Boris Johnson, Philip Scofield, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Prince Harry – once shining stars in their respective spheres now brought low by their staggering lack of self-awareness and tendency to handout blame to others rather than ‘fess up to any missteps on their part.
Astrology though illuminating in its own terms about characteristics and temperament is not always a good diagnostic tool when it comes to psychological quirks. But it is worth pursuing in a week when Boris’s self-serving memoir emerged alongside disgraced TV presenter Philip Scofield’s reality castaway TV show on which he whined on about how he was not at fault for his downfall. He exited the screens when an affair with a young runner on the show came to light and is now blaming his sex offender brother’s record for his woes and claiming he was thrown under the bus by jealous colleagues.
A victim mentality often goes hand in hand with an inflated sense of superiority and an inability to take feedback. Victim mentality narcissists have a ‘persistent lack of personal responsibility, view themselves as powerless and at the mercy of others or circumstances, which absolves them from taking ownership of their actions.’
Narcissists have poor self-awareness due to cognitive distortions such as “I am always right” or “Others are jealous of me” and irrational thought patterns that reinforce an inflated sense of self. They avoid self-reflection by using defensive mechanisms like projection or denial. Projection involves blaming others for their flaws or negative emotions, while denial involves rejecting feedback that contradicts their self-perception.
Reviews of Boris’s book suggest it is ‘not the work of a great political memoirist, such as Churchill, Mandela or Obama. Its nearest competitor is Prince Harry’s Spare.’ A colleague from Boris’s early days suggested his difficult childhood with a depressed and hospitalized mother and gallivanting father, taught him ‘how to put on a brave, jovial face and play the clown at school and beyond, ruffling his hair and becoming first popular then populist. In turn, he became the master of satire, subversion and mockery; it perhaps made him too tough, uncaring and unkind.’
Looking across these five charts – various things stand out. Trump and Philip Scofield have Chiron conjunct their Jupiter which can lead to messianic tendencies, a feeling of being special, the chosen one and obsessed with having a vision to fulfil.
Prince Andrew has his Sun conjunct Chiron which suggests a wounding in the area of personal identity and ego, a tendency to create a false self to hide an inner confusion and emptiness. He also has his Sun opposition Pluto which will exacerbate his sense at times of being powerless. [Amanda Abington, whose complaints about her professional partner on Strictly Come Dancing were found to be overblown, has a Pisces Sun inconjunct Pluto.]
Boris also has a strongly aspected Pluto (in the 12th like Trump) which may be another pointer to an inability to expose vulnerabilities or weakness in admitting mistakes lest total humiliation follow.
What four out of the five personalities share are planets in the 8th house. Boris has Mars on the apex of a yod there and Jupiter also in the 8th in an over confident opposition to Neptune. Prince Andrew has an 8th house Mercury on the apex of a yod. Philip Scofield has a super-charged Pluto (opposition Jupiter Chiron) in the 8th alongside Uranus and North Node. Prince Harry has his Virgo Sun and Mercury in the 8th. Trump has Scheat on the cusp of his 8th square his Gemini Sun and North Node opposition Moon.
Some similarities, some differences. Referring back to a previous post on the 8th house – The hidden 8th house – pulling back the veil. 16th November 2023
‘Transformation only happens if there is a considerable shift in an individual’s thought and behaviour patterns.’ The inner saboteur is an 8th house issue along with fixation. Ideas on how things ought to be are stubbornly held onto despite the 8th house being the one which should encompass the values of others.
The 8th is about being possessed where the 2nd is having one’s own possessions. Everything is defined by others. Committing to a partnership requires letting go individual values in order to create new shared ones. What is yours becomes mine and vice versa. A loss of control. The 8th is where we are confronted with our own issues.
If the second house has to do with control, then the eighth house has to do with lack of control which tends to lead to an attempt to hang tightly. There is a sense of permanence with the eighth house but only due to the monumentality of change. The individual has ancestral wounds that take not one generation but several to even begin to understand. Planets in the eighth house tend to work in super slow ways.
Having skipped through the harmonics of the above what is pertinent is that only one has a notable 12th harmonic which is the victim/healer harmonic (Scofield). Three have notable 13th harmonics which can point to a search for a solid identity. Four have ultra-determined 16th harmonics so letting go and being flexible is not their super power.
All five have strong 7th harmonics which on Vendla’s numerology interpretations is a spiritual number, imaginative and creative. A perfectionist. Also: too sceptical, critical, sarcastic, cold, self-centred, attracted to alcohol/ drugs and occultism.
