Randomly opening, once again, 20th century astrologer C.E.O. Carter's
"An Encyclopaedia of Psychological Astrology" (first published 1924, re-printed at various points throughout 20th century). This time I opened the book at "S" and picked "Sensitiveness". I'd have titled the paragraph "Sensitivity", but perhaps Mr Carter had his reasons.
Sensitiveness is common to all watery signs, and perhaps most of all to Cancer, this sign being susceptible to outside influences in the highest degree. All the negative signs are on the whole more receptive and sensitive than the positive, with the usual exception of Taurus, which is often extremely obdurate against criticism or slights of any kind - whence, among other reasons, the fact that it is the sign of the lunar exaltation. Here only the Moon may be said to find rest and stability. Leo and Sagittarius probably come next in lack of sensitiveness. Virgo is easily hurt and inclines to adopt an attitude of what is commonly called "huffiness". Capricorn readily feels slights or snubs, and is very sensitive to neglect or being overlooked. Libra is easily hurt, but, unlike the watery signs, has a short memory for such things, and can generally be easily consoled. Gemini and Aquarius are predominantly mental and do not feel injured over-easily.
In applying Mr Carter's interpretations, we have to bear in mind that he is talking about zodiac signs, not necessarily the sign in which one's Sun resides natally. Rising sign, Moon sign, clusters of planets in a sign, sign at mid-heaven will all figure in - as might house position if one is sure of time of birth.
Being a Cancer rising mortal, I shall raise my hand to being sensitive, which sensitivity is no doubt aided and abetted by Jupiter in Pisces in exact semi-sextile to Aquarius Sun - possibly softening some of that "mental" hardness and coldness often diagnosed as being "Aquarian". Mars in Scorpio completes my watery trio. Aries Moon tends to fight back when sensitiveness arises, but doesn't always win.
Any sensitive mortals reading this - care to share?
Cancer rising, Aquarius moon, Sag sun... Right there with ya!
ReplyDeleteThere are several interpretations of "sensitivity". Some individuals are thick-skinned and won't perceive, and others react to their own judgement(s) of self-worth and display that through the not-self of others. Mental-emotional disorders, which all of us demonstrate to some degree (yes, we are all crazy on this bus!) and are influenced by both natal chart and environment, allow for pick-and-choose reactions. I believe that some individuals are psychic and are finely tuned to the people-atmosphere around them. I've known friends and acquaintances that are overly emotional and cry at almost anything that "moves" them, yet several are very callous about spewing hurtful remarks at others...LOL. Some individuals, like Donald Trump are just plain creepy, insensitive, and out for themselves. Others like Bill Cosby are resentful liars causing tremendous harm for their own ego (and other) gratification. Quite a range of sensitive-insensitive boundaries to explore in life!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment that astrologically, it's difficult to pin-point a one-size-fits-all influence. I suspect that the environment plays a much greater role, with parental conditions at the top of the list, followed by siblings and general life influences. Astrologically, I'd peg Moon (emotions) and Saturn (the teacher) placements and aspects as the greater determinant of sensitivities.
I've noticed that all individuals have repetitive themes in their life that are no doubt astrologically induced. These recurring patterns provide particular sensitivities to the individual. The fortunate person will re-work these patterns over time and experience, and adjust their mental-emotional self to better resolve the issues and become less sensitive to them.
Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole's daughter, disappeared from sight for a decade, then made a comeback. It was rumored that she had fallen to disrepute. In an interview after her comeback, she said that she realized she had a choice to make: bitter or better and she chose better. Bitterness is guaranteed to harbor sensitivities.
Anonymous ~ Hi! Fun ain't it? :-)
ReplyDeleteP.S. - I'd have to say that astrological transits seem to modify our sensitivities, too. The recent, but very long duration Uranus-Pluto square, with transits to Cancer and Libra making a T-Square or grand square, certainly influenced sensitivities or lack of around the globe.
ReplyDeletemike ~ Maybe your first paragraph highlights a difference between sensitiveness and sensitivity. I can "feel" the difference, but find it hard to put into a decent set of words. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I agree, this time, on importance of siblings/environment etc, as ranked with the astrological. Also "emotions" and sensitiveness are not necessarily quite the same - though related, but yes, Moon position will factor in strongly. Saturn - don't know about that. I have both Moon and Saturn in Aries, but they don't entirely cancel out Cancer rising's sensitiveness, in both physical and mental ways. C.E.O. Carter didn't mention physical sensitiveness, such as sensitive skin, allergic reactions and suchlike.
I agree about recurring themes, also that maturity can "iron out" a lot of early over-sensitive reactions in a person. Living and learning (sometimes).
