Forecast Horoscopes and the Person-in-the-Environment theory

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.

The horoscope from the aspect of social psychology

The horoscope from the aspect of social psychology

Human development, is always taking place via interaction with the environment. Social psychology emphasizes this fact very strongly, even supporting that the human is not born with some kind of preorganized mental structure, but his is fully shaped through his relationship with the environment, the roles he adopts and the principles and standards with which he grows up.
In astrology these terms described by social psychology have corresponding significators in the chart. Each planet in the chart for example can be seen as a role that a person is called upon to play and which is imposed, somehow, by the environment. The sign of the planet shows us the resources from which this role is going to get its values from, as in social psychology we believe that roles and values are interconnected. As for the role models we imitate, we could look for them in planets in signs, or if they don’t work properly, we could look for them in their dispositors.
These roles, however, are not independent of each other, instead they interact with each other. When we have difficult aspects, then we have the so-called conflicts between our roles - as they are described by social psychology. Whereas, when the aspects are easy, the roles can be compatible and work well with each other.
The signs the planets are, however, matter, even if the planets don’t have aspects with each other. If the signs are incompatible with each other, then there are value differences, even if there is no direct conflict in the environment. For example a person with Sun in Leo and the Moon in Scorpio, might think “I will never become like my mother” even if the Sun and the Moon don’t form an aspect to each other.
But how does the human become an individual in relation to the roles he adopts? In social psychology we say that he integrates a part of these roles into himself and so he constitutes what we call a personality. This personality could correspond to the Ascendant in the natal chart. The Ascendant will show us which roles we have adopted by looking at the aspects it forms with the planets in the chart. Easy aspects show that we integrate these roles voluntarily. Willingly. Difficult aspects show that we integrate them because we are pressed by the environment. The lack of aspects shows that these roles exist in our environment, but we are not embracing them necessarily.
Important of course, is also the role of the ruler of the Ascendant, which indicates personality’s favorite role or its guiding role model. Here it is worth mentioning that the role of house rulers and dispositors is also an important element of interpretation as it shows us how our environment can be supportive or not supportive to one of personality’s functions, or in other words to the roles it has adopted. Especially, when a planet does not have sufficient dignities (namely it cannot play the role by himself), the interaction with the dispositor and the house ruler turns out to be critical.
Besides the Ascendant, though, great importance in the chart have also the Moon and Saturn because they indicate the two basic components of (a) imitating and (b) enforcing roles and behaviors in an environment of social imitation (or) and learning.
What is the meaning of the dispositor and the house ruler, though that we mentioned above in chart’s interpretation? In order to understand it better, let’s examine it in a vivid example. Suppose we want to have a seminar in another city. Suppose we are astrologers, healers or something else and we are invited to teach a seminar. There are some factors that affect the outcome of this seminar.
• The first factor is our ability to teach the seminar. This is what in astrology we call dignities. Do we have sufficient knowledge on the subject? Or are we ignorant?
• The second factor is our co-workers. These are the aspects. Does our wife or our boss allow us to go teaching the seminar or do they put obstacles in our way?
• The third factor is the one who has invited us to go. The host of our seminar. This is the ruler of the house. Is he helpful to our purpose or does he make it difficult for us? Will he have made arrangements to gather people? Will he have organized the place properly? What educational equipment is he going to give us? And here, the aspects of the ruler play a significant role, of course, because they affect this outcome (for example, the host’s wife can make trouble because he gave us so many benefits).
• The fourth factor is astrologically called the dispositor. It’s interesting that the Greek name for this astrological term is “horeegοs”, which actually means in English "the sponsor". Now that makes the analogy very interesting. Who is the sponsor? Sometimes he is the same with the one who has invited us, namely our host.  Indeed, very often, astrologically the dispositor and the ruler of the house identify with each other, because a planet in the house is in the same sign with the cusp of the house.
Now, when the host and the sponsor are the same, this means that the one who has invited us, is also our sponsor, which means, he also pays for us and the hotels or the tickets. But in other times, the sponsor (astrologically dispositor) differs from the host (astrologically the house ruler). Maybe, for example, the tickets and the hotels are to be paid by our company and not by the one who has invited us there.
The aspects between a planet in the house and the ruler of the house and also the aspects between the planet and its dispositor are important for the interpretation of the chart. And sometimes they can affect significantly the issue of the dignities. Maybe, for instance, I am unprepared for the seminar, but my sponsor (i.e. my company), sends me the notes I had from the previous seminar by e-mail at the last minute. So, it saves me at the last moment. Similarly, I may have forgotten to bring my laptop, but the host lends me his own.
Of course, the opposite can also happen. I might be well prepared but the host (i.e house ruler) might put me to teach in a place that looks awful. Or my company (i.e. dispositor) might have forgotten to get me tickets.
Theoretically, of course, as long as I am properly prepared, (i.e. I have dignities), I have the power to overcome or anticipate all these. Theoretically. In practice, this is something that I have to prove.
This means that the environment is able to help or to prevent a person from expressing a planet properly in its rightful place, namely in its house. And it is important to investigate these kind of interactions in order to monitor such effects.
In addition to the above, it is worth noting that receptions, namely the dispositor of the planet, is possible to act as an example, for the behavior of a planet, even if it does not form an aspect to it. Then, it is possible to act as a role model, as it is called in social psychology, or in other words as an example to be followed. Of course there are many different cases here. One case is the initial planet to have dignities, so it has no need to follow the role model, but instead it decides for itself. In other words it gets its values directly from the sign it is in.
A second case is if it turns to its dispositor for guidance, but its dispositor is not dignified as well, in which case we have the so called examples to avoid, namely examples that do not lead us to the right path and transmit anti-social values. Last, the dispositor can indeed be dignified, so it becomes a model for imitation and promotes its values to the planet it affects.
This role model mechanism however, can also include other planets besides the dispositor. You see the dispositor is nothing else but the planet which rules the sign our natal planet is.
But what about the other planets, the planet in exaltation or the planets in fall or detriment in the sign the natal planet is? Do they also act as examples for imitation or avoidance? In another article published in Greek sometime ago I was making the following observations...
“...so, if our Venus is in Aries, which are the role models that she will be called to imitate? Mars, the Warrior, and the Sun the Majestic, of course, which is in exaltation in Aries. So, Venus, who up until now was a mannerist and a diplomat and was getting involved only when it was helpful, must now engage into situations and act spontaneously and will not give a dime about what others say about her. This is the example to follow. Will she do it? That depends on the person that has this Venus in his chart. That, however, is what is required”…
.…”in the same sense, our sign gives examples for avoidance. If I have, Venus in Cancer, for instance, I should make her behave maternally as the Moon, ruler of the sign suggests, or giving as Jupiter suggests, the planet in exaltation, but in parallel, in no case, should I make her behave directly as Mars would suggest, the planet in fall in this sign. I will get nowhere like this. I must avoid direct confrontation, like hell. This is the scenario that I have to play on the theatrical stage of the horoscope and for that I will be judged”…
….”Now, what does this mean for the planets which are already in fall or detriment? If Mars is in Cancer in my horoscope, and it is in fall, then yes, Mars has a problem to express itself, but in the same sign, Jupiter has his exaltation. So if I consider Jupiter to be my role model (and if I also have a Mars/Jupiter aspect in my chart to help me out a little bit) how well will my Mars express himself imitating Jupiter! No one will be aware of what is happening.”…
…”What is the conclusion? Falls and exaltations are useful as a modeling tool. They show us roles that have been played well and roles that have been played badly. They give us examples for imitation and examples for avoidance. But, what we will do is our choice. If we know how to be good actors, we will survive just fine following our sign’s suggestions. But if we don’t adjust to our roles, I cannot see us entering the drama school. We are going to fail our exam…”
From all the above we conclude that we get values from various directions and we need to study the chart in order to see what our role models are, which we get our values from. The influence of the house ruler or the dispositor can also indicate cases of social learning, namely not from personal experience, but by imitating others, or by being affected by the environment or by people that we consider have some authority. At the same time, further dignities like exaltation, fall and detriment can work as educational examples of success or failure in performing a role, examples we at some point decide either to follow or reject.
In all these, of course, the role of Ascendant and its ruler is important, because it signals the process of integration or rejection of values that a person goes through. The combination of personal choice and influence by the environment is what creates eventually the human personality.

