Case Study: Sigmund Freud

​       Sigmund Freud (Sigismund Schlomo Freud) was a world renowned psychiatrist and was the founder of psychoanalysis. His theories remain influential in psychology to this day. Freud has written numerous books detailing his thoughts and theories.

      Freud was born May 6th. People born on May 6th are generally very good at deciphering people’s motivations, desires and feelings, even when others try to keep them hidden. Their own inner world, imagination and emotions are very rich and deep and they have a strong desire to “get into the mind” of others. Because of this any subject which seeks to understand human behaviour fascinates them. They are naturally compassionate and sensitive people, even when they are privately suffering they seek to help others. Other people also tend to seek them out for guidance during times of trial as they are very skilled therapists and counsellors. Because they tend to experience many personal struggles throughout life, they have a special place in their heart for those who are oppressed or victims of forces beyond their control.

       Freud’s Vedic ascendant is swati, revealing his love for educational pursuits and learning. It also makes him independent and persevering in whatever he undertakes. Swati is a good communicator and loves to share experiences and ideas. His communication is enhanced by having a natal soul urge number of 5, the number of Mercury. The ruler of Swati is Venus as it is in Libra and Rahu rules the Swati nakshatra specifically, both Rahu and Venus are conjunct in the 7th house showing that a major life purpose was to work one on one with people and provide greater understanding in intimate relationships. Venus is closely associated with the nodal axis showing the huge impact his work would subsequently have. Also being influenced by the nodal axis is the exalted Sun in Aries giving him worldwide fame and recognition. In the Western system, his ascendant is Scorpio which is the sign of psychology and human nature, ruled by Pluto placed in the 6th house of disease, medicine and healing, a natural placement for a psychiatrist. Pluto also opposes the ascendant aby 6 degrees emphasizing these tendencies.

        In the Vedic system, Saturn’s influence on the 9th house shows his hard work ethic and discipline in pursuing his medical education, becoming a psychiatrist and then writing numerous books (Saturn is in Gemini, sign of communications). His life path 4 is co-ruled by Saturn emphasizing his dedication to work and follow through on ideas. His success in publishing his works is due to Jupiter strong in its own sign of Pisces, being in the 6th house of medicine, illnesses and healing. In the Western system, the ruler of the 9th house is the Moon which is out of bounds which indicates that area of life will be outside the normal human experience and that success can be much greater than usual. It is true that Freud remains one of the most influential authors on psychiatry and psychoanalysis today.

        In the Vedic system, the 10th house ruler is the Moon and it is placed in the 8th house conjunct Mercury in Taurus. The Moon is exalted in Taurus which has given him much success and respect in his career. The Moon is in Rohini nakshatra showing that creativity, passion and sexuality were prominent in him. His natal expression number was 2 and his soul urge for his professional name Sigmund Freud was 2, this is the number of the Moon. The 2 influence adds extra emphasis on his life purpose involving Moon related themes such as emotion and psychological state. The Moon is out of bounds at declination 26 degrees 35 minutes showing that his own thinking and emotions were highly unique and different from society, he blazed his own trail and felt confident advancing his radical ideas (for that time period). The Moon rules his 10th house of career in the Vedic system and the 9th house of publishing in the Western system, both his career and books featured highly unusual approaches to explaining the root of emotions.

        The conjunction of the Moon with Mercury in the Vedic system shows that speech, communication and writing would figure prominently in his career- he was known as a great thinker and analyst and prolific author. His books include The Interpretation of Dreams, The Ego and the Id, Beyond the Pleasure Principle and Civilization and its Discontents to name a few. He advanced talk therapy, getting clients to talk about when their symptoms first occurred and in the process releasing the symptoms by bringing the unconscious experience to conscious awareness where it could be constructively dealt with. The 8th house represents the unconscious mind, things that are hidden or secretive. A major theme of Freud’s work was that the mind is like an iceberg, with only the tip of it being seen and the vast majority below the surface. However what is under the surface of the iceberg has the greatest influence over behaviour. He wanted to transform the unconscious into consciousness so that the unconscious wouldn’t have so much negative influence over troubling issues or behaviours in people’s lives. Freud wanted to uncover dreams which were symbols of the unconscious and find their meaning to a person’s life and in doing so make them conscious.

