Scapegoating in Astrology

We act out our own planets through our clients and, then we attempt to understand them and give them advice.... - Liz Greene

In classical astrology the birth chart was interpreted to show both the inner tendencies and the outer. But in modern Western psychological astrology, there is an unfortunate tendency to put everything down to "projection". This claim assumes that all that happens to you can be seen as an aspect of your own psyche; you projected it outwards in the first place and then encountered it through various circumstances. Thus you are responsible for everything that happens to you.

The projection theory leaves very little room for exceptional and complicated cases, like scapegoating and scapegoats. Yet as people usually abhor things without explanations and solutions, they may accept the popular theory - it is all within your psyche - as sounding on the surface like a very neat explanation. Scapegoats - innocents blamed for the sins of others - are very seldom mentioned or recognized in astrology, which leads to an unfounded but very common tendency to blame the victims.


IT'S NOT ALL WITHIN YOU

However, I incline myself to a factual view of the horoscope; that is to say, I believe that it shows things apart from their reaction in the consciousness. - C.E.O. Carter

"What the individual experiences as a problematic situation or relationship can be seen in the chart as an aspect of his or her own psyche", argues Glenn Perry. And Liz Greene confirms: "I feel that things in the horoscope very literally leap up off that map and materialize before us as our life circumstances. But they begin inwardly. It's the inner stuff that the chart describes, not outer circumstance." In many cases - perhaps even in most cases - this is a very fruitful psychological approach, but there are other cases in which this approach is definitely harmful and just adds to the suffering of those who already have been burdened to their limit.

A strict application of the it's all within you theory to scapegoating often amounts to victimizing the victim, the scapegoat is blamed for things that he cannot possibly be responsible for. And usually scapegoaters are left out from the equation altogether. Seeing everything as an aspect of your psyche comes close to making the world and other people just a part of you, often leading to a typical New Age megalomania, where the world is seen as your private play ground that you can and should control. You change yourself and you change your world. Right? And everyone in it?

The astrologer applying the projection theory to scapegoats is simply joining the ranks of scapegoaters. In refusing to see the victim as a victim he or she is - albeit unintentionally - acting as a spokesman for a scapegoater or scapegoaters. Once the projection theory has been established by authoritative opinions and propaganda, popular credulity has done the rest: Even scapegoats have sometimes began to believe in the theory, they have been taught to victimize themselves.

When Robert Hand argues that the "horoscope symbolism always operates on a subjective level first, and only afterward is it projected into what others would call an objective level of reality", a scapegoat might want to ask: Whose subjective level astrologer Hand is talking about. The scapegoat's? The scapegoater's? The collective's. Everything may start on inner levels but who is the real instigator of what, is another question altogether.

On those inner levels everything is connected with everything, the astrologer doesn't usually know on whose subjective level objective level events originally got started.. Many things in a scapegoat's horoscope, now manifesting in her or his outer, life may still have started on the subjective level of the scapegoater. Or on a collective level.

It is often preposterous to insist that being a scapegoat would be something the scapegoat projected outwards. It may be or it may not be, most of the time we don't know, we just assume. As C.E.O. Carter said in The Astrology of Accidents, "It is notoriously difficult to tell how far any given horoscopic feature will act psychologically and how far exteriorly." Of course we all encounter things that can be interpreted as our own projections, but being a scapegoat is not one of those things. Furthermore, claiming that it is, is very unhelpful for the victim. And surely the universe is bigger than our personal projections, it has some surprises in store for all of us, even for those who believe that they are in control. God is still alive and rules.

"I have frequently observed the 'projection' theory taken to ridiculous and dangerous extremes -- ie. since everything which happens to us is a projection of what is going on inside us, we must necessarily accept full responsibility for all the shit which happens in our lives. We must even blame ourselves if we are raped, if we were abused as a child, if we get cancer ..." - Candy Hillenbrand


A PHILOSOPHY FOR THE STRONG ?

Nobody's right 'til somebody's wrong,
nobody's weak 'til somebody's strong. - Eric Clapton (Sun opposite Neptune, Saturn square Neptune)

In practical astrology it is easy to see that some things in your horoscope work out through you and other things through your surroundings, with or without your projections. In many cases, probably in most cases, it is not the question of either/or, it is both. Perhaps we are so eager to rely on the projection theory because of our own need for 'safety'. Would we feel being less in control if things wouldn't fit the theory? Yet in scapegoating cases it would be more meaningful to assume less and to be prepared for exceptions, otherwise we may seriously harm the scapegoat.

