A variation of looking at the chart from the Social Psychology perspective is to consider it from the perspective of the Person-in-Environment theory. The Person-in-Environment theory is a method commonly used in Social Work and has its background in psychosocial theories of Psychology. Its basic feature (which is making it a precursor of Systemic Theory and brings it close to Social Psychology) is that it does not treat human as a patient, who requires psychotherapy, because he has some specific psychological problems (like the most psychotherapy schools usually do), but as a person who lives in a specific situation and is obliged to improve his functionality in this situation rather than cutting himself off from this situation.
That means, in practice, that the psychotherapist or the social worker who supports the person, tries to find ways of strengthening him in the current state of living and therefore, necessarily, he makes diagnosis and treatment "per occasion". With this methodology he is developing, in essence, a series of treatments each for a different occasion instead of one single treatment that is addressed to the client. It is not the client who is problematic, but it is the relation of the client to that particular situation which is dysfunctional. The client needs help, specific for his situation, and not generally, because he, allegedly, has a troublesome personality. And if his situation changes, he might need different support or no support at all. So the client is not stigmatized as "sick" or dysfunctional but instead, the current situation is analyzed and specific help is given.
The basic characteristic of this approach is that it takes the “external” factor more into account, in supporting a person and abandons the psychoanalytic model that was looking at the overall environment exclusively as a result of our own mental defense mechanisms (projections, displacement, etc.)
But, what does this differentiation mean for astrology? And where can it be useful in the interpretation of a natal or a progressive chart? In modern astrology, in the last years, we have given special emphasis to planetary forces and to the way that these, through the aspects, symbolize esoteric conflicts or projections or displacements. What we have begun consciously or unconsciously to underestimate however is the importance of the Ascendant.
If the Ascendant in the natal chart suggests, as we saw in previous chapters, the person’s personality, what is it that manifests though the Ascendant in the Progressive Chart, or the chart of Solar Return?
The Ascendant, in such cases, could be said to symbolize the “Situation”. This is the situation in which we are at the specific period and which we are called to deal with through the astrological chart. According to the approach of “the Person-in-the-Environment” theory, the situation that the Ascendant symbolizes has some degree of “independence” from the subjectivity of each one of us. In other words, in an astrological forecast chart, a dipole is created. On one side is the person in interest, who is symbolized by the Natal Chart, and on the other side is the situation that he has to deal with, which is symbolized by the forecasting chart that is summarized in the Ascendant.
The idea of “independence” of the Ascendant from the subjectivity of the planetary influences in the natal chart, will not look especially strange to those students of astrology who examine the Ascendant in a Solar Return’s chart. There, for instance, the specific degree of the Ascendant or its sign can give us general information for the Situation the person is going to be in the entire next year and that, before we get into the details of the interpretation of the aspects.
But to those who work more with the Natal or the Progressive Chart with the rules of the Projection that Jungians astrologers use, when interpreting the 1st – 7th axis in a chart, it would be a bit difficult to imagine the Ascendant as an isolated status indicator and they will find it difficult to differentiate it from the “Self” of the “Other”.
The answer to this is that this subjective approach is quite satisfactory in the case of the natal chart, however it is not sufficiently satisfactory in the case of the forecasting charts.
So, when the Ascendant is calculated as a random moment in time, it must necessarily become independent from the subjectivity of the natal chart and be treated along with the forecast chart in total as an independent “subject”, a “situation”.
Of course, this situation is not completely independent of our choice. The Progressive chart and the chart of Solar Return are not made from zero but they derive from the Natal chart. Even in horary astrology charts we will many times see ascendants that form some kind of aspect with one of the major planets of interested person's natal chart. This indicates that the interested person “chooses” to interact with the “situation” in a specific moment of time when his conscious or some part of his psyche pushes him to this direction.
So, the ascendant, in this case, could be seen as that time when the person “chooses” to come out, chooses to interact with others, and chooses to come to a dialogue with the “situation”. Through this choice of his, the querent gives some element of subjectivity to the situation, in the sense that it deals with it through a filter. However, the situation remains different and has a certain degree of objectivity and independence from the querent.
So, as we said before, a dipole is created in the forecast chart, where on the one side we have the ascendant (but also by extension the house placements of the entire forecast chart) which symbolizes the “situation” the person is in - even if this situation the person is comprehended, to some degree, subjectively through the filters of his natal chart (especially when this chart has some relevance to the forecast chart) - and on the other side, the querent is placed as a subjective entity, which symbolically is symbolized by his natal chart. The relationship (synastry) of the forecast chart with the natal chart can give us a picture of what we call a Person-in-the-Environment assessment.
