I suppose the question is becoming more and more urgent as environmental degradation seeps more deeply and more intractably into our lives — and as people of certain stripes [...]]]> This question has come up, in various forms, during several horoscope readings lately: What is my relationship to the environment? – meaning the natural environment, nature, wildness, wilderness.

I suppose the question is becoming more and more urgent as environmental degradation seeps more deeply and more intractably into our lives — and as people of certain stripes reach ever more desperately for connection to the earth, or to our inner wilds. But it’s a difficult question, not only because there’s no clear archetype of nature herself in the horoscope but because what the horoscope does tell us about nature seems, in my view, to jive with a more imperialist view of humanity’s relationship with the trees and the mountains and the rivers.

What I mean is that my instinctive response to the question is to look at astrological implications of what the chart native can “get” from the natural world. For example, the other day, an avid dog lover with Jupiter in Taurus in the 5th house put the question to me in her own way, and my gut reaction was, “You could probably make a good amount of money breeding dogs.” Besides being a wholly inadequate response, the specific example implies a view that nature is there for our benefit — and that is not my client’s perspective (or mine) at all.

So the question becomes not only how to let go of my own unexpected imperialist view but also, then, to answer a question with a question: What is your intention, or desire, or need with nature? What are you thinking, feeling, or longing for, that seems as yet out of reach? The UK’s Atmosphere, Climate & Environment Information Programme has a wonderful summary of differing perspectives on nature here, describing four basic human attitudes toward the wild:

• Stewardship, which holds that humans are part of and must care for the environment.
• Imperialism, which holds that humans and nature are separate, and that humans have an inherent right to control nature.
• Romanticism, which holds that nature is sacred, akin to God, and must be left alone to its wildness.
• Utilitarianism or hedonism, which holds that the purpose of nature is to provide pleasure, comfort and usefulness to humans.

Each of these perspectives will have astrological corollaries through which we can understand more deeply the client’s impulse around nature. However, like any relationship, we cannot look to just one element of the chart to say, “Oh! You’re a hedonist! You want food from that river.” For example, a steward will be resource-conscious while also valuing mutuality. Perhaps she has a strong Venus, a horizontal aspect structure and several planets along the 2/8 axis. An imperialist may have more dominant-submissive features, such as a strong vertical orientation, an intense Pluto and several oppositions. A romantic might be watery and 12th house-oriented, whereas a hedonist may be earthier with a dominant Jupiter.

Then again, maybe not. Because again, like any relationship, the answer will never be as straightforward as a single archetype or element (which, after all, is not a simple thing in and of itself anyway). While we might have overriding tendencies in any relationship — to seek attention, to create stability, to exchange ideas, to control — none of us is exclusively a monolithic impulse. We want all of these things, from each other and from nature, in differing proportions in different relationships at different times in our lives.

And so asking an astrologer, “What is my relationship to the environment?” is a bit like asking her, “What is my relationship with people?” or “with money?” or “with work?” Relationships comprise the whole of the chart; they are a primary expression of Psyche; they engage every intricacy of our brains, our bodies, our souls, so that it is a question worthy of a whole session, or more, to inquire about the wilderness.

And that’s not even considering the wilderness within.

Picture of the Week: Scott Thiessen