Thomas Ring: an Astrological Portrait

This statement could be regarded as Thomas Ring's motivation in life. All his undertakings were concerned with searching for the new, essential - and non-obvious. This applies to his work both as a painter and poet as well as to his critical examination of astrology. He constantly endeavoured to "look behind the scenes", to bring structures into view. His main focus was on the "structural and enigmatic" side of things (Schübl, p.4); describing and rendering visible deeper systematics of complex cosmic occurences.

Thomas Ring was born on the 28th of November 1892 near Nuremberg as the only son of the engineer Nikodemus Andreas Karl Ring and his wife Margarete Dorothea. His path lead him to art at an early age, very much in opposition to the will of the father who would have gladly made an engineer out of him. Only following serious clashes with his father was he allowed to commence an apprenticeship as an engraver where he learnt various graphic printing techniques. However, the young Thomas Ring was increasingly drawn to art, eventually enrolling as a student at the Royal Museum of Applied Arts (Königliches Kunstgewerbe-Museum). During his studies he became increasingly fascinated by the emerging modernist movement - particularly "Der Sturm" and "Der Blaue Reiter" made a lasting impression. Later on he moved in artistic circles associated with the journal "Der Sturm".  

In this spirit of optimism he registered voluntarily for military service in 1914. He was, however, wounded early on and while recovering in Berlin encountered Herwarth Walden in the "Sturm" gallery who introduced him to the joy of creation. Intrigued by the "possibiility to create oneself" he later wrote to Walden:

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"Whether I do this as a poet or painter, sooner or later, does not matter - an eruption has to finally occur, the more so as it is too intense."

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This intensity of perception and sensitivity to psychological needs enabled him to experience the events of the war particularly profoundly. Thus the possibility to express innermost states was both appropriate and necessary. Poetry became a "distillation of events" (Elmar Schübl) helping him to express his war experiences. Nevertheless, due to the cruelty and senselessness of the war, he suffered a physical and mental breakdown in October 1916 (Skiebe, S. 128).

Hours seep bloody tears Torments spurt gargling screams Wounds burn flickering horror Fear chokes And Ices Lips prevail over dream Eyes radiate fog Worlds burst Plummet Spraying sounding dancing suns Blossoming sparkling wreathes of stars Melting moon-bathed glaciers Smelling lightly March-lissom flowers Cradling in sleep. The sky blows embers Sounds tumble Cheers crown you. ---- Pounding stomps Hate rat-a-tats in the night Frazzled universe steams round Distant mother kisses Pain and prayer intertwined to choked screams (Pirsich, pp. 51/61)

Thomas Ring only narrowly survived the end of the war having been sentenced to death for leading a mutiny whilst interned in an English labour camp. It was only the intervention of the Swiss Consul which saved his life. Following this episode he was transferred to a camp in Oswestry in Wales, declared "mad" after attempting to break out three times and transferred to a special barracks with two painters. Thanks to good connections he was able to obtain painters' equipment and occupy himself with artwork. Despite this he fell into a deep depression and identity crisis. 

The turning point came with an experience which subsequently became fundamental to his world view: while lying under a lime tree musing on eternal recurrence of the same and no way of escaping this cycle he observed lime tree seeds slowly descending in spirals towards the ground. 

"That which appears as a circle when viewed from above is actually a spiral with the possiblity of moving upwards and downwards."
(Erp Ring in "Frühe astrologische Schriften", p. 229).

Life does not take place in closed and therefore futile loops but rather in spirals which allow for development! 

His war experiences brought him to a clear break:

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"Those returning from the field were prepared to question all basic assumptions ."

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After war imprisonment he returned to Berlin in 1919 where he got to know Gertrud Schröder, the then manager of the "Sturm" Bookshop, fell in love with and married her, the couple subsequently having two sons (Erp and Thore). From then on he moved as a painter and poet in circles associated with the futurist, expressionist and dadaist modernist art movements. He developed an interest in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, C.G. Jung's collective unconscious, mysticism, mythology as well as modern science, in particular Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. "Through this a new way of understanding science became manifest in him."   (Skiebe, p. 129).

