Astrology: Our Ally on the Road to Individuation

In a letter to French astrologer, André Barbault, Jung stated: “Obviously astrology has much to offer psychology …. I am almost sure that something could be learnt from its symbolic method of interpretation; for that has to do with the interpretation of the archetypes (the gods) and their mutual relations, the common concern of both arts.” Jung further amplified: Astrology can be our ally on our path of individuation, which “… is practically the same as the development of consciousness out of the original state of identity .…”

In this Seminar, Steven Forrest, astrologer, and Boris Mathews, Jungian Analyst, will explore the fruitful marriage between clinical practice and evolutionary astrology. Steven Forrest will first illustrate the basic language and methodology of astrology and then explore the natal charts of both Jung and Freud. Later he will discuss the astrological implications of both Jung’s break from Freud and Jung’s confrontation with the unconscious, as documented in Jung’s Redbook.

This seminar will explore how astrology is a classic expression of Jung’s principle of synchronicity, a map of the sky at the instant of a child’s birth that illuminates the soul’s current evolutionary predicament, and simultaneously the path forward into full individuation, personal empowerment, and happiness.

Steven Forrest and Boris Matthews will respond to questions, comments, and challenges from the audience.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe how archetypal energies imaged as several planets in the natal chart can shape the essential personality.
2. Name and describe how different individual natal charts represent different essential personality constellations.
3. Discuss how those archetypal energies are modified over time by transits and progressions.

Suggested Reading

• Buck, S. (2018). “Hiding in plain sight: Jung, astrology, and the psychology of the unconscious.” Journal of Analytical Psychology, 2018, 63, 2, 207–227. (Used with author’s permission)
  • Link to PDF will be sent in ticket email
• Jung, C.G. (1975). Letter to André Barbault, 16 May 1954, in C.G. Jung Letters, vol. 2, ed, G. Adler and A. Jaffé, pp.175-177
  • Link to PDF will be sent in ticket email
• Forrest, S. (2012). The Inner Sky. Borrego Springs, CA: Seven Paws Press. (Amazon)

Potential conflict of interest: One of Steven Forrest’s books is suggested reading. He may mention his website, books, and his work during the presentation.

Instructors

Steven Forrest, BA, is the author of a dozen astrological bestsellers including his classic The Inner Sky. His work has been translated into a dozen languages. Over the years, he has traveled world-wide teaching his brand of choice-centered evolutionary astrology, which integrates free will, grounded humanistic psychology, and ancient metaphysics. Thousands of people have passed through his Astrological Apprenticeship Program since its inception in 1998. In 2018, he won the prestigious Regulus Award for astrological education. In 2020, he launched an online school, The Forrest Center for Evolutionary Astrology (www.forrestastrology.center). Steven is also the official “wizard” for Lila – a cell phone app that aims to bring conscious, evolutionary astrology to a wider market (www.lilaverse.app). He lives in the Anza-Borrego desert of southern California with his partner, artist Michelle Valborg Kondos. Of Steven’s work, Sting says that he “. . . manages to disarm the sceptic, as well as debunk the charlatanism that surrounds popular astrology, with language that is as intelligent and cogent as it is poetic.”  Robert Downey, Jr. says, “I marvel at the accuracy of Steven’s readings. He insists that nothing is so grave as to be beyond repair, and correspondingly that there is no rainbow that won’t be evaporated by poor judgment in the now. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”

Boris Matthews, PhD, LCSW, NCPsyA, graduated from the C G Jung Institute of Chicago in 1987 and maintains a practice of analytical psychology in the Madison, WI, area. He is particularly interested in working with persons who recognize the need to develop a balanced adaptation to the “outside” and to the “inside” worlds, work that involves awareness of the individual’s psychological typology. Dreams, active imagination, spiritual concerns, and astrology are integral elements in the analytic work, the ultimate goal of which is to develop a functioning dialog with the non-ego center, the Self. At the Chicago Institute, he serves on the faculty and various committees, supervises analytic candidates, and has served as the Director of Training of the Analyst Training Program, 2009-2013, and again 2017-­2021.