Aquarius/Leo

Fragmentation and Wholeness

Jason Holley

NORWAC 2015

Ganymedes, Berlin Painter, ca. 590-600 BC Photograph by Bibi Saint-Pol, 2009

Wikimedia Commons

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

"Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of Zeus--a wonder to see--, honouredby all the immortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl.“

The Iliad

"Ganymedes who was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer."

Why, there was blond Ganymede, whom Zeus the master of mêtisabducted on account of his beauty, so that he may be together with the immortal ones,

as wine-pourer for the gods in the palace of Zeus,a wonder to behold, given his share of tîmê by all the immortals,

pouring red nectar from a golden mixing-bowl.Tros was gripped in his phrenes by a penthos that is beyond forgetting. He did not know

where the miraculous gust of wind took his philos son, abducting him.He mourned him without pause, for all days,

and Zeus took pity on him: he gave him a compensation for his son,a set of high-stepping horses whom the gods use for their travels.

These horses he gave him as a gift to keep. And he was told all the details of what happened, at the behest of Zeus, by the Argos-killer, the Conductor of Souls.

He was told that he would be immortal and ageless, just like the gods.And when he heard the message of Zeus,

he no longer lamented but was happy within his phrenes,and merrily did he ride around, in a chariot drawn by horses with feet swift as a gust of wind.

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 208-219

The Rape of Ganymede, Frank Kirchbach (engraving after), 1892Unattributed Photograph

Wikimedia Commons

Relief at St. Pete’s Cathedral, Rome, 1626Unattributed Photograph

Ganymede, Michelangelo Buonarrati, 1532Copy; Original Lost

Photograph by Fulcher, 2006

Ganymede and The Eagle, Bertel Thorvaldsen, 1817Photograph by Carsten Norgaard

Wikimedia Commons

The Iliad

"To Tros in turn there were born three sons unfaulted, Ilos and Assarakos and godlike Ganymedes, who was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer, for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals."

Zeus and Ganymede, Unknown, ca. 480-470 BC Photograph by Joanbajo, 2009Wikimedia Commons

Q. Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy

“Now had the Argives burst the gates, had breached the walls of Troy, for boundless was their might; but Ganymedes saw from heaven, and cried, anguished with fear for his own fatherland: ‘O Father Zeus, if of thy seed I am, if at thine best I left far-famous Troy for immortality with deathless Gods, O hear me now, whose soul is anguish-thrilled! I cannot bear to see my fathers' town in flames, my kindred in disastrous strife perishing: bitterer sorrow is there none! Oh, if thine heart is fixed to do this thing, let me be far hence! Less shall be my grief if I behold it not with these mine eyes. That is the depth of horror and of shame to see one's country wrecked by hands of foes.’

With groans and tears so pleaded Ganymede. Then Zeus himself with one vast pall of cloud veiled all the city of Priam world-renowned; and all the murderous fight was drowned in mist, and like a vanished phantom was the wall in vapoursheavy-hung no eye could pierce; and all around crashed thunders, lightnings flamed from heaven . . . “

Nonnus, Dionysiaca

“Hera: ‘Is it not shame enough, an impious thing, that I see the Trojan boy cup-lackey

to Zeus, disgracing heaven and Hebe cupbearer of Zeus, when he ladles sweet

nectar with human hands?’"

The Abduction of Ganymede, Peter Paul Rubens, 1786Photograph by Bibi Saint-Pol, 2009Wikimedia Commons

Relief with Ganymede, Unknown, ca. 590-600 BC Photograph by Sailko, 2005

Wikimedia Commons

That part of me was too beautifuland precious for this world – it should dwellwith the deathless gods and be unchangingand ever youthful.

I will manage my life in the world, and these horses will help a lot. I can accept this loss.

Tros

Ganymede

Tros

Ganymede

It was all a blur, a whirlwind, but I am here now and special and chosen, perpetually young here in this special idyllic world full of possibilities

My father is better able to withstand that whichwould make my youth wither.

