“Myth, says a Church Father, is what is believed always, everywhere, by everybody; hence the man, who thinks he can live without myth, or outside it, is an exception. He is like one uprooted, having no true link either with the past, or with the ancestral life which continues within him, or yet with contemporary society. He does not live in a house like other men, does not eat and drink like other men, but lives a life of his own, sunk in a subjective mania of his own devising, which he believes to be newly discovered truth. This plaything of his reason never grips his vitals. It may occasionally lie heavy on his stomach, for that organ is not apt to reject the products of reason as indigestible. The psyche is not of today; its ancestry goes back many millions of years. Individual consciousness is only the flower and fruit of a season, sprung from the perennial rhizome beneath the earth; and would find itself in better accord with the truth if it took the existence of the rhizome into its calculations. For the root matter is the mother of all things.” - Carl Jung, September 1950

Introduction

The point of departure for this article is not psychological but astrological. Astrology existed before Carl Gustav Jung and others of his ilk and before the first-recorded mention of the archetypes in 25 B. C by Philo Judaeus, with reference to the Imago Dei in man. As the oldest of the occult sciences (meaning supernatural, supernatural meaning that which cannot be explained by the laws of science), astrology will always hold the moral high ground. It is an ancient symbolic language, and is aligned with all the mythologized processes of nature which according to Jung, are symbolic expressions of the inner unconscious drama of the psyche which becomes accessible to man’s consciousness by way of projection, mirrored in the events of nature; astrology highlights the essence of the archetype and as such, because its origin is lost in antiquity, is most likely its origin. While Freud established the existence of archaic vestiges and primitive modes of functioning in the unconscious, astrology has been addressing these primitive archetypes for thousands of years.

Man has in him these a priori instinct types which provide the occasion and the pattern for his activities, in so far as he functions instinctively. As a biological being he has no choice but to act in a specifically human way and fulfil his pattern of behaviour.¹ These collective unconscious experiences and reflections which act as regulators and stimulators of creative fantasy activity are called archetypes and act like the instincts. They also have a distinctly numinous character which can only be described as spiritual; the essential content of all mythologies and all religions is archetypal.¹

Defining the archetype

The archetype is pure nature, and it is nature that causes man to utter words and perform actions whose meaning is unconscious to him; so unconscious that he no longer gives it a thought. Psychologically the archetype as an image of instinct is a spiritual goal toward which the whole nature of man strives; it is the sea to which all rivers wend their way, the prize which the hero wrests from the fight with the dragon. The archetype as such is a psychoid factor that belongs, as it were, to the invisible, ultraviolet end of the psychic spectrum; it does not appear, in itself, to be capable of reaching the consciousness.¹

The archetypes are continuously present and active; as such, just as with the efficacy of astrology, they need no ‘believing in’, but only an intuition of their meaning and a certain sapient awe, which never loses sight of their importance. Archetypes are typical forms of behaviour which, once they become conscious, naturally present themselves as ideas and images, like everything else that becomes a content of consciousness. In an astrology chart the planets are the nouns and because they correspond to specific archetypes, conclusions can be drawn with regards to the areas of excess or lack on a holistic level within an individual.

Archetypes, which echo the law and light of the Divine in the same was astrology does, are present in and exist for all human beings; this explains why similar myths, folk lore and fairy tales prevail in all cultures throughout the world: all of them are derived from the same collective pool of archetypes. Iranaeus says “The creator of the world did not fashion these things directly from himself but copied them from archetypes outside himself. ” In the Corpus Hereticum God is called the archetype of light and St Augustine speaks of “ideas…. which themselves are not formed…. which are contained in the divine intelligence. ”

Archetypes of the collective unconscious

We are told by Jung that the collective unconscious is not personal but universal; it has content and modes of behaviour that are more or less the same everywhere and in all individuals. It is, in other words, identical in all men and thus constitutes a common psychic substrate of a suprapersonal nature which is present in every one of us.

Seven primary archetypes

There are seven planets in the model of traditional astrology and we can align seven primary archetypes with them; there are dozens more but mostly these are different variations of the primary seven. Each of these seven archetypes is ruled by, or is symbolic of, one of the seven planets and as such can be located in the astrological chart, be that the chart of a nativity which is the person and the potential for his life, or within a horary chart which depicts specific situations and events.

