Conflict Aspects?

Maritha Pottenger

This article continues the concept begun with fire (in the Virgo 1986 issue) and earth (in the Sagittarius 1986 issue). My suggestion is that conflict aspects can be interpreted as a challenge to one’s capacity to integrate. The goal is to make room for competing drives in life. However, conflict aspects point not JUST to needs which tend to conflict with one another; they also identify drives which NEED each other. That is, for a whole life, we need all the principles represented in conflict aspects. Choosing one side over another is a mistake. Repressing one side or projecting one side onto other people sets us up for difficulties. If life is a school, then conflict aspects represent exams. They challenge our ingenuity, our inventiveness, our capacity to synthesize. We pass the quiz when we can express all the drives involved in challenging aspects in a fulfilling, helpful manner within our lives.

Here we turn to conflicts with the air letters (3, 7, 11) of the astrological alphabet. Conflict aspects (square, quincunx and opposition) show us fundamental human drives that, despite the conflicts, do NEED one another. Too much of one can often be solved by doing a bit more of another. A full life includes them all. Examples here will be of both mundane (outer world) potentials and inner, psychological principles. The outer reflects the inner. Conflicts with various individuals in our life, or involving certain things, point to inner dilemmas to be resolved. Once we reach a better balance within, we also achieve a better balance outside.

LETTER THREE

Conflict aspects to Letter 3 show other sides of our psyche which must be balanced with our need to learn, to communicate, to use information, and to relate to the people near at hand. Balance requires enough communication—without overdoing it. It requires sensible use of our objectivity and the light touch—without succumbing to excessive flippancy or aloofness. It includes the capacity to deal with casual, everyday matters, but not to the point of becoming banal or superficial.

Immediate interests and curiosity about everything (Letter 3) must be balanced with long-range goals and values (opposition to Letter 9), the desire to do some things really WELL, to be efficient and productive (the square to Letter 6). The delight in comparisons, contrasts and dualities of Letter 3 must be integrated with the infinite Oneness of Letter 12 (a square). The casual, lighthearted, undisciplined flightiness of Letter 3 is complemented by the intense, emotional, absorbing focus of Letter 8 (natural quincunx) and the thorough, exacting, responsible, hardworking intent of Letter 10 (another quincunx).

In the following table, think of each line as a sentence, such as “The short-term focus of Letter 3 must be balanced with the long-term focus of Letter 9.”

LETTER CONFLICT ASPECT LETTER

3 opposes 9

present

future

early schooling

higher education

collateral relatives

in-laws

casual curiosity

philosophical questioning

bits & pieces

overview

dilettante

sage/truth-seeker

detached

intellectually excited

consensual reality

Ultimate Truth

3 squares 6

quantity

quality

casual

disciplined

speaking

writing

pure curiosity

applied curiosity

lighthearted

serious/dedicated

relatives/neighbors

co-workers

sociable

production-oriented

versatile

one-pointed focus

3 squares 12

rational

intuitive

sociable

needs inner retreat

contrasts/compares

unifies/blends

conscious

unconscious

linear

wholistic

casual/flippant

heartfelt/sensitive

questioning

faith

relatives/neighbors

Higher Power

3 quincunxes 8

detached

intense

breadth

depth

relatives/neighbors

mates

mental needs

emotional needs

sociable

hermit

glib, talkative

secretive

scattered

focused

lighthearted/flippant

heavy/serious

3 quincunxes 10

mental

physical

pure curiosity

need for results

restless/scattered

focused/disciplined

collateral relatives

authority figures

dilettante

career ambitions

flexible

concerned with limits

process-oriented

content-oriented

lighthearted/flippant

serious

LETTER SEVEN

Conflict aspects identify parts of life which must be balanced with Letter 7 for fuller, human experiences. The desire for a partnership or equalitarian, committed relationship (Letter 7) competes with time and energy for a home and dependent-nurturing relationships in a family (square to Letter 4), a career (square to Letter 10) and personal development and interests (opposition to Letter 1). Both human, peer relationships (Letter 7) and a sense of a Higher Power or connection to the Infinite (quincunx to Letter 12) are essential for a complete life. People needs (Letter 7) must be integrated with sensual desires and physical pleasures (quincunx to Letter 2).

LETTER CONFLICT ASPECT LETTER

7 opposes 1

other-directed

self-assertive

“we”

“me”

closeness

freedom

together

alone

weighing alternatives

impulsive action

appease

confront

sociable

solitary

polarities

one of a kind

7 squares 4

equality

dependency/nurturance

peers

mother figure

partner

children

conscious

unconscious

justice/fairness

compassion

relationships with space between

relationships with absorbing focus

competitive

protective

objective

emotional

7 squares 10

peers

authority figures

equality

control

people-oriented

work-oriented

partner

boss

sees both sides

firm rules & regs

sharing equally

hierarchy of power

relationships

worldly success

easygoing

hardworking

7 quincunxes 2

visual beauty

sensual beauty

people-pleasure

pleasure from things

relationships

material goods

plays with polarities

set in own way

fence-sitter

stubborn

abstract

concrete

other-directed

self-contained

social needs

material desires

7 quincunxes 12

people

God

logical

intuitive

equality

rescuing/being rescued

balance

“swept away” by Whole

consensual reality

mystical insight

linear

global

verbal exchanges

nonverbal knowing

polarities/opposites

unification

LETTER ELEVEN

Our conflict aspects again point to areas which we must somehow combine (or alternate, taking turns) in order to live more fulfilling lives. Our individualistic, independent, rebellious side (Letter 11) must be balanced with our desire for stability, safety and comfort (square to Letter 2) as well as our yearning for emotional intimacy and shared pleasures (square to Letter 8). Along with humanitarian principles and equal opportunity (Letter 11), we need room in life to be special, admired and applauded (opposition to Letter 5). Groups, new-age knowledge, causes and humanitarian involvements (Letter 11) have their place—but so does the home, nurturing and close emotional attachments (quincunx to Letter 4). Free-wheeling inventiveness and breaking of the rules (Letter 11) may be just what the doctor ordered sometimes, while painstaking attention to details and a finely-focused mind (quincunx to Letter 6) can be equally essential at other times.

LETTER CONFLICT ASPECT LETTER

11 opposes 5

equalitarian

wants to be star

intellectual (head)

emotional (heart)

friends

lovers/children

detached/objective

dramatic/exaggerative

mind

sex

self-proportion

self-esteem

seeks mental risks

seeks emotional thrills

humanity

loved ones

11 squares 2

risk-taker

security-seeker

theoretical

practical

friends/principle

possessions

hooked on change

stuck-in-a-rut

self-proportion

self-indulgence

seeks excitement

likes comfort/ease

unpredictability

predictability

intellectual

sensual

11 squares 8

intellectual

passionate

friends

mates

hooked on change

goes to the end

breadth of focus

depth

rebellious

disciplined

political power

personal power

free-wheeling

self-controlled

sudden insights

deep transformations

11 quincunxes 4

humanity at large

home & family

seeks change

seeks security

intellectual

emotional

independent

dependent/nurturing

fair/objective

compassionate

experimental

prefers familiar

friends

family

equality

taking or taken care of

11 quincunxes 6

sudden insights

step-by-step thinking

theoretical

practical

friends

co-workers

rebellious

pragmatic

wants new options

wants physical results

accepting/tolerant

flaw-finding

wild/experimental

studied/disciplined

ideas

results

Copyright © 1987 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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