No hard and fast answers. What is worth keeping in mind is that although narcissists are tediously draining to be around what lies underneath the overblown ego is a bottomless chasm of shame and, often worse, of nothingness. I remember years ago talking to a child psychotherapist who said certain children were so badly damaged all they had were their psychological defences and you dismantle those at your (and their) peril. Not that all narcissists come out of brutally traumatic beginnings but their defences are there for a reason – to prevent them falling into a total psychological collapse. Life can sometimes provide the impetus to reassemble the personality but it is not an easy journey.
Add On: Sam Vaknin 21 April 1961 9.40 am (from memory) Haifa, Israel, professor of Psychology, author of Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited and once imprisoned for securities fraud, has himself been diagnosed with NPD and psychopathy as well as other personality disorders.
“In his view, narcissists have lost their “true self”, the core of their personality, which has been replaced by delusions of grandeur, a “false self”. Therefore, he believes, they cannot be healed, because they do not exist as real persons, only as reflections: “The False Self replaces the narcissist’s True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence… The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation.”]
“He calls narcissistic co-dependents “inverted narcissists.” “[They] provide the narcissist with an obsequious, unthreatening audience… the perfect backdrop.” “He believes that disproportionate numbers of pathological narcissists are at work in the most influential reaches of society, such as medicine, finance and politics as a manifestation of growing collective narcissism.”
He is a Sun Taurus trine Pluto and square a Jupiter Saturn conjunction with Jupiter square Neptune – not short of Jupiterian confidence, though he will have alternated between highs and lows, over confidence and then crashing self-esteem from Jupiter and Saturn He’s not entirely similar to the above but if his birth time is marginally out his Jupiter Saturn could be in his 8th house.
His Chiron in Pisces conjunct his South Node opposition his Pluto seems significant though I would struggle to articulate why.
I always think of the 8th as other people’s money. So 8th house types will inherit or win money rather than earn it themselves.
One lady I know has everything in the 7th and 8th. A courtesan’s chart.
Having spent 3hrs in a car with my difficult mother yesterday I had time to reflect on this. She is a Taurus sun, grand trine in earth very wide kite with Pluto, so the 8th house is anathema to her. She simply will not let any part of her self, her ideas, her values change (or metaphorically die). So everybody is always stuck trying to accommodate her. It’s getting hard for her, especially as she is now undergoing her pluto oppo pluto.
Looking back, my own transformation occurred as Pluto hit my 8th. To that point, I had been stuck in my 2nd house Saturn so just as intransigent. I’ve always said the greatest lesson I learned was learning to lose. It’s impossible to have decent relationships with other people if you can’t hash things out or concede where you’re wrong. But I also have 8th house Neptune so once that activated, I found I became too accommodating of difficult people – always thinking they could just change like I do. They don’t. These days I tend to know when to back away quickly!!
My sister had a psychopathic narcissistic supervisor who disliked anyone with a uni degree. Was vindictive and revengeful. She fired a lot of people in dept. Cos she got a kick out if it. Had her name and title made if top quality wood on her desk and had her photo behind her vigue like. This happens in families too.
I just watched an old documentary on Jerry Falwell Jr – looked up the old article on here and he is also a Jupiter conjunct Chiron. Others include (not all narcissists) – Tom Cruise (Pisces), Marquis de Sade (Gemini), Andy Warhol (Taurus), George W Bush and Roosevelt, Stanley Kubrick, Jordan Petersen and on and on. It is quite the list.
Sam Vaknin also suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Notice Narcissus
exactly on his 8th cusp with Jupiter. Notice Ellis, NPD, conjunct his natal Sun,
aspecting his 8th cusp. Click link below then use magnifier to enlarge.
https://ibb.co/RPdZmvZ
Many thanks for Sam Vaknin’s chart, Marjorie. I have a copy of his book on narcissism and dip into it now and again because apart from the light that he shines into the interior of an NPD patient, his writing is both beautiful and eloquent. Knowing that he grew up with inadequate parents and a mother who told him repetitively that he was ugly and unlovable, I imagine that angry, seething Moon/Mars in Cancer is tighter than the noontime 9 degrees and therefore his birth is probably some hours after noon, which would mean that his Taurus Sun and Aries planets could be in the 8th. In the 80s I believe he worked for an investment firm and was found guilty of securities fraud. He is also a key founder of Wikipedia. I note that he has Sun square Saturn and Jupiter square Neptune. It’s these aspects which I believe describe an inflation of the self (Sun), a tendency towards grandiosity as well as the defensive facade (Sun/Saturn) needed for an NPD individual to operate in the world. It’s interesting that Boris Johnson, a grandiose narcissistic individual has Jupiter/Neptune in opposition.