At this time he also encountered astrology. Initially sceptical - he had regarded astrology as "an obsolete fallacy" - his curiosity grew at the beginning of the 1920s while involved with Kepler's world of thought. He saw with amazment that this "man of stature... could extract deeper meaning from astrology in the spirit of the harmony of the spheres". Moreover, some of the basic principles of astrology seemed to correspond to his own insights and studies with regard to life and the world up to this point.

He read everything he could find about astrology, not only from Kepler and Paracelsus but also the ancient Greeks as well as oriental sources. He critically examined and questioned all his astrological insights in countless horoscopes from reknowned persons, friends and relatives. He did not accept anything at face value. He began formulating the basis for his own "revised astrology" which he continued to both research and give shape to throughout his later life. Bruno von Flüe sees in these early stages an "intuition and pronounced talent for the analysis and synthesis of formative factors in the natal chart". The fundaments of the emerging new astrology were "already clearly evident: the emphasis on the freedom of the individual, the limits of what can be said (concerning specific environment, inherited potential and self-determining factors) as well as the concept of a continuing configuration of a given structural predisposition. [...] Expansion into the idea of the 'profound person' as well as psychological and organic areas took place gradually and needed time, all the more so as Ring was undertaking pioneering work." (von Flüe, p. 119).

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"The unique quality of astrology as anthropology and its contribution to contemporary life with all its problems exists in something by means of which collected empirical facts are banded together: the intrinsic unity of the human being's organic, psychological and mental structure designed with respect to the world. Reflected against the background of the world so entered, the individual proves itself to be determined, structure is destiny and reproduced upon every level attained. Regarded as a cross-section the individual remains immutably the same. However, there is freedom of choice, aspiration, historical continuity, correspondences altering at each level with objects replaced when growing into a world in which individual essence becomes manifest. The paradoxical nature of these two points of view is sublated by the idea of the evolutionary spiral. The human being is both a predetermined whole as well as a continuously open question: 'The minted form that lives and living grows'."  (von Flüe, p. 118)

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In the mid 1920s Thomas Ring commenced his psychological and astrological consultation work. "When encountering him at the end of the 1920s in Berlin, it was fascinating to sense how thought, outlook and experience were combined in a direct and convincing manner in the astrologist I had sought", commented the psychologist and parapsychologist Hans Bender with regard to his first meeting Thomas Ring  (in: Thomas Ring: "Das Grundgefüge",
p. 191).

Ring developed a form of astrology which freed itself from fatalism as well as the irreversibility of things and rather viewed the horoscope as potential for development. A key point for him is the freedom of choice to work according to the disposition of the personality without being hopelessly forced under its yoke. In his view astrology is not isolated from other fields of knowledge. On the contrary, he attempted to formulate astrology in accordance with the insights of modern science.

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"If astrology is to be taken seriously, then it has to be compatible with our scientific world view."

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Ring sees an underlying order to complexity encompassing all aspects of life. This view was confirmed i.a. through the work “Bios – The Laws of the World” (1921) by Raoul Francés who propounded seven fundamental biological laws of life. Ring recognised here the exact same astrological principles represented by the seven traditional planets: entity / being (Sun), integration (Saturn), function (Moon), efficiency (Mercury), selection (Mars), optimum (Jupiter), harmony (Venus).  

Of particular importance to him was the expansion of astrological perception through studies of philosophy, mythology and harmonics as well as scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry and biology. In the field of psychology he grappled with the thinking of Freud and Jung without, however, coming to view astrology as a "kind of psychology".

