My interest in astrology began in the mid-1970s, initially through parapsychology and the investigation of possible relationships between celestial phenomena and human experience.
During the following years, I participated in astrological organizations in Belgium and the Netherlands, organized courses and congresses, and published several studies on theoretical astrology and its scientific status. My efforts to develop a more rational and critical approach found insufficient support within the astrological movement. From 1986 onward, after publishing Wetenschapsfilosofie en Astrologie (1985), I gradually withdrew from public astrological activities, turning my attention increasingly toward philosophy, epistemology, psychology, and transpersonal philosophy (yoga, meditation, mysticism).
Astrology nevertheless remained a subject of private study and reflection.
The fundamental astrological hypothesis holds that selected celestial factors, particularly planets, convey relevant information about terrestrial events and human beings. Despite centuries of practice, this hypothesis has not been sufficiently established by objective empirical research to warrant astrology's recognition as a science. The limited statistical findings sometimes invoked in its defense do not validate the elaborate system of meanings and interpretive rules employed by astrologers. Astrology should therefore not present itself as an empirico-formal science, nor should its traditional claims be accepted merely because they belong to an ancient and once very influential body of knowledge.
However, the absence of adequate scientific confirmation does not exhaust the question of astrology's possible relevance. Epistemology distinguishes objectively warranted knowledge, established through publicly testable procedures, from subjective meaning and intersubjective understanding. An astrological interpretation may possess psychological relevance without thereby acquiring scientific significance. This concerns the meaning and possible value one experiences through the interpretation of the natal chart, without implying that such delineation constitutes objectively established psychological knowledge.
Consider love and friendship. Their relevance to a particular individual does not depend on statistically significant findings about them. Scientific research may investigate their causes and effects, but the meaning and value of a particular love or friendship are not established by such findings. Similarly, the psychological relevance of an astrological interpretation concerns the meaning and possible value experienced, without implying that the underlying astrological grounds for its claims have been objectively validated.
The scientific significance of astrological claims remains a separate question, subject to empirical investigation. These two criteria must remain distinct. The historical persistence of astrology cannot be explained exclusively by its scientific pretensions, wishful thinking, or deception. Its enduring appeal also concerns the human search for meaning, orientation, and self-understanding. This does not validate its celestial hypothesis, but it does invite investigation of astrology as a relevant symbolic practice.
My approach, which I call neo-classical astrology, combines selected principles of traditional Western astrology and a systematic theory of interpretation with modern depth psychology and transpersonal outlooks. The natal chart, or radix, is treated as a structured symbolic network calculated for the time and place of birth. Its interpretation yields what I call the cosmotype, a proposed representation of the native's fundamental psychological temperament. The latter must be distinguished from character. Temperament concerns relatively persistent dispositions influencing sensation, volition, emotion, thought, and consciousness. Character also develops through biological, educational, social, and personal circumstances. The cosmotype is therefore neither an exhaustive description of the individual nor an immutable destiny.
The central methodological innovation is to approach astrology as a language. Like other systems of meaning, it has semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. Semantics concerns the meanings attributed to planets, signs, and houses. Syntax establishes the layered rules governing their combinations and relationships. Pragmatics concerns the interpretation of these symbolic structures within the concrete circumstances of an individual's life. The smallest meaningful unit of interpretation is the cell, combining planet, sign, and house. Isolated symbols should not be treated as sufficient explanations of psychological characteristics. Only their disciplined integration within the complete radix permits a coherent delineation and the identification of the theme or themes of the chart, the overarching synthesis of its constellations of meaning.
This linguistic approach also imposes restrictions. Astrological interpretation must not become an arbitrary exercise in which every symbol can explain anything. The number of factors employed should remain limited, their meanings should be sufficiently defined, and the rules connecting them should be consistent. Meaning, tension, strength, and differentiation of each cell must be distinguished. Individual configurations acquire their full meaning through their relationships with the whole chart. A series of layered grammatical rules defines the method and its end result. A planetary position is not a psychological verdict, an aspect between planets does not establish an inevitable event, and the radix must never be reified into a fatality governing human existence.