Not all narcissists are grandiose. There exists a covert form of the personality disorder also. This is where Neptune comes in, because covert kinds of narcissism rely strongly on victimhood in order to manipulate and gain control over others. Both grandiose and covert narcissists will use victimhood and denial as their stock in trade.
Apologies, Marjorie – I automatically assumed Sam Vaknin’s chart was a noon one and it isn’t. I take full responsibility for my mistake!
I understand the condition to be a developmental disorder where learning through one to one reciprocal relationship was missing during a significant part of childhood. I think you can have problematic Pluto and Chiron positions without the condition – I would not use is as indicator ~astrology is far more complex for me.
I don’t think you can use astrology to diagnose npd, as you say astrology is far moe complex than just one or two aspects. Nonetheless I tink it’s interesting to look at the charts of known narcissists such as Sam Vaknin.
I agree Jay. I have Jupiter conjunct Chiron in Pisces in the 8th house opposite Pluto in Virgo in the 2nd.
Do I have NPD? No. I am more than one aspect in my chart!
I realise I am not in my most amiable humour at the moment but why don’t you read the piece above? It says astrology is not a great diagnostic tool and no one is suggesting one aspect on its own defines a personality.
Sorry if my comment annoyed you Marjorie.
I did read the piece and took on board that astrology or just one aspect in a chart cannot diagnose NPD or other psychological conditions and wasn’t suggesting otherwise.
I fear I’ve been annoying, Marjorie. My apologies for my 3rd house tendency to blither on and on!
Thanks Marjorie. I have Chiron in Pisces in the 8th house. I think that could be why sometimes I feel like the world is hopeless, in terms of cruelty and Injustice. I also have Mars and Jupiter and Pisces in the 8th house. Luckily I have a lot of planets in Aries and the ninth house, so that reminds me of one of my favorite songs by the rapper Rakim. He raps “You never know what the day will bring – there’s always a new song to sing” it’s a very useful reminder and very helpful for me.
Meghan Markle belongs on this list.
Marjorie, this comment perfectly fits Canada’s Narcissist-in-Chief: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “Chiron conjunct their Jupiter which can lead to messianic tendencies, a feeling of being special, the chosen one and obsessed with having a vision to fulfil.”
Is Trudeau, the bringer of death (MAID), an 8th house type?
I’m deeply concerned about Starmer following Trudeau’s playbook.
This making of Justin Trudeau to be the darkest of forces responsible for all the woes of our country is such a simplification of the issues at hand. It is all so much more complex. He is a human being with gifts and faults like anyone else.
“The bringer of death”???? No. Stalin? Yes. Mao? Yes. Hitler? Yes. Justin No.
About 80% of Canadians support MAID!… it is the one issue, I’d say, that people from all political stripes are in agreement over! I have contact with many people from different walks of life… ALL support MAID and are grateful for the choice it will offer them if that time comes. I have also had a number of friends, clients and acquaintances in the building I live in who have chosen this and have died in a dignified way. It was an absolutely blessing for all… the person and their family/friends.
Don Trump has two clusters of eleveness. The Sun cluster brings the Sun together with
Venus. which has to do with self-love. and also Mercury-Jupiter by opposition.
The Moon cluster involves Moon, Jupiter and Chiron. Trump promotes himself
telling the world about his Venus-Jupiter qualities…”you’ve got to love me.”
Pluto at the Mars/Saturn midpt shows the ruthlessness that he responds to
criticism. Moon-Pluto opp Mars-Saturn.
Here is his 11th Harmonic chart……..https://ibb.co/ZmdrxjZ
Keir Starmer, has Narcissus square Asc. Ellis, narcissistic disorder, is square Asc;
Ranke, narcissistic disorder, in 8th, is sextile Sun.
He has a huge sense of personal entitlement whilst dishing out punishment and misery to others. I think his Sun Pluto opposition Jupiter Chiron explains a lot in this respect.
Manipulative characters can have a strong Plutonic / Jupiter influence (there is always a power imbalance) as well as strong Neptune. Planets in opposition also figure because there is the element of projection required.
*Or a 7th house / Libra emphasis for projection. Neptune for deception.
The great star Sirius has relation to self-opinionativeness, self-esteem, and self-will.
