Why we act the way we do? Understanding yourself better with Jung types/sixteen Myers-Briggs types of personality

 

 his is not an astrological post, but I have always enjoyed Psychology, studied it deeper some years ago and came back to some practical aspects of it, recently, in need of a better understanding why I was feeling so alone in a sea of people, or even after apparently reaching one of my deary, but seemly impossible, goals.

Well, the answer had to be inside, since the outer circumstances seemed OK... but something seemed wrong inside me. Sometimes we have to look a little inward to find our answers. Sometimes our whole life design is not working for us. Many questions come: "I don't know who I have become and who I really am? Why I am unhappy with how my life is unfolding? Why I am not feeling that warmth good feeling within my heart?"

The Theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung and the Myers-Briggs Personality Types might help you with understanding better why you act like you act, why you encounter the obstacles you normally do in life, and how can you be happier by accepting yourself and being it without feeling guilty.

There are so many sites with information about it, I will post here some of those I find really helpful reading:

- For figuring out your type you can do the following tests, although is safer, after doing the tests, to read the descriptions so that you can see if it really sounds true to your heart, if you feel a deep connection and a click of "thats it!" while reading it; if you do, then that is highly likely your main Jungiang/Myers-Briggs personality type (I know, because I always get 2 different results at most tests and one of them never clicked at all and the other after reading the description was very straightforward to get that was clearly my inner self):

Paid (official test): https://www.mbticomplete.com/contents/learnmore.aspx

Free: http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test (very good test and very good website descriptions)

http://www.123test.com/jung-personality-test/ (simple test, also has other personalities tests)

http://personality-testing.info/tests/JUNG.php

http://similarminds.com/jung.html (very precise and good test!)

 - For reading deeply about the types, what careers are recommended and other topics:
http://www.personalitypage.com/careers.html (very deep, but easy reading site, very complete)

http://www.16personalities.com/personal-development (you can also read comments from and connect with other people identified within the same type as you)

http://www.personalitypathways.com/faces.html

-Very helpful blogs:

http://infjcoachblog.com/

http://www.infpblog.com/infp/infp-description/


When feeling lost, sometimes is very relieving reading about how not so uncommon is being you (you are not alone, you are part of a group of people that share same flaws and ways of dealing with situations), but also knowing that yours flaws and your quirks are things that also make you unique and special (usually people are one type or a combination of some types out of the sixteen possibilities and those types are not supposed to be better or worse than others in absolute terms, they are just different and is not wrong to be who you are). It can really open a new world when you deal with the fact that you cant run away from yourself, because you start forgiving yourself for the flaws, treating yourself with more understanding when you try to do something that you now know is naturally hard for you.

Nobody is equal and shouldn't be, is the great Creator's will. You don't need to be as smart with money as your coworker, or as tidy as your neighbor, or a perfect cook even before you practice cooking: your personality defines who you are, you were born with this special view of the world, you came here to enjoy it and help making this planet a better place.

Saturn in Scorpio and compulsive/obsessive behavior

oday I was reading and commenting about Saturn in Scorpio current transit in Donna Cunningham`s blog, Sky Writer, and I tumbled upon an article in Cafe astrology website that attracted me deeply, for its connections with a thing that can be very damaging to our lives without we even perceiving it: obsession, compulsive behavior and unreasonable superstitions; or pretty much, any type of vice/addiction we do to try to have a feeling we control something in our lives.

I will paste the link and some parts of the text that I found very interesting and that I can relate in a personal experience level (since my Ascendant is in Aries):


http://www.cafeastrology.com/saturninscorpiotransit.html

"Saturn in Scorpio and the Signs of the Zodiac (Horoscopes)

In a general sense, this is how Saturn's transit through Scorpio affects the different Sun signs (or, more appropriately, Ascendant signs):

            Aries

Dealing with deep-seated fears, anger, resentment, and grief may be necessary during this cycle.

You might face some of your fears that are of a compulsive nature—those fears that lead you to believe that you need certain things in order to survive. Take a small example of a superstition. Perhaps we perform some kind of small ritual that we feel will help protect us or give us good luck. If we do it often enough, it becomes an addiction.

We are afraid that if we don't do this little ritual, we will set ourselves up for bad luck. If we get rid of this superstition, we feel stronger.