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Thomas Ring intended to accomplish something fundamental and illuminate the embeddedness of human beings within nature and the cosmos. For him astrology is a philosophy, an explanatory model of universal laws. He worked tirelessly on his astrological studies. Art and astrology influence and cross-fertilised one another. Notwithstanding his concern to let the sciences and “objective” structures have their say, he ultimately viewed astrological interpretation as an art. At the conclusion of his main work, "Astrologische Menschenkunde", he writes:

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"Given the questioning human being the science of the living model does not suffice, interpretation begins as art."

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This is apparent in the way in which he draws his horoscopes or “structural images” as he calls them. The horoscope is freed from all superfluous aspects and reduced to essentials until the quintessence, the aspect structure, remains in all its uniqueness. Every one of these structural images is an art work in itself.  

Thomas Ring's drawing of his own radix
(Source: website of the Thomas Ring Stiftung)

Due to the political situation at the end of the 1920s art became a social matter for him. Rather than the expression of personal inner experience being of foremost concern, art became a mouthpiece for social change, a political instrument. With National Socialism germinating Thomas Ring turned to the German Communist Party, along with many of his artistic colleagues, becoming politically active and attempting to influence social events in an agitprop group.

However, already at the beginning of the 1930s the hope of being able to really change anything through artistic-political agitation began to die off. Recognising the signs of the times he emigrated with his family to Austria in 1932.

From the middle of the 1930s he concentrated on astrology. He worked intensively on his "astrological didactic letters" and continued to publish articles in astrological journals as well as a number of books, while he and his wife Gertrud earnt a (meagre) living from astrological consultation. The experiences thus gained continually informed the on-going development of Ring's astrological perspective. Right from the outset Gertrud had accompanied him not only with his studies but also challenged and supported him intensively. She was the “driving and disciplining force behind his efforts”. (Schübl, p.3)

The following list of publications from this time illustrates the topics with which he was occupied:

1925 - Die Überwindung des Schicksals durch Astrologie (Overcoming Fate through Astrology)
1925 - Rund um die Liebe. 12 Erzählungen (Venus in den astrologischen Zeichen) mit 12 Skizzen (All about Love. 12 Tales (Venus in the Astrological Signs) with 12 sketches
1933-35 - Astrologische Lehrbriefe I-IV (Astrological Didactic Letters I-IV)
1938 - Planeten-Signaturen (Planet Signatures) 
1939 - Menschentypen in Bildern des Tierkreises gespiegelt (Human Typology reflected in the Signs of the Zodiac)   
1939 - Das Sonnensystem - ein Organismus (The Solar System: An Organism) 
1939 - Das Lebewesen im Rhythmus des Weltraums (The Living Being in the Rhythm of Space)
1941 - Der Mensch im Schicksalsfeld (The Human Being in the Field of Destiny)
Concurrently, ongoing publications from him appeared in astrological journals.

Rings writings of the 30s and 40s were dedicated to astrological background rather than concrete interpretative practise. Whereas his first works had been written for the astrological practitioner, those which followed took an increasingly philosophical turn. He endeavoured  to make astrology a topic for serious discussion. He desired to be heard, to make a contribution. Ring developed the idea that life unfolds in rhythms and supported his claims with reference to biological, geophysical and cosmophysical research results. In addition, he made use of Jung's insights with regard to archetypical psychology. He was continually searching for order in complexity.

Ring repeatedly examined his astrological theories with reference to modern science. He was not concerned with delivering scientifically based proofs for astrology (as is partly attempted today) but rather with imparting a comprehensive concept, consistent within itself and free of contradictions. His constant interest was the deeper structures of nature, humans and the universe.

