We must know the archetypal substructures which govern our reactions; we must recognize the Gods and the myths in which we are embroiled. Without this awareness, our behavior becomes wholly mythic and consciousness a delusion.
--James Hillman
There has been a lot of news about rape lately on college campuses and especially the allegations against Bill Cosby. That has set me musing about the meaning and archetype of rape. One of the gods, symbolized by the planet Pluto is Pan. I equate Pluto with Pan because Pan's epithets are lecherous, barbarous, ferocious, rough, unwashed, hairy, black Pan is the god of rape, masturbation, pornography and bestiality. Because of the Uranus/Pluto square, Uranus has been shocking us by revealing one of the the shadow sides of Pluto (Pan).
Pan is half-goat, half-god. He lives in the grottoes and wanders in the mountains and roams the country hunting, dancing, singing and playing his pipe. He has horns, goat legs and a horse's tail and represents the fertility of nature. He is not a god of love--that belongs to Eros. Pan is lewd and lascivious and is the god of lust.
In old Paganism, every part of nature was the domain of a deity. People dreaded walking through the scary woods at night and if they had a sudden fright, they may have believed Pan was around. They called the resultantfeeling “panic”. Pan's stories are full of descriptions of rape and his use of disguises in his pursuits.
Mythology without its 'moral depravities' would become a book-religion, a construction or an inspired revelation of ethical dogmas and not the ongoing embodiment of human experience in which pathological patterns cannot help but be incorporated. So it seems myth condones rape as one of the events that must be portrayed by any system adequate to the true range of the soul
--James Hillman
There is a Christian tradition that when the heavenly host told the shepherds at Bethlehem of the birth of Christ, there was a deep groan heard through all the isles of Greece that told that the great God Pan was dead, and that all the royalty of Olympus was dethroned and that several deities were sent wandering in cold and darkness. Maybe the rise of “love” foretold the death of Pan. Love has no part in Pan's world.
In “On the Failure of the Oracles” Plutarch reported that The Great God Pan is dead..... The death of Pan coincided with the rise of Christianity. Nature has been deprived of its creative voice..... Pan still lives and not merely in the literary imagination. He lives in the repressed which returns in the psycho-pathologies of instinct which assert themselves….
--James Hillman
Pan spent most of his time chasing and raping nymphs if he could catch them.A nymph is a a mythological divine spirit usually depicted as beautifulyoungmaidens who love to dance and sing. Their amorous freedom sets them apart from the restricted and chaste daughters of the ancient Greeks. They are believed to dwell in mountains, groves by springs and rivers, and also in trees and in valleys and pools. The word nymph is where we get the word nymphomaniac because the nymphs were sexually free, but they all rejected Pan because of his ugliness and animal nature.
..Man is not only Western, modern, secular, civilized and sane, but also primitive, archaic, mythical, magical and mad.
--James Hillman
Three stories have come down to us that depict Pan's archetypal nature. In the first story, there lived a pretty nymph in the Arcadia mountains by the name of Strinx. She dressed herself to look like Dianna the goddess so that she would be safe in the woods. But her bow was of horn rather than gold. Pan spotted that and started to chase her. The nymph implored the river to come to her aid and change her form and Pan caught up with her and held out his arms to clutch her, but found himself holding reeds. He was disappointed but he joined the reeds together and made them into pipes.
Echo was a nymph who was rejected by Narcissus and lived alone in the woods. Pan chased after her but she ran away from him. He became so angry when she refused him that he created such a "panic" causing a group of shepherds to kill her. Echo was torn to pieces and spread all over the Earth. The goddess of the Earth, Gaia, received the pieces of Echo, whose voice remains repeating the last words of others.
Selene was the moon goddess and in order to seduce her Pan covered his hairy animal parts with white sheepskin and in this case the seduction was successful.
The Christians often use Pan's horns and goat legs in their image of the devil. As the devil, we sent Pan to the underworld where his lewd and lecherous messages are felt in the body and reinterpreted as calls from the devil. But as every good Jungian knows, just because we have buried an archetype it doesn't mean it's gone forever. .