The archetypes of the personalities/planets

These can be directly experienced in personified form; in the course of this process the archetypes appear as active personalities in dreams or fantasies. In the astrological natal chart the planetary rulers of these archetypes will have tremendous influence in the nativity, either through strength or weakness, depicting which one is of the most significance for that individual, and the personality of the individual will most likely develop in accordance with the archetype/s identified with, for better or for worse. Astrologically it is of interest that the trinity of the Sun (the symbol of God), the Moon (his handmaid) and Mercury (the Word made flesh), the significators of wit and manner in a natal chart, govern the three higher Archangels mentioned in Judaism and by the Roman Catholic Church.

I recalled the following rhyme while writing this article and it is another example of the collective unconscious depicted through astrology - versions of it are to be found in many different cultures, at different times throughout history and dating as far back as the 15th century. This version was first recorded in A. E. Bray's Traditions of Devonshire (Volume II, pp. 287-288) in 1838 – the words in italics are mine:

Monday's child is fair of face the Moon is pale, thus a pale complexion
Tuesday's child is full of grace, Mars is the sword we use against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune the world throws at us; by the Grace of God we can overcome these
Wednesday's child is full of woe, Mercury’s day, Mercury being the symbol of Christ and the Crucifixion
Thursday's child has far to go, Jupiter knows no boundaries and rules special journeys
Friday's child is loving and giving, ruled by Venus, self-explanatory as the goddess of love
Saturday's child works hard for a living, Saturn as the planet of hard work, sacrifice and pain and suffering
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay ruled by the Sun, the symbol of the Divine

The Archetype of the Child

Ruled by Mercury is the Christ child or the hero. The child is the innocent who begins the hero's journey; this is the beginning of the individuation process and the maturation process of the personality. The child must evolve toward independence; he is the rising Sun of consciousness and has heroic invincibility whilst undergoing a process of rebirth or transformation. He must leave behind his old ideas and attachments so that he can complete the individuation process. There are many ways to bring about transformation, all of these being the tasks the hero encounters on his journey, and this process gradually happens over a lifetime of listening to our inner self and becoming closer to the soul/spirit. The process of individuation is the coming to terms with the reality of the inner self in contrast to one's trickster.

There are variations of the child archetype, and myths and fairy-tales abound with these: the Orphan Child is the major character in most well-known children's stories, including Little Orphan Annie, the Matchstick Girl, Bambi, the Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella, and many more. The hero’s journey is depicted through examples such as The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Ulysses (hero of The Odyssey whose most renowned trait was his supreme resourcefulness, the ability to find a way out of the most dangerous situation); Arjuna (in the Bhagavad Gita, his questioning of his Hero/Warrior role leads the god Krishna to instruct him in divine wisdom); Hidesato (in Japanese legend, a killer of many monsters, including the feared Centipede); Saynday (a hero-trickster of the Native American Kiowa tribe); Theseus (Athenian hero who slew the Marathonian Bull and the Minotaur).²

The Archangel Raphael, the Divine healer, is aligned with Mercury who is also known as Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing in Greek mythology. In the story of Tobias in the Bible, Raphael assumes the human form of Azarias and this deception is also aligned with the essential nature of Mercury. Just as the saying “physician heal thyself” applies to the symbolism of Mercury, so too can it be applied to the journey of the child or the hero’s journey. The trickster archetype on an individual level can be aligned with the archetype of the child because facing up to one’s mortality and limitations is a painful task, fruitful ground for delusion and illusion.

The Archetype of the Shadow

Essentially a repository for everything about ourselves that we fear or reject; it is the personal unconscious mind, thus symbolised by the Moon, an empty vessel in her own right, only able to reflect that which comes from the Sun. Our persona is the face we project to the world but the shadow is what lies beneath. Confrontation with the shadow or personal unconscious is an uncomfortable experience because it shows us our vulnerability and inadequacies; the shadow is the part of the unconscious that is all of our repressed and forgotten issues. The confrontation with the shadow is our "battle for deliverance" and is a necessary step in the process of individuation.

"The shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, who's painful constriction no one is spared who goes down the deep well, " says Carl Jung. Crossing the threshold of the doorway, one enters into the collective unconscious where one is the "the object of every subject, in complete reversal of my ordinary consciousness, where I am always the subject that has an object. " The trickster figure can be seen as the collective equivalent of the shadow. It is the primitive animalistic amoral nature of man. It hampers the progress of individuation and can be seen in myth as a clown or demonic figure.

