We have been able to confirm how the radical aspects of the birth charts of homosexuals have points of contact with the psychoanalytical theories of the authors that we mention below. In 1917, Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychoanalyst , noted a connection between homosexuality and an inferiority complex with regard to people of the same sex. Astrologically, this complex, for a male subject, be they homosexual or heterosexual, is symbolised by the harm that Pluto causes to Mars, and from the negativity that the individual planets receive from the Sun. The disharmony between Pluto-Mars is manifest in the individual as a profound castration complex, which causes deep uncertainty over performance, especially sexual, given that the two planets symbolise the male genitals. The subject will try to shake off this uncertainty, if aspects between the two luminaries and/or Venus-Neptune are not present in the birth chart, by behaving like the classic Casanova who loves to woo a whole multitude of women, yet fears the act of penetration. If, on the other hand, the aforementioned aspects are present, due to the difficulty these may cause in identifying with the same sex parent, the subject may be gay, and the same sexual difficulties will push him into the arms of various partners, with whom he will take the inactive part in sexual relations. Pluto negative to the Sun represents for a man, be he Male Homosexual or Male Heterosexual, a profound inferiority complex, which undermines the essence of his masculinity, in the sense of the creative, working and social Ego; this also affects his sexuality, since this is represented by Pluto, but the effect will be seen more in terms of a diminution of desire and/or lack of satisfaction in the act itself. Mars in disharmony with the Sun symbolises a “superficial” inferiority complex that the man fells when in contact with others, which will lead him to conduct relationships in an aggressive and impulsive manner or, on the contrary, to be extremely shy and implosive. For a female subject, be she gay and heterosexual, the deep inferiority complex is shown by the Pluto wounding the Moon and Venus, while the disharmony of Mars with the Moon and Venus is again manifest in an inferiority complex, but of a “superficial” nature. Pluto in negative aspect with the Moon is mirrored in the woman as a lack of self esteem, which drives her to sow the seeds of destruction right at the start of any situation, be it connected to family, work or social life. This low self regard leads her to be passive in amorous-sexual relations, and initially to undervalue herself in order to conquer a potential partner who attracts her. Later in the relationship she will manage, for short periods, to wrest a position of power, by using complex tools like lies and blackmail. Pluto negative to Venus symbolises a complicated emotional life. In this situation, opposing emotions are experienced without differentiation, with the consequence that love cannot exist without hate, there can be no giving without receiving: this causes emotional imbalance that makes her insecure about her feelings, and about how her partner or people dear to her feel about her. As a result, she establishes emotional relationships that are tumultuous, exasperating yet, at the same time, passionate, but laden with dependency and masochism. Physically, the woman with this radical aspect is happy only with certain parts of her body and her figure, while others will detest their own features, and lack all faith in their self image. The Dutch psychiatrist, Gerard J. M. Van den Aardweg states that studies conducted in recent decades have confirmed Adler’s theory. Research by Irving, Toby B. Bieber and others, in 1962, showed that a subject, in order to identify positively with their sexual role, must have esteem for the parent of their own sex, and must feel loved and valued by them. From an astrological point of view, in order for there to be proper identification, it is best if the Moon and Sun are not in aspect with each other, since they symbolise the male-Sun and female-Moon role, which allows a subject to establish a clear separation-identification with the appropriate role of their sex. As a consequence, proper identification occurs if the Sun, for the male, and the Moon, for the woman, are in positive aspect with the other planets of the chart. The adult homosexual is often a person who, during adolescence, failed to be accepted in the community of young people of the same sex, and this leads to an accentuation of the desire for the affection of people of the same sex, to whom they feel inferior, giving rise to a sense of rejection and exclusion. Astrologically, the conflicts mentioned above are symbolised by the negative aspects that Mercury receives, and by the wounded third and fifth houses. Van den Aardweg explains that the lack in the home of clear cut maternal and paternal roles can contribute to homosexual orientation. This lack is expressed astrologically by the link between the two luminaries, both positive and negative, positioned in Gemini - third House, Virgin - sixth House, Aquarius - eleventh house. Similar conclusions were also reached by Giuseppe Cesari, professor of clinical psychology at the University of San Diego in California: a boy or girl may not manage to identify with the parent of their own sex during the so-called Oedipal phase; in this case, the subject regresses to primary pre-Oedipal narcissism, thereby laying the foundations of a homophile emotional orientation. If a subject so “predisposed” meets homophile individuals, he may experience a delayed process of identification in their regard, which will give rise to a homosexual orientation. According to J. Nicolosi (US professor of psychology), homosexual people, instead of developing an emotional attachment towards the parent of their own sex, feel rejected and develop a “defensive detachment” that protects them from further frustration. This condition is shown by the aspects of the luminaries and Venus, which are often linked to the neutral planets like Saturn and Uranus, or due to their location in Gemini/3rd House, Virgin/6th House or Aquarius/11th House. The causes of this lack of attachment may be extremely varied and involve all members of the