The astrological tradition gives us strong indications of good and bad placements in astrology. In the 20th century many of these distinctions were smoothed over, particularly in psychological astrology. And yet we can clearly see that certain planet/sign combinations carry inherent difficulty. Bound up in these terms are notions of fate and free will. Are there ‘good’ and ‘bad’ planets? Dane Rudhyar said that an individual may need “to experience tensions, conflicts, crises, dissatisfaction, restlessness — yet not be destroyed by these, but use them as sharp and strong tools to build an undaunted and indomitable personality”. Planets in detriment often take people in a direction counter to expectation, and may require a depth of experience that an ‘easy’ placement does not have. We will look at traditional malefics, as well as planets in detriment and fall, and how these placements can be understood as invitations for a life against expectation, for inner or outer work, that leads to a fuller expression of who we are meant to be.
This video is taken from a live online webinar given for the Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology (MISPA) by Lynn Bell in 2021. Duration: 2 hours 33 minutes