I always thought it interesting that Neptune’s trident was the symbol for the American Psychiatric Association. Neptune is the god of the oceans, and his realm is almost without limits.
The glyph for Neptune “shows an upward extension of the vertical of the cross (aspiration) shielded by an external crescent (sensitivity) to produce a Trinity exalted above matter.” (Ronald C. Davison, Astrology, p. 33)
Neptune is the planet of intuition, hypersensitivity, illusion, and self-sacrifice. Its action is to idealize, inflate and distort. (Ibid) It gives the ability to transcend boundaries.
Let’s now look at five pioneering psychiatrists. Each made significant contributions to the field.
Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856) realized the importance of formative childhood experiences but probably overemphasized sex. He championed the idea that much of mental life exists outside our awareness and “these unconscious forces yield great influence on human conduct.” (Psychology Today, “The Five Most Influential Psychiatric Thinkers of All Time” by Mark L. Ruffalo, MSW, D.Psa, Oct. 2019) Freud is the father of psychoanalysis.
In Sigmund’s chart nine planets are clustered together within 98 d. Freud has a four planet stellium in Taurus. His Sun is together with Uranus as is his Mercury. The Sun/Uranus connection gave originality to his ideas. The Moon is in Gemini. This indicates a talking cure while Scorpio rises. Scorpio likes to go deep to get at the root of a problem. It’s also the sign most associated with sex. His Moon and Saturn are in the 8th House which represents growth and regeneration. Sigmund’s Neptune has two sextiles and a square to the Moon. His Mars is a singleton, the chart pattern the bucket. This signifies his pioneering efforts.
Another seminal figure in psychiatry is Carl Jung (July 26, 1875). Jung believed in individuation, a process of development in which a person strips away the social mask and false identity the ego created for itself early on and the unconscious influence of the archetypes. (“A Beginner’s Guide to Jungian Psychology” by Scott Jeffrey). The conscious and unconscious are integrated in this way.
Some of Jung’s best known concepts are these: synchronicity- events that appear to be related by do not have a nexus, archetype- a universal image, idea, or thought present in the unconscious of all people, extraversion-outgoing behavior and the individual feels energized by being in contact with others, intraversion- inward looking behavior; the individual draws energy from within, the shadow-repressed aspects of the personality, and complex- the repressed organization of images and experiences that govern how we behave and form our perceptions. (Wikipedia).
Jung was a Leo with the Moon, Neptune, and Pluto in Taurus. Though the Sun and Moon are beyond the allowable orb for a square, the combination might have caused him some internal tension and been a basis for some of his ideas. Taurus is a thoughtful, constructive sign. Jung was deeply influenced by his early home life. This perhaps is shown by his Mercury and Venus both being in Cancer. Neptune is square the Sun. “I want to clear away all these confusing and conflicting ideas” he probably said to himself. His chart tends to fall into two halves but the see-saw tends to stray from the ideal. In the chart I have Capricorn is the Ascendant. Aquarius is intercepted. Saturn is there in Aquarius. “When a house is intercepted, it represents a dual type of energy…” (“What It Means If You Have Intercepted Signs, Planets, or Houses In Astrology” by Leslie Hale in Your Tango, March 6, 2023) “Tuning into yourself, using your intuition, and… exercising patience with yourself is necessary when Saturn is intercepted.” (Ibid) Jung at times did not understand his thoughts and dreams. Some of these were horrifying to him.
Alfred Adler (February 7, 1870) knew both Freud and Jung; however, he developed his own theory of personality development. His approach centered around looking at the whole person and is called individual psychology. He contended that people were social beings. Here are some of his key concepts: social interest- a sense of comradeship and caring for others, lifestyle- a developmental pattern of responses to situations, feelings of inferiority- a consistent feeling of inadequacy, striving for superiority- attempts to overcome those feelings of inferiority, birth order-the order in which we are born causes different parental reactions and thus influences personality formation, i.e. the eldest child is often serious and responsible, for the parents concentrate on him, family constellation-the makeup of the family, and fictional finalism- ideals that cannot be confirmed., honesty is the best policy. (Alfred Adler Biography: His Career, Life, and Theory of Personality by Kendra Cherry, very well mind website, April 2023 and Wikipedia)
Adler was an Aquarius with a Taurus Moon. The time of birth is not known. A speculative chart has Cancer rising. His Moon was probably conjoined with Venus. This would cause “natural friendliness” particularly so with his stellium in Aquarius, a sign noted for being such. (Parker, The Compleat Astrologer, p. 138) This could account for some of his ideas.