In the meantime the world war did not leave the married couple unscathed. Thomas Ring had already lost his German citizenship due to his political past in the mid 1930s. Nevertheless, he was offered to direct the field of cosmobiology in Göbbels office in 1938. However, as soon as his statelessness became known, the tide turned: a house search and summons eventuated. “[...] and now the interrogation began. […] Suddenly, thanks to a spontaneous intuition, I presented both letters [from Goebbel's and Rosenberg's offices], which rescued me.“ (Schübl, p.10). In order to be able to continue to work in an artistic capacity, he became a member of the Reichsschrifttumskammer and the Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste for a short period of time, but was expelled in 1942 and 1943 due to his communist background and the “socially damaging” content of his astrological writing. With the help of his friend, the psychologist Hans Bender, he managed to narrowly escape the punishment battalion in Norway. Bender invited him to the University of Strasburg, where he himself taught. Ring became director of the “Paracelsus Institute” and in this way he was able to escape the National Socialists. There was, though, a tragic turn: in 1944 he and his wife Gertrud were arrested by the allies as “Reichsdeutsche” and sent to a French concentration camp, where Gertrud died of hunger in 1945.

In 1946 Thomas Ring was released from the concentration camp and returned to Berlin. He suffered from fatigue and was only gradually able to recover from the trauma of the past. For a second time the end of war forced a break in the life of the astrologist and artist. He remarried in 1947, having two more children with the artist Irmtraud Bilger. In 1949 he received Austrian citizenship.

Life seemed to return to normal. However, the post war period was characterised by a crisis of artistic creative energy. Ring found it very hard to deal with the fact that many of his pictures had been destroyed by air raids over Berlin. Nevertheless, he came to terms with many of his experiences in his poetic work. Elmar Schübl observes, that “creativity as an essential characteristic of Ring manifests itself above all in his astrological-philosophical work”. Bruno von Flüe describes him as “restlessly working”, someone “writing his books into the early morning hours, honing and forming his texts, bringing his world view into something enduring and valid. He lived only in and through his work.”

In the preface to "Astrologische Menschenkunde" Hans Bender writes: "Since his first publication 'Die Überwindung des Schicksals durch Astrologie' (1925) the author of 'Astrologische Menschenkunde' has been known to astrological enthusiasts as a pioneer of a new conception, someone who dedicated his life's work to an anthropological basis for the controversial science dealing with relationships between human beings and heavenly bodies. A series of books […] acquainted many readers with his attempt to introduce the traditional astrological view into modern thinking at the same time keeping it free from proliferating embellishments.”

Thomas Ring researched and honed his revised astrology his whole life, however the central principles accompanied him from the start. In "Astrologische Menschenkunde" (A.M.), which Ring worked on for a period of almost 20 years, he expounded on these principles in the following way:  

1. Symbol, Principle and Correspondence: 

The life forces reflected in astrological symbols are valid throughout all planes of existence. This means there is not merely a relationship between the planet and the deity formerly ascribed to it, but rather this relationship is reflected in every aspect of earthly existence, whether human, animal, plant and even the inorganic area, extrapolated further into social, political and finally into mental and psychological areas. Despite having different forms, each life force has a common core. Accordingly, countless outward forms of appearance correspond to a single principle. "The material composition and density of the bark of a tree, the exoskeleton of an insect and skeleton of a vertebrate vary in form. According to the principle (here Saturn) providing for support and protection of a life form […] they are analogous to one another. The principle remains irredeemably the same regardless of the particular form of implementation evolved by life." (A.M. p.4) These correspondences are by no means arbitrary or merely subjectively related, rather they accord to an intrinsic sense connecting the various forms of appearance. Every principle can evince both positive and negative correspondences. Nothing is one-sidedly predetermined from the outset, rather both aspects are contained therein.

Concerning astrological interpretation, the aim is to discover how "a particular principle has to express itself – considered on each of the planes of existence and in the narrow context of functionality – in order to serve its purpose. It is necessary to track down that which is applicable in an individual case." (A.M., p.7)

2. The Cosmotype

The limits of what can be said: the birth chart forms the foundation, the disposition with which the human being is born. However, it does not provide any information concerning the social or physical environment in which the human being grows up. These kinds of influences, emulations, self-denials etc. can overlay the actual intention of the character. "The birth chart does not have the capacity to provide statements with regard to additional influences of the physical and social environment, up-bringing or collective destiny on the dispositional foundation." (A.M., p.8) According to Ring, even hereditary factors are not contained in the "survey chart", the horoscope. Concerning hereditary factors Ring speaks of "genotype" and concerning the manifestation of the personality in reality, supported or impeded through personal circumstances, "phenotype".

