Freud’s Reality Principle is a Taurus Thing & Also To Be a Psychoanalyst You Need an Angular Mercury

‘A myth is something which never happened but is always happening.’ – Howard Sasportas

Freud, born 6th May 1856, was a Taurus. An extreme Taurus, even. His Pluto, Sun, Uranus, and Mercury are all in the seventh house (using whole sign houses). Venus is the ruler of Taurus and his seventh house of long-term one-on-one partnerships, and, as this is a nocturnal chart (he was born 6.30pm in what’s now known as the Czech Republic), Venus is the strongest planet in the chart following Hellenistic guidelines on sect.

Sigmund Freud’s birth chart from Astro.com

Venus is in Aries, in sect, but also in the sign of its fall, and in the sixth house of work, routine and daily rituals. The North Node is here too. Mars, the ruler of Aries, is in detriment in Libra, in the twelfth house of secrets, self-undoing, and loss. There is a mutual reception in this opposition between the planets of intimacy and aggression, and the houses of grounded labour and ethereal transience. Human bonds are fragile and slippery, but their effects can be so enduring. To me, this is is a key take-away from psychoanalysis that’s worth keeping even if we’ve made quite a few philosophical and methodological advances since then.

In a nocturnal chart, the Moon is the sect light, the primary luminary. This suggests that Freud’s lived experience of his chart probably resonated more strongly with lunar themes, and that his emotional experience of being mothered had a profound impact on his worldview. Freud’s Moon is in the 8th house of death, intricate connections, and shared resources, in the sign of Gemini. The 8th house Moon, like his Scorpio Rising, should probably come as no surprise given his life’s work. This Gemini 8th house Moon is ruled by his Taurus 7th house Mercury.

A hypothesis: prominent psychoanalysts will have an angular Mercury, and most likely in the seventh house. Why the seventh? The seventh is the house of long-lasting one-on-one intimate collaboration. I can’t think of a better description of the process of psychoanalysis. It’s a long-term project, and the project is you. Turning yourself into an object of curiosity, and appreciating your worthiness of curiosity. We are only curious about what’s worth caring about. Love stops when you stop asking questions, even uncomfortable ones. Psychoanalysis can be about many things. To me, it’s about learning how to love yourself, and love the imperfect other with your own imperfect self.

Mercury is a light-footed quick-moving planet that covers much ground – including communication and curiosity. Mercury in the seventh is an intimate detective. Mercury in the seventh pokes holes into the stories you tell yourself about yourself, and leaves you feeling unravelled. Mercury in the seventh dares you to find peace with your vulnerability and your humanity.

Mercury is the sign of writers, and writers preserve moments – and stories – for posterity, for eternity. A Taurus Mercury creates a solid body of work that continues to attract, inspire, and challenge thinkers, artists and storytellers, even after the author is long gone.

Jacques Lacan also had Mercury in the seventh house, in Pisces (detriment), which probably explains his enigmatic and elliptical phrases, amongst other things. I’m not saying Mercury in the seventh means you should be a psychoanalyst, or that you’d be good at it – I’ve got my own natal Mercury in my jam-packed seventh house, in the fixed fire sign of Leo, with a tonne of other fast-moving planets and asteroids.

This isn’t the deepest dive into a birth chart and I’d love to explore Freud’s chart more deeply, ideally with the aid of a vetted biography and more time with, and more sophisticated knowledge of, his life’s work. Still, an initial inspection offers fascinating material for further study.

If you’re newer to astrology, you might be scratching your head over things like “angular Mercury” and “seventh house” and “whole sign.” You might say, “I was born on this day and that makes me this sign.” That’s okay! But if you’d like me to walk you through in-depth methods to explore the uniqueness of your birth chart and your life, I’ve got something exciting to announce in the forthcoming weeks!