Why ‘Piercing the Eggshell’?

Post by Barry Hopewell

Some may wonder why the title of our new biography of Bruno & Louise Huber is Piercing the Eggshell. This post gives a brief explanation.

As outlined in the book, astrological psychology is very much based on the view of the human psyche adopted by Roberto Assagioli’s psychosynthesis – encapsulated in his ‘Egg’ model. The psychological ego lies within the dotted egg, in its conscious and unconscious guises. The transpersonal (spiritual or higher) self lies at the top and just outside the egg itself. The boundary of the egg is dotted, to illustrate the permeable nature of this relationship, i.e. that this higher self can be connected with.

It is easy to see that the stronger the ego becomes, the more materialistic the person becomes, the less she is open to the higher self, the less permeable is the shell of the egg. In the extreme case the habitual ego is effectively encased within a hard shell. The possibility of higher connection has all but disappeared. It is not difficult to identify individuals in the world where this is apparently the case. Their name is legion.

For most of us the shell is permeable, but the layer of habit is quite strong. Some effort and perseverance is required to connect to our higher faculties. This is where astrological psychology can help.

In the book Astrological Psychosynthesis, Bruno Huber extended the Egg Model into his own Amphora model, a version of which is shown on the cover of Piercing the Eggshell, incorporating the Egg on which it is based.

The Amphora relates the Egg to astrology, and shows a way upward towards our spiritual nature. The ego lies, as before, within the Egg, reflected by the ego planets [Sun, Moon, Saturn] supported by the tool planets [Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter]. The Egg has been opened out at the top, showing Uranus as the planet which helps ‘break through’ the shell of the ego, Neptune as the universal love at the ‘neck’ of the Amphora, through which we must pass before the transformation with Pluto.

So that’s it – an astrological path to growth of the individual ego towards becoming a better version of themselves. The gift of Bruno & Louise Huber.

And that’s why the title is Piercing the Eggshell.

Note that the continental glyph for Uranus has been used in the Amphora, as this graphically suggests a pointer to break the shell.