Astrology & Parts Work: The Foundations of Internal Family Solar Systems (IFSS)™
What is (r)evolutionary astrology?
Astrology is the study of the stars in relation to the human experience. Inner space is a reflection of outer space. The stars tell us a story about who we are and why we are here. They illuminate our role in our life story and in the story of life.
Evolutionary astrology is the story of our evolution as individuals and as a collective. It’s based on the belief that we have free will but can choose to heal, learn, and grow across lifetimes. This potential is reflected by the north and south nodes of the moon. The south node is our karma, while the north node is our dharma. They represent who we have been and who we are becoming. Balancing these opposing forces can offer a sense of purpose and a path to evolution.
I weave evolutionary astrology with a form of parts work called IFS (Internal Family Systems) in a model I fondly refer to as IFSS (Internal Family Solar Systems).
What is parts work and IFS?
Parts work is a form of therapy based on the theory of multiplicity, the idea that the personality is composed of multiple parts. Most of us can relate to being multifaceted. Some parts of our personality may arise in one setting, while others surface in different settings. We tend to compartmentalize our sense of self. And when we experience inner conflict, it’s because two or more parts have conflicting needs and desires. We can nurture our relationships with our parts to experience inner peace and harmony.
IFS is a form of parts work. It’s based on the premise that our parts are interrelated in an internal family system. Each part has a role to play and relationships with other parts. There are protectors and exiles. The role of protectors (managers and firefighters) is to defend our more fragile and fragmented parts (exiles). We tend to be more conscious of our protectors, while our exiles tend to be unconscious because they are not integrated into our sense of self. This is often the result of trauma and insecure attachment in childhood. We didn’t feel safe to express these parts, so they were exiled. While protectors exist to protect us from harm, they often reinforce the patterns of oppression that forced our exiles into hiding. We can support our protectors to relax their grip on the ego and reconnect with our exiles to recover our vitality. We need all our parts to feel whole.
How is parts work related to DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder? Is this the same as having multiple personalities?
There are a lot of parallels between the basic premise of parts work and the phenomenon of DID.
DID is a mental illness in which the ego becomes so fragmented due to trauma that it splits into multiple parts or alters. These alters form a system, just as parts form a system in IFS. Alters are independent beings that inhabit one body. They are generally not aware of one another and do not have direct contact as only one can front or inhabit the body at a time.
Each alter has its own distinct personality, needs, desires, fears, and memories. There are even cases where one will have a mental or physical condition that others within the system do not. This is fascinating to me. These conditions may be rooted in the mind and not in the physical body. Our capacity to heal by shifting our self-awareness is nothing short of a miracle.
While DID results from trauma, it’s also a feat of human resilience in the face of inhuman conditions. In the process of healing from DID, two or more alters may merge into a single entity like streams flowing into a river of consciousness. If this were to happen repeatedly, one would no longer meet the criteria for diagnosis. While this is an extreme example, it’s a testament to the power of parts work. We can heal and integrate our parts to experience a sense of wholeness.
By the way, it’s theorized that even parts have parts. The human mind is an infinity mirror. We are infinite.
