Pediatric Astrology: How Astrology and Mythology Can Help You Understand Your Child and Their Behavior.
According to the ancient alchemists:
“Man is a microcosm, or a little world, because he is an extract from all the stars and planets of the whole firmament, from the earth and the elements; and so he is their quintessence.” ― Paracelsus
Most people who have any experience with children would agree that, for parts of their lives, they are irrational and impulsive spirits. Physician, philosopher, and pedagogue, Maria Montessori, dubbed this time, the first six years of a child’s existence, as the Absorbent Mind.
“The ‘absorbent mind’ welcomes everything, puts its hope in everything, accepts poverty equally with wealth, adopts any religion and the prejudices and habits of its countrymen, incarnating all in itself. This is the child!” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
In essence, this means that children take in and process information unconsciously and with no filter. Our assertion in this paper is that it also implies that children actimpulsively and without filter as well. We ask, what are the underlying impulses that cause those actions? Here we turn to a mythological point of view.
When a child is working quietly and creatively, is he or she not embodying the creative aspects of Venus, goddess of beauty, art and creativity? Or when a child begins to babble and start forming words such as “Mama” and “Papa,” is this not an expression of the god of communication and intellect, Mercury? How about when we teach children to share and suppress the impulse to take a toy from a sibling or classmate, can we see that we are teaching them to tame the wild and impetuous powers of Mars within themselves? These mythological interpretations are supported by the work of American Professor of Literature, Joseph Campbell.
Through the lens of Campbell’s work, we can talk about instinct and impulse on mythological terms.
“And after years and years and years of reading these things, I am still overwhelmed at the similarities in cultures that are far, far apart. There are two explanations of this. Now, one explanation is that the human psyche is essentially the same all over the world. It is the inward aspect of the human body, which is essentially the same all over the world, with the same organs, with the same instincts, with the same impulse systems, with the same conflicts, the same fears.” ― Joseph Campbell, Interview with Bill Moyers
In the quote above, Campbell talks of “instincts and impulse systems” that mirror the similarities between Mythologies across the many cultures he studied throughout his career. With the support of Campbell’s discovery of the universalsimilarities of Mythology, we can now take a step toward a Psychological view of instinct and impulse in the work of Carl Jung.
First, we look to the definition of an Archetype:
Carl Jung understood archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. They are inherited potentials, which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world. They are autonomous and hidden forms, which are transformed once they enter consciousness and are given particular expression by individuals and their cultures. ― Wikipedia (Bold emphasis added)
Jung stated that the Archetypes are found in the unconscious, which is where children live in Montessori’s “Absorbent Mind”.
“There is good reason for supposing that the archetypes are the unconscious images of the instinctsthemselves, in other words, that they are patterns of instinctualbehavior.” ― C.G. Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
Jung alsoreferred to the expression of archetypes as impulsivebehavior. A quick look in a dictionary confirms that instinct and impulse by definition are intimately related.
Now we can understand the workings of a child’s mind and their manifesting behaviors in terms of mythology and psychology. As his life’s work evolved, Jung began studying Astrology. Our next step is to examine the child in terms of Astrology.
At the moment I am looking into astrology, which seems indispensable for a proper understanding of mythology. There are strange and wondrous things in these lands of darkness. ― Carl Jung, in a letter to Sigmund Freud, May 8, 1911
The growing canon of psychological and astrological literature that purports the linkages between psychology and astrology confirms our path.
Psychology textbooks of future generations will look back on the modern psychologists working without the aid of astrology as being like the medieval astronomers working without the aid of the telescope. ― Richard Tarnas, PhD. Author of Passion of the Western Mindand Cosmos and Psyche
Einstein’s theory of relativity states that everything in the universe moves in relation to other things. If we, as adults, can see that a child processes the universe in relation to itself at the center, then we can see the child expressing mythological/planetary energies and expressing those energies in the presence of the zodiacal energies of the people around them. For example, a child with Jupiter in Capricorn will, in general, enjoy joyous, empowering, and uplifting relationships with Capricorn natives.
In light of the commonalities between mythology, psychology, and astrology we again return our focus to the development and behavior of children. In our own experiences working with children over the course of nine years, Montessori teachers observe children first developing interest in animals and their behaviors and characteristics, a mirror for the developing limbic system, the mammalian and ‘proto-rational’ structure of the brain. Eventually, as the child begins to come out of the “Absorbent Mind”, the child starts looking towards heroes to idolize and emulate (often times peers and celebrities). In ancient times, prior to the advent of television, motion pictures and modern civilization, humans sat around our campfires and looked at the stars. We told our children the archetypal stories of mythology as mirrored by the planets (the gods) moving along the backdrop of the twelve signs of the zodiac. So when the Sun is in Cancer, we are reminded of Hercules during his 12 labors being bitten by a crab.
“We can keep from a child all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from him the need for mythology.” ― C.G. Jung
Now we can see the value in an examination of those archetypal energies in a child’s natal chart. If we think spiritually, we theorize that children were more recently in the presence of Divinity and the natural embodiment of these archetypal energies. And here we come to the realization that children are more representative of the spiritual forces inherent in all of humankind.
Traditionally, parenting and teaching intend to mold behavior and impart information through lessons with the child. Modern parenting and teaching would be wise to recognize and understand three things:
1. The archetypal/mythological/planetary impulses that children express.
2. The zodiacal energies that cause those energies to be triggered.
3. How to harness that expression into positive avenues.
By incorporating astrological analysis we can help nurture rather than suppress those natural instinctual forces, which adults are prone to do.
“Everything that irritates us about others (and we sometimes suppress) can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” ― Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections(parenthesis added)
With this knowledge, an astute astrologer can help you to decipher the many intricacies of your child’s natal chart.
Mark Iwanicki is an astrologer, tarotist, teacher, and researcher. Please visit him at www.iwanickimedia.com.
