Planets, archetypes and sub-personalities. 

 

Most spiritual and therapeutic systems of self-development have an understanding that we are not psychologically homogenous and uniform regardless of place and circumstance. Meaning, as human beings we aren't always 'the same' person, regardless of place, time and circumstance. In different systems this inner multiplicity is named differently, whether it’s ‘parts’, 'sub-personalities', the ‘id-ego-superego’ triad, the 'internal family system', 'complexes', 'archetypes' or ‘samskaras' - to use Eastern terminology. In Psychosynthesis, the system of therapy I trained in, the term used for these parts would be ‘sub-personalities’. The American poet Walt Whitman presumably referred to the multifaceted nature of the psyche in his poem “Song of myself” when he wrote “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes”.)

 

In John Rowan’s book “Subpersonalities”, Rowan says this in regard to a functioning definition of them: “Most of us have had the experience of being ‘taken over’ by a part of ourselves which we didn’t know was there. We say ‘I don’t know what got into me.’ This is generally a negative experience, although it can be positive too. The way in which we usually recognize the presence of a subpersonality is that we find ourselves, in a particular situation, acting in ways which we do not like or which go against our interests, and unable to change this by an act of will or a conscious decision…My own working definition of a subpersonality is a semi-permanent and semi-autonomous region of the personality capable of acting as a person”. (Rowan, 1990).

Western-style therapy can help us to gain more awareness of our own 'internal family', its members, and the dynamics that occur between them. Dialogue work from and between parts, chair work to embody them and achieve integration, visualisation exercises, writing from the ‘position’ of different parts, or drawing them, are just some of the techniques that can be used to great effect, to create a more balanced and harmonious synthesis within the inner ecosystem of the Psyche. These parts, or family members, operate with their own distinct motivations, goals and behaviours, creating specific volitional and affective moods with distinct outcomes, ranging from highly adaptive and conducive to wellbeing and success, to great inner pain, dysfunction and turmoil. 

 

They can’t fairly be said to exist with complete autonomy, but rather relative autonomy, within the larger expanse of our psyche, mind or being. They could be said to be akin to persistent eddies or whirlpools, some being particularly entrenched and resistant to change, and possibly destructive – like a maelstrom, within the wider stream or current of our total consciousness. They also shouldn’t be confused with the ‘altars’ people experience with the dissociative identity disorder condition (DID). 

Once enough work has been done to create a healthy working synthesis between the parts, the focus can then shift to unlocking the higher potential and destiny of the human being – without the ‘drag’ factor of too much intra-psychic conflict and fragmentation. The strengthening of one’s will, is often a crucial aspect in this process - it’s difficult to achieve such a synthesis without a deep, undergirding, strong resolve that we will persist in the work regardless of how difficult it may be; as is inner vision - of what our long-term aim is for all this work, and the unrealised potential that lies beyond it. 

Astrology, both Vedic and Western, also has an understanding of the rich multiplicity of our inner world - through the use of the system of planetary symbolism. The advantage here is that the zodiacal signs, Nakshatras and planets, and what they represent, is probably the original symbol system for understanding the human psyche, and has been with humanity for many thousands of years. 

The planets represent sets of energetic universal principles, that could be said to be the original, primordial archetypes, governing and influencing our very life and being in ways that are profound and enduring. From the Vedic perspective, the ‘Grahas’ (the Vedic term for planets, literally meaning the ‘graspers’), rule over and ensure the lawful operating of human life according to divine law, by bringing the results of our past actions, in this life and previous ones, back to us, at the appropriate time. The timing of these events is determined by the planetary transits, aspects and periods (Dasas) in operation at any given time. In this system, the planets are a type of cosmic archetypal presence, not just inanimate lumps of rock and gas in space. 

 

As strange as it may sound to the western materialistic mind, we can develop a relationship with the planets, with the understanding they are beings, not in the way that a human being is, but nevertheless, possess a certain type of sentience and being-ness. This being-ness can be connected to through the use of mantras specific to the planet in question, or wearing gemstones of the colour represented by the planet, or other methods. Perhaps more importantly, once becoming familiar with our horoscope, we can understand what psychological and behavioural principles these planets represent; if a particular planet in our chart is afflicted and not ‘behaving itself’ – and we can see clearly how that dysfunction is playing out in our lives, we can then use western therapeutic techniques to work with and resolve these issues, if that feels applicable. My article ‘What is Vedic Counselling?’ explores the interplay between the two worlds of Vedic astrology and western therapy in greater depth.