"In summary: neither heritage nor environment are substantially represented in the chart. What is displayed, however, are the forms of relation to both." (A.M., p.10) The cosmotype brings uniqueness into play. It demonstrates, in the form of the horoscope, how the single components of the genotype and phenotype are viewed as a whole. The birth chart shows the relationship of the individual to both, reflects their way of responding. Ring sees in this “a direct life-creating order, in which forces tending to wholeness and form are active". (A.M., p.13)

Accordingly, the cosmotype is comparable with a "filter" or "lens", through which the human being perceives and reacts to the phenomenological world.

3. The Degree of Individuation:

The way in which a particular horoscope is lived and with what state of consciousness depends on the degree of development and individuation on behalf of the human being concerned. The higher the state of consciousness, the more the single components of a horoscope demonstrate clear connectedness. The characterisation of the individual structure reveals itself at first in the signs of the zodiac, then in the fields and then only with a higher state of consciousness in the aspects connecting the planets (in particular, "when the human being takes mental possession of their individual structure"). (A.M., p.19)

4. Freedom of Choice:

Ring sees this issue in connection with Goethe's Orphic Primal Words: "The minted form that lives and living grows". The human being is 'minted form' thanks to their inherited and characteristic disposition. "The chart comprises a structure of basic aspirations integrated into compelling forms of response. These mutual relationships posit a particular set of life problems." (A.M., p. 22f.) What does the second part of the quotation "that lives and living grows" mean? This is where he sees the human being's capacity for self-determination, for deciding for themselves. Admittedly, an individual's "decisions [take place] within the contingent framework of the essential structure and the tasks posed therewith." However, this framework leaves "freedom in problem solving, continued coming-into-being and development open". (A.M., p.23) "The actual decision is a matter of self-determination with respect to 'niveau'." (A.M., p.24)

"We evolve through the free use of life forces, exchanged correspondences illuminate a different form of reality, the lasting individual structure remains unaffected." (A.M., p.30)

Inner transformation is often only instigated through predicaments which come about in order that the human being live according to their essence. According to its nature the individual brings itself into situations in which it is compelled to make a decision. Therefore the need to act arises simultaneously. "Freedom is realised only in the moment of grasping the necessary path to follow, at decisive turning points the path is decided upon other than in a deterministic manner." (A.M., p.30) In this sense we could quote Friedrich Engels: "Freedom lies in understanding necessity".

"Transformations do not take place 'contrary to the law according to which you commenced' - the birth constellation - as this would mean abandoning one's structural foundation." (A.M., p.32)

5. The Concept of Destiny:

Destiny is not to be understood in the sense that the life of a person is inevitably and absolutely predetermined. On this point Ring distances himself from the general "superstitious" idea of astrology. Destiny in Ring's sense can be understood as the person being born with a particular character structure only within which they can behave and evolve. Ring assumes that the basic structure visible in the horoscope unfolds throughout certain life-cycles whereby events contribute to this development. The issues of these stages of development are clearly visible both in the horoscope itself or through astrological prognostication methods, but not in concrete events. In this context Ring speaks of the "inevitable realisation of structure". This means: "the extent of predictability of 'the life that living grows' depends on the scope and limitations of the 'minted form'." (Quote from "Orphic Primal Words", from Goethe). (A.M., p.42)

Such inevitable realisation ʹsearchesʹ for the circumstances and backgrounds in which exactly the topics pending can unfold. "Seen in such contexts, individual destiny represents a pronounced coercion of the character to become that which the cosmotypical disposition can become." The way in which a person deals with circumstances, whether they are dealt with constructively or not, is in the hands and state of consciousness of the person. Within the limits of energy available to them, they have the freedom to form. "If and to what extent the human being attains complete self-realisation depends on their capability to correctly interpret their hour of fate and to taccept the unavoidable, to turn the coercible." (A.M., p.45)

