Wilber writes that our deepest inner yearnings are to reconnect with divine consciousness, and if we do not have access to genuine transcendent states, we will have an automatic tendency to fill the void with material and social substitutes. He calls this drive for wholeness the Atman project.8

Mercury is the archetypal messenger who translates these meanings into our own symbolic mental language—this is done so perfectly that we may believe we are creating the thoughts ourselves. Learning to see beyond this illusion is one of the goals of meditation. With loving attention, people observe their minds as a space of pure awareness, through

The next layer of experiences that people encounter in deep self-exploration Grof termed the perinatal layer (from peri, meaning “surrounding” and natalis, meaning “birth”). Perinatal experiences are based around the memories of birth labor and delivery, combined with dramatic encounters with dying and impermanence in human life. As Grof's patients

Whatever someone is going through in the transformational journey, the key is to trust the process. Surrendering deeply to the feelings of depression and encagement associated with Saturn and BPM II, for example, automatically consumes their effect in the psyche and allows the material to move in a more liberating direction. Actively facing and

During my own three decades of research with workshops, consultations and personal experience, I have come to believe that archetypal astrology and holotropic exploration have the potential to revolutionize humanity's relationship with its deeper nature and help us to rediscover a more harmonious relationship with each other, the natural world, and

Both of these drives—expansion and integration—entail growth out into the world, but in different ways. Expansion makes something bigger by incorporating the surrounding area into itself. The process of integration, on the other hand, consists of recognizing a commonality with the surrounding area and adopting a new identity that includes both it

And finally, although the correlations in archetypal astrology are profound, there are many additional factors that seem to determine the content and depth of people's holotropic experiences. These include the number of previous sessions they have undergone; the level of trust they have with their sitters; the set and setting they employ; and, as

People who adhere to the old materialistic, Newtonian understanding of the world may be pragmatic in their everyday lives, but their inner experience will over time become dry, barren and dissatisfying, and without higher meaning. In order to be truly healthy—embodying what Grof calls “higher sanity”—people need to learn to be comfortable in both

The Moon's energy flowing in a healthy way helps to create in people feelings of rootedness, connection, and trust. Planets aligning with the Moon reveal how their emotional and family lives will be supported, stimulated, or challenged by other influences.