Page 12 - May 2025
P. 12
The Astrological 7th House
Projection and Differentiation
In the context of psychological
development and interpersonal
relationships, projection and
differentiation play central roles. A couple
once came to me for an astrological
consultation. They wanted to know, “Is this
the person for me? What is our
compatibility?” Both were in their mid-to-
late 30s, and each had been married
before. Rather than answering their observed, such projections are not random but
surface-level inquiry — “Is this the person are constellated by complexes within the
for me?” — I redirected the question unconscious of each person. The strange
inward: “Are you the person for you?” paradox is this: we may feel both profoundly
attracted to and simultaneously repelled by
I know — it might sound strange, but this the same person.
reframing underscores a foundational
dynamic in relationships: the need for When we say we are “in love,” the experience
intrapsychic integration. At the heart of often carries an archetypal quality — a
nearly every relationship struggle is this compulsive, almost mythic intensity.We feel a
kind of fascination or obsession toward
deeper, often unspoken question. Until we someone — regardless of gender or sexual
face it honestly, we’re likely to keep orientation — which often signals a projection
repeating the same patterns, regardless of of unconscious contents. There’s a magnetic
who we’re with. pull, an almost erotic charge, when we meet
someone who can carry a projection of our
Your unique astrology, particularly when inner psyche, particularly the Shadow,
interpreted through a Jungian lens, offers Anima,or Animusas described by Jung in
a framework to help you objectify your analytical psychology. These projections are
experiences with others. The people we typically marked by what Lévy-Bruhl termed
feel intensely attracted to often reflect participation mystique,a state where the
traits or psychological contents that we’ve boundaries between self and other dissolve
and we enter into a kind of psychological
disowned or are unaware of. We’re drawn fusion. No amount of reasoning can talk us out
to them because they carry parts of us we of it; we must live it, feel it, and eventually, see
have yet to fully integrate. As Carl Jung through it.
12 - My Indigo Sun