6. Impartiality of Life Forces:

Thomas Ring takes a decisive step away from traditional, medieval ideas concerning the planets as “benefic” or “ malefic”. Rather, he emphasises the impartiality of the forces, the repercussions of which are determined by how they are lived. Saturn, for example, can be supportive or hardening. The more a human being deals with creative forces consciously and in a self-determining manner, the less a 'lapse' into frequently experienced, negative patterns is likely.

Even those components of the personality experienced as difficult can contribute to the unfolding of the personality to a significant extent. In fact one could say it is exactly these components which contribute to personality development.

7. Limitations, Methods and Possibilities of Statements

Ring conceives the so-called "limitations of statements" as applying to "the terminology of inherited factors including the degree of individuation, the environment (including the social/historical situation) and finally the self-determining factor". (A.M., p.52) This means that a method of interpretation which does not merely rely on lucky guesses must refer to information drawn from these areas. The horoscope itself does not reveal this information. The horoscope does, however, reveal the relationship of the person to these circumstances. If certain facts pertaining to the environment and origin of the person are known, then the interpretation can come off very realistically. The consideration of the third factor, the capability for self-determination, lies in the knowledge of human nature and the degree of psychological skill on behalf of the interpreting astrologist. As much experience with “living models” as possible is certainly helpful.

The art of interpretation consists in relating every single component to the whole, to observe and weigh up every correspondence in relation to the principle and vice versa. Only in this way can a complete picture emerge.

Hans Bender wrote about Thomas Ring: "He managed to present the horoscope as a structural order of psychic creative powers, as a formal basis for individual self-realisation, in which necessity and freedom are intertwined. It was impressive that he did not work with the labelling terminology of characteristics but instead worked driving and processing forms out of the chart, drawing up a dynamic picture of the personality open to development."

With his "Astrologische Menschenkunde" Ring created a work which presents his "revised astrology" most comprehensively. He makes "categories of astrological interpretation understandable", determines the limitations of what can be interpreted from a chart and again addresses the problem of destiny and freedom. The four volumes deal with:

Kräfte und Kräftebeziehungen (Band 1: Planeten und astrologische Aspekte, 1956) 

Life Forces and Their Relationships (Volume 1: Planets and Astrological Aspects 1956)

Ausdruck und Richtung der Kräfte (Band 2: der astrologische Tierkreis und das Häusersystem 1959)

Expression and Orientation of the Life Forces (Volume 2: The Astrological Zodiac and Field System 1959) 

 Kombinationslehre (Band 3: die Kräfte in ihren Beziehungen, ihrem Ausdruck und ihrem Stellenwert im Ganzen, 1969)

Combinational Method (Volume 3: Life Forces in their Relationships, Expression, and Wholisitc Significance, 1969)

 Das lebende Modell (Band 4: veranschaulicht die Lehre aus der reichhaltigen Beratungspraxis, 1973).

The Living Model (Volume 4: illuminates the methodology based on comprehensive counselling experience, 1973)

In his astrological-philosophical writings of the 1970s Ring's over 50 years of experience became manifest. Up until his death on 24th August, 1983 (the aftermath of appendicitis), he concentrated on fundamental astrological questions and problems. He was constantly concerned with establishing a philosophical foundation for the basic elements of astrology which was not cut off from a modern scientific context. However, notwithstanding all manner of logic and rigour, an important factor comes into interpretation which cannot be attained scientifically: intuition. At the conclusion of "Astrologische Menschenkunde" he writes: "Given the questioning human being the science of the living model does not suffice, interpretation begins as art."

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Translated by Simon Barber. He can be reached at: https://astrologicalanthropology.wordpress.com/ and https://astrologischemenschenkunde.wordpress.com/