family; the outcome may be a serious lack of self esteem and sexual inadequacy. According to J. Nicolosi, the heart of the homosexual condition lies in the reaction, revolt and rebellion against the social reality and the limits it imposes. This condition is symbolised by Pluto connected to the luminaries, forming negative aspects with Venus or positioned in the VII House, but also by the Venus-Neptune aspect, which allows the subject to compensate for the lack of love/self esteem by experiencing alternative affection. Bieber nel 1962 aveva già descritto il classico quadro familiare che un individuo maschile omosessuale si trovava a vivere. Il quadro era composto da una madre iperprotettiva e dominante e da un padre debole od ostile oppure molto distante fisicamente o psicologicamente dalle questioni di casa. Il figlio preferisce giochi tranquilli, non ama eseguire sport o attività fisica ed è molto legato alla madre ed ha relazioni conflittuali con i fratelli e sorelle. As early as 1962, Bieber provided a description of the classic family picture in which a male homosexual finds himself: a hyper-protective or dominant mothe,r with a weak or hostile father, or one that is very distant physically or psychologically from matters of the home. The son prefers quiet games, does not like sport or physical activity and is very close to the mother, but has conflictual relationships with brothers and sisters. Astrologically, this is represented by wounding between the two luminaries, in which the Moon, as mother, is healed by harmonious aspects with other planets, or is located in signs that are strong but not congenial to her, such as Scorpio, Leo or Aries, while the wounded Sun is forced to succumb. But it may also be symbolised by a wounded Sun in Cancer, fourth House, or Pisces, twelfth House, in which the Moon is dominant, since they are respectively in domicile and in exaltation. In the development of female homosexuality, the family picture is again made up of a dominant mother and a father capable only of a subordinate and secondary role, even if the bond is intense and satisfying. The subject’s behaviour as an adolescent displays a preference for male games and company, with an inclination towards a “tomboy” mentality and attitude. All this is symbolised in the birth chart by the harmonious aspects of the Sun with Pluto and Jupiter, while the Moon is wounded by the Sun, or by other planets, with the consequence that the mother, due to her feelings of being victimised, or her own weakness, will cling to the daughter; the latter will have no wish to be or become like her. But it may also be symbolised by harmonic aspects such as Mars-Pluto or Sun-Pluto, or a gathering of planets in the fifth House, which represent a prevalence of masculine hormones, giving rise to the “tomboy” behaviour. SUN-MOON: the family during childhood. Of primary importance are the aspects between the Sun and the Moon, which, in the individual, represent the masculine/father and feminine/mother parts. Indeed, we have confirmed that in the birth charts of homosexuals, both male and female, such aspects are present to a very high percentage, as can be seen in the following table. [4] Female homosexuals. [5] Female heterosexuals.
In the analysis of a birth chart, the natural conjunctions should also be taken into consideration, such as the Sun in Cancer and in Pisces, as is very often the case with male homosexuals, or the Moon in Aries and Leo for women.
The harmonious aspects between the Sun and Moon are mirrored in the individual as a fusion between their masculine and feminine sides, causing them to act in a way that merges the masculine side, seen in the way they approach work, maintain social contacts and their rapport with institutions, with their feminine side, which emerges as sensitivity, emotionalism, fragility and desultoriness. This is due to the relationship that the subject has witnessed from an early age between parents who are more focused on the relationship as a couple than on their relationship with their children. These parents think in the same way, and conduct their relationship with the child in the same, taking positions either for or against them. In this way, when all is going well, subjects will feel very close to them, but, if they do not respect the rules, they will be marginalised and alone. A mechanism is thereby set up in which the individual finds great difficulty in clearly distinguishing the parental roles, consequently impeding their ability for natural self-identification, in which the male identifies with the father and the female with the mother.
With negative aspects between the Sun and the Moon, the opposite occurs, that is, the parents are so different that there are often furious rows, which may end in separation and divorce. As a consequence, the child is forced first to endure the arguments, and then to live mainly with one parent, who transmits, directly or indirectly, the aversion or hate-sufferance they feel towards the other parental figure. The subject is forced to take the side of the parent with whom they live, condemning the other and so coming to hate and reject part of themselves; a part of themselves they consider inferior, and problematical, which prevents them accepting their own sexuality. So it is that, if the son feel remains with the mother, a symbiotic and possessive relationship will intensify, leading in the end to him identifying with her; the same process occurs with the daughter who stays with the father. Whether or not this tendency comes to be dictate their development, of course, will depend on the other aspects of the birth chart. If, however, the relationship between the parents is argumentative, Sun and Moon in dissonant aspect, but they continue to live together, the son will tend to align himself with the parent who gives him most love, hating the other, whom he holds responsible for the rows and suffering, and this creates the same mechanism. With positive radical Sun-Moon aspects, the subjects, both male and female, will accept their own homosexuality, but if there are negative aspects between the two luminaries, they will be torn between pursuing their natural instincts, but at the cost of a heavy sense of guilt, or repressing them, and remaining perennially frustrated.