Harry has Sirius opp Asc; Andrew has Saturn opp Sirius; Scofiled has Sirius 90 Sun;
Boris has Sirius square Asc.
Interesting – Elon Musk has Sirius on the same degree as his Ascendant.
@Marjorie and others, do you know of anyone, including any prominent people, who have been able to overcome their narcissism and “reassembled” their lives in a constructive way to live productive, non-damaging lives?
Both my late mother and sister were narcissists. For my own survival I often cut off contact with my manipulative mother. I didn’t see my elder sister, who had a well-developed jugular instinct for attacking me, for 37 years and spoke to her only twice during that time. We did reconnect, got together and spoke regularly for about a year before she died.
It is amongst the most difficult of the neuroses to treat – mainly because narcissists assume they are more intelligent than the therapist, don’t need fixed since they are perfect the way they are and are resistant in the extreme to feedback.
A breakdown to break through is usually the only way which can come from a major life crisis but it can be risky since they may have no inner core from which to rebuild a saner personality.
Sorry about your family. It is tough when those closest turn out to be the problem.
Thanks! I’ve been fortunate to have a series of excellent therapists and a supportive husband who have helped me overcome a lot of the family trauma and drama (and a purring cat in my lap helps, too!). But, like many others here, I consider myself a work in progress.
Almost impossible for people with personality disorders (of which narcissism is one branch) to overcome it. You can only heal when you start to accept responsibility and whatever a therapist uncovers, they will always find a way to blame someone.
The half of the world who are neurotic thrive in therapy because they love taking responsibility and get on with fixing it.
I’m tempted to think there is a Pisces-Virgo thing going on there which makes some sense with 12th-6th houses where the latter is about making the self whole before one tries relating. As someone with strong Neptune, I have often felt it is not my place to impact on others or the world; when I was younger this tipped over into blaming everyone for everything when life went against me; but I had enough neuroticism in my chart that once handed the right tools I began to sort myself out.
Similar for me too. Had a rough start, lots of anger and difficulty accepting feedback etc in my younger years. Around the age of 38 I had a breakdown of sorts which led me into a programme of spiritual healing which gave me the tools for self reflection and the realisation that it is important to forgive self and others. For me growth and self knowledge is an ongoing process and each new obstacle is an opportunity for confronting self. What is my part in this? Stop blaming and start gaining self insight. Fear, of course, being the greatest obstacle. It’s a never ending journey. We are all on it. Some have still to start and we have to accept that too, and not get caught up in their delusions, IMO.
Hi Nicole,
There was a study released a couple months back that suggested that narcissists mellow with age and can become more empathetic, though unfortunately, it looks like they never fully outgrow their problematic internal dynamics.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2v0qq7z12qo
Thanks, Ava. Alas my mother grew meaner with age — she lived to 91 and enjoyed ill health for decades — as the scope of her mental illness grew more apparent. But my sister did, I think, mellow with age. My mother definitely had an exceptionally difficult mother herself who made her life hell whenever possible.
I believe it’s Borderline Personality Disorder, which I think is now called Emotionally Unstable PD which can be treated and improves with age. But NPD tends to worsen because as the narcissist ages, he/she gets less fuel/narcissistic supply as their body and appearance ages – somatic narcissists work hard to keep their appearance/exterior as polished as possible in order to impress. So often the aged narcissist will use other tactics to control their family members such as victimhood and covert forms of manipulation.
I’ve actually heard that too about BPD but for the record, the article that I linked specifically refers to the three types of narcissism (that apparently mellow with age)
Sure. The experts know better than I do and findings are always contributing to the literature on the subject. Plus I wonder whether some narcissists know they are narcissists and some don’t. I think Trump is in the latter category. In a strange way, I sometimes wonder if he is there to show the world just what basic, unaware narcissistic behaviour looks like! But I also think there can be collective narcissism and you see the same manipulative language as so-called gaslighting coming from governments and powerful corporations, even nations when they seek to blame others and avoid taking responsibility for their actions. See the UK post office scandal for an example.
Russia and Putin certainly appear to be narcissists, every great power to some extent.
Well I’m certainly relieved to hear that you have some support. There was a quote I heard once years ago that’s stayed with me…”Trauma that isn’t transformed will always be transmitted”
Powerful quote.
At times it seems my granny, saturns 3rd cycle nearing at age of 92..she started to admit her faults and that whom she envisioned as enemies and felt victorious on ruining them..she had begun understanding them..
