In my post of 1st April, I looked at Barack Obama’s political journey in Jungian terms, as the idealistic young hero successively encountering the Shadow, Anima and Wise Old Man. This worked out very neatly as Rev Wright, Hillary Clinton (yes, she is female!) and John McCain respectively.
Of course it is never quite as neat as that. Rev Wright has certainly been playing the Shadow archetype, the uncomfortable figure in the corner uttering all sorts of raw truths that are unacceptable to much of America, for they reveal its mistreatment of others, whether at home or abroad.
Obama and Wright in happier days
Obama has had to deal with this, and though he rejected Wright’s views, he did not reject the man himself. I don’t think you can in reality separate Wright from his views, so I think Obama’s political dance constituted a degree of acceptance of those views and the political constituency they come from.
But Rev Wright is also the Wise Old Man archetype for Obama. He is a lot older than Obama and was his spiritual mentor for many years. Obama is a Leo, and like many Leos, there was a problem with absence/wounding in his biological father. Leo as a sign is ruled by the Sun, the source of all life, and it is their path to find this source for themselves and then radiate it to others, to encourage others just by their presence to become who they are. You can see this quality strongly in Obama.
But as so often happens, we find our strengths precisely through where we have difficulties, where we have been weakened. And it’s almost like it’s necessary for many Leos that they should find themselves separated from the father-principle and the continuity of life that comes with that. In this way they are forced to find it for themselves, they know it can’t be taken for granted (and lazy Leos love to take things for granted). In finding their wellspring of life for themselves, it becomes uniquely their own: such individuality is a basic part of the Leo character.
An absent father often leads in my experience to young men who are unmotivated, because they do not know who they are, they do not have confidence in their own talents. In Obama’s case, this absence has acted like a forcing house, he has been exceptionally motivated to find his own path through life. And it has had the quality of uniqueness to it, precisely because he has been forced to find it for himself. This was a quality the Chicago political insiders noticed in his rise to Senator, that he thought differently, that he had something new to offer.
Rev Wright has recently taken the game one step further. He hasn’t just been uttering uncomfortable truths like 9/11 being the result of America’s foreign wrongdoings. He has descended into conspiratorial gibbering, for instance suggesting that AIDS was a racist plot by the US government. In a way this makes it easier for Obama to distance himself, but it is also more painful for him. This time he has had to go further and declare that Rev Wright is not the man he knew, and that his relationship with him has changed.
Saturn castrates his father Uranus
This issue has put Obama in the forcing house again. He went a considerable distance in becoming his own man in the face of rejection by his biological father. But he still, understandably, felt the need for a father-figure in the form of Rev Wright. He is being forced to grow out of this reliance as well, he is being forced to grow up and become fully independent through pitting himself against the adopted father-figure. This process is psychologically very important for Obama. And it is rarely a process that is neat and tidy.
Rev Wright is also no doubt feeling equally hurt. There has been a father-son relationship, but the 2 men have grown apart. As Obama has grown up, his values have been shown to be different to Wright’s. Neither of them are ‘wrong’. Wright is the dispenser of home truths, tinged with paranoia yes, but let’s not expect perfection, which of us would not be like this in his position? Obama is a politician, he wants to be inclusive, he cannot afford to deal in truths that damn half the population. If you want people to change, you don’t damn them for their faults, and Obama wants change.
Rev Wright was born 22 Sept 1941. He has Sun at 29 Virgo conjunct Neptune at 27.29 Virgo. Pluto is currently squaring his Sun by transit, and has 2 more crossings to make. The Sun is the father-principle. He is feeling torn apart, hurt, betrayed. As I write, Obama’s Progressed Sun is at 27.29 Virgo, conjunct Wright’s Neptune to the minute. If the chart we have for Obama is correct, Neptune is concluding its transit to his MC/IC axis at 19.29 Leo/Aquarius, which is a parental place. For Obama, the process of leaving Wright has been taking place for a few years, and is almost over. For Wright, the process is still new, he has been who he always was, and Obama’s ‘betrayal’ has been huge for him.
This is an old, old story. Father has big hopes for son, the son needs the approval of the father. Son proves to have incompatible values to the father. They clash, each feels betrayed, for neither can see outside their own value system, neither understands that there are other ways of seeing the world. These other ways may be very limited, but you can’t expect people to be other than who they are. For both father and son, there is a big opportunity for growth. I think that Obama is actually doing this. He understands the truths that Wright has to offer, or he wouldn’t have been in his church for so long. But he also sees the narrowness and divisiveness of the way Wright holds those views, and he has said as much.
The first stage is separation, and reconciliation, if it is possible, comes later. What we are seeing now is separation, with Obama rejecting not just Wright’s views, but this time the man himself. It is a cruel process, but a necessary one.
Obama and Wright in happier days
Obama has had to deal with this, and though he rejected Wright’s views, he did not reject the man himself. I don’t think you can in reality separate Wright from his views, so I think Obama’s political dance constituted a degree of acceptance of those views and the political constituency they come from.
But Rev Wright is also the Wise Old Man archetype for Obama. He is a lot older than Obama and was his spiritual mentor for many years. Obama is a Leo, and like many Leos, there was a problem with absence/wounding in his biological father. Leo as a sign is ruled by the Sun, the source of all life, and it is their path to find this source for themselves and then radiate it to others, to encourage others just by their presence to become who they are. You can see this quality strongly in Obama.
But as so often happens, we find our strengths precisely through where we have difficulties, where we have been weakened. And it’s almost like it’s necessary for many Leos that they should find themselves separated from the father-principle and the continuity of life that comes with that. In this way they are forced to find it for themselves, they know it can’t be taken for granted (and lazy Leos love to take things for granted). In finding their wellspring of life for themselves, it becomes uniquely their own: such individuality is a basic part of the Leo character.