        The moon’s dispositor is Venus in Aries in the 7th house which shows his career involves counselling people one on one and shows that intimate relationships may figure prominently into the work as well. Venus’ close association with the nodes expand the controversy and publicity of his career while Venus’ conjunction with the exalted Sun gives much fame. His birthday number 6, natal personality number 6 and professional expression 6 are the numbers of Venus showing that love, sex and intimate relationships could play a role in his career. The dispositor of these Aries planets in the 7th house is Mars which is in the 12th house. Additionally Mars casts a special 8th aspect onto the 7th house from the 12th house. Both of these features are showing that he specifically dealt with issues buried under the surface or secret that were causing people suffering and grief.

        In the Western system, Venus is the ruler of the 7th and 12th houses connecting the themes of both. Mercury, Uranus and the Sun are in Taurus in the 7th house showing the interest in counselling people about their love lives and uncovering the root of their sources of grief and sorrow in intimate relationships. The connection to his career is shown as the ruler of the 10th house is the Sun which is placed in the 7th house in Venus’ sign Taurus. Venus in the 6th house of medicine makes a 3 degree trine to the MC. The Moon is conjunct the Vertex in the 8th house showing that it was fated for him to be interested in uncovering sexually based underpinnings for stagnant or unproductive emotion and desire to heal those emotions through therapy. He popularized “talk therapy” and this fits perfectly as the Moon-Vertex conjunction falls in the sign of communication, Gemini.

        A major feature of Freud’s work was sexual motivations in explaining behaviour, in fact his colleagues felt that he had an overreliance on this and disagreed with him on it. He believed that the illnesses of his patients was due to their sexual history and emotions connected with their love life. He detailed 5 psychosexual stages, each of which had to be mastered at a particular time in childhood otherwise they would cause “fixations” later as an adult. He believed that the sexual drive was present even in infants and presented the idea of the "Oedipus complex" and the electra complex whereby children are sexually attracted to the parent of the opposite sex while hating or being jealous of the parent of the same sex.

       Mars represents sexual drives. Mars is a central planet in explaining his proclivity towards sexual motivations for behaviour and takes on a special prominence in his chart. The overall chart shape is a sling with the handle planet Mars on the Eastern hemisphere and all other planets on the Western hemisphere. His life revolved around his relationships with other people and in explaining the cause of interpersonal dysfunction but his approach to life was not defined by what other people thought nor did he wait for things to happen to him. Rather he took control of his destiny as would be expected by the sling planet Mars in the Eastern hemisphere.

​        In the Vedic system, Mars is in Virgo, retrograde in the 12th house. The dispositor of Mars is Mercury which has already been discussed but again the Mercury influence compels him to communicate his ideas publicly. The Virgo influence makes him very detail oriented, and prone to logical thinking and analysis. There is some debate regarding whether retrogrades strengthen or weaken planet functioning. I believe they internalize the nature of the planet more such that it becomes a bigger part of personality. Indeed in Freud’s case this seems to be true, sexuality was one of the major themes of his life work in explaining the root of disease and illness. Characteristic of Mars he was confident, ambitious and goal oriented. The 12th house influence illustrates the hidden nature of sexuality in explaining adult diseases. According to Freud repressed libido or unusual experiences at one of the five stages pf psychosexual development unconsciously influence behaviour, illness and bothersome issues in people’s lives. The 12th house influence also explains the backlash he faced by many of his colleagues for advancing these ideas publicly and perhaps represents some of his secret enemies. Mars opposes Jupiter in the 6th house, showing that he had linked these unconscious sexual urges as the root cause of illness and disease. Mars is favourably placed in Aries in the navamsha chart in the 2nd house. It is on the nodal axis, possibly pointing to the controversy surrounding his theories on sexuality.