I read by 3rd cycle saturn makes one wise..she was 29 December 1929, a Capricorn..year i m not sure but it was same as queen elizabeth 11 and all jokes that her marriage and her kids came into almost same time as the queen
My father-in-law was a narcissist. He was a surgeon and lived a productive life in that way but he alienated each of his four children, one at a time thru the years. Also divorced their mother and married two more times. He finally mellowed a bit when diagnosed with terminal cancer. He stopped the put downs towards his children who all were successful, productive people that he should have been proud of but elevating them with any praise would have felt like he wasn’t the best and most wonderful. No one misses him, sadly.
Sam Vaknin comes to mind (YouTuber who has been professionally diagnosed with NPD and now tries to educate people about the condition).
neptune passing through aries may undo many ‘I’ distortions? And pluto through aquarius collectively?
will Keir Starmer soon be added too
Marjorie, my understanding of Narcissism is that it is related to early inadequate bonding experiences with parents–particularly the mother. Mary Trump speaks of how Donald’s mom–her great aunt–was ill and unavailable to him when he was about 2. In Donald’s case, he had his brutal father as the only available parent. I don’t know the situation with the others mentioned in your post but what do those types of family connections look like in these examples? (I forgot which houses are related to mother-child and father-child relationships.)
I think that the early trauma and the experience of abandonment by his ill mother is described in Trump’s astrology with that Venus/Saturn in Cancer. He is incredibly childlike.
In fact in my limited experience, it is Sun/Saturn, Sun/Jupiter/Neptune which crops up in the charts of well-known narcissistic individuals. I say ‘narcissistic’ since I’m not qualified to make a diagnosis of NPD. Most of us have some narcissistic traits – we need these to function in the world – but actual NPD can only be diagnosed by a qualified psychologist/psychiatrist.
Narcissism is shown by placement of asteroid Narcissus. Narcissistic Disorder is
show by placement of Ranke, Ellis or Rousseau.
Boris J. has Narcissus conj his 8th and sextile his MH; Ranke is exactly on his Asc;
Rousseau is exactly on his IC.
Scofield has Narcissus conj his Moon and sextile his Asc. Ranke is exactly on his IC.
Trump has Rousseau on his Desc; Ellis is trine his Jupiter.
Prince Andrew has Ranke square his Asc.
Prince Harry has Narcissus sextile MH from 8th; Rousseau is square his MH
Ranke, Ellis, and Rousseau are scientists who wrote papers on narcissitic disorder.
I would never vote for Boris again (mayor of london) but I still sort of like him. Not so much the others. Maybe it’s our shared Libra ascendant and Scorpio Moon. Prince Andrew has the same Moon but none of the charm.
Has anybody here any knowledge of the Lurianic Kabbalah? It is difficult to say if the original teaching or the teaching that would nowadays be considered traditional and normative means to say the same, but some teachers of Kabbalah, who might be genuine or might not, say that, if I understand it correctly, in order for you to achieve something you have to become a vessel for that. If a vessel cannot contain enough Light, if it is not expanded enough, then the materialization of a certain desire won’t happen.
That looks very similar to me to the thesis that in order for you to grow – or for your world to change – you need to change your mindset. Could one say that if you change your thoughts about your situation – your situation changes? Perhaps.
But the difficult thing here, and the gist of it, is how do you change that mindset? If you are aware you are not of right mindset for a wish of yours, have you already changed? Or is it just the beginning? And then there are various theories, so many of them I would say quite nebulous and difficult to put into practice, from repeating positive thoughts, or correcting negative ones with the positive ones immediately when the negative ones arise, or doing it with movement, of any kind, I think, it’s so difficult to put it all into action. Or maybe I deceive myself.
So when people happen around you and they behave in a way you might not approve of, you have to wonder how much of that is conscious, how much unconscious, should you judge or excuse it, and it becomes complicated really fast. Sometimes so many things seem to be driven by a force you can’t really put your finger on or something to that effect. I don’t know if I explained myself right.
You explain very well. I am fascinated by the Kabbalah teachings.
Marjorie’s excellent post suggests that astrology has deep psychological value, which it does when properly understood. I have a Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in my chart at 25 Cancer partile Pluto at 26 Leo, all in the 8th house. The 4th house can be about trauma inflicted in childhood, the 8th is often about multigenerational or multi-lifetime (if you believe in such things) baggage, and the 12th about spiritual sublimation and release of suffering through compassion for ourselves and others.
