The Signature of the Whole Person

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THE "SIGNATURE" OF THE WHOLE PERSON

Dane Rudhyar

Focalization in Space

As we approach the interpretation of a birthchart we should never lose sight of the fact that the chart is a two-dimensional projection of the whole universe in relation to a particular "organism" which began its individual existence at a particular time and on a particular locality on the Earth. And I use the word "organism" to define any steady system of organization of interrelated and interdependent functional activities.

Obviously the contents of the birth-chart are selective, and they refer in modern practice almost exclusively to the positions of the "planets" of our solar system - the term, planets, including the Sun and the Moon - and to secondary points or lines such as Nodes, Parts, etc., which refer to the interactions of these planets or of their orbits. Modern astrologers make a minimal use of the stars in our galaxy; and I perhaps need not repeat that, from the point of view of Humanistic Astrology the zodiac does not refer to actual groups of stars (vis. constellations), but to the constantly altered relationship of the Earth to the Sun through the cycle of the year - a relationship which can be expressed in twelve "modes," each constituting a sign of the zodiac, with Aries as the first phase of the cycle.

The fundamental concept in astrology is that the first moment at which an organism begins to operate as an at least relatively independent unit within its total environment is to be regarded as the "seed moment" of the complete life-span of this organism. As here we are dealing almost exclusively with human beings this "seed moment" is the exact time of the first inhalation made by the newborn. The exhalation (first cry) which follows marks symbolically the start of the "germination process," that is, of the active existence of the organism as it responds to its environment.

A seed is a small entity within which the power of the life-species is focused. In a much broader sense, at every moment the entire power of the universal Whole is being focused into whatever attains the status of independent organic existence, according to (1) the relation of the precise birthlocality to this universal Whole, and (2) the genetic and social-cultural capacity of the new organism to respond to that power. Again let me say that by "universal Whole" I mean, for all practical purposes, the solar system and to some extent our galaxy. By genetic and social-cultural capacity I refer to the limited possibilities of existence defined by the life-species, the race, the family heredity of the newborn organism, and also by the society, the culture and all the crudely or subtly operating factors in the total (psychic as well as physical) environment.

The occultly inclined person may want to speak also of "spiritual" factors, i.e., of the character and evolution of the "individual Soul" incarnating in this organism; but actually astrology does not deal directly with such a transcendent factor. Obviously "something" selected the genetic arrangement from a vast number of genetic possibilities and presumably likewise "selected" the exact moment of the first breath. In astrology the term, karma, combines all these various factors determining the seed-moment of birth. And karma simply means that any new cycle of existence is conditioned (and in some cases entirely determined) by a past cycle, or a combination of the "seed harvest" (positive or negative) of a number of past cycles.

All these above-mentioned points are as basic in astrology as, let us say, the concept in modern science that every law and "constant" in the universe applies as well to any part of space and which is far less certain and logical - to any period of time, or that a "simple" solution using known factors is preferable to one which brings in as yet not adequately known elements. If we are not clear in our mind concerning these points - and a few others which will emerge as we proceed - our approach to the interpretation of a birth-chart can hardly be not only consistent, but, from the Humanistic point of view, valuable and constructive.

In the preceding essay I discussed the meaning given to the term, form (or structure), with reference to an astrological chart. I stressed the importance of seeing the chart as a structured whole, of making use of the "esthetical" and holistic capacity to see and feel directly the meaning of the whole, if possible before attempting a detailed analysis of the parts. I spoke of the birth-chart as representing, as it were, the "Signature" of the whole person. I spoke of the "planetary pattern" formed by the angular relationships linking all the planets, a pattern which had to be referred to the framework defined by the natal horizon and meridian, and also to the zodiac as a whole.

What I now propose to do is to discuss the few characteristic planetary patterns which can be easily identified as one looks at a birth-chart. Identifying them is, I believe, the first step in the study of a birth-chart. The second step is a consideration of which planet fills what place in the over-all pattern. The first refers to the factor of structure; the second to the contents of this structure.

To say that there is meaning in the fact that one single planet stands alone in the lower half of a birth-chart while all others are located in the upper half (i.e., above the horizon) is obviously not enough for a total grasp of the whole situation. One must know which planet is the isolated factor - and its zodiacal and exact house position. Yet the knowledge of such a type of over-all planetary pattern of itself predisposes the mind to approach the problem of interpretation of the chart in a holistic manner. It forces one to think of the chart as a whole, and to bring to the study of it a type of faculty which no analytical listing of separate planetary positions and aspects could induce.

We are dealing here with psychological factors. But psychological factors indeed do condition not only the interpretation of what is being observed and studied, but even the kind of knowledge obtained - a fact which modern science only recently has begun to recognize. One's attitude toward knowledge conditions what one will know, and the questions one asks conditions the answers which experiments organized in terms of these questions will give. If we want to know a person as a whole, we must therefore approach his birthchart in a whole act of perception. What strikes us at first is the gestalt (or overall configuration) of the chart: i.e., how it looks as a whole. If we learn to look intently enough the chart-as-a-whole may "speak" to us.

How can we learn? First of all, by focusing our mind upon the basic form made by all the planets. What we will learn is not so much any trait of character in particular, but something more general, yet all-encompassing and structurally significant - something within which, or with reference to which, all particular planetary data will organize themselves quite naturally as we proceed further in our study.

Pioneer work in the establishment of basic types of planetary patterns was done nearly forty years ago by Marc Edmund Jones in his book The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation (1941). It is a very significant work, and it is no doubt valid in terms of the author's philosophical background. I feel nevertheless that the entire subject of defining, naming and interpreting these basic types of structural arrangements should be reexamined, and that a new list of classes of patterns has to be made and differently interpreted in accordance with the basic principles of the holistic thinking I am formulating in this series of essays.