Relationships

      Freud was married for 53 years to Martha Bernays, she was his first and only wife. Many accounts suggest that they were happily married. They had six children. Freud was born on the 6th and has 6 as his natal personality number. Six is the number of Venus and Freud was romantic, writing hundreds of love letters to his wife. The interest in romance is also shown in the Western system as Jupiter is in its traditionally ruled sign Pisces and makes a 3 degree conjunction with the 5th house cusp. His destiny number for his natal name was 2, indicating a strong preference to go through life with a partner, they function better as part of a team. Four was his life path number and it is known that 4s value reliability, dependability and structure. Sixes and twos also highly value home and family and having peace in their family lives, it seemed that he was a devoted husband and father. There was a lot of stability and reliability in their home. The soul urge of 5 which is Mercury’s number gave the desire to keep communication lines open which was probably instrumental in working out problems with his wife. In Freud’s case, his natal and professional names yielded almost the same numbers so he was under the same influences his whole life. The name Sigmund Freud gives an expression 6, personality 4 and soul urge 2. The name Sigismund Schlomo Freud gives expression 2, personality 6 and soul urge 5.

      It is interesting that he became engaged to one of his sister’s friends as Venus representing the wife for a man is placed in Taurus in the third house of siblings in the navamsha. Also in the rasi chart we see that third house ruler Jupiter makes an opposition aspect onto 7th house ruler Mars. We don’t have her birth time but her birthday is July 26th 1861 in Hamburg, Germany. She had her Moon in Pisces and in Freud’s navamsha, he has a Pisces ascendant with Jupiter in Virgo in the 7th house opposing the ascendant. The ruler of the 7th house Mercury is placed in the 12th house, Pisces’ natural house. In his rasi, the ruler of the 7th house Mars is placed in the 12th house and is opposed by Jupiter from the 6th house. She had Venus, Jupiter and Saturn in Leo and he had the Sun in the 7th house, indicating an inclination towards people with the Sun/Leo prominent. She had Mercury, Sun and Mars in Cancer and he had Venus, the dispositor of his Moon in Taurus in the 7th house, perhaps indicating a sexual attraction to Moon/Cancer people. As a general note, even though Freud had kuja dosha and several linkages to the 12th house for marriage, he was still able to have a happy, long lasting marriage, he had very good relational skills and he had found a partner who was close to the ideal and met his needs/ wants.

       In the Western system, the ruler of the 7th house is Venus in Aries and the dispositor is Mars in Libra. Individually both of these planets are in detriment which is weak but fortunately for Freud they participate in a mutual exchange strengthening both planets and allowing them to function as they are in their own sign. This also benefits the Sun, Uranus and Mercury in the 7th house in Taurus as their dispositor Venus is stronger. Venus conjunct the North Node in the 6th house means that he is fulfilling his life purpose and making personal progress by counselling clients and helping them heal their disease. People with Venus conjunct their North Node usually have at least one soul fulfilling marriage and more often than usual find their soul mate. These configurations bode very well for the happiness of marriage and his skill as a counsellor working one on one with patients.

       On September 14th 1886, Freud married Martha. When a person gets married, it will show strongly in both Vedic and Western transits. He was running the dasha of Jupiter-Mercury-Mercury. This would make sense for marriage as in the rasi Jupiter opposes 7th house ruler Mars. Venus in the 7th house is the dispositor of Mercury in Taurus. In the navamsha, Mercury rules the 7th house and Jupiter is placed in the 7th house.