When I was looking for a quote for the sidebar I kept seeing one by Mike Tyson...LOL!
My biggest weakness is my sensitivity. I am too sensitive a person. He has Sun and Jupiter in Cancer.
mike (again) ~ Good point!
ReplyDeleteWith natal Neptune-Mercury-Jupiter (rulers of my angles) in Scorpio, square Moon in Aquarius, and both Pluto and Uranus in the 12th, I'm pretty sensitive and always have been.
ReplyDeleteI think sensitivity means different things . . . a lot depends on how big and inclusive our circle is and what motivates us, also how mature we are. A person can be extremely sensitive and still lack empathy or a moral compass.
Sometimes being sensitive just means we're easily offended, even kind of childish, frequently on the defensive or hypervigilant about getting our own needs met.
Sensitivity can sometimes be an amazing gift *if* we use it to tune into and serve something greater than ourselves. It can take time.
Or we can be sensitive in other ways. I have a friend with Moon in Pisces, Neptune in Scorpio, Mars in Cancer who is extremely sensitive to odors and chemicals of any kind. It's been hard on her, being the canary in the coal mine.
I'm not sure the distinction you are making between sensitive and sensitivity. Sensitivity is the quality or condition of being sensitive (dictionary.reference.com).
ReplyDeleteThis from Wiki:
"Recent research in developmental psychology provides further evidence that individuals differ in their sensitivity. According to the differential susceptibility hypothesis by Belsky (1997b; 1997a; 2005) individuals vary in the degree they are affected by experiences or qualities of the environment to which they are exposed. Some individuals are more susceptible (or sensitive) to such influences than others however, not only to negative but also to positive ones. For example, research by Pluess & Belsky has shown that children with difficult temperaments in infancy are more susceptible to the effects of parenting and child care quality in the first 5 years of life. Intriguingly, these children not only had more behavioral problems in response to low quality care, they also had the least problems of all children when having a history of high quality care. This suggests that children with difficult temperament are highly susceptible rather than difficult and therefore able to benefit significantly more from positive experiences compared to other less susceptible children. These discoveries have prompted Pluess & Belsky to use the term vantage sensitivity in their review of such results, highlighting the evolutionary advantages of the trait."
"The sensitivity or insensitivity of a human, often considered with regard to a particular kind of stimulus, is the strength of the feeling it results in, in comparison with the strength of the stimulus. The concept applies to physical as well as emotional feeling. Stimulus may consist of any or all types of stimuli, including political, nationalistic, religious, physical, mental, emotional, etc. In the political sense, perception of and reaction to stimuli is often inculcated by - and for the benefit of - power holders."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitivity_%28human%29
mike ~ I forgot to thank you for mentioning H.R. 1599 the other day. When I checked my inbox, there were several email alerts.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I phoned our representatives and encouraged a bunch of other folks to do the same. I'm doubtful but we'll see. When I mentioned the bill to a couple of local people with strong connections to GMO-free food (one a small organic café owner, the other the good friend of an organic restaurant owner), not surprisingly, neither had even heard of it, though both said they'd call and pass along the information.
mike ~ Maybe your last comment is for Twilight? But I agree: "Sensitivity is the quality or condition of being sensitive"
ReplyDeletemike ~ the distinction I was searching for, or to put into words, was the distinction between sensitiveness and sensitivity -not sensitive and sensitivity. :-) Not quite the same difference?
ReplyDeleteLB - Last comment is for Twilight, but appropriate for all! Yes, HR 1599 is important, but don't forget HR 913. HR 913 counters HR 1599. HR 1599 is primarily anti-GMO labeling, but extends to all labeling, too. It also allows for GMO-fed meat, eggs, milk to be sold as non-GMO. Organic and non-organic produce crops using GMO mulch (alfalfa) will not have to disclose. I can't remember other implications, but a little internet searching will provide those articles. If HR 1599 passes, it will have far-reaching effects.
ReplyDeleteI saw that San Fran had a 4.0 this morning. Did you feel it, LB? I went through the Northridge earthquake back in January, 1994, and it was something else, though I was several miles from the epicenter. I was literally thrown out of my bed.
LB ~ Yes, sensitiveness and sensitivity can cover a lot of different areas of life, and in both positive and negative guises.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I see my own sensitiveness as negative - I get on my own nerves at times (but that's from opposing astro-factors I suppose). But I see what I think of as my own sensitivity as positive - being aware (or at least supposing that I'm aware - can never be certain) of another person's feelings - etc.
I'm still lost...LOL!