The purpose of natal astrology, as I understand it after decades of private practice, is primarily to investigate temperament and foster relevant self-knowledge. The radix may serve as a symbolic mirror through which recurrent dispositions, psychological tensions, strengths, vulnerabilities, and possibilities for development become more intelligible. Its potential value lies in helping individuals recognize and consciously work with patterns that might otherwise remain insufficiently understood. Whether this usefulness results from objective celestial correlations, the richness of the symbolic language, the interpretive abilities of the astrologer, or other parapsychological factors, such as psychometry, remains an open question.
Subjective relevance should not be confused with objective scientific validation.
For this reason, I subordinate predictive astrology to psychological understanding. Forecasting events from celestial configurations may encourage fatalism, reinforce existing anxieties, and foster dependence on the astrologer. It can also become a means of exploiting personal vulnerability for financial gain. Even where predictive methods are employed, they should remain subordinate to self-knowledge and the individual's freedom to choose. The ethical purpose of astrology is not to prescribe an unavoidable future but to assist the person in understanding and transforming the conditions within which choices are made. This places a heavy moral duty on the astrologer and explains why the best astrologers need no public practice.
My position consequently rejects two opposed simplifications. Astrology should neither be elevated to the status of an established science nor dismissed without examining the nature of its symbolic and psychological operations. Its objective claims remain subject to empirical criticism, while its subjective applications require methodological discipline and ethical responsibility. The question is not whether the heavens dictate an individual's life, but whether a carefully interpreted symbolic structure can *contribute to greater self-understanding*. In this limited yet significant sense, astrology may function as an instrument of self-actualization rather than a doctrine of cosmic determination.
The technique of delineation is systematically developed in How to Read a Natal Chart (2026). The model developed can be called a meta-linguistic model of astrological delineation. The reason is structural. The radix functions as the object language : it consists of symbols and combinations of symbols — planets, signs, houses, aspects, rulerships, and so forth. The theory of delineation stands one level above that symbolic language and specifies how it is to be understood. Astrology is a system for translating the radix into informative, natural language.
The book does not attempt to prove astrology scientifically or demand belief in its traditional cosmology. Instead, it presents a structured method for interpreting the natal chart, assessing the coherence of its symbolic relationships, and examining their relevance to human temperament. The ultimate criterion is whether this disciplined interpretation helps the individual become more conscious and freer in relation to the patterns it brings into view.
Having satisfied myself, through decades of private practice, of the psychological relevance of the technique, particularly its capacity to disclose aspects of temperament and potentially sensitive personal information, I decided not to make the book generally available. Those interested in obtaining a copy may contact me. I reserve the right to decline requests for purchase.
In Planet Pluto Rising (2026), I examine the meaning of Pluto in every combination of zodiac sign and house, integrating its general symbolism with its interpretation in depth psychology. Departing from the prevailing view among contemporary astrologers, I assign Pluto the rulership of Aries, while Scorpio remains ruled by Mars.
CELL MEANING GENERATOR
The Cell Meaning Generator is based on Wim van den Dungen's How to Read a Natal Chart (2025) and Planet Pluto Rising (2025). It provides psychological and transpersonal interpretations of individual astrological cells, combining a planet, zodiacal sign, and house into a coherent semantic unit. Each reading examines the planetary function, its coloration by the sign, and its expression in the house, distinguishing constructive potential, possible distortions, and the task of psychological integration. Direct and retrograde conditions are considered where applicable.
The generator covers the ten planets from Sun to Pluto but excludes Chiron, asteroids, Lunar Nodes, Arabian parts (like the Part of Fortune), and other secondary factors. It does not calculate natal charts, interpret aspects or planetary relationships (like aspects), predict events, or provide complete radix readings. It is freely available and serves as a semantic reference for individual placements, with a limit of three readings per conversation.
In the grammar of neo-classical astrology, individual cells function as meaningful units within the larger syntax of the radix. The planets indicate psychological functions, the signs color their operation, and the houses situate them in the world. The syntactic relationships among these units gradually disclose the central theme or themes of the cosmotype : the symbolic configuration of the native's temperament, not an account of acquired character. The generator clarifies the meaning of individual cells ; it does not undertake this higher-order synthesis.
How to Read a Natal Chart