​       In the Western system, his descendant is 10 degrees Taurus. The ruler of the 7th house is Venus at 26 degrees Aries and the dispositor of the 7th house is Mars at 3 degrees Libra. Sun at 16 degrees Taurus, Uranus at 20 degrees Taurus and Mercury at 27 degrees Taurus is placed in the 7th house. There are several important tight transits. Some of the most important at that time were:

1.Tr Pluto at 4 degrees Gemini made a 1 degree trine to natal Mars
2.Tr Neptune at 27 degrees Taurus made an exact conjunction to natal Mercury and a 1 degree semisextile to natal Venus
3. Tr Uranus at 7 degrees Libra made a 4 degree conjunction to natal Mars and a 3 degree quincunx to the 7th house cusp
4.Tr Saturn at 20 degrees Cancer made an exact sextile to natal Uranus
5.Tr Jupiter at 10 degrees Libra makes an exact quincunx to the 7th house cusp
6.Tr Mars at 15 degrees Scorpio opposes natal Sun 1 degree
7.Tr Mercury at 10 degrees Virgo makes an exact trine to the 7th house cusp
8. Tr Sun at 21 degrees Virgo makes a 1 degree trine to natal Uranus
 

Health

        We know that Freud had a smoking habit that led to a long battle with throat Cancer, undergoing numerous operations of the jaw and palate. We can see this astrologically by the influence of malefics, retrogrades and dusthanas. The ruler of the Libran ascendant Venus is placed in Aries in the 7th house conjunct two malefics Sun and Rahu. The dispositor of Venus is retrograde Mars (surgery) which is placed in a dusthana house. Mars receives an opposition from Jupiter ruler of the 6th house, a dusthana house of illness and disease. Venus is the dispositor of the Moon in Taurus in the 8th house, another dusthana house. Taurus rules the throat, thus explaining the throat cancer. The malefics and dusthana influence weaken Venus. The Sun is a general karaka of health and although it is exalted in Aries, its ruler Mars is placed in a dusthana house. In the navamsha, Sun is weakened. It is the ruler of the 6th house placed in the 9th house in Scorpio conjunct malefic Saturn. Sun and Saturn are receiving the special 8th aspect of Mars from the 2nd house. Sun receives an opposition from Venus as ruler of the 8th house in the 3rd house once again in Taurus (the throat). Other than that, the Sun does not receive any benefic planet’s influence. Ultimately there was too much of a malefic influence on health resulting in a losing battle with throat cancer. Interesting to note that Freud was born on the 6th and his personality number for his natal name was 6. Six is the number of Venus and sixes can have health issue with the throat area.
 

Fame and Success

        The 9th house ruler Moon is conjunct 10th house ruler Mercury in the 8th house (Raja yoga) representing the unconscious, esoteric and dream state. The Sun was exalted in Aries in the 7th house giving fame for counselling people. The Moon was exalted in Taurus in the 8th house giving a very good natural understanding of the unconscious mind. Jupiter was in its own sign in the 6th house giving success in a medical/ healing career. The Navamsha also has 3 planets in their own signs: Mars in Aries, Venus in Taurus and Moon in Cancer, these planets are able to function at a higher level. In addition, Jupiter throws an opposition aspect onto Pisces lagna from the 7th house and Mars makes a forward 8th aspect onto the 9th house Scorpio its own sign, planets aspecting their own sign are favourable.
Durudhara yoga formed by any planets being in the 2nd and 12th houses from the Moon, these planets include Venus and Saturn (the Sun and Nodes don’t count).
Ubhayachari yoga formed when any planets with the exception of Moon and Nodes are in the 2nd and 12th houses from the Sun. These planets include Jupiter and Mercury.
Lagna Adhi Yoga formed by Jupiter in the 6th, Mercury in the 7th and Venus in the 8th house from the lagna, it gives authority and status.

        In the Western chart, his Moon is conjunct fixed star Rigel by 2 degrees. This star is associated with honour and leadership. The Moon is the ruler of the 9th house of publishing and higher education. The Moon is out of bounds, this contributes to creative, out of the box thinking. Moon in Gemini gives a desire to communicate these thoughts via the written word. Freud brought to us a pioneering view of sources of different feelings and emotions which are governed by the Moon.

​       The MC makes 7 aspects to planets, generally the more aspects the MC makes, the easier it is for a person to gain public recognition in their career.
There are connections between the 1st house and the 10th house, the Sun opposes the Asc; the 10th house ruler Sun and 1st house ruler Pluto share a common dispositor Venus (even traditional ruler of the 1st house Mars is in Libra and its dispositor is Venus). The 1st house represents the self and the 10th represents career/ fame, thus one usually needs these connections to achieve fame in their career.
 