Our statistical evidence shows that the majority of the Sun-Moon aspects are sustained by harmonious aspects, particularly by Jupiter who, in his symbolism of growth and image, prompts the individual to open out and accept their own personality, being themselves as they are, without any reservations. Moreover, we have confirmed that, in a male subject, there is a very high percentage of natural Sun-Moon conjunctions, with the Sun in Cancer and in Pisces, but also substantial evidence of the Sun in Taurus, which, in effect, is a strictly feminine sign since it is governed by Venus/ovaries and X/uterus. For female subjects, there is a high percentage of natural Moon-Sun conjunctions, with the Moon in Aries and Leo, but there is also a high percentage of occurrences of the Sun in the sign of Scorpio.
The conjunction of the luminaries is mainly present in the eleventh House, underlining the balance between the male and female hormones present in the individual, with the consequent predisposition to oscillate towards male homosexuality for the man if, for example, the House is located in the sign of Cancer, Pisces or Taurus, or towards female homosexuality, if the House is found in Aries, Leo or Scorpio for a woman.
On the other hand, we have found that those people whose birth charts present Sun-Moon harmonious to Saturn and Pluto are mostly heterosexuals. Saturn, in his symbolism of the super-Ego, sense of reality and social rules, leaves his mark on the individual by instilling the respect for such principles, which lead subjects to live according to traditional values. Pluto represents the libidinal force of each person which is channelled, if linked positively to the Sun for a male subject, into expressing their virility, both psychic and sexual, with pride; if the planet is linked harmoniously to the Moon for a woman, the libidinal energy is directed towards the expression of her femininity, even if it is shown in an unconventional manner.
Notable aspects:
Radical aspect Sun-Moon, Neptune-Mars, Mercury in conjunction with Mars in the 11th House (under influence of Uranus).
The subject displays the Sun and Moon in conjunction in Aries. The aspect indicates the impossibility of effective identification with either of the two parental figures, since they are perceived by the child as a symbiotic couple, therefore inseparable. This leads to various consequences: first of all, the feeling of being marginalised by the special relationship established by the parents, and being unable to differentiate between the various areas of life. So, when he encounters emotional problems, these will inevitably influence the professional field and vice versa.
The luminaries in Aries in the eleventh House show an impulsive but, at the same time, volatile nature. As dictated by the solar sign, he is generous and audacious, but is also capable of explosive anger which, however, as soon as it erupts, is quickly consumed and contained. The eleventh House, co-significant Aquarius, in its symbolism of equality and brotherhood, indicates how the boy’s inner equilibrium will be sorely tried, given the presence of the two luminaries and Mercury and Mars, which cause him to be full of life, to have a spirit of initiative, to love sport and challenges and, above all, to assert himself.
At 12 years old, the body began to suffer from rheumatic fever, Mars in quadrature with Neptune, as a result of which he was obliged to take strong doses of cortisone which negatively effected his health. The treatment prescribed, in fact, turned out to be wrong, and caused him to fall into a coma, after which a long stay in hospital was required.
As a result of swelling, due to the vast quantity of drugs, the boy was afflicted by a sense of inferiority compared to his fellows, being convinced that his exterior aspect was unattractive, which made it impossible for him to make any approaches to the girls he knew.
The subject believes that these complexes weighed heavily in determining his later sexual choices, since it was precisely in this period, which lasted until he was 16, that he began to masturbate thinking of men. He continued to repress his impulses, also because of the morally rigid environment in which he was obliged to grow up, and so he began to have his first complete sexual experiences with girls, while secretly beginning to orient his thoughts towards men.
At around 21 years old, the boy was treated on several occasions in a psychiatric hospital, due to the continuous blows inflicted on the mother.
After a life passed alongside a violent father, who ferociously hit and brutalised the mother, he found himself victim of the compulsion to repeat the same action, which showed his inner rancour to her (Pluto opposed to the Moon), precisely because of the feeling of never having been wanted and accepted by her.
On returning home after the last spell in hospital, the father threw the boy out of the house (Pluto in technical opposition to the Sun), and he was obliged to go to the south of Italy, where he had his first full homosexual experience. This proved to be disappointing emotionally, while sexually, he discovered his identity as a lover, since he finally succeeded in giving form to the erotic compulsion that he had for so long repressed.
His second experience was with a habitual criminal of 50 years of age, who, while forcing him to obey him with the threat of violence, nevertheless taught him a profession, which he is currently engaged in. A series of other relationships followed, in which the boy expressed his violent and destructive side, luminaries in Aries wounded by Pluto. Sexually, he does not accept the passive role and, indeed, the moment when one of his lovers tries to penetrate him, he rebels and the relationship is brusquely brought to an end.
From “Astrology to Homosexuality”
translated by Nick Skidmore