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The client increasingly resented the situation but could not 'voice' her feelings. She spoke of wanting to "break the other woman's neck" (figuratively speaking). The voice and neck are of course, the domain of Taurus and the 2nd house, and the thyroid.







Mind, Body and Spirit - A Case History by Wanda Sellar


Wanda Sellar has been an astrologer for over 25 years and is interested in most areas of its application: horary, karmic, psychological and principally medical. She is trained in traditional as well as modern methods and works as a healer, astrologer and past life regressionist. The following case study demonstrates how she combines all these areas to offer an holistic approach to treatment.




Premise

Many holistic therapists and those working in allopathic medicine, will probably agree that the mind and body are inextricably linked. Illness therefore, can sometimes reflect psychological processes which are either unacknowledged or seemingly unrealisable. If the pervading psychological dilemma is not addressed, drugs or any other method of healing may only be palliative. Such conditions are usually termed psychosomatic; a physical reaction due to an emotional complex. Asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcers and some types of eczema are often seen as having an emotional underlay.

Of course, physical and mental disabilities that are evident in childhood cannot always be laid at the door of anxiety converting into physical symptoms. Genetic factors may also be responsible for illness; and accidents and epidemics are also accountable. Some may say however, that predilection towards disease and certain emotional attitudes are the result of pervading karmic processes. Whatever the cause, an individual's condition should not be seen as punitive but the working out of karmic, or if preferred, psychological lessons or problems. It may be true that the soul chooses a family with the appropriate genetic DNA in which to incarnate, as this will provide the right conditions for further evolution or growth.

Getting to the root of the underlying problem may be helped by astrology as physical, psychological and sometimes spiritual (karmic) factors, are evident from the cosmic configurations. The chart will obviously indicate a predilection to certain disorders, or at least pinpoint the area of physical dysfunction and the associated psychological problem.


Chart

The following chart is an example of the alignment of psychological processes with the dysfunction of one of the endocrine glands. The endocrine system is often seen as having a very strong link to the emotions. Claudia's chart immediately speaks volumes about issues surrounding health and work. The 6th house, with its Scorpio planets, is strongly emphasised as is the sign Virgo, in the 5th. We might construe therefore, that she is extremely analytical, has good powers of deduction but may have more than her share of worry and anxiety. However, she may also be a healer and a good psychologist. Claudia admitted that all this was true, and indeed she was studying psychology arid counselling.




Noting recent transits and those at the time of the consultation determines the client's dilemma and describes the physical and mental condition. The consultation was held in 2001 whilst transiting Uranus was passing through Aquarius from the 10th house making a square to natal Neptune and the Sun in Scorpio, 6th house. This indicated a struggle with career and health issues with a subsequent lack of direction and a feeling of exhaustion. Also with an emphasis on the 6th house and Virgo, there is often a tendency towards self-sacrifice resulting in feelings of exploitation. Claudia agreed that this was the case. She had been working non-stop in a dead-end job purely for money, with no job satisfaction whatsoever. I noticed that Venus, ruler of the 6th house and in detriment, had been subject to the transit of Saturn by opposition earlier in the year. Transiting Saturn had hovered around 24 Taurus for some time, indicating hard work and feelings of ill health. (Progressed Neptune at 23 Scorpio was separating from the Sun and closing into a conjunction with Venus by 1 degree). Claudia revealed that she had a thyroid disorder. Indeed, the thyroid helps to regulate the body's enemy levels which being under-active would trigger feelings of exhaustion.

The thyroid is ruled by Mercury, the Taurus/Scorpio axis and the 2nd house. As mentioned, transiting Saturn had opposed Venus earlier in the year (ruling Taurus in the 12th house) and it also opposed Mercury. Both Mercury and Venus are in Scorpio. The Moon rules the 2nd house, thereby in this instance also ruling the thyroid, and in Capricorn it too is in detriment. The Moon on the 8th cusp, a house of debilitation, creates a strain on the emotions. The Moon is further debilitated by its dearth of traditional aspects (a lack of grounding perhaps) with only an inconjunct (quincunx) aspect to Jupiter. The inconjunct is often seen as an aspect of ill-health.

The transit of Jupiter earlier in the year would have opposed the Moon from Cancer on the cusp of the 2nd. (Progressed Moon in Aries was in square to natal Moon in July 2001). This would have exacerbated feelings of duty. The 8th house is the domain of shared resources and I wondered whether the underlying emotional problem or problems lay in this area. Were finances causing dissension in her relationship?

This was indeed the case, the client confirmed. Her partner had debts from his previous relationship and she was working hard in a job she did not like, to pay them off. The client increasingly resented the situation but could not 'voice' her feelings. She spoke of wanting to "break the other woman's neck" (figuratively speaking). The voice and neck are of course, the domain of Taurus and the 2nd house, and the thyroid. The thyroid problem had run in tandem with Claudia's resentment in having to pay off debts not of her own making.

