A ten-week online course providing a comprehensive exploration of the three major transformative transpersonal principles in archetypal astrology: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are archetypal principles associated with awakening and creative power, idealism and spiritual experience, power and transformation. Exploring the role of these principles in our lives can help us to better understand the movements and purposes of the deeper psyche, especially the transformative dynamics and themes of the individuation process.

In this course you will learn how to use archetypal astrology to better understand the role of archetypes in your life by exploring how archetypes manifest in the arts and personal experience.

Throughout the course, we will examine the astrological charts of a number of prominent figures from film, music, literature, philosophy, sports, and politics, considering how their life  and work express the archetypal patterns symbolized in their charts. We will also consider the how astrology can be used to track changes in collective experience and cultural history.

This is Part II of a two-part series. Supplementary material on the fundamentals of archetypal astrology will be made available for attendees who have not taken Part I or for those who need a recap.

What is Archetypal Astrology?

“Archetypal astrology . . . is based on an observed correspondence between the planets in the solar system and specific themes, qualities, and impulses associated with a set of universal principles and thematic categories known as planetary archetypes. Each of the planetary bodies, as well as the Sun and the Moon, is associated with a distinct archetypal principle. Thus, the planet Mars, for example, is related to a complex array of themes and qualities associated with the warrior archetype and, more generally, to the principle of assertion, action, and aggressive force; whereas Venus, understood in its simplest terms, is related to the principle of eros, romantic love, beauty, and pleasure. Rather like the ancient mythic conception of the gods, and as in the Platonic conception of archetypal Forms, the archetypal principles associated with the planets are recognized to be not only psychological but also cosmological in essence, exerting a dynamic formative ordering influence on both the interior and exterior dimensions of reality.”—Keiron Le Grice, “The Birth of a New Discipline”

The Uranus Archetype

The archetypal principle of freedom, awakening, and revolution, Uranus manifests in experiences of sudden change—at once liberating and disturbing, jolting and electrifying. It is that principle that pushes us to go our own way in life, to experiment and deviate from the norm, to challenge the status quo and birth the new. It is the trickster-like principle that upsets our plans and intentions, revealing the limitations of our ego. It inspires us to become free and to live authentically and creatively, manifesting our unique genius in the realization of our own individual life.

The Neptune Archetype

Neptune is the universal principle associated with myth and dream, transcendence and dissolution, mystery and magic. It manifests in fantasies and projections, images and illusions, giving rise to the yearning for paradise and the quest for the ideal. It is that principle that moves us to seek connection to the eternal and to rediscover a sense of enchantment.

The Pluto Archetype

The universal principle of depth, power, and transformation, Pluto manifests in the elemental force of nature, ever destroying and creating, ensuring that life is always dying to the old and being born to the new, symbolized by the alchemical Uroborus, the tail-eating serpent or dragon, consuming itself in the perpetual cycle of instinctual life. In Jungian psychology, Pluto is associated with the dark power repressed into the shadow that finds expression in our drives, obsessions, and compulsions. It is connected, too, with Dionysian passion, demonic possession, shamanic dismemberment, and the binding grip of fate, imposing on us a calling and pulling us inexorably into our depths for rebirth and transformation.

Course Details:

• A detailed syllabus comprising reading and multi-media assignments each week to include theory and examples from areas such as film, music, literature, and/or poetry
• Online discussion assignments via D2L learning platform
• A pre-recorded lecture for each of the modules
• Live two-hour Zoom session with Keiron Le Grice each Wednesday at 1 pm Pacific Time, 4 pm ET, 9 pm GMT/BST. Recordings of each session will be made available.

Who is the course for?

• People interested in learning how to understand and use archetypal astrology, applying it to their own life experiences
• Depth psychologists and therapists of any orientation wishing to use archetypal astrology in their practice as a guide to the shifting themes and dynamics of the psyche
• People interested in the relationship between archetypes and the arts
• People wishing to begin training to work as archetypal astrologers
• Prerequisites: None, but Part I of this two-part series provides a foundational introduction to the field.

What will you gain by taking the course?

1. A basic understanding of the meaning of the ten major planetary archetypes in astrology and how they map on to Jungian archetypes and other principles of depth psychology
2. An in-depth understanding of the Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto archetypal principles—their themes and motifs, their drives and aims
3. The knowledge needed to begin to work with astrological charts yourself
4. A deeper insight into archetypal themes in art and culture
5. The capacity to develop a deeper grasp of the archetypal patterns of your own life, as revealed through your astrological birth chart

Overview of weekly topics

Module 1: Sun-Neptune and Moon-Neptune

Module 2: Mercury-Neptune, Venus-Neptune and Mars-Neptune

Module 3: Jupiter-Neptune and Saturn-Neptune

Module 4: Sun-Pluto and Moon-Pluto

Module 5: Mercury-Pluto, Venus-Pluto, and Mars-Pluto

Module 6: Jupiter-Pluto and Saturn-Pluto

Module 7: Sun-Uranus and Moon-Uranus

Module 8: Mercury-Uranus, Venus-Uranus, and Mars-Uranus

Module 9: Jupiter-Uranus and Saturn-Uranus

Module 10: Uranus-Neptune, Uranus-Pluto, and Neptune-Pluto

Presented by Pacifica Graduate Institute and the Institute of Transpersonal and Archetypal Studies (ITAS)