The horoscope of Alice Bailey

The horoscope of Alice Bailey. 


Tradition claims she has reported as time of birth 7:32 to her closest friend Dane Rudhyar. Who in turn rectified her horoscope to 7:42. The funny thing is she made fun of astrologers, who each claimed a different ascendant for her; one would say Leo, another Virgo and another Pisces.

She, herself, preferred Pisces, because as she claimed her husband was Pisces and her children were related to that zodiac axis. Even today amongst her students there is a debate about which her rightful ascendant is.
A second most important of dates is the one it is said she had her first telepathic contact from the Tibetan.
Apparently it was November 19, 1919 when this happened for the first time and many astrologers tried to see what might have happened to her horoscope during that day. Neptune transiting her ascendant in Leo sure makes an impression, but transiting Sun in a T-Square formation to transiting Uranus and natal Pluto is also important.
Solar Arc however is much more revealing, as Solar Arc MC puts itsef right on natal Pluto, at the same axis, transiting Sun was activating. Taurus 27 degrees might make a bad impression as a degree but as it turns out, it was closer to the fixes star Alcyon at that time rather then Algol.
Another important point in her chart are of course Planets out of Bounds. Mercury in Cancer on the 12th house cusp, could for many, be related for her telepathic contacts, whereas Lilith in conjunction to Venus and the Sun in the 11th house could have to do with her adventures in the various theosophical groups she participated.
Sure thing is that a telepathic event of such an importance requires further study than juse watching the transits or solar arc. If it is true that the Masters take more the sidereal zodiac into account, then it is worth examining how her sidereal chart is related to the tropical one. Then, we will see that sidereal Neptune is in conjunction to her tropical Midheaven, a clear indication for telepathic contact, as the Midheaven is related to the Crown Chakra. Sidereal Uranus in conjunction to natal Ascendant also reminds us more of the insubordinated attitude Alice Bailey showed as a woman in her life.
Placing both sidereal and tropical transits on her tropical natal chart, we observe a conjunction between sidereal Saturn and tropical Jupiter but also a Midpoint of sidereal Jupiter and Saturn placed on her tropical ascendant and tropical transiting Neptune. A planetary picture indicating the selection of leader, a choice which however is not very clear to herself at the start, as she doesn't know why she was picked out and what they want from her.
Even more stunning however is the tri-wheel examination of sidereal solar arc, tropical solar arc and her natal tropical chart. There it is apparent that on natal Pluto, we don't only have tropical solar arc Midheaven, but we also have sidereal Neptune. And all this near the fixed star Alcyone (it is not unusual for the Masters to pick times of initiation or contact that are related to fixed stars).
Natal Pluto on the other hand activated indicates that her perception of the telepathic contact was not one of initiation but one of  possesion. She had to give up any control she had to a hosting entity in her mind. At least that is how she might have experienced it (the tropical chart usually shows our subjective experience, versus the sidereal one which indicates how it is seen by the Masters).
A very interesting study i suppose which shows that in initiation horoscopes the tropical zodiac is not enough to explain the nature of what's happening.
Relevant charts follow for your personal study.

Natal Chart Source: https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Bailey,_Alice_A.