"The Fusion of Psychology and Spirituality in the Alchemical Cauldron of Intimacy"
December 6 - 15, 2005

Lynn Bell and Steven Forrest joined forces to bring us this workshop, entitled "The Fusion of Psychology and Spirituality in the Alchemical Cauldron of Intimacy". The combining of these two great astrological minds, with their insightfulness, vast experience, breadth of knowledge and engaging personalities created some real alchemical magic in itself, in one of the most magical places on earth.

During this 9 day intensive workshop, Lynn and Steven presented workshops individually, and at times together on this fascinating subject, pertinent to one and all as we stew together in our journeys towards psychological, emotional and spiritual understanding. They worked on this idea since June 2004, and it evolved until the workshop took place in December 2005.

THE FUSION OF PSYCHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY IN THE ALCHEMICAL CAULDRON OF INTIMACY

Under the long-running sextile of Neptune and Pluto, modern psychology and ancient metaphysics are coming together, re-defining the word “sanity” for the Aquarian Age. Nowhere is this collision more dynamically creative and alive than in humanity's sense of what it means to be a man or a woman. Lynn Bell and Steven Forrest took the group for 9 days f exploration of this modern frontier. Synastry, the astrology of intimacy, and the changing symbolism of femininity and masculinity were the focal points of the workshop, as they are illuminated by the merging lights of developmental psychology and evolutionary astrology.

WORKSHOP FORMAT

Steve and Lynn brought distinct but complementary perspectives to the astrology of intimacy. Each of them believes that sanity cannot be achieved or maintained without a spiritual life, and neither can envision a spiritual life that remains insulated from the gritty realities of inner psychological work.

Within that framework of accord, Lynn‘s work reflects her psychological approach and her European outlook, while Steve’s work unabashedly refers to the evolution of the soul, often against the backdrop of karma and reincarnation. Together, the whole they created in this workshop was greater than the sum of its parts. In practical terms, much of the Bali workshop was composed of separate half-day teaching sessions guided by either Lynn or Steve, with each of them rotating between mornings and afternoons. At the beginning, at the close, and at a few points during the nine days, they came together for Question and Answer periods and to create opportunities for integration and dialog between their perspectives and the emerging perspectives of class members.

Lynn’s work illuminates patterns of partnership in the chart, the complex interactions of sex and love, and balancing the inner masculine and inner feminine. Viewing relationship as initiation, she helped us work with difficult interchart aspects, and to sort out “the war within” from the actual struggle within the relationship. At times some of us may experience 'dry periods' in relationship, times that may simply feel empty, or lead to a breakthrough in the way we experience others.. Under the banner of “Shadow dancing,” she brought forward some startling perspectives on how the Seventh House can actually become a barrier to relationship. Recognizing the diversity of relational styles, she organized patterns of intimacy into phases of Fire, Earth, Air and Water, each with its own signatures and challenges. Throughout, the Holy Grail remains the Cosmic marriage - the Conjunctio.

Steve feels that three simultaneous approaches are necessary in synastry. The first is to achieve a thorough understanding of the relationship dynamics of each individual separately and independently - who is this person and what are his or her needs and evolutionary intentions in terms of partnership? What is the nature of this person’s “natural mate,” if any? And just how appropriate is commitment and “mating” for this individual? What are his or her blindspots? The second approach lies in the area of “classical” synastry: how do my planets fit into your chart in terms of inter aspects and house transpositions? In other words, what kind of integrative view can we achieve regarding the mutual impact of these two people? The third approach lies in an analysis of the mysterious third creature that arises when they come together. We achieve that understanding through the composite chart, which describes the nature, evolutionary direction, and Shadow of the couple as an entity.