The astrological projection theory is a philosophy for those who believe they are in control. And perhaps they are, at least partly. Or perhaps they just need to believe so. They feel strong and usually have no idea of the magnitude of the suffering scapegoats are going through when blamed for things that are not of their own doing. It is a philosophy for those who do not see that their theorizing may sometimes amount to kind of psychological tyranny, blaming the victim for something we all should be blamed for.

The projection theory is not a philosophy for those who being buffered by mysterious forces have learnt to give up the illusion of being in control. And who, on top of it all, have been surrounded by know-all's telling them that in those powerful forces they have just been encountering themselves. It is not a philosophy for those who sensitized by their own suffering have learnt to see the reality behind appearances, where things never are as simple as the projection theory claims. It is a reality that those strong ones probably don't want to see as they might then feel less strong.


WE NEVER KNOW...

The question always has to be, not what is this person up to - consciously or unconsciously - nor what is mankind collectively up to, but what is the cosmos itself up to, in this person, or in mankind? - Dennis Elwell

In practical astrology it is never easy to know who is the main culprit in the scapegoating process. One thing is certain though, if the astrologer interprets scapegoating as a part of the scapegoat's own psyche, the relationship between the astrologer and her or his scapegoated client is doomed from the beginning. The astrologer will fail the scapegoat, because he or she has no idea of the reality in which the scapegoated client is living in.

The more the astrologer insists on interpreting scapegoating through the projection theory, the more the scapegoat may begin to feel being scapegoated once again, or even being persecuted as persecution may have been a part of the scapegoat's past. Probing behinds the client's description of the scapegoating process and trying to fit it with the projection theory the interpreter is often forcing the scapegoat to see things exactly as the scapegoater would like the scapegoat to see them.

Everyone can imagine what this does to the scapegoat: The scapegoat complains of what is done to her or to him, and the astrologer or psychologist sort of turns it back to the scapegoat. Of course it is important that scapegoats accept responsibility for what has happened to them, but many of them bear too much responsibility already as they are often anxiously wandering whether they did something that made it all happen.

Hannu Lauerma, a Finnish psychiatrist, said on Finnish TV on September 2, 2003, that victims are often people, who more than others analyze their own motives. They are self-critical and try to find out what they should have done otherwise. Yet, according to Lauerma, those victims who, instead of over-analyzing themselves, do something about things, will experience less psychological damage. Thus the astrologer applying 'it's all within you' theories to scapegoats may do them no favor. What the victim needs, is an astrologer able to show the victim that it all was NOT a part of her or his own psyche, that the victim did not encounter her or his own projections, the victim encountered the victimizer, the scapegoater, the persecutor.

"An interpretation can be an act of aggression", said Jeffrey Masson. An astrological interpretation is an act of aggression if it blames the scapegoat. Often the interpreter is protecting herself or himself by refusing to see that anyone could be scapegoated. In so doing he or she fails the client. Dane Rudhyar argued that an astrologer in general should make his or her position clear at the start for prospective clients stating her or his basic approach, thus it will be likely "that mainly persons who, consciously or unconsciously, need what that practitioner has to offer will be attracted to him or her to ask for a consultation."

Rudhyar's advice is very wise and works well in many cases, but it is not always enough. Probably every astrologer will still occasionally meet a situation in which the astrologer can do a good job only by helping the client to see that he or she has been victimized. In scapegoating cases the astrologer is doing his client a great disservice if he interprets the client's 'fate' as an aspect of the client's own psyche. The astrologer never knows that much, it's just a subjective theory, not a proven fact.

We should bless our blindness to the mysteries of others, for it shields us from devilish deeds of violence. - Laurence van der Post

Read more on scapegoating: Scapegoating < Scapegoating Defined < Origins of Scapegoating < Scapegoats - Archetypal Transference Figures < Driven into Isolation < Scapegoating Groups < Scapegoaters < A Collective Daimon < Never Blame the Bictim < The Dreyfus Case > Scapegoating in Astrology > Creating Scapegoats > Astrological Rethinking Needed > Neptunians - Astrology's Victims ? > Persecution > Surviving Scapegoating > Transcending Scapegoating - A Life in Grace

Neptunia in September 2003

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