When the Stars Met Freud: Astrology’s Role in the Birth of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud is often painted as the ultimate rationalist, the man who demystified our dreams and reduced our gods to neuroses. Yet, beneath the surface of his "scientific psychology" lies a strange and often suppressed current of cosmic curiosity. At the Wilfred Hazelwood Clinic, where we blend the wisdom of the stars with the insights of psychology, we know that the father of psychoanalysis was not immune to the allure of the heavens.
My own journey through the academic rigours of Swansea University and into the world of Jungian analysis has shown me that the line between "psychology" and "astrology" is thinner than history books admit. In fact, the birth of psychoanalysis was attended by a silent midwife: the Zodiac.
Freud’s Chart: The Scorpio Rising
To understand the man, we must look at his stars. Sigmund Freud was born on 6 May 1856, with a Sun in Taurus and, crucially, Scorpio Rising (Ascendant). In astrology, the Ascendant represents the persona, the lens through which we view the world, and the first impression we make.
Scorpio is the sign of sex, death, taboos, and the excavation of secrets. It is the detective of the zodiac. Does this sound familiar? Freud’s entire career was a Scorpionic excavation of the human psyche. He dragged the polite society of Vienna into the bedroom and the bathroom, forcing them to confront the "id", the primal, sexual, and often dark underbelly of human nature. His Taurus Sun gave him the stubborn persistence to hold his ground when the world called him a pervert, but it was his Scorpio Rising that drove him to look where no one else dared.
The Secret Influence of Wilhelm Fliess
Before Jung, there was Wilhelm Fliess. Fliess was an ear, nose, and throat specialist and Freud’s closest confidant during the foundational years of psychoanalysis. Fliess was obsessed with "biorhythms", the idea that human life is governed by 23-day (male) and 28-day (female) cycles.
While not "astrology" in the traditional sense, this was a form of cosmic determinism. Freud was captivated. He famously hoped to die at the age of 51 because it was the sum of 23 and 28. This obsession with numerical fate and cyclical time laid the groundwork for his theories on the phases of development. He was looking for a biological clock that ticked in rhythm with the universe, a quest that mirrors the astrologer's search for planetary cycles.
The Jungian Split: When Astrology Came Out of the Closet
The tension between science and the stars eventually tore the psychoanalytic movement apart. Carl Jung, Freud’s "crown prince," made no secret of his study of astrology. In a 1911 letter to Freud, Jung dared to write that astrology seemed to offer a "clue to core psychological truths."
For Freud, who was desperately trying to establish psychoanalysis as a respectable science, this was dangerous territory. He warned Jung against the "black tide of mud", occultism. Yet, privately, Freud kept a copy of his own horoscope in his drawer. The split between Freud and Jung can be seen as a battle between the Sun (Freud’s rational ego) and the Moon (Jung’s embrace of the mystical unconscious). Jung went on to define the "Age of Aquarius" and use birth charts in his practice, effectively birthing the field of "Psychological Astrology" that we practice today.
Id, Ego, and the Planets
Even the core terminology of psychoanalysis reflects astrological archetypes. The Id, with its primal, impulsive drive, is pure Mars energy. The Superego, the critical inner parent who enforces rules, is the heavy hand of Saturn. The Ego, caught in the middle trying to shine and mediate, is the Sun.
Freud may have stripped the gods of their names, but he kept their functions. He didn't discover the unconscious; he mapped the internal zodiac. At the Wilfred Hazelwood Clinic, we simply put the names back on the map. We recognise that your "Oedipus Complex" might just be a difficult Sun-Moon square, and your "Anal Retentiveness" might be a Saturn transit.
A Legacy Written in the Stars
Freud tried to build a fortress of reason to keep the irrational night out, but he ended up building a bridge to it. His work opened the door for us to understand that we are not masters of our own house. Whether we call them "complexes" or "planetary aspects," we are driven by forces vaster and older than our conscious minds.
By acknowledging the astrological roots of psychoanalysis, we honour the full spectrum of human experience. We are biological machines, yes, but we are also stardust. And sometimes, to heal the mind, you have to look up.