An absent father often leads in my experience to young men who are unmotivated, because they do not know who they are, they do not have confidence in their own talents. In Obama’s case, this absence has acted like a forcing house, he has been exceptionally motivated to find his own path through life. And it has had the quality of uniqueness to it, precisely because he has been forced to find it for himself. This was a quality the Chicago political insiders noticed in his rise to Senator, that he thought differently, that he had something new to offer.
Rev Wright has recently taken the game one step further. He hasn’t just been uttering uncomfortable truths like 9/11 being the result of America’s foreign wrongdoings. He has descended into conspiratorial gibbering, for instance suggesting that AIDS was a racist plot by the US government. In a way this makes it easier for Obama to distance himself, but it is also more painful for him. This time he has had to go further and declare that Rev Wright is not the man he knew, and that his relationship with him has changed.
Saturn castrates his father Uranus
This issue has put Obama in the forcing house again. He went a considerable distance in becoming his own man in the face of rejection by his biological father. But he still, understandably, felt the need for a father-figure in the form of Rev Wright. He is being forced to grow out of this reliance as well, he is being forced to grow up and become fully independent through pitting himself against the adopted father-figure. This process is psychologically very important for Obama. And it is rarely a process that is neat and tidy.
Rev Wright is also no doubt feeling equally hurt. There has been a father-son relationship, but the 2 men have grown apart. As Obama has grown up, his values have been shown to be different to Wright’s. Neither of them are ‘wrong’. Wright is the dispenser of home truths, tinged with paranoia yes, but let’s not expect perfection, which of us would not be like this in his position? Obama is a politician, he wants to be inclusive, he cannot afford to deal in truths that damn half the population. If you want people to change, you don’t damn them for their faults, and Obama wants change.
Rev Wright was born 22 Sept 1941. He has Sun at 29 Virgo conjunct Neptune at 27.29 Virgo. Pluto is currently squaring his Sun by transit, and has 2 more crossings to make. The Sun is the father-principle. He is feeling torn apart, hurt, betrayed. As I write, Obama’s Progressed Sun is at 27.29 Virgo, conjunct Wright’s Neptune to the minute. If the chart we have for Obama is correct, Neptune is concluding its transit to his MC/IC axis at 19.29 Leo/Aquarius, which is a parental place. For Obama, the process of leaving Wright has been taking place for a few years, and is almost over. For Wright, the process is still new, he has been who he always was, and Obama’s ‘betrayal’ has been huge for him.
This is an old, old story. Father has big hopes for son, the son needs the approval of the father. Son proves to have incompatible values to the father. They clash, each feels betrayed, for neither can see outside their own value system, neither understands that there are other ways of seeing the world. These other ways may be very limited, but you can’t expect people to be other than who they are. For both father and son, there is a big opportunity for growth. I think that Obama is actually doing this. He understands the truths that Wright has to offer, or he wouldn’t have been in his church for so long. But he also sees the narrowness and divisiveness of the way Wright holds those views, and he has said as much.
The first stage is separation, and reconciliation, if it is possible, comes later. What we are seeing now is separation, with Obama rejecting not just Wright’s views, but this time the man himself. It is a cruel process, but a necessary one.
3 comments:
Thanks for your practical understanding on the subjects you write of. The mythic themes of your subjects have been written about many times before,but your writing about it in human terms, in present time, has such a healing quality to it. Your neutral awareness is awesome.
Appreciation and Thanks!
Jeremiah Wright could care less about Barack Obama. I see a man totally lost in his ego. He is visibly ecstatic about being at the center of more attention than he has ever known in his life, and he loves it. He feels not an ounce of remorse for what he is doing to Obama, who is, as Wright puts it, a "politician," while he, Rev. Wright, is a man of God. What nonsense! Given what Jeremiah Wright says and does, he too is a politician!
The black men of Jeremiah Wright's generation had a choice. They could follow the way of Martin Luther King and preach nonviolence and peace, or they could follow the way of the Black Panthers and preach an eye for an eye, hatred begets hatred. And Jeremiah Wright at times chooses to be a vehicle for expressing the dark side of the black experience. And by his position he had power and influence in the black community, and that is why Obama was in his church. Obama himself has said that Rev. Wright was not his spiritual or moral teacher, obviously not since they have come to different conclusions. What Obama was garnering in his relationship with Rev. Wright was political and oratorical prowess, but also the persona of the preacher which Obama skillfully projects (he is a Leo). GWB astutely calls Obama "The Pope."
Also Barack Obama chose to be, and was, raised by his grandparents. I would conclude from this that he did have a male figure involved in his upbringing. And I see in his personality characteristics of one raised by older parents. What people identify as his being an "old soul," which is also associated with being Scorpio Rising, although some question that he has Scorpio ascendant because the time of birth is uncertain.
DR--what a great posting. I have been appalled and mystified by Wright's behavior, but now understand that he has continued on his path with no regard for Barack, if indeed he ever had any. Barack, on the other hand, has again been betrayed by a father figure.
On this side of the pond, I have been more and more dismayed by the relentless attempts to discredit Obama by Hillary. She is downright manic these days---has a totally crazed demeanor. If she manages to somehow steal the nomination, I truly believe we will see the creation of a new party in the USA. Those of us who were Democratic "hangers-on", subscribing to the ideals the party purports to represent, while bemoaning the machine politics that rendered the party hardly different in practice from the Republicans, realize now that not only is change desirable, it is utterly necessary.
I love hearing your takes on our politics and I know I am reading this a day late and you have gone on to your own PM's meltdown. But I hope you get to read this.
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