Studying the aspects between the Natal Chart and the Forecast Chart, we can comprehend the person’s “position” in a situation and to advise him to take action within this situation. Even more by having the ability to separate to some degree the situation from the querent, we can also explain to him more clearly the “situation” but also the subjective attitude we see he has adopted. Bringing to the surface this dipole, we give the querent the opportunity to recognize how he interacts with this environment and to let him make his final decisions for how he wants his case to develop.
That means, in practice, that the psychotherapist or the social worker who supports the person, tries to find ways of strengthening him in the current state of living and therefore, necessarily, he makes diagnosis and treatment "per occasion". With this methodology he is developing, in essence, a series of treatments each for a different occasion instead of one single treatment that is addressed to the client. It is not the client who is problematic, but it is the relation of the client to that particular situation which is dysfunctional. The client needs help, specific for his situation, and not generally, because he, allegedly, has a troublesome personality. And if his situation changes, he might need different support or no support at all. So the client is not stigmatized as "sick" or dysfunctional but instead, the current situation is analyzed and specific help is given.
The basic characteristic of this approach is that it takes the “external” factor more into account, in supporting a person and abandons the psychoanalytic model that was looking at the overall environment exclusively as a result of our own mental defense mechanisms (projections, displacement, etc.)
But, what does this differentiation mean for astrology? And where can it be useful in the interpretation of a natal or a progressive chart? In modern astrology, in the last years, we have given special emphasis to planetary forces and to the way that these, through the aspects, symbolize esoteric conflicts or projections or displacements. What we have begun consciously or unconsciously to underestimate however is the importance of the Ascendant.
If the Ascendant in the natal chart suggests, as we saw in previous chapters, the person’s personality, what is it that manifests though the Ascendant in the Progressive Chart, or the chart of Solar Return?
The Ascendant, in such cases, could be said to symbolize the “Situation”. This is the situation in which we are at the specific period and which we are called to deal with through the astrological chart. According to the approach of “the Person-in-the-Environment” theory, the situation that the Ascendant symbolizes has some degree of “independence” from the subjectivity of each one of us. In other words, in an astrological forecast chart, a dipole is created. On one side is the person in interest, who is symbolized by the Natal Chart, and on the other side is the situation that he has to deal with, which is symbolized by the forecasting chart that is summarized in the Ascendant.
The idea of “independence” of the Ascendant from the subjectivity of the planetary influences in the natal chart, will not look especially strange to those students of astrology who examine the Ascendant in a Solar Return’s chart. There, for instance, the specific degree of the Ascendant or its sign can give us general information for the Situation the person is going to be in the entire next year and that, before we get into the details of the interpretation of the aspects.
But to those who work more with the Natal or the Progressive Chart with the rules of the Projection that Jungians astrologers use, when interpreting the 1st – 7th axis in a chart, it would be a bit difficult to imagine the Ascendant as an isolated status indicator and they will find it difficult to differentiate it from the “Self” of the “Other”.
The answer to this is that this subjective approach is quite satisfactory in the case of the natal chart, however it is not sufficiently satisfactory in the case of the forecasting charts.
So, when the Ascendant is calculated as a random moment in time, it must necessarily become independent from the subjectivity of the natal chart and be treated along with the forecast chart in total as an independent “subject”, a “situation”.
Of course, this situation is not completely independent of our choice. The Progressive chart and the chart of Solar Return are not made from zero but they derive from the Natal chart. Even in horary astrology charts we will many times see ascendants that form some kind of aspect with one of the major planets of interested person's natal chart. This indicates that the interested person “chooses” to interact with the “situation” in a specific moment of time when his conscious or some part of his psyche pushes him to this direction.
So, the ascendant, in this case, could be seen as that time when the person “chooses” to come out, chooses to interact with others, and chooses to come to a dialogue with the “situation”. Through this choice of his, the querent gives some element of subjectivity to the situation, in the sense that it deals with it through a filter. However, the situation remains different and has a certain degree of objectivity and independence from the querent.
So, as we said before, a dipole is created in the forecast chart, where on the one side we have the ascendant (but also by extension the house placements of the entire forecast chart) which symbolizes the “situation” the person is in - even if this situation the person is comprehended, to some degree, subjectively through the filters of his natal chart (especially when this chart has some relevance to the forecast chart) - and on the other side, the querent is placed as a subjective entity, which symbolically is symbolized by his natal chart. The relationship (synastry) of the forecast chart with the natal chart can give us a picture of what we call a Person-in-the-Environment assessment.
Studying the aspects between the Natal Chart and the Forecast Chart, we can comprehend the person’s “position” in a situation and to advise him to take action within this situation. Even more by having the ability to separate to some degree the situation from the querent, we can also explain to him more clearly the “situation” but also the subjective attitude we see he has adopted. Bringing to the surface this dipole, we give the querent the opportunity to recognize how he interacts with this environment and to let him make his final decisions for how he wants his case to develop.