The Dream of Tros(Saturn rulership)

The Dream of Ganymede(Uranus rulership)

Aquarius/Uranus

Observer

Brain

Electricity

Interruption

Decentering

Deconstruction

Disappearance

Multiplicity

Nonlinear

Past and Future

Leo/Sun

Participant

Heart

Magnetism

Coherence

Center

Creation

Appearance

Unity

Linear

Now

The Growth Cycle of Rupture and Repair

Sun/Leo

Centering

Uranus/Aquarius

Decentering

Staying the Same while Changing

Stable self-system cohered by Sun/Leo

Uranus introduces triggering material beyond system’s current configuration (‘rupture’)

Coherence disrupted, implicit field activated, invisible multiplicity becomes visible, the nonlinear flows in

Newly-discovered implicit material, parts of self, are expressed and integrated, expanding self-system (‘repair’)

1 2

4 3

The Psyche in Shock: Dissociation

Sun/Leo

Centering

Uranus/Aquarius

Decentering

Stable self-system cohered by Sun/Leo

Uranus introduces triggering material beyond system’s current configuration (‘rupture’)

Coherence disrupted, implicit field activated, invisible multiplicity becomes visible

Environment seen to be unreceptiveto incarnation of the newly-discovered aspects of self, lacks intrapsychic capacity or relational context

1 2

4

3

To avoid shattering or death, Psyche splits; parts of self are sent/ taken away (‘freeze’)

5

Newly-discovered implicit material, parts of self, are expressed and integrated, expanding self-system (‘repair’)

4

Aquarius and Post-Traumatic Processes

Disembodiment, disidentification with bodyDepersonalizationDerealizationDifficulty with linear time/narrativesTime-travelingFreeze/Startle responseFlashbacks, sudden awarenessAutomatic obedience – automaton-likeRapid switches in self-statesDifficulty with experiencing connectionAbstraction and intellectualization

Uranus/Aquarius and Contraction or Expansion of Consciousness

Aquarian Processes work to contractconsciousness when Uranianmultiplicity is not integrated through the solar principle:

AquariusOpening of the Field (Rupture)Dissociation/Splitting (No Repair)

PiscesAvoidance/escape/adrift/afloatActivation of regressive functions

AriesAnger at re-entering the worldSurvival at all costsWorld experienced as enemy

Aquarian Processes work to expand consciousness when Uranianmultiplicity is integrated through the solar field:

AquariusOpening of the Field (Rupture)Coherent Integration (Repair)

PiscesExperience of greater wholenessActivation of transcendent functions

AriesEagerness to re-enter the worldGenuine possibility of new experiencesOpenness to possibilities

Leonine/Solar Characterology

• Insistence on the centered self of the now experienced as eternal• Privileges particular roles, modes, archetypes and insists that these

are “I”• Performs the self through these identifications• Renders multiplicity invisible – like Sun with stars• Capacity for channeling archetypal affect of chosen• Eros qualities:

– compelling love– charisma and projection of life force into the world

• At extremes, archetypal inflation or possession• Engages histrionic and narcissistic processes• Mother looms large (Cancer)

– may relate through dependence on originating matrix of identity– may relate through defense against possibility of engulfment (hero)

Aquarian/Uranian Characterology

• Dissociatively organized through splitting off innocence from experience• May identify with either or may alternate• Tros (Saturn) aspect is mortal and incarnated in this world:

– dutiful, hardworking, capable of extreme achievement– lacking youth, change, flexibility, joy, spirituality, passion– avoidant of contact with others or with the unconscious (magic horses)– anti-erotic (Saturn’s castration of Uranus), lockstep, rigidly linear

• Ganymede (Uranus) aspect stays in own world, not the mortal world:– endless potentials, none chosen; rejection of anything which takes form– prefers idealized worlds, past, future, idiosyncratic or disjunctive realities– at extremes, becomes the slave of the gods, disconnected from other humans– innocent, naïve, undeveloped, immature– contact dependent on shared reality system

• Engages schizoid, schizotypal, and avoidant processes• Father looms large (Capricorn)

– may relate by obedience (Saturn/Tros) – may relate by rejecting or destroying (Uranus/Ganymede)

The Abduction of Ganymede, Antonio da Corregio, ca. 1520-1540 Photograph by Google Art Project Wikimedia Commons

The Rape of Helen, Francesco Primaticcio, ca. 1530-1539Photograph by Bogomolov, 2013

Wikimedia Commons

The Judgment of Paris, Enrique Simonet, 1904 Photographer Unknown, Public Domain

Wikimedia Commons

Outside Myself

A thin ice covers my soulMy body's frozen and my heart is cold and still

So much about me is rawI search for a place to unthaw

Something in me broods love into fearIt veils my vision leaves my thoughts unclear

My eyes from blue turn to grayHoping to mask what they say

I've been outside myself for so longAny feeling I had is close to gone

I've been outside myself for so longI have been in a storm of the sun

Basking, senseless to what I've becomeA fool to worship just light

When after all, it follows nightI've been outside myself for so long

Any feeling I had is close to goneI've been outside myself for so long, so long

I've been outside myself for so longAny feeling I had is close to gone

I've been outside myself for so long