HERMESLiz Greene’s search for an understanding of people runs through her writing on planetary symbols. In her books, astrology meets human fears, relationships and the wish to know ourselves. Born in New Jersey in 1946, the astrologer, author and Jungian analyst became one of the leading figures in the development of psychological astrology. Behind the books is a student who wanted to understand her own chart, and the years of study that followed. Urania Trust biography
How did that journey begin?
At nineteen, following a suggestion from friends, Liz Greene went to Isabel Hickey to have her own birth chart read. She was studying psychology at university. What she heard about herself would begin an interest that lasted for decades. Years later, in an interview with Nicholas Campion, she would return to that consultation when recalling how her interest in astrology began. What she heard intrigued her. She wanted to understand how the interpretations were made, and began teaching herself astrology. Campion interview
Her interest in the mind went back further. In the same interview, she remembered encountering Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams at twelve. She traced the beginning of her interest in psychology to that book.
Two interests came together in the young woman who visited Hickey: the psychology she was studying and the astrology she had become curious about through her own chart. She would spend the following years exploring how to think about them together.
The work behind the curiosity
In 1975–1976, Greene was teaching astrology in London through an organization called Gentle Ghost. The student who had listened to an interpretation of her own chart was now explaining what she had learned to others. Campion interview
Published in 1976, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil became one of her best-known works. In astrological tradition, Saturn was associated with difficulties and limits. Greene considered the symbol through experiences of pressure, fear and the relationship a person has with themselves. Her approach invited the reader to consider how someone lives through the experiences described in an interpretation. Saturn publication record
Her training continued too. According to Routledge’s author biography, she received her Diploma in Analytical Psychology from London’s Association of Jungian Analysts in 1980. Alongside writing, teaching and working with people, she was investing in her professional education. Routledge author record
Books including Relating, The Astrology of Fate and The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption extended her writing into relationships, mythology and other planetary symbols. As the subjects expanded, the question of how people might understand themselves remained part of her work. CPA author and book record
A school for learning together
In 1980, Greene began giving classes and seminars with Howard Sasportas. The partnership was an important development in her working life. Alongside her own reading and writing, there was now a teaching project developed with another tutor.
Taking the name Centre for Psychological Astrology in 1983, the project grew as other teachers joined. The centre’s history describes the development of a programme bringing astrology into conversation with depth, humanistic and transpersonal psychology. CPA history
The centre was a shared undertaking: Sasportas and the tutors who joined the programme helped develop the teaching alongside Greene. The history of psychological astrology here includes their work as well as hers.
Teaching that continued on the page and screen
A collaboration begun in 1985 with Swiss physicist and programmer Alois Treindl took Greene’s writing into another medium. During the development work of 1985–1987, they worked together to express her interpretive approach through computerized reports. Urania Trust biography
Here there would be no client present to ask a question as she spoke. The text could reach someone who had never met Greene. Turning an interpretation into a text that could be read independently was a substantial writing task. Astrodienst’s report credits identify the contributions clearly: interpretation and text by Liz Greene, programming by Alois Treindl. Sample report credits
The shared teaching had a continuing life in books as well. With Sasportas, she produced works including The Development of the Personality, Dynamics of the Unconscious, The Luminaries and The Inner Planets. The subjects discussed in classes could reach people who had never attended them. Sasportas and their joint works
In autumn 1995, Greene, Charles Harvey and Juliet Sharman-Burke decided to establish a press that would bring seminar material to a wider readership. CPA Press’s history makes that purpose explicit. A class given at one time and place could become a book read in many others. CPA Press history
Where an interpretation should stop
As her writing reached more people, the relationship between interpretation and reader mattered. Reading a text about themselves, someone might also hope to find instructions for their life. The boundary Greene described when discussing her Career and Vocation programme is revealing for that reason.
The programme would not identify the exact job that was right for a person, she explained. Aptitudes, values, working environments and expectations of work could be considered. Deciding how these might find expression in a particular occupation belonged to the person living that life. The programme would not remove the effort of thinking for oneself. Vocation interview
In her approach, interpretation accompanies a person’s efforts to explore themselves. This can be read as psychological interpretation within astrology; it should not be presented as a scientifically validated personality measure.
Following the curiosity into Jung’s work
Published in 2018, Jung’s Studies in Astrology and The Astrological World of Jung’s Liber Novus brought another part of Greene’s research to readers. She investigated the involvement with astrology of a thinker who had mattered in her own work, studying published texts, correspondence and archival documents. Routledge books
Subjects explored in seminars were also revisited over time. Chiron in Love brought together a seminar from 2005 and online teaching from 2020. By Jove! grew out of three seminars given to CPA and MISPA students in 2021. Teaching, further reading and writing continued to inform one another. Chiron in Love, By Jove!
At nineteen, Greene wanted to know how Hickey had arrived at an interpretation of her chart. The subsequent books, classes and reports show the forms that question took as she learned to interpret for others. Her warning that a career report cannot choose a life for its reader gives that beginning a further meaning: learning to interpret also involves knowing where an interpretation must stop.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Liz Greene?
She is an astrologer, author and Jungian analyst born in New Jersey in 1946. She is one of the leading figures in psychological astrology, and received her Diploma in Analytical Psychology from London’s Association of Jungian Analysts in 1980.
How did Liz Greene get into astrology?
At nineteen, while studying psychology at university, she had her birth chart read by Isabel Hickey. What she heard intrigued her, and she began teaching herself astrology to understand how the interpretations were made.
What are Liz Greene’s best-known books?
Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, published in 1976, is one of her best-known works. Others include Relating, The Astrology of Fate and The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption, plus The Luminaries and The Inner Planets with Howard Sasportas.
