Myth, Enchantment and Psychological Astrology

Abstract

James Hillman's archetypal psychology aimed to take psyche out of the consulting room and back to the cosmos, through cultivation of a mythical consciousness that recognises all reality as symbolic and metaphorical. A life-long lover of astrology, Hillman has been identified as a reformer from within psychological astrology, with his archetypal perspective offering potential for a re- enchanted expression of the subject. However, earlier varieties of psychological astrology, which have been labelled as disenchanting, show a strong concern with mythology. This paper examines what difference there is, if any, in the role and function of mythology in different twentieth-century psychological astrologies and the relationship between such use and characterisations of (dis)enchantment.