prominent features of this matrix include the

preoccupation with aging and death, difficult ordeals and hard labor, depression, oppression,

constriction, deficit, scarcity, and starvation.

This matrix also brings feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, loneliness, and guilt. It is associated with skepticism and a profoundly pessimistic view of existence, a shattering crisis of meaning, the inability to enjoy anything, and loss of any connection with the divine dimension of reality. In astrology, all these qualities have long been regarded as attributes of the more challenging side of the Saturn archetype. The precise astrological correspondence with the experiential aspects of the third perinatal matrix (BPM III) is particularly extraordinary and surprising since this matrix

represents an unusual combination of themes characteristic of the final stage of biological birth,

including the unrelenting thrust of an elemental driving force, the unleashing of titanic energies,

Dionysian agony and ecstasy, birth, sex, death, rebirth, elimination, and scatology. We should

also mention here the motifs of volcanic eruptions, pyrocatharsis, purifying fire, and the underworld—urban, criminal, psychological, sexual, and mythological. Astrologically, all these

are regarded as attributes of Pluto, the archetype of primordial energy—the dynamic principle

behind cosmic creation, the universal life force that propels evolution in nature and human

society (Kundalini Shakti in Hindu mythology), as well as the energy of destruction (the

devouring Mother Goddess Kali).

Pluto is associated with the fundamental biological processes of birth, sex, and death, the transformative process of psychospiritual death and rebirth, and the instinctual forces in the body and psyche (the Freudian Id). It represents the chthonic elements of existence, the underworld, whether in the literal physical sense (underground, infrastructure of the metropolis), in the metaphorical sense (red light districts, organized crime), in the psychological sense (the unconscious), or in an archetypal, mythological sense in which the Roman god Pluto (the Greek Hades) was the ruler of the underworld – all themes that figure prominently in the phenomenology of the third perinatal matrix.

Finally, the phenomenology of the fourth perinatal matrix (BPM IV)—the experience

of emerging from the birth canal—is closely related to the archetype that astrologers have

consistently associated with the planet Uranus. BPM IV represents the final stage of delivery

where the discomfort and pressures culminate and are resolved in an explosive liberation. It is

characterized by such features as the unexpected resolution of a difficult situation, breaking

through and transcending boundaries, brilliantly illuminating insights, Promethean liberation

and epiphany, sudden rising to a new level of awareness and consciousness, and radical

freedom from previous constrictions. All these themes are associated by astrologers with the

planet Uranus, representing the astrological principle of sudden change, surprise, rebellion

against the status quo, revolutionary activity, liberation, spiritual awakening, and emotional

and intellectual breakthrough. In addition, it governs sudden collapse of established

structures, disruptive and destabilizing impulses and events, individualism and originality,

revolutionary insight, creative genius, and invention. The shadow side of the Uranus

archetype finds its expression in anarchy, unfruitful eccentricity, and indiscriminate acting

out against limitations and laws of any kind, which corresponds remarkably to the clinical

observation of perinatal experiences of BPM IV that have been inadequately processed –

manic activity and inflation, irresponsible unconstrained behavior, ungrounded creative

energy and anarchic acting out of various kinds.

6. Correlations between Holotropic States and Planetary Transits:

Even more astonishing than these striking parallels between the phenomenology of the perinatal matrices and themes associated with the planetary archetypes was Tarnas’s discovery that in holotropic states the experiential confrontation with these matrices regularly occurs at the time the individuals involved have important transits of the corresponding planets. Over the years, we have now been able to confirm this fact by thousands of specific observations.

For example, during Saturn-Pluto transits an individual in a holotropic session is more

likely to have experiences of extreme oppression and constriction, of terror and dread, of

impending apocalypse, and of the conflict between instinctual licentiousness and punitive

control, guilt, and shame. These transits are also associated with the confrontation with

demonic power and with overwhelming forces of darkness. Together, Saturn and Pluto are

associated with both the second and third perinatal matrices, and the transition between the

sense of “no exit,” judgment, and eternal damnation associated with BPM II, to the purgatorial

suffering and violent death-rebirth struggle associated with BPM III. In holotropic states of

consciousness occurring during these transits, the phenomenology of both these BPMs such as

choking and suffocation, or the immense psychosomatic pressures associated with constriction

in the womb and the passage through the birth canal, is often evident.

Under Jupiter-Uranus transits, by contrast, holotropic states are more likely to be

characterized by the experience of sudden release from a difficult or oppressive situation,

creative breakthroughs, the unexpected joyous emergence into a new brighter world, or the

expansive sense of new vistas and new possibilities to be explored. More problematically, this

archetypal combination is also associated with the experience of giddy excitement and manic

euphoria that can accompany the transition into BPM IV prior to the full resolution of the

psychospiritual death-rebirth process.