Transiting Uranus would soon be in square to natal Venus which might further exacerbate the physical problem, as Venus ruled the 6th house of ill health. Yet this could also be an opportune time to make positive plans about the kind of work she really wanted to follow. With the 6th, the choice is service or slavery! I reminded her that she had the potential to be a good psychologist and/or counsellor. I advised her that she would soon be facing a crossroads in her life. This would be due to natal Saturn, receiving a square from the transit of Saturn in the summer of 2002.

This square of Saturn, at age 35, often correlates with incidents which may lead to decisions made to further soul growth expressed often in a selfless rather than in a selfish way. Since natal Saturn is in Pisces, this indicates exacerbated feelings of entrapment and bondage or a willingness to help others who also feel predisposed to such feelings. The area of life where this issue will be expressed will be described by Saturn's house rulership: the 10th (career), 9th (education) and 8th (shared resources).

Since Natal Saturn is in trine to the planets in Scorpio, in the 6th house, this indicates that her compassionate and caring qualities may easily be utilised in some kind of healing group work. Claudia brightened considerably at this suggestion as she had always really enjoyed working in a group situation.

Transiting Saturn would also be passing over the horizon which meant that if she did not confront the present situation her relationship might flounder through the discord created by her own feelings of exploitation, lack of confidence and direction. However, it was important to understand that these were emotions she may have already experienced in her childhood and they were now replayed in the current situation. This can be seen from the natal Saturn/Chiron conjunction, opposing Mars, Pluto and Uranus in the 5th house, across the Virgo/Pisces axis. It was possible that she had experienced a 'wound' in her childhood. Claudia revealed that she had been overlooked and unacknowledged in her youth and this has caused a dent in her self-confidence.

Mercury, which rules the 5th house also rules the Ascendant and is placed in the 6th. I wondered if she were at all interested in directing her healing energies' towards children in some way? Working with children might be a way of healing 'the child within her'. The idea of working with children had at one stage been a vague notion she said and thought it was worth considering again. She hadn't thought she was doing well in her studies but her recent good exam marks had made her realise that maybe she had potential as a psychologist or counsellor. The fact that Mercury is conjunct Venus, in the house of healing, suggests that the soul and personality are strongly bound in one direction, towards service.

The Nodal Axis across the 6th/12th is further testimony to her healing abilities. If one may conjecture about past lives; the South Node in Scorpio (power and death) with its conjunctions to Neptune (sacrifice) and the Sun (kingship), ruler of the 4th, might suggest that Claudia had already been involved in some healing group situation or in a group situation where sacrifices, of some kind, were ordained. Hence her willingness to make sacrifices so easily in this life-time. Whether she was the perpetrator or the victim is hard to say, and perhaps does not matter. What is important is that she may have carried a 'victim mentality' over with her from a previous incarnation to be worked upon and hopefully, finally relinquished in this one.

A great deal of vacillation may occur in the current incarnation since Gemini, the sign of duality is the Ascending sign. But there is every opportunity for developing the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life. The path would be a thorny one since the Ascending degree receives squares from the malefics, Mars and Saturn, as well as Chiron, Pluto and Uranus.

Transits to difficult natal configurations need not bring misery, nor illness. What an astrologer can do is help the client clarify her position and indicate the choices she may have. In summary this case history would suggest that if conscious links are made between the root of the stress and the physical debility, the client can be empowered to handle the associated emotions more objectively and make future decisions in a more informed way. Further, it is to be hoped that a more equable frame of mind may help create the right kind of emotional and mental conditions for physical healing - in which ever way it is sought - to take place. Perhaps ultimately astrologers who are not doctors, by having insight into the astrological correlations of disease, can better help in clarifying the psychological underlay of physical ailments rather than naming the offending organ or the disease.







Wanda SellarWanda Sellar is the author of 'The Consultation Chart', 'The Directory of Essential Oils' and 'Frankincense & Myrrh' with Martin Watt. She has been an astrologer for over 25 years and has acted as the President of the Astrological Lodge of London, and the editor of the AA's Astrology and Medicine Newsletter, where this article first appeared in July 2002. Wanda is a qualified horary practitioner and works as a crystal-healer, astrologer and past life regressionist from home and a local clinic.

The current annual subscription rate for the Astrology and Medicine Newsletter is £7 for 3 issues (£9.50 overseas). For further information on this or any of Wanda's services email her at wanda.sellar@virgin.net




© Wanda Sellar
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Wanda Sellar is the editor of the AA's 'Astrology and Medicine Newsletter' which carried this article in its July 2002 edition.
Subscription details for this periodical are available on the AA website.