The repressed Gods return as the archetypal core of symptom complexes. –James Hillman
Lets see if we can spot Pan in Bill Cosby's natal chart. His chart promises a very successful career because he has Jupiter in the 10th house. This shows the promise of success and abundance from his chosen vocation.
Saturn, the ruler of the 10th house resides in the 12th house. His public reputation may be totally different from who he really is as he keeps that locked up, hidden and secret in the 12th house. Saturn rules shameful issues as well as being in denial about them.
Bill Cosby has a Sun/Mercury conjunction in Cancer in the 4th house of home and family. He has an archetype of a home loving, father image. His Mercury in Cancer in the 4th of home gives him a very easy way of communicating. We feel comfortable with him. Also Mars trines all of his Cancer planets which gives him charm and luck and helps him elicit trust from others. But hidden in the 4th and sitting right next to the Sun and Mercury is Pluto (Pan). Pluto is also opposing good luck Jupiter in the house of career, which can indicate a potential challenge.
The origins and source of myth are as much in the psyche today as in that of the past.
--James Hillman
As I mentioned above, we have been experiencing this Uranus Square Pluto since 2011 and it will last until 2016. What I have noticed is that this square has the greatest impact on a person's life if it hits the angles of the natal chart, namely, the Ascendant,( our environment) the IC (our home) the Descendant (our relationships) and the MC (our career). Since 2011, this square has been occurring in the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) between 8 and 15 degrees.
When Mars (the activator) came along to conjunct Pluto back in Nov 2014, the conjunction hit Bill Cosby's MC at 11 Degrees of Capricorn. This is when the allegations of rape came to the public's attention. The MC is the top angle of the chart and rules the career, our standing in the outer world, and our public face. Rarely have we seen such a sudden and dramatic fall from the limelight. The angles are square each other so when a heavy duty planet hits one angle it reverberates throughout all the angles like a pinball machine. Having Pluto and Mars on the MC affected his surroundings (Ascendant), his family life (IC) and his marriage (Descendant) but the cause of all the disruption was the angle that was hit by the Pluto/Mars conjunction and that was the MC.
There have been rape allegations against Mr. Cosby for many years, but it did not come out in public until the Pluto/Mars conjunction hit his MC. The date was Nov 10 when Hannibal Buress, a comedian mentioned the rumors on one of his standup comic routines. He had been saying that about Bill Cosby for 6 months, but it didn't go viral until his performance on Nov 11. Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby's alleged victims stated in the Washington Post that she had been telling her story publicly for years, but it took the Mars/Pluto conjunction on the MC to trigger it all. Having transiting Mars and Pluto hit the MC does not mean he is guilty. That aspect can spell death to the reputation for any number of reasons.
In the other part of the squareUranus is closing in on Cosby's Ascendant and will station there in June, July and August, 2015. Uranus is revelations and shocks. There will be more information about rape allegations against him in the future.
Transiting Saturn just entered Cosby's 8th house in December 2014 and Saturn always makes us take responsibility in the area the house rules. The 8th house rules sex, violence, blackmail and extortion. Saturn says its payback time.
Rape is always with us. Since it is an archetypal energy it represents psychological rape as well has physical rape. How do we then deal with Pan energy in a civilized world? Rape and other aggressive acts toward women by men are and should be crimes, but we will never eliminate them. We can't send Pan to the underworld. He will escape and keep manifesting in our world. The Greeks and other civilizations immortalized him because he exists and always has existed and probably always will. Yes, we have to deal with this energy. There needs to be a continuing discussion on how to face, acknowledge and respond to this archetype.
Janet Kane
References:
All James Hillman quotes from Pan and the Nightmare – Two Essays Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher and James Hillman 1972 – Spring Publications
Bill Cosby, Birth Data, July 12, 1937 at 12:30 AM, Philadelphia, PA