Chiron in my chart at 28 Capricorn is exactly square Neptune at 28 Libra in the 10th, conjunct Mercury at 0 Aquarius, opposite the Jupiter-Uranus and inconjunct Pluto as well as the Moon at 28 Leo. Perhaps Chiron has brought self-awareness by being widely conjunct the Sun at 20 Capricorn. I certainly felt the pain of existence most of my life, and almost ended it, but this has changed in recent years as now the outer planets are working over all the key elements of my chart.
I considered my mother a narcissist (Moon-Pluto square Saturn and Lilith at 19 and 23 Scorpio), but not irretrievably so. Deep-seated anger against her has finally dissipated. Transiting Uranus square Pluto is a surprising and refreshing new beginning, becaue Buddhism has taught me to let go. It also helps to have a wife of 40 years who has her own Chiron conjunct my North Node, and other planets aligned with my chart.
Finally, I did feel the temptation of the messianic or martyr complex, but turned away from it because it was narcissic and self-destructive.
El Aznar and André: have you watched any of Dr. Justin Sledge’s videos on the history and meaning of the Kabbalah as well as a myriad of other historical esoteric subjects? He’s on YT and other SM, his channel is called Esoterica. I can highly recommend him.
Hi, Virgoflake, let me respond first to you. No, I haven’t watched any of his videos, though there might be a chance I bumped onto them.
I watch Rabbi Abe (note: he is ex-Kabbalah Centre), one Israeli woman, and several Spanish-speaking rabbis who speak of the subject (e.g. Moshe Segal, Daniel R. Chapán).
It is a very particular lore, and I consider it sacred. It is not for everyone, and I believe maybe the traditional rabbis have it right, that you need to fulfill certain conditions to be able to study Kabbalah.
P. S. There were some other English-speaking Jews and rabbis who spoke of it, but I have to first find them and let you know. There is so much of it. And it is complicated, especially if you don’t know Hebrew, because many foundational (and otherwise) books on the subject are far from readily available.
I also think that Daniel C. Matt, the translator of the Pritzker Zohar, has a huge course on that book and Kabbalah, and J. H. Chajes is another academic authority on Kabbalah.
If you remember or bump onto some other sources, do let us know.
Thanks, El Aznar. I don’t know a lot about Kabbalah personally, as you say it’s highly complex and intricate system of deeper knowledge and one has to know what one is doing – agreed. I am interested in the history of it and how it came to be and Sledge is informative on that front. He does cover a wide range of subjects, from the origins of Lilith to the work of Hildegard Von Bingen and Middle Eastern archeology and the origins of Yahweh, Jewish astrology, Enochian magic and Angels. It’s such a rich seam, I couldn’t possibly digest it all!
Thank you, Virgoflake. I will look it up.
Marjorie has added a disquieting piece of information in her add-on. It is that narcissism is on the rise in society. I have met narcissists who have been successful but they usually face a reckoning at some point. I can’t wait to see how Trump turns out as I believe he represents many such cases. Such individuals must find the moment of death, when they are alone and have to give up their false self without the aid of spiritual consciousness, particularly harrowing. In its extreme form, naricissism is an expression of evil. Satan was always the ultimate narcissist.
I prefer to try to be a good human being.
André, social media has undoubtedly affected human behaviour and seems to encourage narcissistic behaviours. The way algorithms work is similar to how a narcissist would manipulate a co-dependent in order to reinforce and strengthen the bond, the ‘truth’ of whatever the narc wants the co-dependent to believe. The system of ‘likes’ is reminiscent of ego ‘supply’, a kind of reward that boosts our brains. Apologies if this sounfs a little paranoid (paranoia is yet narcissistic trait!).
Regarding Trump, he is the master of projection. The narcissist often accuses you of the very things they are guilty of, but their inner crippling shame won’t allow this fact to come into consciousness. There’s a saying about him on SM – ‘every accusation is a confession.’
Then books by Chajes and Matt will probably be of interest! Matt wrote The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism and Chajes recently published a very interesting book I have not yet purchased called The Kabbalistic Tree, an “illustrated history of these arboreal ‘maps of God’”.
Also, read the “‘Too Holy to Print’: The Forbidden Books of Jewish Magic”, an article by Chajes himself in the Tablet mag. It is online. You will find it easily.
The Jerusalem Post online actually has a section on Kabbalah every day.
Thank you so much for this!
BTW, today Moon is in Hasta nakshatra, and one of my apps says that such a position is favourable for studying secret knowledge.
The effect of likes on co-dependent brains is not paranoia. It is a basic fact of our times. I get an ego boost every time.