When we use astrology in the work with holotropic states, the complexity of the

interpretations increases with the number of planetary transits happening at the same time and

with the number of planets involved in them. In many instances, two or more important transits

can operate simultaneously and their energies can be in conflict with each other, producing

complex combinations and dialectical fusions of the archetypal forces involved. A comprehensive

interpretation requires an experienced astrologer evaluating a specific situation and

looking at the natal chart and the transits as a unified field and an integral gestalt. Specific case

histories of these extraordinary correlations will be explored in a later issue of the Archai

journal.

7. The Archetypal Basis of COEX systems:

Natal and transit astrology have also provided a deeper understanding of another important concept that has emerged from my psychedelic and holotropic research. I noticed very early in this work that emotionally relevant memories of my clients were not stored in the unconscious as a mosaic of isolated imprints, but in the form of complex dynamic constellations. I coined for these memory aggregates the name COEX systems, which is short for “systems of condensed experience.” A COEX system consists of emotionally charged memories from different periods of our life that resemble each other in the quality of emotion or physical sensation that they share.

Each COEX has a basic theme that permeates all its layers and represents their common denominator. The individual layers, then, contain variations on this basic theme that occurred at different periods of the person’s life. All COEX constellations seem to be superimposed over and anchored in the trauma of birth and are dynamically related to one of the perinatal matrices, or a specific aspect thereof. However, a typical COEX system reaches even further and its deepest roots consist of various forms of transpersonal phenomena, such as collective historical experiences, past-life experiences, Jungian archetypes, conscious identification with various animals, and others.

The most recent refinement of my understanding of the COEX dynamics was the

surprising discovery that the nature and content of important COEX systems in the psyche of

an individual tends to show striking correlations with major planetary aspects in his or her

natal astrological chart. In addition, the timing of the biographical events that constitute the

various layers of COEX systems seems to coincide with great consistency with the periods

when significant planetary transits were moving across precisely these natal aspects. These

findings thus throw new light on the dynamic interconnections between the biographical,

perinatal, and transpersonal constituents of COEX systems that I have repeatedly observed in

my clinical work.

Because of these surprisingly consistent correlations, I have come to regard astrology,

particularly transit astrology, as the long-sought “Rosetta stone” of consciousness research,

providing an essential key for understanding the nature and content of holotropic or nonordinary

states of consciousness, both spontaneous and induced. While the correlations concerning past experiences are primarily of theoretical interest, examining current transits can be extremely useful in the work with individuals undergoing “spiritual emergencies,” and the possibility of making remarkably accurate predictions of the archetypal character of nonordinary states based on future transits is an invaluable tool in the planning of psychedelic and holotropic sessions.

Theoreticians and clinicians in the field of psychology, trying to establish a fixed classificatory system of psychiatric diagnoses, have expressed their continuing frustration concerning the lack of correspondence between the description of the diagnostic categories and the actual clinical pictures they encounter in working with their patients. To date, we are currently on the fourth revised version of the official American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). Although there are many factors behind such revisions, from an astrological point of view, the continual changeability of the clinical picture is comprehensible, at least in part, in terms of the constantly shifting archetypal dynamics of the collective psyche, which are in turn seen to correspond with the shifting angular relations between the planets studied in world transits.

As Richard Tarnas’s research has shown, when two or more planets in their respective

cycles move into certain major alignments in the sky at various periods of history, the

combined archetypal field associated with these planets consistently tends to give such periods

a certain experiential flavor and to determine, at an archetypal level, the underlying character

of its Zeitgeist. This phenomenon is particularly significant and long-lasting when it involves

combinations of the outer planets from Jupiter to Pluto, as in the Uranus-Pluto conjunction

of the 1960s or the Uranus-Neptune conjunction of the late 1980s and 1990s.

At the time of such major planetary alignments for the whole world, the corresponding archetypal

complexes can become personalized for individuals, particularly if they form major transits to

specific planets in their natal charts. Psychologically, these alignments can be reflected in

tendencies towards specific emotional and psychosomatic disorders. As a result, psychiatrists

from different decades do not encounter precisely the same phenomena as their colleagues

from earlier or later times. Psychopathology, therefore, appears to vary according to the

nature of the current world transits and the personal transits of specific individuals. This

variation suggests a possible factor as to why the creation of a fixed, universally valid DSM-IV

seems to be intrinsically problematic.