​Significant Events

       On November 4th 1899, Freud’s first book, The Interpretation of Dreams was published. At this time he was running Saturn-Saturn in the Vimshottari dasha system. In the rasi and the navamsha, Saturn is in the 9th house of higher education and publishing. Saturn rules the 10th house in the dashamsha (career) chart.

      In 1920, Freud published Beyond the Pleasure Principle which was a landmark work and a major turning point in the evolution of psychoanalytic theory. At this time he was running Mercury-Venus in the Vimshottari dasha system. In the rasi, Mercury rules the 9th house of publishing, it is placed  in Taurus and its dispositor is Venus. Although Mercury and Venus are not connected in either the dashamsha or navamsha charts, it is interesting to note that Venus is placed in Taurus in both charts and Mercury in Aquarius in both charts. As we grow older we start to resemble our navamsha charts more as it is the fruit of the tree and at age 64 having the navamsha and dhashamsha planets in the same sign could be considered vargottama, gaining special strength.

        On April 24th 1923, Freud published The Ego and the Id, one of his most influential works. At this time he was running Mercury-Sun in the Vimshottari dasha system. In the rasi, Mercury is in Taurus, its dispositor Venus is conjunct the Sun. In the Navamsha, Mercury is in Aquarius, its dispositor Saturn is conjunct the Sun. In the dashamsha, Mercury is in Aquarius, its dispositor Saturn is in Leo, the sign ruled by the Sun.
 
        I will use the Western transits on April 24th 1923 to both the 9th and 10th house natal indicators (the 9th is important as it is the house of publishing and higher education).
 
9th house natal indicators
9th house cusp 14d Cancer
9th house ruler Moon at 14d Gemini
9th house dispositor Mercury at 27d Taurus
 
Transits (using 12:00pm, London England)
Tr Pluto at 9d Cancer semisquare Mercury 3d
Tr Neptune at 15d Leo semisextile 9th house cusp 1d
Tr Neptune sextile Moon 1d
Tr Uranus at 16d Pisces trine 9th house cusp 2d
Tr Uranus square Moon 2d
Tr Uranus quintile Mercury 1d
Tr Saturn at 15d Libra square 9th house cusp 1d
Tr Saturn quincunx Moon 1d
Tr Saturn sesquiquadrate Mercury 3d
Tr Jupiter at 15d Scorpio trine 9th house cusp 1d
Tr Jupiter quincunx Moon 1d
Tr Venus at 27d Pisces sextile Mercury exact
Tr Sun at 3d Taurus quintile 9th house cusp 1d
Tr North Node at 18d Virgo square Moon 4d
 
10th house natal indicators
10th house cusp 23d Leo
10th house ruler Sun at 16d Taurus
10th house dispositor Venus at 26d Aries
 
Tr Pluto at 9d Cancer semiquare 10th house cusp 1d
Tr Pluto quintile Venus 1d
Tr Neptune at 15d Leo square Sun 1d
Tr Uranus at 16d Pisces sextile Sun exact
Tr Saturn at 15d Libra quincunx Sun 1d
Tr Jupiter at 15d Scorpio oppose Sun 1d
Tr Venus at 27d Pisces semisextile Venus 1d
Tr Venus biquintile 10th house cusp 2d
Tr Mercury at 19d Taurus square 10th house cusp 4d
Tr Mercury conjunct sun 3d
Tr North Node at 18d Virgo trine Sun 2d
Tr North Node biquintile Venus 2d
 
 
       In Numerology, Freud was in his third cycle which was number 2, this is the same as his soul urge number, a major wish to communicate his thoughts into the world was fulfilled. His essence at age 66 was 1, indicating the pioneering and original nature of this book. Freud was in a personal year 8 indicating the emphasis on recognition and status for career contributions. His personal month number was 3 and he was in his fourth pinnacle number 7 showing emphasis on writing, philosophy and publishing.

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