Alfred also had a joining of his Sun with Mars. This energetic aspect may have helped him overcome his childhood cases of rickets, pneumonia, and being run over twice.
I have noticed that those with a Sun/Mars conjunction often have extreme ideas which in turn leads to extreme behavior. Instead of writing about a drive for superiority, Adler might have better called it a drive for competency.
Adler’s Neptune is not particularly heavily aspected. It is sextile to the Sun and square Uranus.
Karen Horney (September 16, 1885) founded feminine psychology. I use the term feminine as opposed to feminist because the latter has a kind of strident and militant connotation. Horney lived in an era where men were dominant and women largely wives and mothers. Like Adler she thought environment and social upbringing were intrinsic to personality development. People need warm environments and strong, close relationships to be their real selves. When those are absent, people turn to maladaptive patterns. Those people have anxiety. Moving toward others is healthy except when behavior is clinging. Moving away from them or against them is not. (“Karen Horney: Life, Theory, and Contributions to Psychology,” by Charlotte Nickerson in Simply Psychology, October 2023.
Freud called Horney “able but malicious” because she did not believe in his view of penis envy. She believed men experienced womb envy, the inability to bring forth life.
Karen Horney was a Virgo with her Moon at 29 d of Sagittarius. Pisces is the Ascendant. Virgo and Pisces can both be helping signs. Virgos tend to like to help others in a practical way. Pisceans lend a sympathetic ear and can be charitable. A key to her nativity is the Sun/Jupiter conjunction. This gave her well-developed mental abilities, particularly in Virgo, a Mercury ruled sign. Her Neptune is trine Uranus, Jupiter, the Sun, and sextile her Mars in Cancer. The Jupiter/Neptune positive aspect gave an ability to help others.
Aaron Beck (July 18, 1921) is the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. He pioneered methods that are used to treat clinical depression and certain anxiety disorders. The Beck Depression Inventory is a self-report measure widely used to show the severity of the depression. Aaron published more than 600 journal articles and wrote or co-wrote 25 books. He was named one of the five most influential psychotherapists of all time in 1989. (Wikipedia)
When Beck worked with patients who were depressed, he focused on their automatic thoughts. These arose spontaneously and fell into these three categories: negative ideas about themselves, the future, or the world. (ibid) Dr. Beck helped his patients evaluate the validity and usefulness of these thoughts. Aaron did this because patients’ thoughts about a situation influenced their reactions even more than the situation itself. Beck taught his patients to change the way they thought about situations and to be more adaptable. Patients’ underlying maladaptive beliefs were also scrutinized and changed. (Beck Institute: Cognitive Behavior Therapy, “Aaron Beck: A Life Well-Lived”)
CBT has been successful applied to eating disorders, substance use, and psychosis. Studies have shown it is as effective as medication. (ibid)
Aaron Beck had a stellium in Cancer. [Sun, Mercury, Mars, and Pluto] His pioneering efforts in the practice of therapy are perhaps shown by his Sun/Mars conjunction. Looking at the chart as a whole, there is a definite mercurial emphasis. [Venus in Gemini, Jupiter, Saturn in Virgo, and a well-aspected Mercury. It has a joining with Pluto, a trine to Uranus, and an opposition to the Moon in Capricorn.] His mind was inventive. He could think in great depth and analytically. Beck believed in research to validate his ideas and methods. [Jupiter in Virgo] The mercurial emphasis also accounts for his prolific writing. Beck’s Neptune is sextile Venus.
Though the time of birth is lacking, Neptune’s role in the charts of these five famous psychiatrists is not always a dominant one. It is a contributor to their ability.