Something as simple as a superstition or ritual for good luck can undermine us. Why? Because we are giving away our power over ourselves to this compulsive behavior! We are denying that we have power over our own lives.

The same is true of any form of compulsive behavior and addiction. We attempt to control our lives through these behaviors, but what we are really doing is letting the addictions control us. When we give in to compulsive behaviors, we give up self-control, and guilt undermines our lives. We are not ourselves.By attempting to control others, we give away our own power.

Towards the end of the transit, you may have eliminated some deep-seated habits and attachments that have been preventing you from feeling emotionally free. You emerge healthier and stronger. You may have nixed some of your addictions and superstitions. You might feel more powerful because you have given up attempting to control things you cannot or should not control, and you will have gained a healthy feeling of self-mastery. "

I have past through a period in my life where those things really were happening, the let go of personal self-control, feeling guilty because of some compulsive pattern in my routine daily. Is really interesting how can we relate this to the transit of Saturn to our eight house. And the feeling that trying to control makes us even less powerful and self-willed is so empowering! When I read this made me feel alive and even more wishing to embrace this freedom. The sentence in bold also reflects one more important thing for me: that somethings we should leave to the powerful being that create all our Universe, God,  and give us this wonderful experience. We cant control everything and leaving up to God sometimes can make us feel better. Knowing we were born not all knowing and that we are all learning together about this mystery that is life and existence.

Is very hard to give up on those ingrained habits and rituals and maybe that happens so we can learn our lesson on the subject. Although I studied some time Jungian psychology and other specific subjects with a guided group by two very wise psychologists I met along life, I sometimes get surprised, or simply forget, how astrology, its symbols, its transits and how our mind works and the psychological study of it can be so intertwined.

The dance of planets and the working of the Universe  as well as your daily experiences seem to be guided by something more grand than us and that we can't control by ourselves, but trust and believe.

Love,

Lina

Finding your perfect love match!

have tried many techniques related to relationships, even with my past ones and checking about a person character. When you get involved with someone, for me, the most important is their character strength, their maturity and so on.

So depending on what you seek in a partner, you might want to look for certain clues in your candidates to date/boyfriend/girlfriend's birth chart to understand better who she/he is under the masks we commonly use everyday to present ourselves to the world.

This post will try to show the link between the main aspects that you might wish in a partner to get involved in a relationship and what to avoid or look for in a birth chart to see a fruitful romance bloom, avoiding disappointment and big hurts. So lets see what to look for (or avoid) in the natal chart of your possible love interest!

So, If you are looking for a:

 

What to look for in his/her chart: 

*Moon in Aries, Leo, Scorpio, sometimes Moon in Cancer or in Sagittarius can give also predisposition for being a fiery lover;

*Mars in Aries, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius;
*Aspects between planets like: Venus conjunct Mars; Mars square/conjunct/opposite Pluto;  Moon conjunct Mars or Pluto; Jupiter conjunct Sun or Mars.

What to avoid:
*Sun in Pisces or Aquarius;
*Moon in Gemini, Virgo, Capricorn.
*Aspects between planets: Venus and Mars not in aspect to each other or another personal planet (Sun, Moon, Mercury), Saturn conjunct Moon, Saturn in bad aspect with Mars or Moon.

 If you desire a family man/woman in your life, that will bring    romance, an old-fashioned romantic kinda person, loyalty and seriousness to a relationship look for these hints:  

What to look for in his/her chart: 

*Moon in Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Capricorn,  sometimes Moon in Cancer or in Sagittarius can give also predisposition for being a fiery lover;

*Sun in Pisces (but watch out, only sun is not a good evaluation when we are talking about feelings!);
*Mars in Taurus, Libra, Capricorn.
*Venus in Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces.
*Aspects between planets: Venus conjunct Jupiter or Moon or good aspects between these planets; Saturn trine or sextile Moon;  in lesser degree, Sun well related to Venus. Neptune in good aspect with Moon or Venus can also indicate someone romantic in love, but not necessarily he will be trustful or loyal, family type of person.

What to avoid:
*Sun in Gemini, Aquarius (unless with other planets in signs and aspects that indicate romance, see paragraphs above);
*Moon in Gemini, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius.
* Venus or/and Mars in Gemini, Sagittarius, Aquarius
*Aspects between planets: Sun and Moon in bad aspect to each other or another personal planet (squares and oppositions), Uranus in hard aspects (including conjunction) to Moon and Venus and Mars, since indicates a person that usually has problems with old/traditional values, Neptune hard aspects to Moon, Venus or Mercury (this last one having less effect, but can indicate a liar or an elusive person).