ReplyDeleteSensitiveness - the state or quality of being sensitive (dictionary.reference.com).
Suffix -ness - "a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state):
darkness; goodness; kindness; obligingness; preparedness."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ness
mike ~ Nope, didn't feel it (unusual for me) and hadn't even heard about it! Yesterday was hot and humid, not much wind, overcast later in the day ~ what *I've* always considered 'earthquake weather'.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago, I got into a lengthy discussion with a restaurant owner about the meat he uses. In spite of evidence to the contrary (which I shared with him), he continues to believe the dead cows he serves were raised humanely, organically and using GMO-free feed. The company's website is very misleading, though when asked about it on Facebook, they did admit there are no prohibitions against individual farmers using GMO feed.
It takes a lot of digging to get to the truth. And even then, I'm not always so sure. In addition to investigating online, I sometimes email companies with specific questions or concerns. Sometimes they respond and sometimes they don't.
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Twilight ~ Just a thought, but when we reject our own sensitivity (or whatever word you use) we're more likely to 'project' it onto others as shadow material. It also makes it harder to empathize and relate to shared vulnerabilities, which, as you said, is one of the gifts of sensitivity.
mike ~ Lol...I know...I started on this track by wondering why C.E.O. Carter had headed his section "sensitiveness" rather than sensitivity - which I had initially thought was a better term - then I got to wondering if there was a subtle difference in the two "states". I guess everyone has their own interpretation of them whatever dictionaries tell us. I'm probably arguing with myself here. :-) I still think there is a subtle difference, and maybe Mr Carter did too.
ReplyDeleteLB ~ Getting too deep for me there LB! I'm not into projection - don't believe in it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I remember chastising my younger brother for crying when I made him wait outside for me while I (briefly) visited a neighborhood friend.
ReplyDeleteI still remember his sweet face, lips quivering as he stood there all alone, frightened out of his mind. We grew up surrounded by predators and bullies, so he had good reason to be scared. I was scared too and immediately felt remorseful, ashamed of myself for not being more protective and loving.
Even then I recognized what I was doing (on some level at least), without having ever been exposed to sophisticated psychological theories ~ or the word projection. I was young (maybe 10 years old?), but not too young to understand what was really happening.
We tend to repress, reject, belittle or dismiss what we don't like or can't acknowledge in ourselves. Sometimes because someone (maybe a beloved parent or authority figure) did the same thing to us as a child.
LB ~ I'll jump onto your couch for a mo then :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't ever belittle anyone else's sensitiveness - only my own - I acknowledge it fully but my Aquarius and Aries bits find it illogical and unhelpful in certain circumstances. It can still win the fight though - often - and helps me to understand when the same thing happens to others who might be fighting the same fight within themselves.
As for projection - I really cannot relate to that term at all. Maybe being judgmental is a kind of projection, and I can be that, unless I check myself.
Jumping off the couch now!
I'll back you on the projection issue, LB. Being judgmental may be a variant, as Twilight suggests, but certainly not the same in my mind. I've often thought that it's a good thing that none of us mortals are gods, as we would have long ago destroyed everything on Earth dealing with internal anger issues that we toss out to the world. Angry motorists come to my mind...those that are willing to kill the other driver after they have been cut-off. A bad day at work or with the kids can be detrimental to the innocents we encounter...LOL. Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a good example, too.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wiki:
"Blaming the victim: The victim of someone else's accident or bad luck may be offered criticism, the theory being that the victim may be at fault for having attracted the other person's hostility.
Projection of marital guilt: Thoughts of infidelity to a partner may be unconsciously projected in self-defence on to the partner in question, so that the guilt attached to the thoughts can be repudiated or turned to blame instead, in a process linked to denial.
Bullying: A bully may project his/her own feelings of vulnerability onto the target(s) of the bullying activity. Despite the fact that a bully's typically denigrating activities are aimed at the bully's targets, the true source of such negativity is ultimately almost always found in the bully's own sense of personal insecurity and/or vulnerability. Such aggressive projections of displaced negative emotions can occur anywhere from the micro-level of interpersonal relationships, all the way up through to the macro-level of international politics, or even international armed conflict.
Projection of general guilt: Projection of a severe conscience[26] is another form of defense, one which may be linked to the making of false accusations, personal or political.
Projection of hope: Also, in a more positive light, a patient may sometimes project his or her feelings of hope onto the therapist."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
Twilight ~ I understand how you feel, having my own Aquarius and Aries bits. I'm a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure I'm not on your couch?:)
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mike ~ It's pretty easy to spot the ways in which most of us project. Pretty scary too. Just turn on the news.