Before we come to this part of our study a few preliminary points should be at least briefly touched upon.

Form - in the sense of internal structure arises out of the specific arrangement of the elements constituting, in their interdependent state of togetherness, a definite whole. If the component factors in a structured group are found evenly distributed throughout the whole we are facing an unaccentuated situation. If the distribution were absolutely even we could hardly speak of any internal "pattern," but instead of a "plenum," i.e., a fullness of interrelated activities. Pattern emerges when the distribution is uneven, and one or more zones of concentration is found, balanced in some manner by zones of emptiness.

There are times at which all the planets of the solar system are, as it were, bunched within a relatively narrow section of the zodiac. This is perhaps the most obvious type of patterning. Marc Jones called it appropriately the "Bundle type." Such a picture of planetary concentration, however, raises a problem. The planet might be scattered within several signs of the zodiac, yet they may be found concentrated within one of the four quarters of the birth-chart, perhaps within two houses, leaving the other houses empty. This could easily happen in northern latitudes. What then, is to be considered as the significant feature, planetary distribution with reference to the twelve houses, or with reference to their positions in the zodiac (i.e., their celestial longitudes)?

In view of what has been said concerning the need to be able to "see" the chart as a whole in a single act of perception it should be obvious that what matters here is the immediately perceptible form presented by the chart on paper; and this means the arrangement of the planets in terms of their House positions, and especially with reference to horizon and meridian. One might object to this in that astrologers use different Housesystems. But what counts is the particular situation as viewed by a particular astrologer using a particular system. The client has sought this astrologer, and the relationship of this client and this astrologer at a particular time and in a particular place sets the stage for the interpretation of the chart and the possible solution of the client's problem. Astrology deals with strictly individual and unique situations and this differentiates it essentially from science which is primarily intent upon establishing classifications which exclude the non-generalizable facts or features, and "laws," which are postulated to be valid every") where and at all times. Psychology, at the level of its application in psychotherapy or counseling, refers to the same situation as natal astrology - and so does any really valid type of medicine, especially when functional disturbances are the causes of ill-health. What is tragic in our modern civilization - worshipful of quantity, norm and statistical averages - is that it fails to recognize that all truly "human" values are individual values, and that everything is to a person as this person sees and meets it at a particular time and place.

Thus when I speak of any astrological factor in interpretation I always refer to what this factor means to the astrologer as he is aware of it in a particular situation and according to the technique he or she uses. If the astrologer uses the "equal House" system the zodiacal and the House frames of reference for the distribution of the planets, in a sense, are the same; but the planetary pattern should still be referred at least to the horizon. An ambiguous situation exists in such a system, because the meridian is no longer a line of reference. Consciousness is thus deprived of its "verticality" - which means, of a basic spiritual and social dimension.

While the disposition of the planets of a chart in terms of the frame of reference created by the Houses is the basic fact to consider, the distribution of the planets in the zodiac is also important in another sense. If all the planets are located in spring signs or summer signs or one planet in a winter sign and all others in the summer sign, this too is very significant, for any deviation from an ideal norm or from an even distribution of factors within a whole, produces an accent and therefore some kind of stress and disequilibrium. When this occurs, two possibilities always arise: the situation can be used constructively as a means to focalize some type of activity and the consciousness emerging from this activity - or else the situation may lead to unresolved tensions and crises. However , everything which refers to the positions of planets in zodiacal signs belongs to another class of interpretative judgments - the class which refers to the relationship between planets and the four "Elements" (fire, earth, air, water), to rulerships, etc.

I should also mention, in answer to a probable objection, the evident fact that the planetary pattern presented by a birth-chart would change in many cases if new planets were added to the ten ordinarily used in present-day astrology. Here again I shall simply state that what counts is what the astrologer uses as his or her tools. In the case of the charts of people who died before Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered the situation should be clearly understood. If we add these planets in their birth-charts, what we are seeing in their planetary pattern is our present ability to understand what these persons represent in the evolution of their society and culture. Their contemporaries presumably would not have understood these individuals in the same light, because we have gained a historical perspective on their lives and works. It is to this historical perspective that our understanding of the symbols, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto refers.

Of course, these planets "were there" in the solar system, whether or not man knew of their existence. But if they had a direct influence, it was an influence upon the Earth as a whole and thus upon mankind as a whole - but not on the consciousness of human beings or individuals seeking to understand themselves and their experiences. There are many radio waves filling the space of the room in which I am writing this; but if I have no radio able to tune in to these radio waves they do not affect my consciousness. A series of crimes committed a few blocks from my house does not affect me if I do not hear about them; but if the facts are brought to my consciousness, I may become fearful and my daily actions may be thereby altered.

Astrology - at least as I am considering it - deals with consciousness. It should enable us to become attuned to, and thus aware of, a new and more universalistic environment, and of our relation to all that takes place in this environment. The environment in which human beings operate, feel and think has gradually expanded from strictly local to a provincial, then national, and now global and eventually solar-systemic and galactic level. Changes in the tools used in astrology must naturally follow this expansion process. But the process is not only a quantitative one; it is also, or it should be, qualitative. If a human being brings to a larger environment the kind of consciousness, feelings and thoughts, which were the natural products of the narrower field of activity, confusion and indeed serious troubles are nearly inevitable. The vaster the new environment, the deeper should be the change in consciousness. If men were ever able to function in a galactic environment, moving from star-system to star-system, it would be tragic if these men were not able to meet their new experiences with a "cosmic', consciousness. Unfortunately, sciencefiction writers and the social-political organizations which are trying to train astronauts are totally unaware of this basic fact.

Person Centered Astrology