 

It would not be true to say that sub-personalities and planetary archetypes are the same thing, but there is a lot of common ground shared between them. Most of the commonly recognised western sub-personalities bear clear recognisable qualities of one planet, or a mixture of several. The ‘Inner Critic’, ‘Super-ego’ or ‘Manager’ function, for example, would closely correlate with the qualities of the planet Saturn, the planet of limitation, discipline, endurance and suffering, as would the archetypes of the wise old sage, as well as the archetype of death itself.  An ‘Inner warrior’ or ‘Fighter’ subpersonality would align with the planet Mars and its significations. The ‘Artist’, or ‘Lover’ or ‘Hedonist’ subpersonalities will come under the significations of Venus, the archetype of the ‘Teacher’ or ‘Guru’ is certainly represented by Jupiter, the principle of the ‘Messenger’ or ‘Trickster’ would be Mercury, the ‘Father’ the Sun, and the ‘Mother’ the Moon. In actuality, the planetary archetypes can be more diffuse, ambiguous and complex than these clear-cut categories would suggest, but even so, these archetypal principles are usually present in all of us, in different combinations. 

 

The ‘Inner Child’, often so crucial in therapeutic work, in my opinion, can’t be reduced to a single unitary subpersonality, as it represents the storehouse of all our childhood experience, and is layered in different ages of experience, and as such may well have different aspects or sub-personalities even within itself. In terms of the planets, the Inner Child would most closely correlate with the Moon, the fourth house and its lord, and the whatever planets are placed there, and also the fourth house from the Moon. In everyone’s chart the Moon represents our internalised experience of our mother/primary caregiver, and the degree to which she was able to nurture and soothe us, and consequently our ability to soothe and regulate ourselves. The Sun could be taken to represent our overall strength of self, ego and self-esteem, as well as our sense of purpose and what skills/abilities we most identify with – these are all areas that become crucial to explore in psychotherapy. 

 

The most crucial thing to remember through all of this self-analysis and the use of different ‘maps’ of inner parts/subpersonalities, is not to confuse these maps as being identical with the complex, nuanced, multi-layered nature of our inner experience. As Alfred Korzybski stated clearly: “Don’t mistake the map for the territory”. It’s also worth considering that although at one level we can experience ourselves as multiple, the worlds spiritual traditions, in their own languages and conceptual systems, make it explicitly clear that we can access an experience of seamless, flowing ‘oneness’ and interconnection with the rest of existence.

 

The idea being that, at least at the deepest level of experience, we are fundamentally unified, meaning not fragmented, confused, scattered or ‘multiple’, and share in the same essence as the divine creative principle or being that continually brings everything into existence - i.e. the ‘Divine’. This core could be called the ‘Soul’ or ‘Atman’ - in Psychosynthesis it is called the ‘I’ and the ‘Self’. The Psychosynthesis technique of ‘disidentification’ can help in moving our awareness closer to this core, as can many different spiritual practices. The ultimate goal of true transpersonal psychotherapy then, is harmony, synthesis, unity and non-fragmentation, as well as an experiential understanding of our inner multiplicity.

 

Many different techniques can be used to deepen our relationship with our subpersonalities and internal planetary archetypes, but they usually involve some type of ‘going into’, or ‘identifying’ ourselves with a particular part; speaking and acting from its position and expressing whatever it has to say to our wider self, and whoever else may be present. Then, we move out of that position, sometimes through changing physical position, sometimes through internal visualisation or meditative process, and are then free to give a response to that part, from the totality of our being, or even a different part. The purpose here isn’t to create a schizophrenic state of inner confusion or fragmentation, but to realise how complex we really are, and in so doing, slowly come to deeper and deeper levels of integration, synthesis and harmony, which frees the way to greater personal effectiveness, clarity and purpose.