In discussing transitional phenomena, Winnicott states,
this is the place I have set out to examine, the separation that is not a separation… but a form of union (1974, pp. 97–98).
An astrological chart is created from the date, minute, and place someone takes their first breath. It creates a map which describes how an individual expresses a piece of the cosmos, similar to the idea of a fractal. Astrology is a symbolic language, and someone’s chart is a symbolic bridge. In addition to being a symbolic language about the self that becomes internalized, it is also a concrete image drawn on a piece of paper.
A person’s chart shows how he or she is both separate and individual, yet one with the universe. In this way, an astrological chart is literally a transitional space, and the chart itself a transitional object.
To look at these ideas, I’m going to list the qualities of the transitional object and explore how these dynamics are reflected in people who are cathected to astrology. The...
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Bibliography
De Villefranche, M. (1974). Astrosynthesis (trans: Little, L., 17th century manuscript: Astrologia Gallica, Book 21). New York: Zoltan Mason Emerald Books.
Moore, M., & Douglas, M. (1971). Astrology, the divine science. York: Arcane Publications.
Rudyar, D. (1970). The astrology of personality. Garden City: Doubleday.
Winnicott, D. W. (1974). Playing and reality. Middlesex: Penguin Pelican Books.
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Bader, C. (2014). Astrology and the Transitional Object. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_53
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