  
If you are looking for an independent, more brainy type of loving person, that usually would like  unconventional relationships like open relationship, unusual love making, unpredictable or/and exciting, adventurous relationships this are the clues you should look in your future partner chart:

What to look for in his/her chart: 

* Moon in Gemini, Sagittarius, Aquarius, somewhat Pisces (depends of rest of chart);

* Venus or/and Mars in Aries, Gemini, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces, Libra (somewhat);

 *Aspects between planets: Moon conjunct or in any close aspect with Uranus; Venus or Mars in contact with Uranus (also Neptune, in relationships where one is the savior and the other the underdog); Pluto with hard aspects (including conjunction) to Venus/Mars (unusual love making, taboos).  

What to avoid:
* Moon in the Earth signs; Moon in Leo (he/she needs a lot of devotion and attention to accept unusual sharing of your love with anybody else, including your dog (kinda joking));
* Venus in Earth signs; Venus/Mars in Scorpio (if in a committed relationship though, since when they enter a real partnership, you should be consumed by their deep waters of passion, if you look to the side or don't correspond their intensity, watch out for the wrath of revenge to come in your way; but if you don't desire a long term romantic involvement with them, is OK, they can be very unpredictable and exciting in love making!);
*Aspects between planets: Saturn conjunct (also trine and sextile somewhat) Sun/Moon (these people are serious and generally take love serious too!); Moon conjunct Pluto (people with deep intense emotions); Moon conjunct Venus/Jupiter (they need lots of affection and cuddling!).

In next post, I will write a little about synastry and how to relate our natal chart to our partner (or potential candidate)'s chart.

But watch out! Of course, this observations are based on astrological literature, my personal/practical experience with readings and intuition, but one has to keep in mind that the whole chart should be taken in consideration, not only one aspect or a planet in a sign alone. I just highlighted the most common points I found in charts and literature along the years. If you have a different experience or observation, chime in!

Willpower: is it finite? Why is so hard to be determined and have willpower?

Did you ever have that feeling when you have to resist a temptation and later you can't resist anything else? You wanna loose 10 kg this week, start a rigid diet, but then end up losing control over your house organization, your chores at work/university?

Interestingly, scientific researches are suggesting that our willpower is a limited resource, like food, money and so on.

Sure, there are critics to the matter, but an interesting article discuss about this new finding and how it relates even to the fact that poorer people don't choose to be poor: the more they have to resist temptation of buying things due to a restricted budget, the harder is to keep self-control to study long hours, have creativity, so on, and to develop yourself. The fact of being under big restrictions and having to exert strong self control in one are might take a huge toll in our psyches.

So, If you feel depleted on your willpower to achieve your goals, one line of research "has found reason to think that drained willpower can be restored in the short term—by taking a walk in nature or watching a humorous video, for instance"— studies on how to make your total willpower bigger in the long term are not yet clear. 

For improving studying or working, a small break to walk around some green area, having a tea or watching an youtube video on something funny might help you return to those important tasks that wait your diligence to build up for them to be finished. Some psychologists suggest for each hour of study, 10 minutes of break are recommended for the best results. 

So don't put too much on yourself or feel guilty if you take a small break. The important thing in life is living a fruitful happy existence. God loves you and all of us, and so we should love and care for our own well-being (and when we are well, we can also take better care of our loved ones). 

Reference: http://www.tnr.com/article/environment-energy/89377/poverty-escape-psychology-self-control?page=0,1

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45195530/ns/today-today_health/t/self-control-tips-pump-your-willpower/

Happy New Year!

A new year is coming, a symbolic time for us to remember what are our priorities in life. My favorite picture for today:

This makes me remember is ok to be who we are without being ashamed; is ok to be positive and happy. Guilty wont cure our wounds or make things right, we need to transform it in something positive for us and society!

Being naively who we are and not caring for what society expects us to be, as long as nobody is deeply hurt by our actions and we dont interfere on people rights or force them to do something against their will is one of the best things to make us self feel serene and happiness a state of being, not a short momentary instinctual satisfaction of a materialistic desire, like over consuming or overeating.

Happy Loving New Year for all of us!