Archangel Gabriel is allotted to the Moon and means Strength of God. The Moon as the handmaid of the Lord symbolises Mary and the greatest and by far the most joyful message ever committed to an Angel from the beginning of time, was the one brought by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, announcing to her the Incarnation of the Word of God and the birth of Christ.³ This again highlights the beauty of the symbolism of the archetype of the shadow: it is meant to convey the message it receives from the Sun and to act on the personal truth which is reflected by the Sun; the shadow must be confronted so that the truth can be made manifest. The shadow can trick us into believing that we are what we are not, and only through the light of the archetype of the self can the shadow archetype be accessed.

There are many fairy-tales attributed to this archetype and a primary one is Vasalisa and the doll in her pocket.

The Archetype of the Self

Aligned with the Sun which rules a Sunday and basically provides us with our individualism. It takes on the job of regulator and is symbolic of our personal truth. Each person has an individual archetype, a call in the wild so to speak which resonates only with that person and which must be honoured. The final goal of the individuation process is to reach the quality of the Self or Great Man, that which is the emergence of each human's individual genius and full potential.

Man was created in the image of God, and the self, being the creature, must resonate with its creator. It is plausible then to say that all men yearn to know God and to respond to his call. A life without God can only be painful to the soul because it is denying the Creator in whose image it was created; the creature cannot negate the fact that it was created by the Creator: to do so results in traumatic feelings of separation and isolation as the God-hunger always remains present.

This archetype symbolises this yearning for the God-experience and the alignment of this with the material world whilst in search of wisdom and truth wherever it is to be found. The shadow side of this archetype is the "lost soul, " someone on an aimless journey without direction, ungrounded, disconnected from goals and others. The shadow emerges when seekers become infatuated with the trappings of a certain practice or guru--what Chögyam Trungpa so aptly called "spiritual materialism"--but never actually change their underlying egocentricity.²

The Archangel Michael is associated with the Sun: his name is a battle cry; both shield and weapon in the struggle, and an eternal trophy of victory.³ In art St. Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield (often the shield bears the Latin inscription: Quis ut Deus), standing over the dragon, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance. He also holds a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed (cf. Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers", III, 160), or the book of life, to show that he takes part in the judgement.⁴ A study into the history of Saint Michael would provide additional insight into the archetype of the self and what the self is called to do by the creator depicted via the potential provided in the natal chart.

Fairy-tales/myths best aligned with this archetype are any of the hero’s journeys where the hero tries to ascend to the gods on his own steam resulting in dire consequences; the message being that the individuation process cannot take place without the assistance and intervention of God. The story of Bollerophon and Pegasus is a classic example, as Bella Swan in the Twilight series, negating her humanity, even despising it, is another example of how this archetype can manifest.

The Archetype of the Persona

The mask we wear when out in public that allows us to be socially acceptable. The governing planet is Jupiter, the bridge between the Divine and life itself, thus the bridge between the self and interaction with the world. Jupiter as the planet of expansion allows us to expand our self and reach out to and interact with others. This is possibly the archetype from which so many of the other sub sets of archetypes are derived, but as with all things in astrology, the parts equal the whole and the other six primary archetypes will have tremendous influence on how the persona is formed. In the nativity the Lord of Manner is the persona and for each person it is different, thereby requiring a comprehensive knowledge of all seven planetary archetypes.

The angel Zadkiel, meaning Righteousness of God, is the angel aligned with this archetype. As an Angel of mercy, our interaction with others and the persona we present to the world we should always strive to be merciful.

The Archetype of the Anima

Thisis not the soul in the dogmatic sense, not an anima rationalis, which is a philosophical conception, but a natural archetype that satisfactorily sums up all the statements of the unconscious, primitive mind, of the history of language and religion.¹ In mythology we encounter the nixie, half female, half fish; she is also depicted as a mermaid, a siren and a wood-nymph a lamia or succubus. Entrancing, enticing, alluring, bewitching and dangerous and she wants life, both good and bad. In astrological symbolism the anima is depicted by the planet Venus, linked to the mythology of the goddess Aphrodite.

This archetype, if taken seriously and understood in all its complexity, helps the individual to overcome the trappings of the flesh, closely linked to the sexual urges, and results in wisdom and maturity. The anima loses her tempestuous and compulsive character and break waters are built against the surging of chaos; sense and nonsense are no longer identical. Life should be crazy and meaningful at the same time, otherwise it becomes tedious and drab; the anima is the archetype of life itself, symbolised by Aphrodite rising out of the seas of man’s desire nature.

