From Analysis to Synthesis

There are two ways of knowing – analytical knowledge of information and the outside of life, and intuitive knowledge of wholes and the inside of life. A modern interpretation of this understanding is for example found in the books of Iain McGilchrist¹ on characteristics related to left and right brain. We have to consider both approaches to knowing, and this was one of the foundations of Bruno & Louise Huber’s astrological psychology. In this edited extract from the popular book Aspect Pattern Astrology, probably written in the 1990s, Bruno & Louise explain the importance of these complementary approaches to interpreting the birth chart.

In recent years, many astrologers have been looking beyond the analytical-psychological use of astrology for more holistic methods. They have recognized that it was not enough to incorporate psychological techniques into astrology, while at the same time remaining bogged down in the old, analytically-oriented use of astrological symbols. Instead they needed to develop visually comprehensible methods that correspond to the needs of the modern human being and are easy to understand. This new development requires a rethink, an embracing of the laws of spiritual growth, which are closely connected with evolutionary ideas and with esoteric truths.

This rethinking moves from analysis to synthesis, from detail to the whole, thus giving rise to a philosophy in which structure and content, expression and quality, form and colour balance each other. A visual symbolic way of thinking (Jupiter) must be added to the analytical approach that registers every detail (Mercury). Only when both ways of thinking work together is it possible to combine the details and the whole in a meaningful relationship, i.e. developed holistic thinking can enable one to grasp the connections and the inner meaning of a situation.

Astrologers have always dealt with the interpretation of symbols. Symbols are external and visible forms of spiritual realities. Their study leads inwards, from the external perception of a thing to its inner meaning. If someone possesses the ability to discover the truth and meaning lying behind a specific form, this means that the intuition is awakened. Students of Astrological Psychology develop their intuition almost automatically, along with the ability to access the subjective truth through the form. Astrological study helps them to think holistically and spiritually, accelerates the flow of intuition and encourages a sensitive reaction to human nature. There are various ways of activating intuition; one of the most useful and effective is the study and interpretation of astrological symbols.

Before we go into specific holistic astrological methods, we would like to define the term synthesis more accurately. Synthesis means bringing together all diverging energies and turning them into a whole. If we are able to perceive and review all component parts as a whole or a functional entity, we also get a total picture. To see a total picture the necessary distance is required, in psychological terms: objectivity, neutrality and impersonality. It is easier to appreciate how everything belongs and works together if we stand back from it. From a certain height, like a bird’s eye view, there is a wider range of visibility than from close up. The astrological perspective naturally enables such an elevated standpoint, namely a cosmic point of view. Because it works according to the law of analogy, it reflects the cosmic order in ourselves and our world and teaches us to see ourselves as part of the whole.

The concept of wholeness and synthesis can and must be realized in modern times. Analytical ways of perceiving the human condition are not sufficient. Networking and globalisation and the connection between nature, man and the cosmos are the ubiquitous buzz words. The truth is emerging, that we are just a small part of a cosmic network in which everything is included and everything participates. We recognize that every organism and every person is an integral part of a greater whole, yet still a self-contained living being. In order to comprehend this, we need the development and cultivation of a new global awareness with which this mutual inter-relatedness can be perceived

Some of this wording now sounds quite historic in the mid-2020s, but the message is unchanged, as it relates to reality. It stands in marked contrast to some of today’s political/scientific rhetoric of separation and materialism coming from modern politics and technologies.

Brain image from Laboratoires Servier, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1. See eg The Matter with Things, Iain McGilchrist ↩︎