Attachment Types and Huber Astrology

The Huber way of analyzing family dynamics through the birth chart dovetails beautifully with attachment theory — and adds one critical dimension that mainstream psychology has so far only been able to lightly sketch out.

By my own definition, attachment is the ability of the child to develop a sense of security and self (or not) through relationship to the parents (or parental figures). Without a strong, secure, positive relationship, the child’s security and sense of self founder. Insecurity and low self-esteem result. Relationships throughout life are deeply and directly impacted by the quality of attachment in the child’s early years.

There are three basic “attachment types” that children (and the adults they become) exhibit:

• Secure attachment results from parents’ consistent and empathic attunement with the child. These children — and the adults they become — are likely to be curious, engaged and generally not fearful of relationships. They are playful, empathic, resilient and resourceful.
  
• Avoidant attachment stems from lack of parental attunement and from perhaps inappropriate demands for the child’s independence. These children can grow into adults whose defenses include disengagement or lack of commitment; some may display anger, antipathy or compulsive self-reliance.
  
• Ambivalent attachment is rooted in the parents’ inconsistent response to the child — sometimes warm, sometimes cold. These personalities can be reactive, volatile or anxious as well as co-dependent or not fully self-reliant.

Psychologists can determine developing attachment styles by watching children’s response to separation from the parent(s). Interventions can be taught that help the parent better and more consistently attune to their child’s emotional and physical needs — and so possibly change the course of the child’s lifelong relationship style, self-esteem and sense of security in the world. This is an amazing development!

But Huber astrology can contribute to intervention through prevention with a thoughtful and sensitive reading of the child’s chart. My caveat is that it’s not an exact or foolproof match for the three attachment types noted above — consciousness, environment and other astrological factors certainly impact attachment styles and how relationships develop. However, my instinct is that the Huber reading of family dynamics in the birth chart can help us detect the child’s inherent tendencies in the area of attachment. For example:

• Secure attachment may have the best chance when there is an indirect connection between Moon (child) and Sun (father) and/or Saturn (mother). An indirect aspect ensures a connection that allows approach and attunement — but one that has enough slack to allow the child to grow into himself over time. This jives with the notion that secure attachment is rooted in the “secure base” — a sense of safety provided by the parent, and eventually internalized by the child, that allows the youngster to venture ever-further out into the world: a growing practice of healthy separation, identity formation and individuation.
• Avoidant attachment may loom when there are no connections between Moon and the other two ego planets. This is because the parents expect (even unconsciously) the child to be independent and self-reliant right from the get-go. The child has the early impression that he or she is alone in the world, that the safety net must be completely created and maintained by himself. (However, I have seen children with no such connections whose parents are warm, connected and attuned.)
• Ambivalent attachment may occur when Moon makes a direct aspect to Sun or Saturn. The obvious danger here, particularly with Sun-Moon or Saturn-Moon conjunctions, is enmeshment — that is, the tendency to get so wrapped up in each other’s needs, wants and identity that it’s hard to separate the parent from the child. But enmeshment does not mean attunement (sometimes precisely the opposite!), so while the child may sometimes feel attuned to, at other times his or her needs may be so subsumed by the parents’ that the child can feel lost and confused. The closeness feels nice, but there’s something amiss in it.

It’s important to note that a child can display one attachment style with one parent but something entirely different with the other — further validating the Huber model that considers father and mother separately. And yet, of course, there are a lot of other factors to consider when attachment issues are afoot, including placement of the ego planets within the chart, strength and sign of each planet, interceptions and so forth. Still, simply observing the aspect relationships of the ego planets may help us conduct intervention so early that it could legitimately be called prevention. Consciousness can go a long way in mitigating what could otherwise become an insecure attachment.

As I believe early attachment experiences are the root of emotional stability, there may be no more important consideration when reading a chart, whether that chart is for a newborn or a wizened elder — because no matter how old, having our particular attachment style understood, interpreted and validated can only be healing.

Has anyone out there observed the intersection of astrology and attachment types — either formally or anecdotally? If so, I’d love to know!