But that is not the whole story. In the annual courses that Richard Tarnas and I teach at

the California Institute of Integral Studies, we discuss the major schools of depth psychology and

analyze the astrological charts of their founders. It soon became apparent to us that the major

planetary aspects in the natal charts of these pioneers—Freud, Jung, Rank, Reich, Klein, and

others—closely paralleled the specific character of their psychological theories. The differences in

their psychologies became intelligible as a reflection of their basic archetypal orientation, which

was in turn discernible in their natal planetary alignments. Contrary to the conventional

psychoanalytic self-image, it was clear that the various psychoanalytic pioneers were not able to

study the psyches of their clients objectively and make general conclusions that would remain

valid indefinitely. Rather, they inevitably saw the problems of their clients through their

subjective perceptual stencils, or distorting lenses, corresponding to the planetary aspects in their

own birth charts and their personal transits at the time of their clinical observations.

With the exception of organically determined disorders, psychiatry does not have a

fixed set of phenomena to study. The result of any research of emotional and psychosomatic

disorders that are not organic is thus determined by a complex interplay of a number of factors,

among which must be included the astrological chart of the researcher and his or her transits at

the time of observation; the planetary aspects for the entire world that define the

Zeitgeist of a particular period; and the personal transits that color the experiences of the clients.

The image of psychiatry as a discipline that possesses concise descriptions of fixed and

transtemporal pathological conditions and an armamentarium of specific remedies and

interventions is an illusion. The only viable approach, given the shifting archetypal context, is

to describe psychiatric disorders in terms of relationships and tools that can be used to analyze

the situation at any particular time and characterize it in terms of the phenomenology of the

experiences of the client and its relationship to the client’s planetary transits. It is also

necessary, as a corrective, to take into consideration the global planetary aspects and the

researcher’s own chart and transits.

Implications of Holotropic Research and Archetypal Astrology

While all the above observations from transpersonal research point to a world view and

personality theory that are in general consonance with astrology, the research into holotropic

states has amassed a significant body of evidence that quite specifically supports the fundamental

assumptions of astrology. However, modern Euro-American civilization is under such a strong

influence of materialistic science that I can say from my own experience that it usually takes

years of research of holotropic states and extensive personal exposure to them before one is able

to break its spell and accept the radical revisions that have to be made in our understanding of

the human psyche and the nature of reality to accommodate the new data. The vast array of

challenging observations from holotropic states and astrology cannot be handled by a little

conceptual patchwork or occasional cosmetic adjustment using minor ad hoc hypotheses.

Rather, it would require a drastic overhaul of the modern world view, shattering and replacing

the most fundamental metaphysical assumptions and beliefs of materialistic science.

The connections revealed by astrology are so complex, intricate, creative, and highly

imaginative that, in my opinion, they strongly point to a divine origin. They provide

convincing evidence for a deep meaningful order underlying creation and for a superior

cosmic intelligence that engendered it. In addition, the findings of natal and transit astrology

challenge the basic tenet of materialistic science that the universe is essentially meaningless

and that it has no special connection with human beings.

This conviction that the natural laws offer no discernible purpose for human beings has

been most explicitly expressed by cosmological physicist Steven Weinberg. “I believe there is

no point that can be discovered by the methods of science,” he said in an interview. “I believe

that what we have found so far—an impersonal universe which is not particularly directed

towards human beings—is what we are going to continue to find. And that when we find the

ultimate laws of nature they will have a chilling, cold, impersonal quality about them.”

The image of a deeply meaningful, interconnected universe permeated by superior

intelligence and including every individual in its intriguing script raises a very interesting

question: Is there a comprehensive world view that could integrate the findings of natural

sciences and modern consciousness research and, at the same time, incorporate astrology?

Over the years, and not without struggle and tribulations, I have come to the conclusion that

there is indeed a world view that can absorb and explain my experiences and observations

from consciousness research, as well as embrace astrology. Needless to say, however, this

differs diametrically from the belief system that dominates the modern Western civilization.

I have described this world view in my book The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness (1998) and presented it also in a condensed form in a chapter of my book

Psychology of the Future (2000). This vision of reality is based on experiences and insights from holotropic states and portrays the universe not as a material system, but as an infinitely complex play of Absolute Consciousness. Ancient Hindu scriptures describe a similar view of the cosmos, referring to the events in the phenomenal worlds as lila , the divine play. I have tried to show in my previous publications that this way of seeing the universe is becoming increasingly compatible with various revolutionary advances in new paradigm science (Grof 1985, 1998).

If the cosmos is a creation of superior intelligence and not a supermachine that created itself, it then becomes more readily plausible that astrology could be one of many different orders built into the universal fabric. It could be seen as a useful and even necessary complement to the field of science as it currently exists, rather than an irreconcilable rival of the scientific world view. Opening up conceptually to this possibility would make it possible to utilize the great potential that astrology holds as a clinical and research tool in psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy, as well as for a variety of other disciplines.

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