The anima plays and important part in men and the animus plays and important part in women. They are they syzygy or divine couple and affect our relationships with the opposite sex throughout our lives. Men and women have a tendency to project the anima and animus qualities in themselves onto people of the opposite sex. She is also a contradiction because she is at once chaotic but also reveals a sense of hidden plan and order. She is the male archetype of life and meaning. In her positive aspect she is man's connection to the unconscious, and is the guide through the tight corridor of the shadow.

The anima has four stages of development. The first stage is symbolized by the Eve figure, which represents purely instinctual and biological urges. The second stage is like Juliet and personified on a romantic aesthetic level but is still characterized by sexual elements. The third level is represented by someone like the Virgin Mary, who raises erotic love to the heights of spiritual devotion. The final stage is represented by a figure like the Mona Lisa who is wisdom transcending the most holy and most pure. In the process of individuation a man must not become a victim to his erotic fantasies or become compulsively attached to one actual woman. He must learn to take his fantasies and feelings seriously or will risk stagnating the process of individuation.⁵

The anima transmutes into the Great Mother; in a sense she is the higher stages of development of the anima. The great mother is a primordial concept that is seen in every culture across time and space. She is Mary, Demeter, Isis, and the Earth Mother Goddess of the pagans. She is the germinator of the seed of life which is our human inheritance. The angel Anael is associated with Venus and means the Joy or Grace of God.

The Archetype of the Animus

Mars is the male personification in women. He does not appear as erotic fantasy or mood but appears as "sacred conviction. " Animus means spirit or spirited; the spirit is a moving force in the same sense as the soul is. It is alive and enlivening. "It is the phenomena of rational thought, or of the intellect, including the will, memory, imagination, creative power, and aspirations motivated by ideals. " In his positive aspect he is a woman's connection to the unconscious and self through creative activity. In his negative aspect he is will interfere with others, is domineering, demanding, dogmatic, argumentative, and lets himself be taken in by second rate thinking, brutal, reckless, full of empty talk, and silent, obstinate, evil ideas.

The animus has four stages like that of the anima. The first stage is like Tarzan, the stage of instinctive physical power. The second stage is the romantic man of action; he is the Prince Charming figure. The third stage is a Dr. Phil like figure, who is the bringer of the "word" and the sacred conviction; he is a clergyman or professor. At the fourth stage he is a Gandhi like figure and is the incarnation of meaning and connects a woman's mind to the spiritual evolution of her age. Women must find the inner courage and broadmindedness to question the sacredness of her convictions. Only then will she be able to take suggestions from the unconscious and progress in the process of individuation.⁵

The angel Samael is associated with the lesser malefic Mars, and is an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil. It is said that he was the guardian angel of Esau and a patron of the Roman Empire. He is considered in legend a member of the heavenly host (with often grim and destructive duties), and equitable with Satan and the chief of the evil spirits. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the angel of death. He remains one of the Lord's servants even though he appears to want men to do evil.⁶

The Archetype of the Spirit

The wise old man: the father of the soul and the black horse and the black magician, the wise magician and the master and teacher. He shows us how good and evil function together. This archetype is ruled by Saturn, his planetary signatures being pain and suffering, old age and death, but also justice and wisdom.

Cassiel is the Latin name of this archangel in post-biblical Judeo-Christian religion, particularly that of the kabbalah. Unlike many other angels, Cassiel is known for simply watching the events of the cosmos unfold with little interference. He is the angel of solitude and tears, and is said to preside over the deaths of kings.

Chiron (in Greek mythology, a wise centaur who had extensive knowledge of the healing arts and tutored Asclepius, Theseus, and Achilles), is a wonderful example of this archetype.

The archetypes of transformation

These archetypes are typical situations, places, ways or means that symbolize the kind of transformation in question. Like the personalities, these archetypes are true genuine symbols that cannot be exhaustively interpreted, either as signs or allegories. They are genuine symbols precisely because they are ambiguous, full of half glimpsed meanings and in the last resort, inexhaustible.¹

An example of the archetypes in action: the nativity of Robin Williams

The American actor and comedian who has won Academy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Grammy and Screen Actors Guild awards suffers from Bipolar Disorder, an addiction to cocaine and from the disease of alcoholism; his nativity displays the potential for his afflictions as well as his successes and fame. We can never forecast in what manner the person will apply his potential because to predict free will would render it un-free, but we do know that the potential, for better or for worse, will manifest during the course of the life.

