ARTICLES

Psychological Effects

by Sandra Rozhon

Over the years, I got very interested in trying to determine what factors might be in a chart of a person with severe mental problems. I tried to collect charts for a variety of conditions to try to find some clues. I'm nowhere near done with this study, but thought I'd share some of my findings and speculations with you.

What I've tentatively concluded is that mental illness can be the result of several things:

  1. Negative aspects to the ruling planet or planets in the 1st house
  2. Negative aspects to the Moon
  3. Negative aspects to Mercury
  4. Negative aspects to the Ascendant
My thinking is that in the above situations, there are different causations which may apply thusly:

  1. Organic
  2. Environmental
  3. Developmental
  4. Hereditary
Don't take the above too literally because it's only a theory and I've nowhere near the amount of data I'd like to be able to categorically state it as fact. It's subject to change if proof turns up to the contrary.

The keywords for the various planets:


Pluto...........Paranoia, suicidal, intense, overbearing
Neptune.........Confusion, delusions, hallucinations, religious fanaticism, addictive behavior
Uranus..........Bizarre, eccentric, erratic, wild card, inconsistancy, unpredictable, peculiar
Saturn..........Rigid, strict, single-minded, depression, defensive
Jupiter.........Compulsive, grandeur
Mars............Agressive (mirrors Pluto behavior to a lesser degree)
Venus...........(mirrors Neptune behavior to a lesser degree)
Mercury.........Erratic (mirrors Uranus behavior to a lesser degree)
Sun.............Grandeur (mirrors Jupiter behavior to a lesser degree)

Lets look at some examples.........

Nancy Spungen
Feb 27 1958 6:52 am EST Philadelphia PA
Source: "And I Don't Want to Live This Life", by: Deborah Spungen
Diagnosis: Schizophrenic

Nancy had Pisces rising and several difficult aspects to contend with. She was the girlfriend of Sid Vicious. She was murdered about 1978 in NYC.

. 

                                                          (ruler)
SUN ----+        SATURN     MERC/SUN ------ PLUTO        NEPTUNE/JUPITER            |          |                                          |
        |          |                                          |
        |          |                                          |
      MOON        MOON                              VENUS-----+------URANUS
I always look first to the ruler and what is happening to it in the natal chart. In Nancy's case, the ruler (Neptune) is conjunct Jupiter and squared by both Venus and Uranus. Uranus, to me, is the prime culprit in schizophrenic people. Adding in the influence of Jupiter can only serve to enhance the effects and make it a severe case. Venus, in this case, is also influenced by Jupiter/Uranus and would indicate her tendency to associate with strange people.

Another example of a schizophrenic:

Male
Oct 6, 1950 6:12 am EST Cleveland OH 81w43 41n30
Source: Birth certificate (I personally know this individual)

This gentleman has Libra rising. The ruler (Venus) squares Uranus. The Sun conjuncts Neptune in the first house and also squares Uranus. Because of the orbs involved, Venus does not conjunct Neptune.


                    URANUS                     URANUS
                      |                          |
                      |                          |
    VENUS (ruler)-----+             SUN (1st)----+
                                NEPTUNE (1st)
He chose odd friends before he became fully schizophrenic at which point he withdrew from the world. His behavior is strange, he doesn't take care of his appearance in the least, and he puts up bizarre signs in all the windows of his house. There's no sign of agression -- he's simply in something of a fog and has subsequently been institutionalized.

Here's an example of an Anorexic:

Cherry Boone (daughter of Pat Boone, the singer)
Jul 7 1954 7:41 am CDT Denton TX
Source: Probably American Astrology Magazine
Diagnosis: Anorexia Nervosa

Cherry Boone is a Leo rising and the daughter of a famous singer. Her ruler is the Sun. It conjuncts both Mercury and Uranus and squares Neptune.

         MERCURY(r)
(ruler)      SUN --------+               ASC ------+
          URANUS         |                         |
                         |                         |
                      NEPTUNE                    SATURN

In this case, the behavior is strange (Uranus) due to an imprecise (Neptune) mental image of what she looks like. She thought she was fat, yet anyone who saw her would never make that conclusion. Saturn squares her Ascendant and probably is an indicator of the form her particular mental illness would take: a diminishing of the body.

She also has Venus conjunct Pluto in the 1st house, but these planets get a beneficial trine from Mars. This aspect probably helps to offset the negative one and allows for attempts to help her to be successful.

Frances Farmer (former actress)
Sep 19 1914 - time unknown (but definitely in the AM when the Seattle Police were involved in a battle with rioters)
Seattle WA
Diagnosis: Schizophrenia
Source: A biography about Miss Farmer

Frances Farmer was a successful actress until she became schizophrenic. She was taken to an insane asylum against her will and given shock treatments.

I do not have her exact time of birth so this is very speculative but knowing that she was born in the morning gave me some clue as to how to erect her chart. Until I have an exact time, I obviously cannot say these conclusions are valid, but it is food for thought.

I speculate that her ascendant is Libra. With that ascendant, she has her ruler (Venus) square to Uranus/Jupiter. Mars will be in the 1st house and square to Neptune.

   (ruler)                       
    VENUS -----+                      NEPTUNE
               |                         |
               |                         |
             URANUS         MARS (1st)---+
             JUPITER
This was a severe case of schizophrenia which continued to get worse.
Reverend Jim Jones
May 13 1931 6:57 PM Zone 6 Lynn Indiana 84w56 40n02
Diagnosis: ???

This is the infamous cult leader responsible for the Kool-Aid poisoning of his entire flock of followers in Guyana (Nov 1978)

I don't know what the actual diagnosis of Jim Jones is but the chart seems to point to schizophrenia. His Ascendant is Scorpio with it's ruler Pluto conjunct Jupiter and square to Venus and Uranus. A T-square is formed by the opposition from Saturn to Pluto.


        PLUTO (ruler)
        JUPITER
           |
           |        MOON
           +------- URANUS 
           |        VENUS
           |
         SATURN
Here we have a situation where a naturally intense (Scorpio ASC) person is debilitated by the unusual, eccentric, and erratic influence of Uranus. He relates to people in an intense, yet odd way. He's subject to depression (Moon square Saturn) and paranoia (Scorpio ASC) and delusions of grandeur (Pluto conj Jupiter sq Uranus).

And for those of you wondering how multiple personalities might be indicated in a chart, look for aspects from Uranus and Neptune to the Moon and a highly sensitive nature such as might be gotten from Cancer or Pisces types. This suggests that the nurturing the individual received was defective, or the the person is so sensitive that he has a need to fragment the personality in order to survive what he cannot handle emotionally.

There are some conditions that I've yet to find theories for. These are psychopaths and sociopaths. I also have no clue how to determine if a child has experienced physical, mental, or sexual abuse. Anyone with info on those, please email me .

I hope this helps get some of you started on doing some research of your own. By no means am I suggesting that the aspects are the only factors to consider in psychological problems. It's evident that the astrological signs will have some influence in how the problem manifests itself. I haven't studied that part of it in any depth so make no conclusions.

© Sandra Rozhon

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