Robin Williams has a phlegmatic temperament and a melancholic Moon and overall, this is a very watery chart with his Lord of the Geniture, the Moon, holding power over his twelfth house of self undoing by antiscion. Addictions, especially those involving alcohol or intoxicants will most likely manifest if the external context allows for that. The Moon is pivotal in this chart for other reasons as well: in trine to and ruling Mars who is Lord One, the native himself, and in opposition to Venus, the ruler of his twelfth house and his relationships in general as Lord Seven. Both Venus and Mars are in fall, thus severely debilitated and through their close aspect to the Moon, will influence her adversely. So the Moon as his emotional nature will be affected by the inclination for self undoing and through his interaction with others – he may be easily influenced and swayed, and the state of his emotions will affect his actions.

The Moon as the archetype of the shadow, which we prefer to keep hidden, will constantly plague him and cause distress throughout his life. With the shadow in such a prominent position in the chart, also by being posited in an angular house and magnified by being conjunct the North Node, we can determine that the shadow archetype is the one that holds the strongest power over the native, the archetype with which he most strongly resonates. While this is possibly an affliction, it is also his saving grace because he will continually experience events that will cause him to confront his shadow archetype, and in his case, be able to incorporate it into his entire being, thus removing its power over the entire psyche. Robin Williams is today sober and clean, and is on medication for Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a physical illness marked by extreme changes in mood, energy and behaviour. That’s why doctors classify it as a mood disorder. Bipolar disorder – which is also known as manic-depressive illness - is a mental illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression. The person’s mood usually swings from overly “high” and irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, with periods of normal mood in between.⁷ This potential is depicted in his chart by the following: the archetype of the child/hero and one of the primary significators of wit and manner, Mercury, is also the ruler of logic and cognitive behaviour. Mercury is the most elevated and angular planet in his chart. Peregrine, and in the fixed sign of Leo. Mercury makes no connection to either the Sun or the Moon which leaves his Mercury bit out in the cold throughout his cerebral processes.

His primary mode of functioning is between the shadow/emotional nature and the archetype of the spirit, the Sun, which is also his ego. This portrays the potential for instability pertaining to his moods/state of mind as the logic is not factored into the equation. The archetype of the child, that which must undergo the heroes journey, is stuck in the fixity if its sign and will battle to move forward to complete the maturation process. If we look at many of the roles played by Robin Williams in film, many of them have a Peter Pan quality to them with which he resonates. His Sun is ruled by his Moon, again the shadow archetype and the emotions, and the instinctive modus opernadi will always be to revert to the pull of the Moon and her rulerships combined with the powerful placement of her in his chart. The Moon also rules his ninth house of religion and relationship with God, and based on accounts of his life, through confronting his shadow archetype he was able to turn to matters of a higher nature to assist him in overcoming his afflictions and he appears to be a devoutly religious man today – again the pull of the Moon in the nativity.

He appears to vacillate between the archetypes of the anima and animus as well, both influencing his Moon very strongly. Mars as his archetype of the animus, the lesser malefic who is in dire straits in his chart and conjunct the ever changing Uranus, will bring great harm to him; this unpredictability of his Mars will most likely manifest as manic episodes and the machine gun repartee for which he is well known. Venus, his anima, will in all likelihood prevent him for realising and manifesting self-love, her opposition aspect to the Moon a constant thorn in his side. Venus as his Lord Seven, those with whom he comes into contact, are attracted to his Mercury side as she is ruled by mercury, so in all likelihood he will attract those who wish to keep him ‘stuck’ in the archetype of the child, not willing him to progress on his heroes journey.

His archetype of the persona, Jupiter, is posited in the fifth house of the creative arts and it is most fitting that Jupiter, in close square aspect to Lord One Mars and the archetype of the animus, would manifest as it has in the life; and posited on the fixed star Alpheratz, displays the potential for the success and public accolades he has acquired through his persona.

Conclusion

There is so much more that can be said about this nativity, but to avoid excessive voyeurism, trying only to mention that which is already documented about the native, we have said enough to allow us a glimpse into the application of archetypes with regards to an astrological delineation. Understanding the planetary archetypes assists us in interpreting the astrological charts and it helps to shed light on the profound symbols that rule these archetypes. For the layperson, sometimes grasping the essence of the archetypes is an easier task than understanding the essence of the planets themselves, which takes years of study. Understanding the planetary archetypes improves the quality of the astrological consultation for both the astrologer and the client.

References

1. The Basic Writings of C. G. Jung; Modern Library Edition; 1993; Random House Press
2. http://www.myss.com/library/contracts/three_archs.asp
3. http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/archangels.asp
4. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm
5. http://www.helium.com/items/221986-carl-g-jung-archetypes-of-the-collective-unconscious
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samael
7. http://www.sadag.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=52